(The following article by Adam Clayton was posted on the Winnipeg Sun website on June 13.)
WINNIPEG — Women have come a long way over the past century and the railway industry is no exception.
A travelling exhibit on the history of female railroad workers is currently on display at The Forks Market, itself a former rail yard site.
The display uses vintage posters, photos, tools and instruments to illustrate an often-overlooked part of railway history.
Much of the exhibit focuses on how female workers kept the railway system functioning while many Canadian men were fighting overseas.
“They were conductors, they were mechanics, they worked on the tracks,” said Ben Vandemosselaer, president of the Winnipeg Rail Museum. “They probably did every job that a man would have done on the railway at that point.”
Vandemosselaer said many people aren’t aware of how big a role women played in railway history.
“I was actually quite surprised by a lot of what I read here,” he said.
Wendy Dusik, who has worked for Via Rail for more than 20 years, said she loved the exhibit.
‘STEPPED UP TO THE PLATE’
“It’s amazing,” she said. “I think letting people know the history of the railway is wonderful to begin with but focusing on women railroaders is really awesome.”
Dusik said posters from the Second World War era urging women to fill the role left by departed soldiers are particularly interesting.
“If the women back then hadn’t stepped up to the plate, we probably wouldn’t be here now,” he said. “You never know.”
As in other industries, women were pushed out of many railway jobs at the end of the First and Second World Wars but times have changed in what is often thought of as a male-dominated industry.
In addition to boarding passengers, Dusik works as a locomotive attendant lining up rail cars.
“Anyone that wants to get into the railway workforce, I would say go for it,” she said.
This is the second year The Forks Market has presented an exhibit in a spot occupied by Royal Dance Studio and its 800 students for 10 months of the year.
“They bring a huge amount of business to the market so when they shut down in the summer, we feel it,” said Forks Market general manager Randy Cameron.