Series

This series chronicles Philippe Meloche's career as an employee of the Canadian Pacific Railway and, to a lesser extent, his personal life.

It is composed primarily of documents that chronicle his duties and instructions related to his job as a train driver. For example, there is a Canadian Pacific Railway Company booklet about the haulage capacity of locomotives in the Eastern Region (which includes Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick) and a logbook for recording the tonnage handled by each train. There is also a pocket size signal chart, miscellaneous forms, handwritten and typewritten notes, and a report describing the transfers between Canadian Pacific trains and ships departing for Europe. A letter jointly addressed to Philippe Meloche and some of his colleagues identifies him as a member of the company's Safety Sub-Committee for the Laurentian Division.

Correspondence, newsletters, membership cards and various publications chronicle his ties with various Canadian and North American workers' associations, including the United Transportation Union and the Association catholique des employés de chemins de fer du Canada. Many of these documents -- which include a copy of the Collective Agreement Between The Canadian Pacific Railway Company and the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen 1962-1963 -- are from the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, which paid monies to Philippe Meloche in 1963 because of a physical disability. Other documents, including a press release from the General Chairmen's Association, a press clipping entitled "Rail Strike Hint Over Pensions," cartoons criticizing management's attitude and correspondence from the railway company and the Association of the International Railway Labour Organizations, illustrate issues associated with the pension plan.

In addition, the series includes a copy of the Quebec Workmen's Compensation Act (1963), a publication entitled Benefit Plan for Employees of Canadian Railways (1963) and documents produced by Canadian Pacific entitled Your Pension Plan (1951) and Quelques mots au sujet de votre sécurité future et de la caisse de retraite du Canadien Pacifique (1966). There are also four issues of Spanner, a magazine published by Canadian Pacific between 1964 and 1965.

A certificate of vaccination, identification cards, a list of electors, membership cards for the Knights of Columbus and the Canadian Railway Club, an ad for the Hotel Victoria in Trois-Pistoles and a souvenir booklet about Quebec's Government House complete the series by offering a brief look at Philippe Meloche's interests and various personal activities.