Member Bios
Lyle L. Berge, Q.Med
Lyle Berge, Calgary, Alberta, is past President of the National Council of CP Pensioner Associations and a Director of the Calgary CP Pensioners Association. He is the retired Manager, Community Relations for Canadian Pacific Railway, where he spent 35 years in operations and community relations in Alberta and British Columbia. This included pre- and post-retirement community liaison, issues management and complaints resolution duties.
He is a member of the Locomotive & Railway Historical Society of Western Canada, and has served as Chairman and Director of the Canadian Council for Railway Heritage. His pre- and post-retirement involvement in CPR’s heritage committees and the CPR Heritage Equipment Committee include the donation and delivery of CPR heritage motive power, rolling stock and artifacts to museums, associations and communities in Canada and the U.S.
Lyle is a volunteer mediator with the Alberta Provincial Court Civil Mediation program, and a volunteer arbitrator with Service Alberta. He graduated from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver with a B.A. in Economics and Commerce, and holds Certificates in Mediation and Arbitration.
Paul Clegg
Paul Clegg, Calgary, Alberta, is the retired Director of Network Transactions for Canadian Pacific Railway. During his 37-year career with CP he was engaged in Grain Marketing in both Montreal and Winnipeg and Network Strategy and Research in Calgary. During his time with Network Strategy, he was responsible for line sales and acquisitions as well as planning for new rail lines in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland near Edmonton.
He has a number of articles published on CPR history including the revolutionary 36’ steel inside sheathed “Dominion” boxcar, meat and livestock movement and aspects of CPR’s building and bridge designs. He is also a committee member for the Canadian Railway Hall of Fame.
Paul is a graduate of the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Commerce in Transportation and Logistics. He was also a Logistics officer in the Canadian Forces Reserve. He is a member of the Lexington Group in Transportation History and has participated in the Canadian Transportation Research Forum. Paul currently consults for Dominion Railway Services.
John Joseph Doolan, FCA
Joe Doolan, Calgary, Alberta, is a retired Vice-President and Treasurer of Canadian Pacific Railway. He has extensive experience in corporate finance and administration at the railway, as well as in one of the largest senior oil and gas producers and marketers in North America – PanCanadian Petroleum (today’s EnCana and Cenovus).
He is a former member of the Board of Governors of the University of Calgary, and has been involved in a number of other community endeavors, including Calgary’s Heritage Park Society as a board member and chair, Theatre Calgary as a board member and chair, and a director of the Lougheed House, the Ranchmen’s Club and the McMahon Stadium Society.
Joe is a Fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta. He graduated from the University of Calgary with a B.Com. in Accounting and Finance.
David Laurence Jones
David Jones, Calgary, Alberta, is the retired Manager, Internal Communications for Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). He was a founding member of the Canadian Pacific Archives and, as the assistant archivist, organized and maintained many of the archives records groups. David had a 37-year career with the railway, split between the company’s archives and its communications & public affairs department.
While he has been involved extensively in cataloguing, researching and writing about all facets of the CPR's endeavours, past and present, he is best known for his many books on CPR history and lore. Among his published works are Posters of the Canadian Pacific, Tales of the CPR, See This World Before the Next: Cruising with Canadian Pacific Steamships in the Twenties and Thirties, Famous Name Trains: Travelling in Style with the CPR, The Railway Beat: A Century of Canadian Pacific Police Service, and Railway Nation: Tales of Canadian Pacific -- The World's Greatest Travel System. He is currently working on a comprehensive history of Canadian Pacific's involvement in immigration and settlement of the Canadian Northwest. David is a freelance communications consultant for Alias Dave Jones. He graduated cum laude from Montreal's Concordia University with a B.A. in History and Library Studies.
Jonathan B. Hanna
J.B. Hanna, Calgary, Alberta, is the Corporate Historian Emeritus of Canadian Pacific Railway. He divided his three decades with the CPR between the company’s archives, its photo department and its advertising and marketing communications sections, and did a brief stint in administration before he was made CPR’s Corporate Historian. This included pre- and post-retirement duties on CPR’s Heritage Equipment Committee looking after the donation and delivery of CPR heritage motive power, rolling stock and artifacts to museums, associations and communities in Canada and the U.S.
He is an active member of the Heritage Park Society of Calgary and also a member of its Historical, Interpretive and Education Committee. In addition, he is a member of the Canadian Council for Railway Heritage. He has also written a number of history-based articles, brochures, and web-postings, including co-authoring Portraits of Canada – a picture book with historical sidebars focusing on CPR’s non-rail endeavors through archival photographs.
Jonathan is an English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor to recent Canadian immigrants in Calgary. He graduated from Concordia University in Montreal with a B.A. in History and Geography, and holds an ACE TESOL certificate in English language teaching.
Dennis Letourneau, P.Eng.
Dennis Letourneau, Canmore, Alberta, worked his way through school in the railway industry, beginning in 1981 with CPR Communications & Public Affairs and ending with VIA Rail Station Services, On-board Services and Engineering. He spent 20 years as a Professional Engineer in the rail consulting business with both CN subsidiary CANAC Inc. and DRL Solutions Inc.
Dennis has managed capacity and infrastructure projects throughout Canada, USA, Mexico, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, and he has participated remotely in projects in Africa, Pakistan and China. He has also assisted Parks Canada in the identification and excavation of rail artifacts within Parks boundaries. He currently manages the operation and maintenance of the water and wastewater infrastructure in his hometown of Canmore, for EPCOR Water Services Inc.
Dennis graduated from McGill University in Montreal with a B.Eng (Mech).
James E. Lanigan
Jim Lanigan is from a three-generation Canadian Pacific family, and has pursued life-long interests in both CPR corporate and motive power & rolling stock history. He was the founding President of the Locomotive & Railway Historical Society of Western Canada, which preserved CPR No. 7019 (Alberta’s first and the Company’s eleventh) diesel locomotive, at the entrance to Calgary’s Heritage Park in 1986. In recognition thereof, he received the Canadian Railroad Historical Association’s first Award of Merit (Preservation) in 1987. He was the founding Chair of the Canadian Council for Railway Heritage, and was a Vice-Chair of Alberta Community Development’s Reynolds-Alberta Museum Advisory Board in Wetaskiwin. His interest in Canadian railway heritage preservation began at the age of eight, expanded as a teenager with his owning a Regina Municipal Railway streetcar at 13, and he was instrumental in the preservation of CPR Northern-type steam locomotive No. 3101 in Regina at 19. (He later wrote the IPSCO-published monograph History of the 3101 in tribute thereto.) He has subsequently been involved in the preservation of several other CPR locomotives and pieces of rolling stock. He has written several articles on railway heritage preservation issues, and various policy and procedural papers on railway equipment preservation.
Jim has a B. Admin. (Economics major) from the University of Saskatchewan and an MBA from the University of Alberta. He has been engaged in oil and gas industry management since 1971, and remains active as the President of the Western Horizons Energy Group.
Stephen E. Morris
Steve Morris, White Rock, B.C., is the retired commuter rail manager of British Columbia’s West Coast Express. He began his career in Canadian Pacific’s Public Relations and Advertising Department in Montreal. His 41-year career with CPR took him from Montreal to Toronto to Revelstoke to Vancouver to Calgary and back to Vancouver. Most of his four decades with the railway were spent in CPR’s community, public affairs and public relations offices. This included his involvement with the largest peacetime evacuation in Canada’s history: the 1979 Mississauga derailment, as well as with CPR’s largest construction project since its completion: the 1980s construction of the $500-million Rogers Pass tunnel project.
Early in his CPR career, he catalogued much of the company’s extensive photographic collection, including numerous archival photos. He helped to organize and host the CPR “Community Centennial Train,” bringing a rolling history lesson to numerous communities celebrating 100 years of incorporation. He was also a member of the western branch of the CPR Heritage Equipment Committee, involved with the donation and delivery of CPR heritage motive power and rolling stock to museums, associations and communities in Western Canada.
Steve received a diploma in Journalism from Concordia University in Montreal, followed by certificates in Communications and Public Relations from McGill University. He received his Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) from The Canadian Public Relations Society and served as a member of the Accreditation Committee in Toronto.
Brian Nelson
Douglas R. Phillips
Doug Phillips, Calgary, Alberta, is the retired Field Specialist – Train Accident Investigation for Canadian Pacific Railway. He spent 38 years in the company’s operations and engineering departments. His duties involved crisscrossing the entire CPR system and feeder railway lines in both Canada and the U.S., while gaining an encyclopedic knowledge of the Company’s system.
Since retiring from CPR, he spent 14 months overseas consulting on and implementing track safety standards for the South African Rail system. He has also had an active involvement in the CPR Heritage Equipment Committee, donating and delivering CPR heritage motive power, rolling stock and artifacts to museums, associations and communities in Canada and the U.S.
He is a prolific contributor of facts and photos – many taken by him – to most of the 70 British Railway Modellers of North America publications, and a co-author of the group’s Canadian Pacific in the West – Volume 1. His latest projects include a Historical Sketch of CPR’s Colonist Sleeping car 2658 at Calgary’s Heritage Park, and he is busy compiling a comprehensive history of Canadian Pacific’s passenger car fleet and passenger trains.
Doug graduated from high school in Calgary and completed a two-year Drafting Technology (Engineering Technology) diploma course at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT).
Brian Nelson, Millarville, AB started his career with Canadian Pacific as a Maintenance of Way Labourer on Pacific Steel crews working across southern Alberta and British Columbia. He transferred to the Running Trades as a Brakeman in 1997 then Conductor working out of Calgary. A temporary assignment with the Service Excellence project in 1999 lead to a variety of roles in Service Design starting in 2000 last serving as Director of the department from 2012 to 2019. He is presently working as a Service Design Consultant with Norfolk Southern Railway.
Brian has a B.A. in History from the University of Saskatchewan.
Stephen A. Ryan
Stephen A. Ryan
Steve Ryan, Calgary, Alberta, started his career with Canadian Pacific as a spare clerk in the Customer Service Center in Montreal’s St-Luc yard in 1994. Like railroaders before him he moved frequently enjoying fresh challenges in new cities and locations: Toronto’s Union Station, London Ontario’s Quebec Street Yard, and Montreal’s Windsor Station. His experience in his first decade with the railway revolved around customer service, operations, and various roles in the Network Management Centre.
With CP’s head office move to Calgary in 1996, Steve remained in the east working out of the regional Montreal office. In 2001 he moved to Calgary, and since 2004 has worked in the Service Design department, helping to design train service for all locations across the network. His participation in CP’s purchase of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad in 2007, offered Steve a unique opportunity to integrate that railway’s train service design into CP’s system from the ground up. Briefly working in Network Strategy in 2012, Steve developed a new perspective, which has given him a broader view of the industry.
He wrote an article for the November 2012 issue of Trains magazine called ‘Freight Scheduling’, which explored the world of Service Design in railways and its role within the industry.
Steve graduated in 1993 with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Concordia University.
Donald M. Thomas
Don Thomas, Calgary, Alberta, worked in regulatory affairs with Canadian Pacific Railway for more than thirty years. His start with CPR piqued his professional interest in railway history working in Canadian Pacific’s Corporate Archives under the tutelage of Corporate Archivist Omer Lavallée.
He is a director of the Canadian Railroad Historical Association’s (CRHA) Calgary and Southwest Chapter, a member of the Lexington Group, and was a member of the CPR Heritage Equipment Committee involved in the donation and delivery of CPR heritage motive power and rolling stock to museums, associations and communities in Canada and the U.S.
He has contributed many articles to the CRHA’s Flagstop publication and has presented learned railway technical and historical treatises on several occasions both for the company and the associations of which he is a member. He also co-authored the most recent edition of CPR’s The Line. Fluent in all aspects of railway history, he has developed a unique expertise in railway station heritage, history, architecture and design.
Don graduated cum laude from Concordia University in Montreal with a B.A. in History
Ray Verdone
Ray Verdone is a BSc. graduate Geologist of Sir George Williams University (now Concordia), Montreal. Ray worked 5 years as an Exploration and Mine Geologist for the Iron Ore Company of Canada in Schefferville Quebec. In 1979, after pursuing some Computer Science courses at Concordia, Ray was hired by Canadian Pacific Railway as a computer programmer. There he held many technical and management positions on multiple projects in CPR’s IT department over his 27 year career.
Ray has also applied his IT experience to an historical context. He is the “Creator and Curator” of the CPR Steam Locomotive Database website (www.cprsteam.org). The website can dynamically generate multiple views to document the history and lifecycle, from construction to disposal, of all 3,257 steam locomotives operated by CPR since 1881. For example, lists of locomotives by year and month built, in service, or scrapped, by type or by class, by builder, by owner and much more. Each locomotive is listed as a link which details the locomotive’s history including physical characteristics, diagrams, known assignments, photos, stories, etc. This research tool is available free of charge upon request.
Although retired, Ray is also the President of the Alberta Model Engineering Society which maintains and operates the 11 acre, Iron Horse Park in Airdrie, (www.ironhorsepark.net). This volunteer, non-profit organization host Live Steam and Electric trains on multiple gauge tracks. The “mainline” at the park consists of 2.5 km of 7.5” gauge track complete with bridges, trestles, and tunnels. The park is open to the public every Sundays during the summers.
Doug Welsh
Doug Welsh, Calgary, Alberta, is retired from a 33-year career with Canadian Pacific Railway. He joined Canadian Pacific’s Research Department in 1972 upon graduating from University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Applied Science in Management Sciences.
After two years in the Research Department, he joined the Passenger Services Department and helped with the planning for CP’s exit from operating its own trains, then was in the Mechanical Department doing financial and systems planning and as works manager of Ogden Shops, then in the Business Development Department of the eastern business unit (IFS) primarily doing line abandonments, and finally in the corporate strategy and network development functions as Executive Director.
His primary historical interest is the construction histories and engineering standards of CP’s and CN’s Canadian main lines. He is a member of the Lexington Group in Transportation History and has made presentations at the annual meetings. He is author of the September 2011Trains Magazine article, The 2.2% Solution, chronicling the origins of 2.2% as a common maximum mountain gradient.
John Unsworth
John Unsworth, Cochrane, AB, is the retired Chief Engineer of Bridges for Canadian Pacific Railway. During his 37-year career at CP he worked in railway infrastructure planning, design, construction and maintenance in Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary.
His interest in the history of railway bridge engineering has been expressed in presentations to the International Bridge Conference, Canadian Society for Civil Engineering and the first chapter of his book Design and Construction of Modern Steel Railway Bridges.
John is a former President of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-way Association, Chairman of the Association of American Railroads Bridge Research Committee and a Fellow of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering.
He graduated from Concordia University with a B.Eng. (cum laude) in Civil Engineering and earned an M.Eng. in Structural Engineering from University of British Columbia. John is currently a consultant with AECOM.
Associate Member
Ira Silverman
Ira Silverman is a New York native. He attended New York University and the Transportation Center at Northwestern University. His first summer railroad jobs were for the Long Island Railroad selling tickets and as an operator for the EJ&E. He worked 41 years in the industry for the Illinois Central (Gulf), Amtrak and Maryland Rail Commuter (MARC). He held positions in Planning, Marketing and Operations.
His first exposure to the Canadian Pacific was in 1964 when he rode the Canadian from Vancouver to Montreal in a tourist upper. He has since ridden the Canadian over 20 times including his honeymoon. His highpoint was riding with Bill Stinson between Mactier and Sudbury in his office car. He also has ridden the Atlantic three times from St. John and has the fun of chasing a CP local on a bike in St. Andrews by the Sea.
He has written a book on the Canadian as well as articles for CP Tracks, Branchline and Canadian Railfan on CPR related subjects. A CPR Seth Thomas clock hangs on the wall of his kitchen.
Past Member
James A. Brown
(1937 - 2020)
James A. Brown, Tottenham, Ontario, was the retired Executive Director Operations of Ontario’s GO Transit. Commencing in 1956, he was employed by Canadian Pacific Railway and later Canadian National Railways in a variety of operating, equipment maintenance and design, and transportation planning assignments. From 1972, he specialized in commuter train operations with Toronto’s GO Transit. For the period 1985-1995, he had overall executive responsibility for the operations of a commuter rail system then comprising 49 locomotives and 331 bi-level rail cars. After retiring from GO Transit in August 1995, he provided consulting services to a variety of commuter and heritage railway projects.
Jim was continuously involved in railway heritage activities for more than five decades. He played a leadership role in the creation of the Ontario Rail Association in the 1970s (and its successful restoration and operation of several former CPR steam locomotives and a fleet of passenger cars), the transformation of ORA into the present South Simcoe Railway, and the guidance of SSR through its first operational decade. He also authored and contributed to many articles on Canadian rail subjects for Canadian and U.S. periodicals, and had acquired, relocated and restored a CPR station as a personal residence.
In 1996, he was honoured to receive the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Railroad Historical Association. In 2008, the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society presented him with the Fred A. and Jane R. Stindt Photography Award. In 2010 he was a presenter at the Annual Conference, Conversations about Photography, held by the Center for Railroad Photography and Art, in Lake Forest, Illinois.
Jim was also active for many years on the Board of the Canadian Council for Railway Heritage, advocating for responsible railway heritage preservation activities in Canada.
He earned a BASc degree from the University of Toronto.