John McIlveen worked with CMHC before joining DCL in 1951. He served for a time as Regional Manager of Ontario and as Chief Engineer. In 1985, he retired from Head Office in Ottawa as Senior Vice-President.
The beavers weren’ t the only characters … Pagwa, 1953— John McIlveen The scene is Pagwa, halfway between Nakina and Hearst at a( then) Department of Transport emergency airfield on the Canadian National Railway transcontinental line between Montreal and Winnipeg. Pagwa was inaccessible by road. A twice-weekly freight train with a combination passenger-baggage car serviced the site …( but) to the rescue of those who failed to connect with it, came the considerably more reliable gasoline-motordriven“ speeder” from Nakina.
The“ character” was recruited as a services inspector for duties at Pagwa. Call him Bob …( he) carried out his road, underground services and landscaping inspections on horseback, his mount shipped in as part of his baggage. Inspection on horseback had been his practice when previously employed at the lake head, and he wasn’ t about to— and didn’ t— change on joining CMHC. Not for anyone!
The isolation at Pagwa was delightful for some, while for others it was difficult to bear. It finally got to Bob. One day in late summer of 1953, on a trainless day, an RCAF / USAF liaison group left Nakina by speeder for a Pagwa site visit. Halfway there, we were halted by Bob, advancing up the track on his horse, with belongings tied to the saddle. Our curiosity overcame our amazement. Bob quietly said that he was finished with Pagwa and was headed for the bright lights of Winnipeg, better than 500 miles to the west. He had had it. Bob passed around the speeder and rode on down the track into the sunset.
I never saw him again, though I heard months later that he had, indeed, reached Winnipeg. How, is unknown. He was reportedly happy in the arms of civilization.
BREAKING NEW GROUND DEFENCE CONSTRUCTION CANADA
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