Ah, the joys of “CNR strawberries”

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/06/2019 (2603 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A pleasant surprise arrived in my mail box recently — a publication celebrating CN Rail’s 100th anniversary. Along with it came a commemorative lapel pin which will go onto my striped railway engineer’s cap.

The publication contained stories on CN families, volunteers, health and safety, an employee photo contest and other information which took me back to my railroading days and memories of many fine feeds in CNR dining cars.

Back in my youth I worked as a heavy equipment operator in CN’s western region. If there were four or more of us on a job, CN provided a dining car. At that time, those dining cars lacked refrigeration and relied on ice to keep food from spoiling. Consequently, we often lacked fresh fruits and vegetables. Though there were a few complainers, we were well fed. Some of these work gangs were staffed with recent arrivals to Canada, many from Italy and Portugal. It was gratifying watching these men dig in to the unlimited array of food set before them, and being a hearty eater I dug in with the best.

For breakfast, we had eggs, bacon, ham, sausages, pancakes, cereal, toast and jam, juice, and coffee topped off with “CNR strawberries.” 

For lunch and supper, as there were many ‘paisanos’ in these gangs, there was always a pasta dish, along with roast pork or beef or pork chops, baked beans, chicken, stews, and other innovative creations, accompanied by a variety of vegetables, always topped off with a choice of pies or “CNR strawberries.”

 My craving for those ‘strawberries’ of old prompted me to hie myself down to the closest store to purchase some. Later I sat down to a bowl of ‘strawberries’ accompanied by pumpernickel toast liberally spread with peanut butter, a cup of coffee and feasted.

They were every bit as good as those of long ago meals in the CN dining cars.Although they were really humble stewed prunes, “CNR strawberries” sustained hard-working railway workers for many years providing the necessary nutrients missing from unavailable fresh fruits.   

Ron Buffie is a community correspondent for Transcona. Email him at ronbuffie@shaw.ca

Ron Buffie
Transcona community correspondent

Ron Buffie was a community correspondent for Transcona.

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