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I recently received a call from a Mr. Tim Irish, who advised that he had two authentic Canadian Pacific Railway trainman's uniforms and he wanted to find them both a good home. After a brief conversation, he agreed to donate the uniforms to the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre. It turns out that Tim is Sergeant Tim Irish of the Toronto Police Service Forensic Identification Services and we can certainly appreciate his sensitivity in not immediately identifying himself during a cold call on the telephone.
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Sergeant Irish delivered the uniforms to Derek on March 1, 2010 and advised that they belonged to his uncle, Ross Michaelis, who was a trainman on the CPR's Parry Sound and Cartier Subdivisions between Mactier and Cartier. The uniforms are in pristine condition, each with jacket, vest, pants and hat and with CPR brass buttons. One is a single-breasted summer weight uniform (shown at left above) and the other a double-breasted winter uniform (shown at right above). Both were made by Tip-Top Tailors here in Toronto, a massive 1929 building at Bathurst Street and Lakeshore Boulevard that was recently converted into a condominium. Both hats were also made in Toronto at Stokes Caps and Regalia, a company still doing business manufacturing uniform paraphernalia in Mississauga.
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The map above shows the CPR line that Mr. Michaelis would have worked while wearing these uniforms. Cartier is west of Sudbury at the end of the double track section. Mactier is 130 miles north of Toronto.
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We thank Sergeant Irish for his generous and thoughtful donation to the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre.
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Posting and pictures by Derek Boles