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The Railway

Schreiber's birth and continued existence is based on the Canadian Pacific Railway. Schreiber has gone through several iterations.[1]

A railroad home terminal could be described as the specified location at which train crews are domiciled. The Away-From-Home terminal could be described as the objective terminal for a train crew. Schreiber was, and remains, a home terminal train crew change point for the railroad. As such, a portion of its populace is trained and employed to operate the trains from Schreiber in both directions, westward on the Nipigon Subdivision to Thunder Bay, the next train crew change-off point or eastward on the Heron Bay Subdivision to the change-off terminal of White River, Ontario. This status of being a home terminal for train crews ensures the township of a number of high-quality skilled jobs.

The railroad attracted to the township, and employed people for many occupations including track maintenance, signal maintenance, telecommunications, mechanical and locomotive maintenance, yard operation, radio communication, engineering, and administration. The railroad built and maintained homes in Schreiber for its supervisory and trades staff. The creation of a dedicated housing supply is attributable to the railroad's policy of transferring their employees often. This constant movement of staff was a very common early practice within all railroads owing usually to the large territory combined with the limitations on travel and communications. Early transportation publications would contain numerous announcements of promotion and transfer of location.

By constructing and managing the properties in the smaller centres, the Railroad was able to ensure accommodations for its officials and their families. The rotating in-and-out of supervisors gave these people exposure to the CPR's various subdivisions, allowed them to experience the challenges that may be specific to those territories, and to meet and understand the needs of the local rail customers. Having housing available in a small centre such as Schreiber, made such a transfer easier for the railways' incoming staff and their families.

The company housing was concentrated in two areas within Schreiber. The Canadian Pacific tracks and switching yard are located in the centre of the town and divide the town into two distinct zones. While there were CPR houses in various parts of the town, the primary concentration of these buildings was located along two streets. There was an alignment of CPR houses on Manitoba Street to the North of the CPR yard tracks. There was a similar collection of company houses located on Alberta Street. Alberta Street is located to the South side of the CPR tracks. Thus there was a somewhat even distribution of these dwellings on both sides of the rail yard.

The majority of the railroad's supplied dwellings were large boxy duplexes. There were also some detached homes provided. These company buildings tended to be identical in construction materials and colours. CPR's "Tuscan Red" colour was a mainstay in identifying company houses. The "Tuscan Red" painted wood trim and complimentary red insul-brick siding were common characteristics.

The in-resident Schreiber Division Superintendent was allocated a single detached house on the corner of Alberta and Erie Streets, two blocks from his office in the CPR station. The home was distinguished by the addition of pleasing architectural features not found on the standard company homes. The Superintendent's dwelling was surrounded by a well-tended lush lawn and colourful flowerbeds. The selected employee who maintained these grounds was also responsible for the lawn and flower beds at the CPR station. The well-kept station grounds were a local source of joy and pride and something especially enjoyed by the passengers of the passing trains. To complete the picture of an overall peaceful setting, the grassed grounds and flower beds on both sides of the CPR station were separated from the Brunswick Street roadway by wire fencing and a line of Mountain Ash trees. The value of any asset can be viewed differently depending upon the individual and the circumstances. At some point in the 1970-80's, the station landscaping feature was considered as a liability. The barrier fence was torn down, and the lawn was dug up and removed. The green grass was replaced with a packable material and the area became an employee parking lot which now required little maintenance.

At its peak, the town was home and headquarters for Canadian Pacific's Schreiber Division superintendent, his management staff and the territory's dispatching office.[2] Schreiber, with a population of approximately 2000 people, was the smallest location on the CPR's rail line to be the designated home of a Divisional Superintendent and his dispatching office. This was not so much an issue when everyone used trains for travel. As time went on and air travel increased, this changed perspective. The fact that the closest airport was in Thunder Bay approximately 120 miles away and that the lake-effect weather could make driving a concern, made corporate stopovers more challenging. On November 16, 1989, it was announced that the Schreiber and Sudbury Divisions would be amalgamated into one new territory, the Algoma Division, with one superintendent located in Sudbury overseeing the combined territory and its operations.

This organizational change served to resolve the issue of travel to a "remote" location for the railway with Sudbury being more accessible for flights from Toronto and Montreal. The re-alignment of the superintendent's territory resulted in the supplied housing units in Schreiber to be left standing vacant. The houses were now deemed as being superfluous and sold off to private individuals.

The news of this amalgamation was coupled with the announcement that Canadian Pacific would be implementing cabooseless train operation testing with the goal to eventually replace the manned caboose with an electronic device on all freight trains.

Together these changes would mark the start of an economic slide for a proud railway community.