%0 Journal Article
%T Uncovering the secrets of Canadian Pacific
%A Becky Peacock
%D 2018
%V 
%N Autumn 2018
%K Canadian Pacific
%K Eastleigh Works
%K engineering
%K First World War
%K Hampshire
%K Locomotive
%K London and South Western Railway
%K Merchant Navy
%K Railway
%K Railwaywomen
%K Second World War
%K Southern Railway
%K Women
%X Canadian Pacific is known as being the oldest and fastest surviving Merchant Navy class locomotive in preservation, but she hides a secret: she was built in 1941 at Eastleigh Works, Hampshire, where about half of the workforce were female. While she now stands as a testament of the work of these female engineers who were employed on the railway during the Second World War, their achievements wouldn’t have been possible without the long history of women working on the railway as early as 1840. The First World War opened up the opportunities available to women on the railway, throwing them into areas previously only occupied by men. Women fought prejudice to show that they were capable workers in the fields that were opened to them, but it all came to an end in peacetime when women were forced back into ‘female’ jobs. The Second World War again brought about change, with women being employed in more roles than ever before.
%Z Canadian Pacific is the flagship steam locomotive of the Mid Hants Railway ‘Watercress Line’ in Hampshire. It forms part of a Heritage Lottery supported project to restore the locomotive to working condition. In 2015, the Mid Hants Railway was awarded £895,000 to complete the restoration of Merchant Navy class Canadian Pacific along with two wooden bodied carriages, and to produce a large outreach programme.

%Z Thirty Merchant Navy class locomotives were built between 1941 and 1958.

%Z Fraternisation in this context was to conduct social relations with another person as if they were a lover.

%Z See 1931 Southern Railway census of staff for roles held before the Second World War.

%Z Tailplanes are horizontal stabilisers – small lifting surfaces located on the tail behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed wing aircraft.

%Z These films are currently held by the Imperial War Museum, London.

%Z It is important to note that there were few jobs that women were not allowed to do on the railway. Only roles in the boiler shop and the role of driver and fireman were not open to women due to the skill level required to perform these jobs. Women were only trained for a minimum of three weeks in government training schools or by the railwaymen left behind and the knowledge and skill required for these roles couldn’t be learnt in that time. In contrast the men who women replaced had been learning these roles from the age of 14–16 years as apprentices.

%Z Appointments books for Eastleigh Works are held by Hampshire Records Office, Winchester.

%I The Science Museum Group
%@ 2054-5770
%B eng
%U https://journal.sciencemuseum.ac.uk/article/secrets-of-canadian-pacific/
%J Science Museum Group Journal