Workers of John Street

Workers of John Street. . Roundhouses allowed the railways to centralize the skilled labour and machinery necessary to clean, fuel and maintain locomotives. Steam locomotives were far more labour intensive than today's modern diesel engines and hundreds of workers were employed at John Street and worked 24 hours a day during the steam era. Although the work could be uncomfortable, strenuous, dirty and sometimes dangerous, skilled trade railway jobs were prestigious and well paid. Since this roundhouse had excellent external lighting provided by large clerestory windows and employed the Direct Steaming Process, the greatly improved air quality and visibility in the roundhouse provided a much cleaner working environment than most roundhouses with their badly polluted air and poor visibitity. Those who worked at John Street included skilled tradesmen such as boilermakers, blacksmiths, pipefitters, electricians, machinists and carpenters. Apprentices worked under the tradesmen while they spent years undergoing training and writing examinations in order to obtain certification. Semi-skilled employees were engine wipers, engine cleaners, ash-pit men, light-up men, labourers and trimmers. The locomotives serviced here were so attractively maintained that their appearance became known among railroaders as the "John Street polish."