Denis Bourk
Well-Known Member
I worked with Webb Butler a Big black guy who was fun to be around. One time we started to work on a small truck tank and I noticed there were no center marks on the head I mentioned this to Armando and he said just put them in as they go. We stuffed a head and then I fit and welded stiffners on, the print called for heads on the opposite end so we followed the same procedure, we were working fast so we really didn’t take time to stand back and look at the tank but Ray Denisuk son of Fred warned us something was wrong, the tank was getting a huge twist, not having center lines on the head was a big mistake, we should have never used those heads, I remember Armando looking sick when we told him and him saying this had never happened before. We cut out both heads and stiffners and Cosmo made new heads with centerlines. Lesson learned, no matter what anybody says never use heads without centerlines and they should follow the tank centerline as closely as possible. Our head flanger was not perfect, we tried to make the heads 1/2" bigger than the shell for a tight fit, we were lucky if we got the heads 1/2" bigger or smaller than the size we wanted. I worked with Webb quite a bit and really enjoyed working with him as he had me laughing all day. In the morning he would say good morning and as usual I would say nothing until he had repeated good morning about 3 times. Back then we had no plasma machines so manholes were cut out with skill saws in the baffles and the shell, drain holes were cut when the barrel was complete and upside down, we used a old air driven sabre saw that shook you like hell and went through blades like crazy, we pretty much fabricated every component on the tanks except for manhole rings we welded on the tanks, sumps, pipe elbows and suspensions. We formed the overturn rails, if you look and an old Columbia you can see the rails are in short sections and up on top not very straight, they did the job though. Don Trice, Nick More and Lionel Winerak all had quit so That made me the senior welder and Armando gave me more responsibilities, I was taught how to build manifolds from scratch and build ladders, Columbia also built other ore carriers I called them ant eaters because they were pointed at both ends. one time I was welding in one in a confined space and when I stopped I could not see anything the smoke was so thick, I never did that again. I was a grouch in the morning, everyone knew it so some of the guys used to always say good morning to me, I did not want to talk to anybody until first coffee other than Armando, I used to tell them what good is the morning. I had an aluminum tool box someone had left behind which had a flat top and some used for a work bench on the other shift, when I would come in for work in the morning sometimes I would find things on top of it so I would throw them on the floor, this one morning when I came in for work sure enough there was junk on my tool box so I threw the stuff off and tried to open my tool box but couldn’t, I lost my temper and tried kicking it open to no avail when I heard a lot of laughter, my co-workers had set me up, Ray had tacked the lid so I needed a chisel to open it, I did find the humor in it. Most of the guys were good people. Irvin Reddeman was one of my good friends, he was a very good welder and we got along well, one dayshift it was lunch time and Irvin has an empty ½ pint milk cartoon which he decides to fill with acetylene and oxygen then tape up we go outside where Columbia kept the lumber for the low beds and Irvin lights the carton on fire and we moved away and boom, it sounded like a bomb going off, Armando came running out and spots us, he just shakes his head and goes back in the shop. He always liked me not too sure about Irvin. One night shift there was only 3 of us working on chip boxes and preload bunks, no foremen, Nick Spagnola the foremen in the steel shop was to keep an eye on us, Irvin, Harold HiII and myself were working steady, I needed some parts so I walked by Irvin and just stopped for a second just at that time the Ken Van Raden walks through the shop and spots us but doesn’t say anything a short time later Nick shows up and says he is supposed to give us hell for slacking. Irv got real mad at that as we had been working steady until that point. Fast forward to the Company Christmas party I was with my wife Sally and Irv was with his wife and he got drunk, the Van Radens brothers were there, Fred and Ken, Ken was drunk and came around to our table Irvin eyes him up and says you’re a fucking asshole to him, I was shocked I thought that was it for Irvin’s job but come Monday morning nothing happened. One other memorable Christmas was when a bunch of us went on Harold Hill’s 40 ft. boat after the Christmas party, most of us were drunk, Fred Denisuk was drunk and when he went to get off the boat he fell in the Fraser River, our English maintenance man pulled him out. A lot of the workers didn’t like Fred but he had hired me and I never had a problem with him. So I don’t have a bad word to say about him. Once Pete and I were split up, sometimes I ended having many helpers to build the tanks, I wouldn't trust them to swing the 12 lb sledge hammer to pound the heads in so they just held the makeshift tool we used and I pounded the heads in. Armando would ask me how was the guy, if I could work with him I would say OK but if he was useless I just told Armando I could work faster by myself and he would be gone
