About
Donald R. McQueen
Don McQueen, born in Toronto in 1938, was raised in Brockville, Ontario and received an Honour Arts degree in History from Queen's University in 1963. Moving to London, Ontario later that same year, he began a secondary school teaching career which spanned 33 years in six of the city's schools. Initially a school librarian, teaching Canadian history and geography, Don also taught and developed school curricula in the humanities, world civilizations, law, sociology, world issues, and photography. His interest in Canadian railway history developed at an early age, although not as early as his fascination with all forms of transportation, especially trains. Brockville, both a St. Lawrence River town and a terminal for two Canadian transcontinental railways, provided a lure which was impossible to resist. His articles, background research or contributions have appeared in a number of Canadian books and publications, including Branchline, CN LINES (Canadian National Railways Historical Association), Canadian Rail, Extra 2200 South, Kingston Rail, Locomotive Notes II, Ontario Northland Railway Historical & Technical Society's The Northlander, and Upper Canada Railway Society's Newsletter / Rail & Transit. In other railway related themes, he has written illustrated articles in the Toy Train Operating Society Bulletin (Marx tinplate toy trains) and in Freight Cars Journal (a White Pass & Yukon rolling stock roster). Constructed in Kingston is Don's premier Canadian railway history reference to date, co-authored with Bill Thomson. That volume chronicled the history, in text and image, of the Canadian Locomotive Companies of Kingston from 1854 to 1968. Now out of print, that book remains a standard source in Canadian locomotive railway history. Living in London, another railway city, resulted in a keen interest in locomotive production at General Motors' Canadian locomotive manufacturing facility. After becoming one of the charter members in the creation of the Forest City Railway Society in 1968, he continued his commitment as one of the editors of the organization's monthly publication, Tempo Jr., and created a daily electronic digest, Froth. When time permitted during his career, as well as in retirement, he paced his research with another of his passions -- photography. In addition to his images appearing in the above periodicals, others have been published in several books such as Signatures in Steel, the reissued Narrow Gauge Railways of Canada, Self-Propelled Cars of the CNR and several Morning Sun publications including Chesapeake & Ohio in Color and various rolling stock volumes. In retirement, Don keeps busier than ever with all of the above pursuits, including his iris garden in London, Ontario and with his family, Heather, 'Socs', Christopher and Danielle.