Buck Crump
Canadian businessman (1904–1989)
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Norris Roy ("Buck") Crump, CC (July 30, 1904 – December 26, 1989) was a Canadian businessman, who was chairman and president of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). He was primarily responsible for converting the railroad to diesel locomotives,[1] and expanded the company into non-transportation sectors.
Norris Roy ("Buck") Crump | |
|---|---|
 Crump (centre right) in Amsterdam (1966) | |
| Born | July 30, 1904 Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada |
| Died | December 26, 1989 (aged 85) |
| Known for | President of Canadian Pacific Railway Limited |
| Awards | Order of Canada |
Early life and education
Crump was born in Revelstoke, British Columbia. His father was a railway superintendent.[2] Crump joined the CPR as an apprentice machinist in 1920, when he was sixteen years old.[3] In between working for the railway, he earned a bachelors and in 1936 a master's degree at Purdue University.[1]
Career
After working as a track labourer and then in the machine shop, Crump was transferred to Winnipeg, where he continued to work while completing high school at night. After time off to complete a university degree, he took a position as a night foreman. He was transferred to Montreal as an assistant to the vice president, and in 1943 became superintendent of the Ontario district.[4] In 1948 Crump was a vice president at CPR; to counter lower numbers of passengers, he advocated increasing advertising and spending more money to make train travel attractive.[5]
Crump was elected president in 1955;[6] the company was severely in debt at the time.[7] At the time the company was mainly using diesel locomotives only in the railyards; during the following twelve years, Crump oversaw the dieselisation of the railroad. He ordered the purchase of new equipment to commence operation of a new trans-continental train The Canadian which began operation in April 1955.[8]
To improve profit margins Crump initiated a reorganization and expansion of the company's non-rail business.[7][9]
An admirer of Samuel de Champlain, founder of Quebec City and New France, it was Crump who proposed naming the company's Montreal hotel Château Champlain after him.[10]
In 1971 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada[11] and in 1974 Crump retired.[12]