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. Started rail career locally /? fl ~ /I SI , / SS <~ * V e^-r*e TORONTO - George Atonal Railways - who A Van de Water of worked in various1 Belleville railroad posts Oakville, vice-president „ died early Tue^day of the Great Lakes following an illness of Region of Canadian Na- -several months. He was 57. Born in Listowel, Mr. Van de Water received his engineering degree from Queen's Universi- ty in 1951 and joined C N ' s eng inee r ing department on gradua- tion. His first job was as an instrument man at Belleville. In the next few years, he also worked in engineering positions at London, Hamilton and Hornepayne. He moved rapidly up the company l a d d e r , s a id C N spokesmen and by 1976 was chief engineer for the entire coast-to-coast CN system. This meant he had responsibility for the design, construction, operation and main- tenance of CN's huge fixed plant including 24,000 miles of main track, 6,000 bridges, 72 tunnels and hundreds of railway buildings. His railway career, however, was not re- stricted to the engineer- ing department. It didn't take long for his organizational and managerial strengths to be recognized by others, said a Tuesday release from the company. In 1964, when he was area engineer at Belle- ville, he was named pro- ject manager for the huge Place Bonaven- ture deve lopment across from CN head- quarters in Montreal. After masterminding that project, he was ask- ed to co-ordinate the railway relocation pro- ject at Ottawa which in- volved moving rail facilities from down- town Ottawa to the new station on the capital's outskirts. Mr. Van de Water moved easily in general administration, said a spokesman. He became manager of the Rideau area at Belleville in 1970, the youngest CN area manager at that time. He then moved to Toronto as express manager and inter- modal services man- ager for the Great Lakes Region. His opportunity to head the engineering department came in 1976 and for the next five years he guided a multi- million dollar plant ex- pansion and other pro- jects. He also initiated the development of many new machines which revolutionized CN's system of track and roadbed maintenance. Mr. Van de Water became vice-president of the Great Lakes Region in June, 1981. T h e r e g i o n e n - compasses most of the province. "Always alert to new opportunities to attract freight business," said a s p o k e s m a n , ' ' he spearheaded CN's suc- cessful efforts to ac- quire in partnership CP Rai l , the C a n a d a Southern Railway bet- ween Windsor and Niaagra Falls." This venture served to strengthen both rail- ways to compete with highway trucking in- dustries. Mr. Van de Water was also involved with Go Transit, for which CN operates commuter ser- v i c e s f o r t h e Metropolitan Toronto area. A resident ot Oakville, Mr. Van de Water is sur- vived by his wife, Elaine and four children - Lynn, Nancy, James and Richard. Funeral arrangements are by the Russell -Morden Chapel, Ward's Funeral Home, 109 Renaud St., Oakville.