EDMONTON—Family and friends of the crew members killed in a train derailment in the Rockies remembered the victims with a palpable sense of loss, but also with fond memories of the impression their loved ones left in their lives.

Early Monday, conductor Dylan Paradis, engineer Andrew Dockrell and trainee Daniel Waldenberger-Bulmer were killed when the train they were on derailed on a challenging stretch of track near Field, B.C.

Almost 100 cars came off the track in between what is known as the Spiral Tunnels in Yoho National Park, with some plunging as far as 60 metres, and the head locomotive ending up in the Kicking Horse River.

Waldenberger-Bulmer’s twin, who also happens to be a conductor, said he encouraged his brother to apply for a job at Canadian Pacific Railway.

“I always told him how much I loved my job and how I’m always excited to go to work and it made him realize that maybe he should try it out, so he applied and got hired,” Jeremy Waldenberger-Bulmer said in a statement provided to StarMetro on Tuesday.

“I feel like half of me is gone now.”

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Daniel started working for CP in November as a trainee and moved to Calgary to live with his twin brother. Daniel really enjoyed his training with the railway, Jeremy said in the statement.

“We had big plans of living out our careers with CP Rail and retiring together to golf all over the world.”

Growing up, the brothers fought like any other siblings, but were still “inseparable,” he said. As adults, they were united in their love of golf. “That was our thing to do,” he said adding the two would go golfing every chance they got in the summer.

“I hope he’s got a brand new set of clubs up there and is golfing the best game of his life,” he said.

Jeremy says his 1-and-a-half-year-old daughter is still walking around calling for her “Unco Dano.”

“Myself, my wife Merika and our daughter Tenley feel an emptiness in our home that is indescribable,” he said.

Jeremy had worked alongside Paradis and Dockrell and shared his condolences to their family and friends.

“When Daniel got paired with Dylan, he requested that Dylan remain his coach because he looked up to him and loved everything Dylan was teaching him,” he said.

“My heart goes out to everyone grieving.”

Vancouver Island resident Kane Ballentyne, 21, said he had known Dockrell for almost half his life, and met the engineer through the church community when they were neighbours in Kamloops, B.C.

“I remember waiting for his truck to come through the driveway on his days off,” Ballentyne said from Tahsis, B.C., about a 400-kilometre drive northwest of Victoria. “He’s been on the trains since I’ve known him. I think he really enjoyed it.”

According to Canadian Pacific Railway, Dockrell had worked for the company since 1985.

Remembered for his patented smile and reputation as a jokester, Dockrell was also known to Ballentyne’s family by another name, the young man recalled.

“Whenever he walked through the doorway, we’d say, ‘What’s up, Doc?’”

Like the Waldenberger-Bulmer brothers, Ballentyne and Dockrell bonded on the greens as regular golfing buddies and enjoyed their last game about a year ago, the 21-year-old said.

But the engineer meant more to him than that.

“He was kind of a godparent to me,” Ballentyne said. “I looked up to him. If I was in trouble, I’d always give him a call asking the right way of approaching something.”

Even though they lived provinces apart, the two kept in contact over the phone. With a hint of remorse, Ballentyne said he last checked in with Dockrell a few weeks ago.

“Just to say, ‘Hi,’ but he was at work and wasn’t allowed to talk on the phone,” he said. “Unfortunately, I was supposed to call him back and never did.”

And while Ballentyne said he’s still in shock from the loss, he’s taking comfort in the thought that the man he considered a member of the family is in a better place.

Paradis, also known for his infectious smile and sense of humour, will be remembered as a loving father and husband, his wife Jennifer Paradis said to StarMetro in a statement.

“The sun would rise and set with his daughters, and I was lucky to feel his love every day,” she said. “I will be forever grateful for our beautiful marriage, and he will be missed terribly by his loving family and friends.”

On Monday, a group of Calgary rail workers launched a crowdfunding campaign to support the families of the victims.

According to the fundraiser page, organizers of the campaign regularly worked with the men.

“We need to do all we can to take care of these men’s families,” the GoFundMe page reads. According to the page, the money raised will be distributed to the families with the help of the union to make sure it’s done fairly.

Within a day, the campaign has reached more than half of its $60,000 goal.

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