This blog is about Noble land rig #E1501 and some of its crew members. The stories and some of the photos were submitted by Scott Engele, Les Brown and Barry Detbrenner, crew members on E1501.
Rig # E1501 which is pictured above, was awarded a 320+ day contract in Blairmore, Alberta located in the Canadian Rockies It was rigged up on a site approx.3 kms off of the highway just behind the Blairmore golf course. This would be the new home for rig and camp staff for almost a year. Once the rig was rigged up and spud, and the Leasehand (Alvin Hoffman) was off tour, his duty now was to find sand for the horseshoe pits. Then the tournament schedules would be drawn up.. Scott Engele managed to find an old horseshoe trophy at a value village, which would be awarded to the tournament winner at the end of the horseshoe season
The following story from Scott Engele is about the comradeship, respect and friendship that he found on the rigs that he worked .These qualities and the teamwork, among people that often had not met prior to their first day at the rig or camp, is a direct result of motivated crews and the way the rig is managed..
Scott is no longer in the industry he is now in sales but is grateful for what he learned, the friends he made and the laughs he had; loves to talk of his rig days and can tell some very funny stories about those days..
Scott's Memories:
I was so appreciative to have the experience of working in this Industry for Noble. Every person that was part of the team - from Camp staff to Rig Crews were all such good people, they took such pride in what their roles were. One of my favorite crew members was Ronnie Firth, who I describe as awesome, was always smiling and ready to work.. Ron really understood every aspect of the drilling rig, not just his job but also a great deal about the complete operation. Ron was also a great co-pilot who did his part to make sure we made it to work on time (we rode together from Saskatchewan and Ron would occasionally find himself either without a license or transportation, so would then be designated copilot) He always co-piloted us home safely as well, to enjoy our days off! His laughter was genuine and contagious, Ron was welcome in our home at anytime.
Les Brown, Scott Engele, Ron Firth and Barry Detbrenner were all from Saskatchewan (more fine young Saskatchewan fellows) they would travel together in Scotts 1977 Ford LTD sedan (found in a compound). It was referred to as the Carbon Cruiser. Scott describes it like this - The exhaust was hanging with tie wire, interior covered in dust that came in from the rusted out wheel wells and the dust from driving on forestry trunk roads. We'd pull up to a
turbo station and tell the attendant to please fill up the oil and check the gas. They had put on 14,000 miles crew changing when the car decided to quit. This happened in Saskatoon, on their way home for days off. Fortunately they were travelling at quite a high rate of speed so when it quit, Scott's job as pilot, was to steer it into a nearby Travelodge, in neutral with no power steering and no engine running. They left the car there for the time being and when Scott returned the next morning the Carbon Cruiser was gone; the fire department had towed it to a compound because of leaking gas and possibly several litres of oil in the trunk.. Sold it for $100.00 c/w Noble sticker stuck on the dash and the dingle balls hanging from the mirror.
Barry tells of one Halloween when Scott went to a Sally Ann store (2nd hand) and bought dresses along with mop heads which were to be used as wigs so they could dress for the occasion.
"put your troubles in a pocket with a hole in it"!
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