CPR 1939 Peninsula (Marathon), Ontario. A Royal Tour Stop

With our humidex reaching 40 degrees Celsius (around 104 degrees Fahrenheit) for a few days, I have been putting my energy into managing the legacy 'Stacks/Archives' in the basement which my parents accumulated. This major diversion of energy explains this week's abbreviated post. 

Looking back over 80 years of now 'historical' files accumulated by teachers, one also sees items which should be shared broadly using the available technology. With my particular interest in the north shore of Lake Superior, I found one to present immediately.

Before Facebook, there was Scrapbook.

Long before the internet, people collected images and stories from newspapers and magazines and 'curated' collections of items which interested them. Using mucilage, the items were glued into scrapbooks. So far, today's source scrapbook has endured for 83 years. It will be interesting to see if on-line Pinterest collections are still around in the year 2105. Do let me know, will you?

I don't know which side of the family filled a 15 x 11 inch scrapbook with clippings of the 1939 Royal Tour. Certainly my father's family actually attended or saw elements of the tour in Montreal.

My mother was 6 years old at the time. The careful adult effort put into the book, suggests it was not hers. However, the brand of scrapbook used matches others in her collection - so perhaps her older sister, or father (a veteran of the Great War), or her mother assembled this collection.

The clipping below has dimensions of roughly 5 inches by 13 inches. Many of the clipping photos are very large, making them attractive to newspaper readers, or people who wished to frame them afterwards. However, it often takes more than one pass of the scanner to digitize them. You can see elements of 'photoshopping' by a newspaper photo artist if you look closely.

The subject of the clipping is part of a simple, brief conversation between the King and Queen and a local resident of Peninsula (later Marathon) Ontario. Their typical interest in the citizens they encountered is evident in the exchange. Queen Elizabeth (later known as the Queen Mother) reflected afterwards that 'the Tour made us'.

... The 1939 Tour really marked the beginning of their roles as public relations ambassadors for, and wartime leaders of, Britain (and the 'Empire'/Commonwealth) during the Second World War. 

With the demanding schedule they followed, their knowledge of their Canadian 'subjects' increased, as did their PR skills. As these skills were refined, adapted and applied on the Tour ... their popularity with Canadians (Americans and Newfoundlanders) increased. 

... So the Tour made them effective and popular leaders - particularly when Britain needed all the help it could get early in the war - when Hitler's armies occupied most of western Europe.

From Peninsula, the Royal Train would be climbing the Ruling Grade to Neys - so a 'pusher' was being added to the headend. The Marathon Company pulp mill at Peninsula would soon be in constructed - providing forestry, log driving/log boom management, and mill jobs for the area in the years that followed.

from: Pic, Pulp and People; Jean Boultbee/Jesse Embree; 1981; Township of Marathon.

Looking timetable west, here is the station area as those on the Royal Tour would have seen it in 1939.

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More information on the Royal Tour of 1939 can be reached via the 'radio button' above:

Railway Technology & Systems 04

... under the heading ...

Royal Tour of 1939

The 1939 Royal Tour - Part 3 - Ottawa to Chapleau

Above, this is how Molson sold beer in 1939. Our look at the 1939 Royal Tour continues with the guide book's wayside narrative and images from along the way. And a beer ad from the end of the Dirty Thirties.

I have dreaded calculating how and where the tour made up the time they lost while stopped amongst the fog and icebergs. From Part 1, you'll recall that Vice-Admiral Sir Dudley North was effectively in charge of the designated royal yacht (RMS Empress of Australia) and its escorts. He bullied the Canadian Pacific captain, Archibald Meikle, into taking the 'fastest' northern route - which delayed the arrival at Quebec City by two days.

In the press, Captain Meikle was taking the blame for the delay, but he would not have taken that more northerly route in the spring - like the RMS Titanic had 27 years earlier.

Here is a point-form summary of the timing, Quebec City to Toronto.

The bold text summarizes key aspects of the schedule adaptations.

The local time was Daylight Saving but the railways used only Standard Time.

Arrived at Quebec City Wednesday, May 17 instead of Monday, May 15.
Two days behind schedule.

Arrived at Ottawa on Friday May 19 instead of Wednesday, May 17.
Two days behind schedule.

Left Ottawa at 1430hr on Sunday May 21 instead of 1800hr Saturday May 20.
The train was about 18 hours behind schedule leaving Ottawa.

The train made up about 18 hours between Ottawa and Toronto.
This included cutting the Kingston stop from 9.5 hours to 90 minutes.
The local Member of Parliament, Norman Rogers (then Minister of Labour), was shocked by the initial plan to stop there for only 30 minutes.

The arrival time at Toronto matched the published itinerary.
The train arrived at the CPR North Toronto station at 1030hr DST on Monday, May 22.
As planned, the royal party motorcaded to the events in Toronto.

The train left for the west from Toronto Union Station at 1945hr.

Here is a quick summary of the Toronto events in chronological order:

• Met the Dionne Quintuplets in the Lieutenant-Governor's suite in the Ontario Legislature. The Quints had their own train to bring them down from Callander - The Quintland Special. (The Quints were not on the official itinerary.)
• The Queen presented colours to the Toronto Scottish Regiment at Hart House at the University of Toronto. They lunched at U of T - The King asked for a chicken breast and a cup of coffee. The other 500 guests had a more elaborate menu.
• Drove among rows of 25,000 children assembled at Riverdale Park.
• Attended the running of the King's Plate at Woodbine.
• Visited Christie Street Hospital where they spoke to 250 veterans individually.
• Returned to Queen's Park for tea.
• Visited the Canadian National Exhibition.

from: Canadian Geographical Journal; July 1939; Canadian Geographical Society.

Kingston: I  think you can see the King boarding (standing) the lead car.
The Royal Train can be seen beyond the platform shelter
at Kingston's CNR 'outer station' on Montreal Street.

I can't remember where I purchased the roughly mounted and framed newspaper clipping seen below. After all these years ... here is its moment! It was obviously important to someone at some point to have been framed. It is extremely yellowed and I have desaturated it of colour.

I have enlarged the photo of the men and the caption farther below. Notice that the CPR crew operating to Toronto is taking over at Brighton. A decade or more ago, there remained a short manual crossover between the CNR and CPR at Brighton. 

The Pilot Train (carrying press and some tour officials and always ordered to run 30 minutes ahead) and the Royal Train were usually tucked into a quiet siding at night, and passing trains were given instructions in order to minimize noise there. The trains were guarded by police, and the location was not publicized. 

While there is nothing to indicate that the trains stayed at Brighton - it seems likely that a Brighton crossover was used and that the 2851 and 2850 led the trains again from that point westward.

(Brockville Museum home movies linked in the previous posts show the CNR 6400 operating on the CNR at Brockville and I churlishly observed that the 2850 indeed did not operate on the Royal Train without replacement between Quebec City and Vancouver - contrary to the often-quoted CPR promotion of that engine.)

from: Toronto Telegram, 1939.

Many of you have already noticed that something is 'missing' from the locomotive above.

The position of the rods and counter-weights seem to match in both photos,
so perhaps both photos were taken at roughly the same time.

from: Toronto Telegram, 1939.

from: Canadian Pacific Railway Diagrams and Data; ed: Omer Lavallee; 1985. Railfare.

The semi-streamlined Hudsons - the H1c, d, e classes 2820-2864 were those promoted as Royal Hudsons.

from: Canadian Geographical Journal; July 1939; Canadian Geographical Society.

Wearing the uniform of Admiral of the Fleet, 

the King inspects part of the guard of honour 

supplied by the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve 

at the North Toronto station.

In the years that followed, it seems likely 

that some of these sailors would be serving on the Canadian corvette convoy escorts 

protecting convoys for Britain from German U-boats during the Battle of the Atlantic.

from: Canadian Geographical Journal; July 1939; Canadian Geographical Society.

Above: You can see the Queen and King boarding the lead car.
The Royal Canadian Dragoons provided the Captain's Escort.

'This' was bothering me, so here is a description.
Sadly, the 'Plates' were not available.
... The entire tour was steeped in tradition and protocol.

from: Regulations for the Instruction and Movements of Cavalry, 1876; Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

from: Daylight Upon Magic; Tom MacDonnell; 1989; Macmillan.

The King and Queen at the Christie Street Hospital, Toronto.
This stop was extended from 7 minutes to 45 minutes as each of 250 veterans was spoken with.

According to the Canadian War Museum about 7% of Canada's population (of 8 million) was in uniform
during the Great War and the King felt a particular obligation to acknowledge their service.

from: Canadian Geographical Journal; July 1939; Canadian Geographical Society.

Queen Elizabeth presents colours to Toronto Scottish Regiment.

from: Canadian Geographical Journal; July 1939; Canadian Geographical Society.

Children near Riverdale Park ('waybills' attached) wave Canada's official flag.

Full page ad from back inside cover: Canadian Geographical Journal; July 1939; Canadian Geographical Society.

In 1939, people with subscriptions to the Canadian Geographical Journal were probably fairly well off.

If they were targeting affluent 40-year-olds in 1940 ...
(people who survived the Great War)
the target's great-grandfather would have been born circa 1825.

The 1939 Royal Tour - Part 2 - Quebec City to Cornwall

The CPR 2850 led the Royal Train - without replacement - from Quebec City to Vancouver. Except that it did not. This section reproduces a portion of the guide book printed by the railways for the Royal Tour of 1939.

from: Canadian Geographical Journal; July 1939; Canadian Geographical Society.

As mentioned in Part 1:

While a battleship escort had been left behind in Britain in case it was needed for war, the Empress of Australia was escorted by the cruisers HMS Glasgow and HMS Southampton. Secretly loaded in their holds and magazines were special steel boxes containing 3550 gold bars - worth about $2.4 billion in 2019 Canadian dollars (based on the 1939 exchange rate and accounting for inflation). Fifty tons of gold would help fund the early stages of a world war.

The Empress of Australia was designated as the 'Royal Yacht' for the trip.

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A Quick Review of Royal Personages

from: 100 Years in Pictures; DC Somervell; 1950; Odhams Press.

Above, are the children of King George V and Queen Mary. Not shown is John (1905-1919) who had a seizure disorder and was institutionalized for most of his life. Vital dates and their commonly used 'names' as adults are shown below. Each child often had at least four or five given names, they received titles as they matured, and (if applicable) they selected one name for their coronation (e.g. 'David' became King Edward VIII, 'Bertie' became King George VI).

Left to Right, above: 

Duke of Kent 1902-1942; King George VI 1895-1952; Princess Royal 1897-1965; King Edward VIII 1894-1972; Duke of Gloucester 1900-1974.

From the time of his birth, the future King Edward VIII had experienced a special status as the eldest male and the heir apparent. As an adult he was bright, quick, clever and at ease when speaking with others. The press referred to him as 'Prince Charming'. He was also bored. Surrounded by sycophants who abetted his worst behaviours, he enjoyed describing his liaisons with married women to close friends. This behaviour culminated in his relationship with Wallis Simpson. In the end, it turned out that she had greater ambitions for his status as Monarch than he did.

Immediately, on the death of King George V ...

King Edward VIII reigned from January 20, 1936 until his abdication on December 11, 1936.

The future King George VI experienced the worst child-rearing techniques that could be developed - through the rigid application of religious and military ideals for adults. He was left-handed but was forced to write with his right hand. While he was not frequently spanked he was regularly dressed down for his personal flaws in his father's (bookless) library/office. It seems likely that his stutter was a result of this treatment. Unlike his elder brother, he was introverted and (after his military experience) he developed his own personal career of service by taking an interest in the working conditions of British workers and trying to improve their lot. He was interested in history and tradition. In contrast to King Edward VIII's boredom and self-absorption, he had developed a deep understanding of the leadership responsibilities of the King. 

To oversimplify: The Abdication Crisis resulted from King Edward VIII's determination to marry a twice-divorced American - Wallis Simpson. The King is also the 'Defender of the Faith' and the Church of England did not allow re-marriage if one's former spouse was still alive. 

from: 100 Years in Pictures; DC Somervell; 1950; Odhams Press.

Above: The future Queen Elizabeth (later the 'Queen Mother') twice turned down the future George VI's marriage proposals. While he was quiet and had a particular idea about how a king should behave, she was relatively extroverted and charming. She was particularly skilled in making individuals feel noticed and understood. She helped guide the development of his 'public relations' behaviour.  Together, they invented the modern Monarchy. The long and gruelling 1939 tour of Canada and the US was where their skills and techniques first coalesced. 

One more note: King Edward VIII had never 'settled down' and only married after his abdication. He never had children. The future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth had two daughters before Edward's 1936 abdication and had planned a relatively quiet family life with the expected Royal Family duties. The surprise and challenge of having to become King, and the strain of the war years on George VI, was thought (with some bitterness) to have shortened his life.

*  *  *

Arriving at Quebec City in 1939

from: Canadian Geographical Journal; July 1939; Canadian Geographical Society.

As described in Daylight Upon Magic - a 1989 account of the 1939 Royal Tour - one puts one's best foot forward. Upon landing, one's first foot to touch foreign soil should be the right foot. When curtsying, the right foot remains in place while the left foot moves back. Some issues like this were written about in the press during the tour - in this age before social media.

Unused postcard.

from: Canadian Geographical Journal; July 1939; Canadian Geographical Society.

The dinner at the Windsor Hotel, Montreal. I think you can see Montreal mayor Camillien Houde seated between the Queen and King at the head table. Poor Prime Minister Mackenzie King has been shunted to the right end of the head table. All across Canada, he popped off the train first at most stops to 'greet' the descending King and Queen, and to introduce them to the local dignitaries - so he had better luck on most other days.

Mackenzie King's diary entry (from: Daylight Upon Magic; Tom MacDonnell; 1989; Macmillan):

Had it not been for the humiliating experience of being alone and isolated at the dinner table tonight, I should have enjoyed the evening very much as my mind was clear ... I am afraid I am far too sensitive. I shall never forget today, however; scenes of rejoicing, etc. So far as the feeling toward Monarch is concerned, nothing anywhere could have exceeded the evidence of spontaneous joys, or the day's demonstration. I felt very proud of my country.

The tables are arranged obliquely so no one is turning their back to the King (according to the 1939 caption).

Unused postcard.

To family members looking in: GB Gagnon was present in Dominion Square with a very large crowd when this photo was taken. The crowd spontaneously began to sing God Save the King and La Presse noted that the King and Queen turned to re-enter the hall with moist eyes.

With two-year-old Rosemary Gagnon at home, GB Gagnon then returned to Westmount, freeing Mabel and LC Gagnon to see the King and Queen on the rear platform at Westmount station as the train left Montreal. By then it was close to midnight.

The Royal Train spent the night in the siding at Caledonia Springs, Ontario.

Unused postcard.

from: Canadian Geographical Journal; July 1939; Canadian Geographical Society.

After dedicating the National War Memorial in Ottawa (from Daylight):

The service concluded ... the royal couple admired the Memorial and briefly passed along the ranks of the [Great War] veterans ... Then, in an inspired moment, they turned from the red carpet and waiting car and moved instead towards the cheering men ... almost immediately they were lost from view ... only the Queen's white hat could be seen bobbing here and there ... [Governor General Tweedsmuir regarding their protective detail]: "The faces of the Scotland Yard detectives were things I shall never forget!" ... For a solid half-hour the King and Queen moved through the thick crowd [of Great War veterans]. 

... From that point on, George's confidence grew with the size and enthusiasm of the crowds that seemed to spring up in larger numbers at each stop ... After Ottawa, the King and Queen took every opportunity to depart from the formal arrangements and get closer to the cheering throngs that surrounded them.

According to Daylight Upon Magic, through his study of history, George VI (formerly 'Bertie') was well aware of Queen Victoria's consort Prince Albert's idea of a modern working monarchy - whose members modelled, in public, the best qualities of the nation. However, after Prince Albert's death in 1861 and Victoria's subsequent seclusion ... and throughout the reigns of Edward VII and George V, this approach had apparently been abandoned.

from: Canadian Geographical Journal; July 1939; Canadian Geographical Society.

Regarding the legendary CPR 2850 ...

Using the adjusted schedule, as described in Daylight,
I think this home movie (link from Part 1 is repeated below)
of Brockville is from Sunday, May 21 in the afternoon.

Recall from Part 1 that days were lost from the original printed itinerary (eg. above)
due to icebergs and fog encountered while crossing the Atlantic.


Royal Tour at Brockville