I understand that in 1939, CNR repainted 6400 Class U-4-a Northern in a Navy Blue Paint Scheme to pull the Royal Tour Train when Queen Elizabeth came to Canada in May of that year. How long was this paint scheme kept on the locomotive? What was this train’s consist while being pulled by 6400? Were the passenger cars repainted to match the locomotive? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Ghonz
Pictures I have of Royal Train of 1939 show painted Royal Blue with Cream window band crowns at ends of letterboard and Royal insignia centered in middle of car in lower blue band below windows. Train on CP was eleven cars pulled by Royal Hudson 2850 and twelve cars on CN with 6400 painted to match consist.
Hope this helps.
Thanks passengerfan,
Sorry about the late reply but I have been having an internet server issue for the past few weeks. Do you think you could derect me to some of the photos you speak of. It would really help me out. And one more question. Does any one know if locomotive 6400 was painted back into it’s black and green scheme? If so, when did this happen?
Thanks again,
Ghonz
Pictures I mentioned are in either Some Classic Trains or More Classic Trains. These books were put out by Kalmbach some years ago. I also understand that the Railroad Museum in Ottawa has additional information and pictures.
The 6400 was repainted at the conclusion of its Royal Train assignment.
Hope this helps.
Thanks alot passengerfan,
Thank you very much for your help. I will do some more research and then perhaps I will have this train running on my layout (if it ever get’s finished [sigh])
The Queen Elizabeth you are refering to was our present Queens mother who died acouple of years back.
And very well revered she was too…
Best wishes
Steve
Steve
Sorry for the miss interpretation…
Saw an ad today (O Gauge Railroading?) for an O gauge version of the 6400 in Royal Train paint plus a couple of coaches.
Queen rules, OK!
The 1939 Royal Tour of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth ( the Queen mother) had many engines and consist depending on which direction and in which country they were traveling. They went west with CPR, east with CNR, south with PRR and NYC. The full story and photos, maps posters, models in HO and O guage, paint schemes and all consist is at: http://www.themetrains.com/royal-train-m-fomras-ho-scale-u4a-cn-6400-model.htm
CN 6400 went on to NYC and was on tour at the NY World’s Fair. She was re-painted in 1958? to black, green and gold, perfectly preserved, and is now on indoor display at the Museum of Transportation in Ottawa, Ontario
Personal opinions on the British monarchy fall under the umbrella of politics, which is a prohibited discussion topic on these Forums. Posts have been edited.
Maybe helps put in context to remember George VI was the king about whom the movie “The King’s Speech” was made a few years ago, with Colin Firth playing the king.
Years after the tour, a Pullman porter who had served the king and queen on the journey was interviewed. He noted that the king regularly gave him a tip of a dime when turning down the bed etc. - not much, even during the Great Depression. At the end of the trip, the King complimented the man on his fine service and shook hands with him - slipping him a $100 bill in the process. As the porter noted, the king apparently had a rather playful sense of humor.
Google images have lots of photo’s of the train, unfortunately, most are B&W. There are lots of artist renditions in colour and they will give you an idea of the paint job. I read that protocol demanded the painted locomotive(s) be returned to their original state once the tour was over. The Hudson did a trip into the U.S. after the Canadian tour and it was repainted when done.
I have been trying to find the best models to represent the train, however, suggestions have been slow to come on all the various forums and groups I have been asking on. I am now following some Facebook sites that I hope will lead me to more help. While I have the confidence to do the paint work, my knowledge of the types of coaches is sorely lacking. Such a project would make for a good magazine article IMO, however, I am not sure if any of them would find it worthwhile.
Every once in a while you will see a Vancouver Hobbies CN 4-8-2 Northern painted up in the Royal paint for sale, so keep your eyes open. Central Hobbies in Vancouver has a lot of brass passing through its doors, so you could give them a call and tell them what you are looking for.
I have two of Rapido Trains Hudsons on order and one of them is with the Royal Paint job.
In my world, protocol is broken and the Hudson was allowed to keep the paint scheme for life.[C):-)]
Being somewhat of a history buff is what draws my interest to special trains. History is replete with them and regardless of who or what is connected to them.
If anyone has links or suggestions as to what and whose models would be a good starting point for the Royal Train, all help is appreciated.