Westward with the Prince of Wales

by W. Douglas Newton

There are not many railways that could stand that continuous test.

Of the ten cars in the train, the Prince of Wales occupied the last, "Killarney," a beautiful car, eighty-two feet long, its interior finished in satinwood, and beautifully lighted by the indirect system. The Prince had his bedroom, with an ordinary bed, dining-room and bathroom. There was a kitchen and pantry for his special chef. The observation compartment was a drawing-room with settees, and arm-chairs and a gramophone, while in addition to the broad windows there was a large, brass-railed platform at the rear, upon which he could sit and watch the scenery (search-lights helped him at night), and from which he held a multitude of impromptu receptions.

"Cromarty," another beautiful car, was occupied by the personal Staff; "Empire," "Chinook" and "Chester" by personal and C.P.R. staff. The next car, "Canada," was the beautiful dining car; "Carnarvon," the next, a sleeping car, was occupied by the correspondents and photographers; "Renown" belonged to the particularly efficient C.P.R. police, who went everywhere with the train, and patrolled the track if it stopped at night. In front of "Renown" were two baggage cars with the 225 pieces of baggage the retinue carried.

At Three Rivers a very cheery crowd wished His Royal Highness bon voyage. The whole town turned out, and over-ran the pretty grass plot that is a feature in every Canadian station, in order to see the Prince.

We ran steadily down the St. Lawrence through pretty country towards Toronto. All the stations we passed were crowded, and though the train invariably went through at a good pace that did not seem to matter to the people, though they had come a long distance in order to catch just this fleeting glimpse of the train that carried him.

Sometimes the train stopped for water, or to change engines at the end of the section of 133 miles. The people then gathered about the rear of the train, and the Prince had an opportunity of chatting with them and shaking hands with many.

At some halts he left the train to stroll on the platform, and on these occasions he invariably talked with the crowd, and gave "candles" to the children. There was no difficulty at all in approaching him. At one tiny place, Outremont, one woman came to him, and said that she felt she already knew him, because her husband had met him in France. That fact immediately moved the Prince to sympathy. Not only did he spend some minutes talking with her, but he made a point of referring to the incident in his speech at Toronto the next day, to emphasize the feeling he was experiencing of having come to a land that was almost his own, thanks to his comradeship with Canadians overseas.

Not only during the day was the whole route of the train marked by crowds at stations, and individual groups in the countryside, but even during the night these crowds and groups were there.

As we swept along there came through the windows of our sleeping-car the ghosts of cheers, as a crowd on a station or a gathering at a crossing saluted the train. The cheer was gone in the distance as soon as it came, but to hear these cheers through the night was to be impressed by the generosity and loyalty of these people. They had stayed up late, they had even travelled far to give one cheer only. But they had thought it worth while. Montreal, which we passed through in the dark, woke us with a hearty salute that ran throughout the length of our passing through that great city, and so it went on through the night and into the morning, when we woke to find ourselves slipping along the shores of Lake Ontario and into the outskirts of Toronto.