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The Royal Hudson Returns to Squamish

Last month, on April 3rd, the Province of British Columbia announced that steam locomotive #2860 would go to Squamish for preservation at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park.

Last month, on April 3rd, the Province of British Columbia announced that steam locomotive #2860 would go to Squamish for preservation at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park.

The story didn't exactly grab front page headlines, but one of the people who noticed was Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth.

In a letter written shortly before she died, the Queen Mom recalled her memories of the 1939 train trip across Canada with her husband King George VI, and offered her encouragement to those undertaking the restoration. The Royal Train was actually powered by engine #2850, sister engine of #2860. It performed so flawlessly that the CPR was granted the honor of adding the "Royal" designation to all its Hudson Class locomotives. And so it was that engine #2860 became known as the "Royal Hudson".

News that the Royal Hudson was returning to Squamish brought back my own memories of the 1939 Royal Tour. I was just a kid that year, a lanky backwoods cowpoke living on a large cattle ranch in the remote foothills of Alberta.

Each evening the family fired up the coal-oil lamps and gathered around the battery-powered radio to follow the progress of the Royal Tour, our excitement mounting with each account of how "our" King and Queen had stopped to visit and chat with crowds of well-wishers. On the day the train was scheduled to head west from Calgary my sister and I saddled our horses before dawn and rode the 12 miles to Morley – over the Bow River bridge, past the residential school and the RCMP house, and up the hill to the corral behind the general store where we tied up our horses, and joined the waiting crowd.

The town of Morley has perhaps a dozen houses. It's on the Stony Indian Reserve and most of the folks waiting expectantly to greet their King and Queen were natives and other ranchers like ourselves who had come some distance for the event. Most of us had on our best GWG denims and big hats but one group of natives, in full feather regalia, were ready to put on a show.

Pat, the RCMP constable, was resplendent in scarlet serge and shiny spurs. The kids from the residential school, looking shy and uncomfortable in

their Sunday best, had been coached on how to bow and curtsy.

Then we heard her. The unmistakable "chh-CHH-chh-chh chh-CHH-chh-chh" of a steam locomotive at full throttle.

Why was she going so fast? She rounded the bend, whistle screaming, and thundered past.

All eyes turned to watch the empty observation platform on the last car disappear against the distant mountains.

Nobody said much. Bewilderment – embarrassment – the belated

recognition of our collective naivety.

And in that moment the bond between the Monarchy and our small corner of the Dominion began to unravel. The crowd just faded away as each of us left the Morley station and went back to being Canadian ranchers.

My sister and I tightened the cinches on our horses, bought a chocolate bar at the general store, and rode off home. We hadn't seen the King and Queen but watching that big Hudson 4-6-4 locomotive all shined up and leaning into the curve as she pounded past was a thrill worth every mile of our ride and I decided, then and there, to be an engineer when I grew up.

Although I never realized that boyhood dream the thrill of that moment was rekindled each time I pulled over to wave at the engineer and watch the Royal Hudson steaming up the tracks along Howe Sound.

When old #2860 began her tourist runs between NorthVancouver and Squamish in 1974 she was the only steam locomotive still running a scheduled service in North America. The golden era of steam had been over for more than a decade and the term "Royal" was itself becoming an anachronism.

Over the next 25 years the Royal Hudson hauled over a million passengers along the scenic Howe Sound route. But in 1999, her boiler and firebox in need of repairs, and with neither B.C. Rail nor the Government prepared to pay for the needed restoration, old #2860 was finally, and sadly, retired from active service.

We have missed the Royal Hudson. The sight and sound of that magnificent machine kindled more than just memories. Somehow live steam has the magic to transform 175 tons of polished steel into a powerful, living, breathing organism. And now, if all goes well, its just a matter of time before engine #2860 is back in steam.

Return of the Royal Hudson to the West Coast Heritage Park is the culmination of months of work by the District of Squamish Royal Hudson Task Force, and the West Coast Railway Association. The engine will be on display at the Heritage park for the summer and plans for the Royal Hudson Preservation Fund are in full swing.

As for King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, and the organizers of the Royal Tour – all are forgiven for not noticing Morley on their way by. Throughout her long life, the courage, dedication, and humanity of the Queen Mother epitomized, in the very best sense, the true meaning of "Royal". Sadly, she passed away at the end of March, but the Royal Hudson, in its new home at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park, will live on as a legacy fit for this very special queen.