Boarding a Troop Train at Place d'Armes, 1950

These remarkable photos that I discovered in the (Queen's University Archives, George Lilley Fonds V25.5-14-6) show a rare troop train embarking Canadian soldiers at Kingston. At the time I photographed them, as negatives, I had absolutely no information on what was happening and why. I knew the date the photo was taken in November, 1950 and that was all. There were far too many passenger cars (including sleeping cars) to be any regular CP passenger train! Notice the skylights of the Millard & Lumb building at top right (top photo), and officers checking in the arriving troops.

The photos actually show some of the 300 RCCS, RCEME, RCE and RCASC troops boarding a special six-plus car train at Place d'Armes on November 13, 1950. Part of the Commonwealth Korean brigade, the Special Force members were boarding one of two Kingston troop trains on a four-day trip to Fort Lewis, WA to undergo advanced training. In all, there would be 22 special trains taking the 10,000-man volunteer force, augmented by 1,000 regulars, to Washington. From there 1,000 would leave for Korea by the end of the month.  Four trains with the 2 PPCLI left Edmonton, with more taking 2 RCHA from Camp Shilo, MB.

After embarking in Kingston, where the troops had been stationed since early summer, the officers and senior NCOs would bed down in sleeper berths, with other ranks in tourist sleepers. Each train was supplied with two diners. What looks like the roof of the Bajus Brewery is just visible above the train, near centre (above). This marching unit is equipped with greatcoats against the weather. Did they walk all the way down the hill from Barriefield?

Boarding of the of the khaki-clad troops was in a wet snow, with families of any local soldiers exchanging farewells. As the first train pulled out, the RCCS Band played 'Auld Lang Syne'. Later, the RCEME Band played the jaunty 'There's Something About a Soldier' while the second train boarded. Seeing the troops off were Lt.-Col. J.R. Dunlop commanding the RCEME school, Lt.-Col. C.A. Peck commanding the Signals school and Lt.-Col. T.E. Sisson, assistant adjutant and quartermaster general, area headquarters. The Morris Coal Co. building is visible at right, with its nearby coal yard at Place d'Armes and Ontario St. until 1960. That homburg-wearing fellow at left, standing by the train's steel van, looks for all the world like a plainclothes railway policeman, and the van was likely to be his ride! Porters and trainmen for the train are up at the next vestibule.

Some of the troops are armed, with a mix of rifles and Sten guns. It's tough to determine what the circular patch on their left arms represents - likely denoting Canada's contribution to the Commonwealth brigade. Since this was prior to the accession of Queen Elizabeth, the Tudor crown of King George would be part of the insignia. Also worn are unit shoulder flashes. I zoomed in on the negative to find the New York Central oval, and the adjacent Canadian Pacific 'Spans the World' logo on the mini-box CP 240922 (below).

I have to wonder about the routing this train took - presumably up the K&P line to the CP mainline to Toronto. The cars are clearly those of Canadian Pacific. I wonder which steam locomotive led, because the diminutive D4's normally operating into Kingston would have a tough time lifting these steel passenger cars up the grade north of Kingston! 

I wanted to ascertain which tracks were in use for the embarkation, so  I checked out Snapshot Kingston'a 1966 aerial image (below). You'll notice that George Lilley has an elevated viewpoint for his photos. I believe he was on the CP loading ramp and I've marked his photo angles, approximately, with yellow arrows. The troop train is parked on the westernmost CP spur (between the red arrows) with the spur holding the (B)oxcars, the (M)illard & (L)umb building, and the foundation of the (M)orris Coal Co. building, both visible in the photos above. Indeed, in the top photo, Lilley has turned back toward Place d'Armes, catching the Millard & Lumb building in the background. It appears, based on all this, that the train was parked as close to the military base as possible, almost to Place d'Armes and Ontario Street.

Unfortunately, on November 21, just eight days later, one of the many troop trains en route to Washington state collided with an eastbound Canadian National passenger train at Canoe River, B.C. more than 300 miles west of Edmonton. Twenty 2 RCHA troops from Camp Shilo, MB perishing in the wreck with 58 injured. The cause of the wreck was a miscommunication in setting up a meet between the two trains.

As a technical note on preservation, the value of having access to original news photo negatives in the Queen's University Archives is reinforced, considering the alternative. This clipping that appeared in the November 14, 1950 Whig is so muddy as to be virtually uninterpretable, and it's severely cropped to fit the columns available. It's almost impossible to pick out even the coarsest detail, unlike Lilley's crystal-clear photos!

I feel very fortunate to have had access to the Archives' incredible holdings, and through the sale of my books on Kingston's industrial waterfront, to contribute monetarily in a small way to their valiant and valuable efforts.