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This picture shows five young Prince Albert ladies standing at the rail- way station in Whitby in 1939. They were on their way to Toronto to see the arrival of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth with hundreds of other residents from the area. From left, Doris Murphy, Olive Bond, Grace Vick- ery, Mary Vickery and ‘Kay Murphy. The Royal Tour of 1939, by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, took Canada by storm. The resident during the visit and those Their Majesties King George VI and Queen Elizabeth waving from the rear of the royal train while they were above picture was taken by a Port Per to his father’s lumberyard. But the posals in the 1850s but work did not ride to Toronto was his first real train get underway until 1868. The first train journey. ran in 1871. The line was extended “For an eleven year old, the fun was _ through Cresswell to Lindsay in 1876. more in the ride than the destination,” The Port Whitby and Port Perry he says. “Still, I remember us getting Railway Company was mired in all excited about the King and Queen controversy and scandal during the coming and that we were going to construction per poorly built and constantly needed repair. Because of inadequate founda- tion and ballast, the train’s locomotive frequently sank into the mud on the stretch between High Point and Man- chester. see them. My mother came along too but for some reason, my brother Jack was unable to go, so later, my father drove him to Zephyr to see the King and Queen as they made a whistle stop and appeared on the back of their railroad car. Great memories of my child- hood,” he adds. Miriam (Peel) Price has a particularly fond memory of the Royal visit. In addition to her memories of the journey to To- ronto, she treasures a newspaper article with a faded photograph which cites... “a select shipment of capons for use on the royal train... the dressed capons were provided for the tour by Peel Brothers of Port Perry.” “That's my dad,” she says proudly. The Port Perry to Whitby Junc- tion run is 20 miles. At Whitby the train joined the main line to Toronto. However, on this day the special train travelled non-stop all the way to the CNE station and took over two hours. The colourful history of the railway dates back to initi: Two views of the old Port Perry railway station. “Top taken in 1912 and bottom in 1940, just before it was moved. riod. The railway was The train became affectionate- ly knownas the Nip ‘n Tuck, as it was “nip and tuck” as to whether or not it would make it up the steep grade at the Ridges. [though reasonably profit- able in its early years it was never able to pay the cost of its construc- tion and remained in debt during its entire existence. In April 1936, the train stopped running from Port Perry to Lind- say but continued a daily freight run from Port Perry to Whitby. This run carrying Port Perry’s children to Toronto was the rail- way line’s last. In 1941 the track was torn up so that the iron rails could be used in the war effort. The last remnant of the railway era is still available to be seen in Port Perry. The station in Palmer Park where the school children gathered on that cool day in May 1939, was lifted from its site, turned 90 degrees and moved back to the west side of Water Street. The original old railway station still exists and can be seen today as the rear section of the building behind Ives Florist. Paul Arculus Focus on Scugog FOCUS - MAY 2009 47