The owners of Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee inc. are bringing The Pacific to Halifax on November 10 – 16th. This was the rail car used by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth I (later more popularly known as the Queen Mother)or the 1939 Royal Tour. No public tour unfortunately, it is a fund raiser for Alzheimer’s and to celebrate our 100th year in business.
Have a look at this article in the Toronto Star about the car and a short video of a ride in it.
More from John Murphy (Mother Parkers)…
We only got confirmation late last Thursday that Via had capacity to bring it out so we are working on those details now and I will keep you posted as best as I can. The Pacific has run from Montreal to Windsor so far and what has struck Paul and Michael Higgins (the owners of Mother Parker’s) the most was the huge interest and knowledge from railway buffs coming out to see it at stations and at railway crossings with those huge telephoto lenses etc. I wanted to at least make sure people that would appreciate such a grand car would get a chance to see it. I have a photographer lined up to get some shots at the NB / NS crossing which should be very cool.
I am hoping it will be on an accessible track where people could walk to the end of it to get photos and I have been talking to Butler scaffolding hoping they would build a podium at the level of the window for the dining room and lounge so photos could be taken. The Pacific was the prized possession of Paul Higgins Sr., who had a great affinity for rail travel, the monarchy, and Canada’s military. So I was told when he got wind of this car about to be dismantled, he showed up a day or two after with a certified cheque for $1 million dollars, which is quite a story. The Higgins brothers are very proud of the rail car but the stick in the ointment was insurance surrounding a public viewing as all the silverware and china from the Royal Tour is still on it, in addition to other artifacts from The Tour.