Dominion Atlantic Railway Digital Preservation Initiative - Wiki
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DARSANSPAREIL
Dominion Atlantic Railway Pullman Parlour Car, "Sans Pareil", 1896 - 1912
The "Sans Pareil" (a French term meaning incomparible or without equal) was built in 1896 for the Dominion Atlantic Railway as a Pullman Parlour Car (at a cost, according to D.A.R. records, of $11,972).[1]
Gallery
Pullman builder's photo of the Sanspareil in 1896.
The Sans Pareil at Digby.
Dominion Atlantic Railway Business Car, "Nova Scotia", 1912 - Present
Sanspareil was converted from a parlour car to a business car for the D.A.R. General Manager in 1912 and renamed "Nova Scotia".[2] It was described in the CPR MP Report in 1941 as a wooden business car was built in 1896 and was 67'9-1/2" in length (after 1944 reported as 60' 8" but still built in 1896) on 6 wheel trucks.[3]
"Nova Scotia" played a significant role in history in 1917. It was parked at the North Street Station in Halifax on the morning of December 6, 1917 when the Halifax Explosion took place. The DAR's General Manager George E. Graham and his family were eating breakfast in "Nova Scotia" but the car sheltered them from the blast and rain of debris which killed many people around the station. Graham quickly made his way to Rockingham, the nearest surviving telegraph station and ordered a relief train from Kentville. It brought doctors, nurses, supplies and rescue equipment to Halifax the afternoon of the explosion and was one of the first relief trains to arrive in Halifax.[4]
Nova Scotia served as the DAR's business car until 1958 when it was replaced by a 1958 Pontiac Hi-Rail station wagon. Nova Scotia was transferred to Quebec where it was renamed Business Car No. 7 until it was retired from the CPR in 1963.[5] The car was initially owned by the Upper Canada Railway Society who ran it on steam excursions out of Toronto from 1963 until 1969. The car was sold to the London Public Library Association and in 1970 resold to a railway themed restaurant in Orillia, Ontario. It served as the Ossawippi Express restaurant office, restrooms and reception area[6] until the restaurant went out of business in 2010.
After the close of the restaurant, the city of Orillia transferred the Nova Scotia (and the rest of the restaurant cars) to the care of the Orillia Municipal Heritage Committee[7]. Among other interested parties, The Nova Scotia Railway Heritage Society[8] explored repatriating the "Nova Scotia"[9]. However the Orillia cars were purchased by a developer in Port McNicoll in 2012 who donated Nova Scotia to the Toronto Railway Museum in 2013 as part of their collection at the John Street Roundhouse in downtown Toronto.[10]
Google Street View of the cars in Orillia
Gallery
Canadian National business car No. 54 and Dominion Atlantic business car "Nova Scotia" at Yarmouth in official train for Massachusetts Governor Channing Cox on either July 21, 1923 or July 28, 1924.
Nova Scotia in Truro, date unknown.
Nova Scotia in Truro September 1940.
The Nova Scotia at Kentville on October 1, 1941.
Nova Scotia seen in Truro on Passenger train 7th September 1942
The Nova Scotia at Truro in 1946.
The Nova Scotia at Kentville in June 1956.
The Nova Scotia at Kentville in June 1956.
Business Car Nova Scotia beside the Kentville Repair Shop in August 1949.
Nova Scotia in Kentville, NS 30th August 1953.
Nova Scotia on back of Passenger train, Kentville, August 30, 1953.
No. 470 leaving for Kingsport with Train No. 11 from Kentville in August 1951. Nova Scotia is visible in front of the repair shop.
No. 2665 in the Kentville Railyard in August 1951 with Train No. 95 from Halifax. Nova Scotia is parked by the repair shop to the left of the car shop.
Nova Scotia, at Kentville Railyard parked beside the repair shop, Aug. 27, 1956.
The Kingsport train leaving yard. Nova Scotia sits beside the repair shop on Kentville on August 28, 1956.
Nova Scotia on Dec. 7, 1963 in Toronto just after retirement as CPR business car No. 7.
Nova Scotia on Jan. 3 1964 operated by the Upper Canada Railway Society.
Nova Scotia at Union Station with the drum head of the Upper Canada Railway Society in steam excursions with a blue paint scheme.
Nova Scotia business car in 1964 on a steam excursion run by the Upper Canada Railway Society.
Nova Scotia at Cambellford, Ontario on June 5, 1965 in excursion service with the Upper Canada Railway Society.
Nova Scotia at Niagara Falls on Sep 25, 1966. DAR Crests have been removed.
The Nova Scotia car arrives in December 2012 at the Toronto Railway Museum from Orillia.
References and Footnotes
- ↑ "Dominion Atlantic Railway Chronology of Passenger Car Purchases", Library and Archives Canada, Merrilees Collection, MG 31 NA A10, Vol. 55-4
- ↑ Canadian Trackside Guide 2008, Bytown Railway Society
- ↑ 1941 Canadian Pacific Railway Summary Of Equipment, Form M.P. 14 - January 1, 1941, page 38.
- ↑ Dan Conlin, "How Kentville and Wolfville helped a Stricken Halifax in 1917", Kentville Advertiser, Dec. 6, 1993, p. 3A
- ↑ Canadian Trackside Guide 2008, pag 3-79. Nova Scotia became the 5th CPR business car No. 7
- ↑ Ossawippi.com on the Wayback machine now that the restaurant is closed.
- ↑ Orillia Municipal Heritage Committee
- ↑ The Nova Scotia Railway Heritage Society
- ↑ NSRHS wants to repatriate the "Nova Scotia".
- ↑ [http://www.orilliapacket.com/2013/01/04/railcars-leave-orillia-for-good "Railcars arrive in Port McNicoll for good" Sara Carson, Orillia Packet & Times, January 8, 2013]
