When The King & Queen Came Through The Valley - 1939

"British Monarchs Passed Through Montgomery Early Today

"At five forty Eastern Standard Time, just a few minutes behind the proposed schedule, the Royal train carrying the King and Queen of England from Buffalo to Washingon D.C. passed through Montgomery.  Hundred of local residents lines the tracks of the Pennyslvania Railroad to see the train on the history making trip" - The Montgomery Mirror, 1939

In May of 1939, King George and Queen Elizabeth embarked on a  three week tour of Canada, where their every move was well publicized and the couple was enthusiastically greeted by their admiring subjects.

The King & Queen At Niagara Falls, Jun2 1939

On the evening of June 7th 1939, the Royal Train crossed the Suspension Bridge at Niagara Falls and entered the USA.  Two hours later, it departed Buffalo via the Pennsylvania Railroad en route to Washington DC.  The trains route from Buffalo to Washington brought the royals right through the local towns of Williamsport,  Montgomery, Milton, and Sunbury.

 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth traveled via the Pennsylvania Railroad to meet with U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Washington DC.  It was the first time a British monarch had set foot in the United States.   Regarded as a private diplomatic mission, most of their travel took place at night.    Railroads took the same precautions as they did for a POTUS (President of the United States) train. 

On the evening of Wednesday, June 7, the pilot train and the royal train departed Buffalo NY at 10:56 and 11:15 p.m. respectively. Eight hours later, near Williamsport, the pilot train developed a "hot box" 

"A hot box is the term used when an axle bearing overheats on a piece of railway rolling stock. When the oil leaked or dried out, the bearings overheated, often starting a fire that could destroy the entire railroad car (and cars coupled to it) if not detected early enough."

King George & Queen Elizabeth on the Royal Train 

"Special guards were at every switch on the line and mounted cavalry and troops of infantry of the Pennsylvania National Guard stood guard at Milton, Northumberland and Sunbury along the regional route of the King's special.

Twenty-seven members of Troop G Cavalry were stationed at the water tower in the Northumberland railroad yards from three o'clock this morning until after the passing of the royal train which stopped at the tower to take on water. 

Other special railroad police and railroad employees stood guard at vantage spots along the line and special precautions were taken at all switches along the route to prevent any possible miscue that might endanger the royal couple." -The Lewisburg Journal

Crowds formed all along the trains route.  "Even in the country, people came out to wave, " reported C.E. Freck, an engineer from Sunbury who crewed on the pilot train.  "State police protected crossings where there were always crowds' and they drove with the train in their white cars where the highways paralleled the railroad tracks."

The Royal Train, in Canada

At Renovo, Pa

"All Renovo was out to see the train.  Hundreds were in night clothing with coats thrown over their shoulders."

At Williamsport

Up and down third street, hundreds of people paced coins on the rails.  Even more did so for the second train, making a hasty scramble to change them to the west bound track as the train came through the city.   383 National guardsman and 179 State Motor Police were used for protection in the Williamsport division.

Near Montgomery

The pilot train, loaded with members of the press, was halted not far from Montgomery when a journal overheated on one of the Canadian National Sleeping coaches.

There were no roads near the tracks in that area.  When the train stopped, state motor police and national guardsmen dashed toward it from all directions.  They formed a cordon around it, although no one else was near.  The men held their positions, remaining on duty while the Royal train was run around the disabled pilot train.

The Royal Train proceeded alone for 75 miles.  It was one of the first times that a train bearing important personages was without a pilot train.

Private Dining Room for the King and Queen seen from the Royal Sitting Room

At Milton

The Milton highway patrol were ordered to be on duty at the grade crossings at Milton at 5am, indicating the train was expected to pass through a short time later.
Milton Guardsmen patrolled the area above yards to Milton, and Williamsport troops were on duty from Milton to a point above Williamsport.

Lewisburg & Montandon

 All side line switches were held open by blocks of wood placed by special crews. A large number of Lewisburg, East Lewisburg and Montandon residents lined the tracks at Montandon for a glimpse of the royal special -which blasted through the neighbor town at a fast clip shortly after six

 A second section of fourteen coaches containing members of the royal entourage accompanying the King and Queen followed approximately an hour after the first section on which the King and his Queen were passengers

.Seeking mementoes of the occasion, many local residents placed small coins on the rails and collected them after they had been flattened out by the passing of the train. Of particular interest was the royal coat of arms and insignia painted on the side of each of the special coaches in the train. No glimpse of the royal couple or any of the members of the party was to be had at the early hour.

Among the Lewisburg spectators present as the train passed were: Mr. and Mrs. James F. McClure, Mr. and Mrs. James A. Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Leighton Miller, William Roth, Prof. and Mrs. Earl Gill, Miss Arlene Reigle, Benjamin Kauffman, Mrs. Miriam Kauffman, Miss Mary Kauffman, Charles F. Lindig, Mark E. Halfpenny, Mr. and Mrs. Roy A. Birchard, Harry Stein, Dr. and Mrs. L. P. Fowle, Meatus V. Arbogast, Dr. Melville Nesbit, Miss Mellicent Melrose, Mr. and Mrs. Harold Eisley, Mrs. Charles Frederick and children, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Meachum, Mr. William Kratzer and Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Heimbach.

The Royal Seal was applied under the windows of the cars carrying the King & Queen

At Sunbury, Pa

Crowds at Sunbury gathered to see the Royal Train pass at 6am, not recognizing it as the royal train but believing it was the pilot train, which had been delayed near Montgomery.  The Pilot train rushed through an hour later, hurrying to overtake the Royal train.

The Sunbury residents were alerted at 6:30am of the mishap, and only then understood that the royal train had already passed through, with little attention.

WKOK radio was granted unlimited hours of operation by the FCC for the first time since it opened in 1933.

"As an example of this kind of quality of radio service, WKOK will go on the air at 6am Thursday with a complete description of the arrival and passage through Sunbury of the King & Queen of England.  Commentators with microphones will be on the track side at what may be the first and only visit of royalty to Sunbury."

Sunbury men who served as crew on the Royal train were: H.G. Tweed, engineman, J.A. Karge and C.A. Gemberling, firemen. 

 D.C. Ferer and F.C. Gift, along with C. E. Freck, were enginemen on the pilot train.  "All were gratified at their selection for service and will remember it as an outstanding event in their railroad careers". 

The Royal Train, At Union Station

Danville Resident To Meet With The  Royals

The Rev. George W. Humphreys, D.D, pastor of St Pauls M.E. Church and a native of England, received a "command" from the English Ambassador at Washington.  The invitation, #564, read as follows:

Visit

Of Their Majesties The King & Queen

Admit

The Rev George W. Humphreys

to

British Embassy Garden June 9, 1937

Entrance by "Embassy Out" Gate Between 9 and 9:45 am.  Not transferable.

It was to be the second time Rev. Humphrey was presented to the English Royalty. Before coming to American in 1923, he had been informally presented to King Edward VIII, grandfather of the current ruler, when he won the tennis championship in South England in 1904.

Humphreys made the trip to Washington and back in one day - as he was busy writing a book that was scheduled to go to press that September.

Also From Danville, and Surrounding Areas:

Five boys from the Columbia Montour Council Jamboree Troop served as escorts to the King and Queen.  The boys rode in an automobile as escort as the British Royalty entered the Worlds Fair.

Two Danville Boy Scouts, William Rhoads (Age 15, son of Mr & Mrs Atwood Rhoads) and Wilbur Seidel were selected for the honor, along with Alvin Woodring Jr of Bloomsburg, Martin Freas Jr and Clifton Johnson from Berwick. The entire troop  had a "close view" of the king and queen at the fair.

From Selinsgrove (& Middleburg)

Douglas Protzline & Robert Starr of Selinsgrove were among the 600,000 who went to Washington to see the King & Queen of England.

Portzline & Starr stood along Constitution Avenue, near the capitol building, where they saw King George attired in naval uniform ride with President Roosevelt. The QUeen followed in a car with Mrs Roosevelt.

A.D. Gougler and Frank S Attinger, both of Middleburg, and Clayton Leach of Selinsgrove, also saw the royal processsion.  They were the guest of Congressmen Richard M. Simpson.

When President Roosevelt Served The British Monarchs Hot Dogs, At Hyde Park

On the weekend  June 10‐11, the royal couple were guests of  Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt at their private estate in Hyde Park NY. In contrast to the official state dinner in Washington DC three days earlier, their time at Hyde Park was cozy and informal.

The President of the United States treated the King and Queen of England to a picnic on the front porch of Top Cottage,. On the menu were traditional American picnic fare, such as ham and turkey and strawberry shortcake.  And, to the horror of FDRʹs mother (in the floral dress seated on the far right),  Roosevelt served the King & Queen hotdogs.

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For More Local Stories & History:

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LEWISBURGERS SEE ROYAL TRAIN PASS THRU MONTANDON

All Precautions Taken To Insure Safety Of Royal Couple's Special

 All hail the King and Queen! Long live their Royal Majesties! Amid extraordinary precautions taken to protect the royal entourage, Britain's reigning monarchs, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, whizzed through Montandon shortly after six o'clock this morning while more than one hundred persons, half of them Lewisburgers, stood by the tracks and gaped at the Royal Special of Royal Blue and Silver. 

Special guards were at every switch on the line and mounted cavalry and troops of infantry of the Pennsylvania National Guard stood guard at Milton, Northumberland and Sunbury along the regional route of the King's special. 

Twenty-seven members of Troop G Cavalry were stationed at the water tower in the Northumberland railroad yards from three o'clock this morning until after the passing of the royal train which stopped at the tower to take on water. 

Other special railroad police and railroad employees stood guard at vantage spots along the line and special precautions were taken at all switches along the route to prevent any possible miscue that might endanger the royal couple.

 All side line switches were held open by blocks of wood placed by special crews. A large number of Lewisburg, East Lewisburg and Montandon residents lined the tracks at Montandon for a glimpse of the royal special -which blasted through the neighbor town at a fast clip shortly after six

 A second section of fourteen coaches containing members of the royal entourage accompanying the King and Queen followed approximately an hour after the first section on which the King and his Queen were passengers

.Seeking mementoes of the occasion, many local residents placed small coins on the rails aand collected them after they had been flattened out by the passing of the train. Of particular interest was the royal coat of arms and insignia painted on the side of each of the special coaches in the train. No glimpse of the royal couple or any of the members of the party was to be had at the early hour.

Among the Lewisburg spectators present as the train passed were: Mr. and Mrs. James F. McClure, Mr. and Mrs. James A. Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Leighton Miller, William Roth, Prof. and Mrs. Earl Gill, Miss Arlene Reigle, Benjamin Kauffman, Mrs. Miriam Kauffman, Miss Mary Kauffman, Charles F. Lindig, Mark E. Halfpenny, Mr. and Mrs. Roy A. Birchard, Harry Stein, Dr. and Mrs. L. P. Fowle, Meatus V. Arbogast, Dr. Melville Nesbit, Miss Mellicent Melrose, Mr. and Mrs. Harold Eisley, Mrs. Charles Frederick and children, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Meachum, Mr. William Kratzer and Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Heimbach.

 Five Boy Scouts from the Columbia-Montour Council of Scouts were selected to ride in an automobile as escort for the King & Queen.  They included William Rhoads of Danville, Wilbur Seidel of Riverside, Alvin Woodring Jr from Bloomsburg, & Martin Freas Jr & Clifton Johnson from Berwick.

Danville News, June 6 1939

Dr G.W. Humphries, a minister at Danville, was one of a select group of dignitaries invited to Washington D.C. to greet the royal couple.

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A Railroad History of the Royal Visit, 1939

According to the advance itinerary, the royal train passed through York PA at 8:23 a.m.

on the morning of Thursday, June 8, 1939. By this time, the pilot train was over an hour

behind schedule.   At Baltimore, PRR president Martin Withington Clement disembarked from the royal train and took personal charge of the situation. The tuxedo‐clad railroad executive helped to couple up a GG1 and check its air lines. Racing down Pennsy’s Northeast Corridor at 80 mph, the pilot train managed to catch up with and overtake the royal train, in time for the press to cover Their Majesties’ 11:00 a.m. arrival in Washington.

On June 8, the  royal train arrived in Washington DC via the Pennsylvania Railroad. Following a reception at the British Embassy, the royal couple were guests of honor at a state dinner in the White House. 

On June 9, the king and queen sailed down the Potomac in the presidential yacht to visit

Mount Vernon. They also laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in

Arlington VA.

The king and queen were scheduled to visit the New York Worldʹs Fair on Saturday,

June 10, 1939. Their royal train departed Washington Union Station at 11:30 p.m. on

June 9 behind PRR #4838. King George rode in the GG‐1ʹs cab as far as Philadelphia.

This showed extraordinary fascination with railroading on his part, since that portion of

the journey took place between midnight and 3:00 a.m.

A K4s Pacific took over the royal train at Jamesburg NJ, and pulled it to Red Bank NJ

over tracks of the New York & Long Branch Railroad. Reaching Red Bank around 6:00

a.m., the royal train was parked in the freight yard until shortly before 8:00 a.m., when

it pulled into the station for the partyʹs official arrival. After a public reception, the King

and Queen were taken by automobile to Fort Hancock, where they boarded a Navy

destroyer which took them across Lower Bay to The Battery on Manhattan Island.

In the event of fog on the bay, the backup plan was to continue by train from Red Bank

to Penn Station in New York City.

Upon arrival in Manhattan, the royal couple were taken via motorcade to the Worldʹs

Fair. At the end of the day, they were driven to FDRʹs home at Hyde Park.

Meanwhile, the empty royal train and its accompanying pilot train were moved and

prepared for the final leg of the kingʹs American tour. K4s Pacifics hauled the trains to

Rahway NJ, and GG1s pulled them to Penn Station, where they were restocked

(presumably in Sunnyside Yard?). The New Haven then took the trains to New

Rochelle NY, then back to New York City to hand them over to the New York Central at

Mott Haven. The Centralʹs T‐motors moved the trains to Harmon, where Hudsons took

over for the trip to Poughkeepsie. Both trains were parked there until it was time to pick

up the King and Queen at Hyde Park on the evening of Sunday, June 11.

ʺThey are such a charming and united family and living so like English people when

they come to their country house.ʺ

On the weekend of Saturday‐Sunday, June 10‐11, the royal couple were guests of

Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt at their private estate in Hyde Park NY. In contrast to

the official state dinner in Washington DC three days earlier, their time at Hyde Park

was cozy and informal.

The President of the United States treated the King and Queen of England to a picnic on

the front porch of Top Cottage, where (to the horror of FDRʹs mother) he served them

hot dogs.

Two twelve‐car trains transported the royal couple, their official party, and journalists

during their month‐long tour through North America. During the visit to Hyde Park,

both trains were parked at Poughkeepsie NY, and most of their passengers spent the

night aboard them.

At 9:15 p.m. on the evening of June 11, the royal train departed Poughkeepsie behind a

J3‐class Hudson and pulled into Hyde Park station approximately fifteen minutes later.

After fond farewells, the King and Queen were underway by 10:00 p.m. Like most of

their rail travel in the United States, this portion took place at night.

An hour and twenty minutes later, the trains paused at Rensselaer NY, where Delaware

& Hudson Pacifics took over. New York Central engineers accompanied D&H crews as

pilots for the next six miles over NYCʹs Troy and Greenbush Branch. At one minute past

midnight, the royal train entered D&H right‐of‐way at Troy NY. It reached the

Canadian border at Rouses Point NY around 5:30 a.m. It crossed into Canada on the

D&H‐owned Napierville Junction Railway, and was handed over to the Canadian

Pacific at Delson QC.

The royal train and its accompanying pilot train traveled over four U.S. railroads (New

York Central, Pennsylvania, New Haven, and Delaware & Hudson) during their six‐day

American visit. Pennsylvania Railroad was the primary contractor and ticket issuer. The

U.S. State Department guaranteed PRR a minimum of 200 first‐class fares for handling

the two trains, although there were usually fewer than 150 persons aboard.

After returning to Canada, the royal couple concluded their North American tour with

visits to New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. On

June 15, after a farewell luncheon at Halifax NS, they boarded RMS Empress of Britain

for their return to the United Kingdom.

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Heart Attack Fatal
Rev. Dr. G. W. Humphreys
Former Pastor Dies 

Rev. Dr. George W. Humphreys, 74, of Schuylkill Haven, former pastor of the First Methodist Church, town [Shenandoah], died suddenly at 1:33 a.m. yesterday of a heart attack in the Warne Hospital, Pottsville. The heart attack was brought on by a fall down the steps of his home Friday morning.  He was admitted to the hospital Friday afternoon.

Born in Brighton, England, in 1875, he was graduated from Oxford University, Cambridge, England, and the Nottingham Seminary, now known as the Nottingham Congregational College.  He came to this country at the age of 27 in 1902.

Ordained a Congregational minister, he later accepted a call to a church in Brooklyn, New York, and in 1912, while still in Brooklyn, he had his credentials transferred to the Methodist ministry, and served there for some years as a Methodist minister.

Came Here in 1923

He next served the Cumberland Church and the Centenary Church in Philadelphia.  He went from Philadelphia to Schuylkill Haven, and came to the Shenandoah Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1923.  He served here until 1928, when he accepted a call from St. Paul’s Church, Lancaster. He later served the Methodist Congregation in Salisbury, Maryland, and was then moved to the Methodist Church in Danville.  While at Danville, he was retired from the Methodist Ministry, and pensioned by four conferences: the New York, East; The Philadelphia Conference, of which the Shenandoah Church is a part; the Peninsula Conference; and the Central Pennsylvania Conference.

Rev. Humphreys was well known and extremely popular, and his fame as a lecturer and author preceded him wherever he went.

The author of more than four religious works, including To a Listening Heart, A Pastor Speaks Out, and the editor of an anthology of religious works, Rainbows, he was renowned as a writer and was in great demand as a lecturer.

Few are the Methodist churches or lecture halls throughout the East where his resonant voice was not heard at one time or another.  He was called upon for lectures at the University of Pennsylvania, and often gave lectures to graduation audiences.

Ardent Sportsman

An ardent sportsman, he was tennis champion of the South of England in 1898 at the age of 23 years.  He was a tennis enthusiast and many

y people in this country were taught the intricate points of the game under his hand.  He played tennis ardently until a few years ago.  He was also a great chess player, enjoying a close game with any and all comers.

For the past year, he had served the Congregational churches of Minersville and Fountain Springs, and since his retirement has served as supply pastor and special lecturer for the Methodist Philadelphia Conference.

He had made his home for the past five years with Mrs. Marian Coldren Anderson, Schuylkill Haven. Surviving are his widow, Mrs. Lillian Humphreys, at home, and a son, Merlin Humphreys, of Chester. The funeral will take place Wednesday from the Vincent Funeral Home, Danville, with services in the Minersville Congregational Church at 2 p.m.  Interment will be in the Union Cemetery, Schuylkill Haven.  Viewing will be Tuesday evening at the Vincent Funeral Parlor, Danville.