Royal train
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A royal train is a set of railway carriages dedicated for the use of the monarch or other members of a royal family. Most monarchies with a railway system employ a set of royal carriages.
Australia
The various government railway operators of
Austria-Hungary
The imperial and royal court used the k.u.k. Hofsalonzug (Imperial and Royal Court Saloon Train). Various versions existed under the rule of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. Many of the cars were built by Ringhoffer in Bohemia. The cars were operated and maintained by the Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways. Two cars have survived, one is the dining car kept at the Technical Museum in Prague, and the other is the car of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, which is kept at the Technical Museum in Vienna.[1]
Belgium
Historic use
Some of the historic royal coaches are still preserved, two of which are on display at the Train World museum at Schaerbeek. From the royal coaches that served for King Leopold II and King Albert I are preserved the three most important royal coaches. From the royal coaches that served for King Leopold III and King Baudouin are preserved: the drawing room coach (with private rest compartment for the king), the dining coach (with big and private dining compartment and kitchen) and the sleeping coach for the king and queen (with small drawing room, sleeping compartments, bathing compartments with bathtub and compartments for the staff).
Modern use (from 2000)
For rail transport during visits of heads of state to Belgium, there is a possibility of using a first-class
In October 2019 the royal family used a converted 1st class train to visit Luxembourg. They departed from the Brussels-Luxembourg railway station, to not hinder the busy train network around Brussels.[2]
Canada
Royal trains have been employed to
- 1860 – King Edward VII)
- 1901 – King George V)
- 1906 – Canadian Pacific Railway: Duke of Connaught (Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn)
- 1939 – Canadian Pacific Railway and Queen Elizabeth
Denmark
Denmark’s oldest royal coach dates back to 1854 and known as JFJ S (I) (Jysk-Fynske Jernbaner) the S stands for Salonvogn which is the Danish classification for all the royal cars up to the modern day. It was gifted to King Frederik VII by Peto, Brassey & Betts to the inauguration of the railway between Flensborg-Tønning. (Now in occupied Southern Schleswig) and as a result of the Second Schleswig War better known as the war of 1864, it was stranded on the Prussian side but returned to Denmark in 1865 in a barge. It was rebuilt several times first in 1883 where it was fitted with a vacuum brake, gaslighting and Mays heating system. It was rebuilt again in 1898 from a 3-axle to 2-axle car and classified
For her 60th birthday in 2000, Queen
Ethiopia
Emperor
Germany
Before 1918
Germany consisted of more than 30 states – most of them monarchies – when railways came into existence. In the beginning, royalty used first class coaches or first class compartments within public coaches and trains. So prince Frederick of Prussia (later German Emperor) travelled in a first class compartment in 1851 when the train derailed in the vicinity of Gütersloh.[4]
But soon most of these kings, great dukes and princes possessed their own private coaches or trains. In other cases the railway companies provided such coaches and rented them to royalty. Complementary to those private coaches and trains were private reception rooms in the station buildings and in some cases even
Prussia
King
Other states
The kings of Saxony,[7] Wurttemberg[8] and Bavaria possessed their own trains. Two royal coaches of a most splendid design used by king Ludwig II of Bavaria are preserved in the Nuremberg Transport Museum, the king's personal coach as well as a terrace-coach, by half open-air.[9]
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic inherited about 100 of these royal cars, a number far larger than useful for the president and government. So no new cars were built but some of the old ones used. Others were used in luxury trains or in ordinary services, especially dining cars, or as sleepers. Many of them were also converted to departmental vehicles.[10]
Nazi Germany
After 1933 when Adolf Hitler came to power he and Hermann Göring ordered complete modern trains for their use. Other top officials and generals of the Wehrmacht were equipped with personal coaches. At least 78 such vehicles were built and intensively used. During World War II trains of this stock were used from time to time as movable headquarters, and some were damaged or destroyed. The saloon of Adolf Hitler e.g. was blasted by German troops in the last days of WW II.[11][12][13]
Post war period
Federal Republic of Germany
After World War II quite a number of the saloon coaches built under Nazi rule proved fit for further use. So the
German Democratic Republic
In the
Japan
In
When the emperor must travel on the Shinkansen or private railways, other trainsets may be used for Omeshi Ressha service, such as the Kintetsu 50000 series EMU for visits to Ise Grand Shrine. These trainsets are otherwise operated regularly for passenger service, but as is the case with the Kintetsu 50000 or the N700 Series Shinkansen, may have carriages retrofitted with bulletproof windows to accommodate the emperor.
Additionally, when travelling to Ise, an additional carriage is reserved solely for the transport of the
Under Emperor Akihito, imperial trains were used less and less: the emperor generally travelled by air, or regular scheduled trains with a reserved carriage. In this case, bulletproof carriages were still be operated where available. Imperial trains were still operated occasionally, but they mainly functioned as a cordial reception for state guests, rather than transportation of the imperial family.
Morocco
The Moroccan royal train was composed of
The Netherlands
The
New Zealand
The Royal Trains were special train carriages used by the New Zealand Railways during royal visits to New Zealand between 1901 and 1954.[19]
Norway
The Norwegian Royal Train is a train carriage used by the Norwegian royal family and maintained by the Norwegian Railway Museum. The current carriage was introduced in 1994 in connection with the Lillehammer Olympics and replaced a carriage from 1962. The current carriage contains a main sleeping compartment with dressing room and adjoining bathroom, two guest compartments, guest bathroom, kitchen, guard compartments and a combined dining and conference room.[20]
The carriage is pulled by ordinary railway locomotives and most often ordinary passenger carriages for press and other guests are added.
Romania
The Romanian Royal Train was ordered by King
The train is composed of one steam-engine locomotive (under restoration, for the moment) and five railway cars: the Dining Car, the King's Car, the Queen's Car, the Guests Car and the Royal House Personnel's Car.
On 3 January 1948 King Michael I and his mother, Queen Elena, were forced into exile by the newly installed
During the communist era, the train was used occasionally by the communist rulers of Romania, especially by Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej.
In recent years, the Royal Train was gradually renovated by an NGO (the old steam locomotive is still under renovation and cannot be used).
On 15 October 2012, ownership of the train line reverted from the state to the ownership of
King Michael I of Romania was given a state funeral on 16 December 2017. At the conclusion of the ceremonies in Bucharest, the coffin was taken from Băneasa Railway Station to Curtea de Argeş Railway Station on board the Royal Train for burial in Curtea de Argeş.[21][22]
Russian Empire
The late Romanov Tsars traveled by rail extensively over the expanse of their empire.
The
Accordingly, new standard-gauge and broad-gauge trains for the use of the Imperial Court were constructed. The new broad-gauge Imperial Train for domestic travel became ready in time for the
The Russian Empire itself came to an end with Nicholas II's abdication in 1917 while aboard his Imperial Train at Dno.[25] The train itself was later moved to Alexandria Park in the 1930s and used as a museum exhibition. It was gutted by the Nazis during the Second World War. In 1954, the Politboro ordered all remnants of the Imperial Train to be dismantled.[26]
South Africa
From 5 February to 10 April 1934, Prince George, Duke of Kent, toured South Africa in a special train known as The White Train.[27]
The three-month-long British royal family tour of South Africa in 1947 saw the ordering of eight ivory-painted air-conditioned saloons from Britain, three of which were built to Blue Train sleeping car standards, while the remaining five were special saloons for use by the royal family and Field Marshal Jan Smuts, the South African prime minister.[28]
After the tour the Blue Train type saloons were painted in matching livery to serve on the Blue Train, while the remaining special saloons became part of the White Train used exclusively by the governor-general and later the president of South Africa. Part of the Royal Train is preserved in the Outeniqua Transport Museum, George, South Africa, with a SAR Class "GL" 2351 "Princess Alice" Garrett steam locomotive that actually was used to haul the White Train in 1947.[28]
Sweden
United Kingdom
In 1948, upon the formation of
Non-royal official trains
Rail transport, in the form of special
See also
- Royal yacht
- Official state car
- Air transports of heads of state and government
- North Korean leaders' trains
References
- ^ "Technisches Museum Wien -Startseite".
- ^ "King and Queen of Belgium arrive by train in Luxembourg for a three-day state visit". 17 October 2019.
- ^ Crozet, Jean-Pierre. "The Imperial Cars". The Franco-Ethiopian and Djibouto-Ethiopian Railways. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
- ^ German language Wikipedia: Eisenbahnunfall von Avenwedde.
- ISBN 3-7654-7070-8, p. 14.
- ^ Alfred Gottwaldt: Der Hofzug sr. Majestät des Deutschen Kaisers, Königs von Preußen. Modelleisenbahner Verlag. [o.J., ca. 1992]; Helmut Schroeter: Der Hofzug des letzten deutschen Kaisers. In: Lok-Magazin 9 (1964), S. 37.
- ^ Magistrat der Stadt Potsdam (Hrsg.): Katalog. Europäische Salonwagenausstellung vom 22. – 23. Mai 1993 auf dem Gelände des Raw Potsdam. Potsdam 1993, p. 64, No. 33.
- ISBN 3-421-05181-X, p. 241.
- ISBN 3-7654-7070-8, p. 52.
- ^ Walter Haberling: Reichsbahn - Salonwagen. Bauarten und Einsätze zur Reichsbahn- und Bundesbahnzeit. Freiburg 2010.
- ISBN 978-3-937189-29-1.
- ISBN 978-3-937189-35-2
- ISBN 3-921700-27-2. (Eisenbahnen und Museen 23)
- ^ Fritz Engbarth: Der General vor der Rückkehr. In: Eisenbahn-Kurier. Nr. 395/Jahrgang 39/2005 (Augustheft). EK-Verlag, S. 34-35; Lok-Report. Ausgabe 01/2006; LokMagazin. Dezember 2007, p. 21.
- ISBN 978-3-88255-704-6
- ^ Boudarham, Mohammed (10 April 2009). "Nostalgie. La fabuleuse histoire du train royal". TelQuel (in French). Archived from the original on 23 July 2013.
- ^ "Royal Train". Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ^ "Page at the official site of the Dutch Royal Family about the royal train". Archived from the original on 14 February 2007.
- ^ Atkinson, Neill (11 March 2016). "Railways - Passenger travel". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
- ^ "Kongevogna klar for brudeparet". dagbladet.no. 14 August 2001.
- ^ "Ziua funeraliilor Regelui Mihai I al României | Familia Regală a României / Royal Family of Romania". www.romaniaregala.ro. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
- ^ "Program of the funeral of King Michael I of Romania | Familia Regală a României / Royal Family of Romania". www.romaniaregala.ro. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
- ^ a b Malevinsky 1900, p. 1
- ^ Malevinsky 1900, pp. 2–4
- ISBN 978-0307754622
- ^ "The fate of Nicholas II's Imperial Train". 12 January 2021.
- ^ "HeraldLIVE". HeraldLIVE.
- ^ a b "African Adrenalin - สร้างรายได้กับ SLOT". 3 February 2023. Archived from the original on 22 June 2009.
- ^ Royalty on the Rails Rail issue 462 28 May 2003 pages 36-43
- ^ Станция Покровск. Правительственный вагон-салон Archived 8 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine (Pokrovsk Station. Government Railcar) (in Russian), with photos
- ^ "Philippine National Railways Rolling Stock Status" (PDF). Philippine Railway Historical Society. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
Literature
- Malevinsky, P (П.Малевинский) (1900), Императорский ширококолейный поезд для путешествий по России постройки 1896 - 1897 гг. Составлено под руководством Временного Строительного Комитета по постройке Императорских поездов инженером П. Малевинским (Imperial broad-gauge train for travel in Russia, constructed in 1896-1897. Compiled by Engineer P. Malevinsky under the guidance of the Temporary Construction Committee for the Construction of Imperial Trains) (PDF) (in Russian), МПС России (Russia's Ministry of the Means of Transportation) (Individual illustrations from this book can also be found at this page: Императорский ширококолейный поезд для путешествий по России)
External links
- Flickr Group : Clerestory Coaches (Railways) with pictures of many historical royal and presidential trains, of Clerestory design. The collection includes coaches from over 20 countries, including many built during the 19th century.