English: A first-class car originally numbered 442, the CPR 51 became a school car in July 1928. The school car was an ingenious way of providing regular instruction for children living in a number of remote communities in northern Ontario. Pulled by a regular train, the school car was left on a siding for eight to ten days so that children of all levels could benefit from the teacher’s instruction. Then the train took the car to another community. The school car completed the entire circuit in four to six weeks and then started over again from the beginning. Its educational program was the one followed in all Ontario elementary schools. The school car also played an important community role, with the teacher and his wife periodically organizing evening adult education classes and social activities that broke the isolation of pioneer days.

The school car is divided in two sections: a classroom with 15 desks, and a small apartment for the teacher and his family, who lived on board throughout the school year. The apartment includes a kitchen, a toilet and a bedroom with a living-room corner. This school car served until 1967.

All the information used with the pictures was taken from information at the Canadian Railway Museum Site.

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