CNR's "Radio Train" Show
Canadian National Railway Broadcast the 1st Educational Soap Opera
In 1927 the Canadian National Railway broadcast Radio Train, the world's first educational soap opera about the adventures of a group of rail travellers.
An educational soap opera is a serial drama broadcast on radio or television for educational purposes. It is a popular form of distance education in developing countries today, but it is possible that the Canadian National Railway broadcast the world’s first educational soap opera with its popular radio series, Radio Train.
Stories for Education
Stories not only have the power to inform, they can also transform. They are well-suited for use in education because, as Philip W. Jackson wrote in “On the place of narrative in teaching” (Narrative in Teaching, Learning, and Research, 1995), “the hope is that the message will not simply be heard and understood, but will be taken to heart.”
Canadian National Railway
In 1923 the government-owned Canadian National Railway (CNR) placed radio sets in their transcontinental parlour cars and hotels, and set up a network of radio stations along its main line across the country. George H. Buck noted in “The first wave: The beginnings of Canadian distance education” (Journal of Distance Education, 21(1), 2006), that CNR president, Sir Henry Thornton, “saw both the social and commercial value in providing programming as a public service.”
Educational programs for children and for adults were broadcast locally and throughout the CNR network with some success. By 1926, its Vancouver station, CNRV, was producing audio programs at the Point Grey School for the Deaf and Blind. Radio has been called "the theatre of the mind", and it was thought that storytelling might stimulate the minds of the blind students. The students loved the engaging stories, and the stories became popular with young listeners throughout the Vancouver area, too.
Radio Train
CNRV then decided to create a serial drama for children about an imaginary train that travelled across Canada. Radio Train followed the adventures of travellers, Millie, Roy, Aunt Emma and Uncle George, and CNR employees, Ronnie and Doug. In each episode, listeners would learn something about the geography, history and notable sites of a stop along the route. The main characters would also encounter some mysterious problem which Buck says "could only be solved at the end of the episode by the recall of facts and events that had been described.” Children and their parents responded with answers and comments, and were delighted when many of their suggestions were incorporated into the show.
The CNR distributed a postcard to listeners and potential listeners which displayed several characters from Radio Train against a backdrop of a CNR engine. The card promoted the show, but it also promoted rail travel. Although the educational program was very popular with the general public, it was criticized for being a devious way of advertising to young children.
End of CNR Radio Network
One of the loudest critics was the privately owned Canadian Pacific Railway which did not have its own network of radio stations. By 1933, following a series of political decisions, the federal government placed the CNR radio network under the control of a new radio commission. With the addition of more stations, in 1936 the expanded network became the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
Radio Train had a relatively short life, but it is memorable for having been the first documented educational radio soap opera in the world.
