Was Engine CPR 2802 a Killer Train? Brent Eades

From Brent Eades

Hi Linda, I just came across this clipping from the online Gazette that I saved months ago, but I didn’t note the date at the time. Early 50s I think. What’s really interesting about it is the line “It is said that the engine pulling the freight was 2802, the same one that plowed into the Pembroke local at the Almonte station Dec. 27th, 1942 causing the worst wreck in Canadian history.” If that’s true, that could be a really interesting story I’ll leave this with you.

Thanks Brent!!!

Did you know? An engine that had a life span of 49 years?

ALMONTE, Ont., (CP) A 12-year-old boy, stepping aside to push three younger companions to safety, was killed Thursday when a freight train suddenly bore down on them as the boys were heading across a railway bridge to their favorite swimming hole. The victim was Freddie Leach, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Leach of this town. 45 miles southwest of Ottawa. He died instantly from head injuries suffered when struck by the Canadian Pacific Railway train as it caught up to him near the end of the 500-foot bridge.

His three companions Gerald Clement, 9; Gerry Waddell. 9; and Billie Anderson, 8 reached safety without injury and sobbed out a story of how Freddie saved their lives. Waddell said Freddie was leading the group across the railway bridge when the sound of a train whistle sounded behind them. Freddie stepped aside and shouted to them to run for their lives. This is the way Waddell told the story: I turned around and saw the engine of a train just hitting the end of the bridge. It was coming up behind us, and I yelled and we all started to run. Freddie let me and Gerry and Billie go ahead, cause were littler. We ran as hard as we could but I never thought we could make it.

All I remember is reaching the west end of the bridge and throwing myself to one side. The engine roared by me just as I leaped. I felt the steam on my bare legs as I dove off the track. When I stopped rolling I got up and saw the other two boys, but we didnt see Freddie. Then we saw him. He was lying in a bloody lump about 50 feet away. Young Anderson said he knew “Freddie must have waited to let us start, because he had been walking ahead. “If it hadnt been for him, he added, “we might all have been killed.

The train was stopped in little more than its own length and the crew ran back to provide assistance. Doctors pronounced Freddie dead on arrival.

The Windsor Star

Windsor, Ontario, Canada21 Jul 1950, Fri  •  Page 19

The 2802, standing on the shop track at West Toronto on November 1, 1957. The 2802 likely looked much like this in 1942, without those “elephant ear” smoke deflectors.—1942, December 27 – Almonte, Canadian Pacific, Chalk River subdivision.

It was designated by C.P. as Passenger Extra 2802 East, (2802 being its engine number, a C.P. Hudson [4-6-4] type locomotive), crewed by engineer Lome Richardson and fireman Sam Thompson.

CLIPPED FROM
The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada09 Jan 1943, Sat  •  Page 21

THE TROOP TRAIN

Passenger Extra 2802 East was carrying soldiers and other military personnel from Red Deer, Alta., to Halifax, where they would deploy overseas to Europe’s theatre of war. Hurtling through the night, its engine, caboose and 13 metal coaches weighed more than 1,000 tons.

After 32 years working on freight trains, Smiths Falls native Lorne Richardson was making his inaugural run as engineer of a passenger train. Sixty-four-year-old conductor John Howard, meanwhile, also a Smiths Falls resident, had been a CPR conductor since 1911, five years after he joined the company as a porter. He had another year to go before retirement.

Richardson, Howard and the rest of the crew of 2802 knew the 550 was ahead of them. They’d been given orders to keep a fast train while maintaining a safe distance — 20 minutes — between the two trains. It was a difficult task given that the troop train had no speed gauge and no way of knowing exactly how fast, or slow, the 550 was travelling, except when they arrived at the stations the 550 had recently left. In such cases, the troop train would be purposely held back to restore the 20-minute gap.

Following train No. 550 was a 13-car troop train from western Canada, bound for Montreal, via Chalk River, Carleton Place and Smiths Falls on the Chalk River subdivision, and then via the Winchester sub. to its destination. It was designated by C.P. as Passenger Extra 2802 East, (2802 being its engine number, a C.P. Hudson [4-6-4] type locomotive), crewed by engineer Lome Richardson and fireman Sam Thompson. Train 550’s engine and train crew were unaware that they were being closely followed by a passenger extra but, even so, at Almonte, under the rules of the day they should have been “protecting” (with fusees) the rear of their train as it was outside “station limits” by 170 feet (as defined by the rule book). At Almonte the local was 40 minutes late, arriving there at 8:32 P.M

1942, December 27 – Almonte, Canadian Pacific, Chalk River subdivision.

CLIPPED FROM
The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada20 Jul 1950, Thu  •  Page 16

Margaret Lisinski– Survivor of the Almonte Train Wreck

A Personal Letter John Reid, Almonte 1942

Fred Gauthier Survivor — 6 Months 1 Day –1942 Almonte Train Wreck – Vern Barr

The Removal of the CPR Train Station– Almonte –1978

Gravelle Toshack Almonte Farmer Killed By Train

Train Wreck January 21, 1969– Almonte Gazette

Names Names and More Names of Almonte Train Accident plus McDowall Family 1917

Miraculous Escapes– Almonte Train Wreck

Cpl. James H. Clifford and Miss Marion  McMillan-Survivors of the Almonte Train Wreck

Margaret Lisinski– Survivor of the Almonte Train Wreck

Margaret Lisinski

We received the following letter and photos from the caregiver of a survivor of the horrific train wreck in Almonte in 1942–Margaret Lisinski:

Read the Millstone click here..

Margaret Lisinski was also thrown from the train; her legs were both shattered. Dr. Murray was able to save Margaret Lisinski’s legs, but not all of her spirit She has spent most of her life in physical and emotional pain the former, she notes, whenever it rains or the weather turns, and the latter just about any other time. After the accident, Christmas became a less-than-joyous reminder of the scars that cover her legs.

She used to say that all she wanted for Christmas were two new legs. She never married: “What man,” she asks, “would want to marry a woman with broken legs?” On the walls above her bed are a wooden crucifix and a framed picture of skaters on the Rideau Canal. Before Dec. 27, 1942, she says, she was an avid skater. Since then, she’s been unable to. “All I’ve ever wanted is to forget the accident,” she says. But it keeps raining.

Fred Gauthier Survivor — 6 Months 1 Day –1942 Almonte Train Wreck – Vern Barr

Miraculous Escapes– Almonte Train Wreck

A Personal Letter John Reid, Almonte 1942

1. Cpl. James H. Clifford and Miss Marion  McMillan-Survivors of the Almonte Train Wreck
2. Linda’s Dreadful Dark Tales – When Irish Eyes Aren’t Smiling — Our Haunted Heritage
3. Survivor still affected by 1942 Almonte train wreck
4. 55 years ago–One of the Most Tragic Accidents in the History of Almonte
5. Did You Know About These Local Train Wrecks?

Sue Hanna- Lila Graham and Ruth Fresque – 1942 Train Disaster- Buchanan Scrapbook Clippings

With files from The Keeper of the Scrapbooks — Christina ‘tina’  Camelon Buchanan — Thanks to Diane Juby— click here..

Fred Gauthier Survivor — 6 Months 1 Day –1942 Almonte Train Wreck – Vern Barr

Miraculous Escapes– Almonte Train Wreck

Cpl. James H. Clifford and Miss Marion  McMillan-Survivors of the Almonte Train Wreck

Survivor still affected by 1942 Almonte train wreck

55 years ago–One of the Most Tragic Accidents in the History of Almonte

Did You Know About These Local Train Wrecks?

The Almonte Wreck Poem George Millar Dec 27 1942

Looking for information about George Millar.. most likely from Almonte as thanks to Jim Houston I have a copy of a poem he typed in 1942 about the Almonte train wreck.

Almonte Wreck by George F. Millar Dec, 27, 1942

This is an original copy given to me from Jim Houston

I was feeling pretty low that night, and sort of on the shelf

For I was looking forward to getting back myself

When the telephone rang, and there was Tom, I could hardly believe my ears,

A terrible wreck, just happened now, the worst in years and years

The Sunday local on the CPR to Ottawa was starting back,

The night was dark, a dirty sleet was filling up the track,

Witch coaches full,packed in the aisle, of folk from far and near

Returning again to their varied jobs, to commence a brand new year.

From Petawawa down they took on load, as each station drew nigh

The platforms again were thronged with folk and baggage piled up high.

But little was thought amid the last farewells while some a tear would hide.

That the Angel of Death was lurking near, this is their long last ride

The train pulled into Almonte, oh how we know that town.

Sure we played Lacrosse and Hockey, the Valley up and down

But now we have a different scene, a headlight glares in the night

A troop train that had just caught up to a passenger train that was running slow,

A bang, a rip, a bang, a smash, how far will that ting go?

Oh duck, get down. Oh God what’s up, she yelled and grabbed a hand.

And in the seat behind, she saw a big black monster stand.

The engine plowed through coaches two, and stood now in the third from rear.

The coaches smashed to kindling wood, and a mass of twisted gear.

Some thrown beyond the mass of wreck, others mangled in the gear.

And then the ones all shaken up, kept searching in the debris near.

A dress, a doll, a compact small, a bra and undies too.

A coat that had a sleeve torn off, a leg in a bloody shoe.

The Almonte folk now joined the scene, their doors they opened wide,

A steady stream of wounded moved, from the wreck to the warmth inside.

A call for doctors, nurses too, went out on S.O.S.

But speed and all, to answer the call, saved neither Jean or Bess

Pillows, blankets, sheets and towels in haste pulled from the bed,

With never a thought a thought of their return, let’s cover up these dead,

And while we can, bring comfort to the wounded and the maimed

There was the spirit of Almonte to us their deeds are famed,

Before the doctor was in sight right on that very train,

There was a nursing sister brave, who kept so cool and sane.

To give first aid she had no kit, but her clothing she simply tore,

And used the strips for bandages, and saved so many more.

The Town Hall soon became a morgue, the Hospital over-flowed

And more and more picked from the wreck to be bandaged and some sewed

The night wore on, and it got late, for workers no relief,

And then the train for Ottawa bent, with its load of pain and grief,

Our hearts go out to all the folk whose homes are hit so hard,

We’re trying now to ease the load, by word, or deed, or card,

And there was he of the other train, who went through a little hell,

A few more runs and he’s be through, with a record clear as a bell,

And here he was, no fault his own, just seemed to be his rate,

For fortune deals some awful hands, that local just had to be late.

He thought so much of what others might think, and all that be said.

Our hearts go out to this poor guy, in this hour of grief,

But God above is God of Love, and HE will hold no brief,

But instead He’d say, you’ve naught to pay, your load was too much to bear,

It’s me in your need, yes tis indeed, for such is the Kingdom I bear.

Pte. F.R. Whitta gave up his shirt and tunic to make bandages and tourniquets, then aided doctors in surgery for hours in the falling snow. He and another soldier, Sgt. J.W. Gillespie, were awarded the British Empire Medal for their actions that night, while Lt. Nursing Sister Anne Thorpe received the Royal Red Cross, Second Class.

http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/community-stories_histoires-de-chez-nous/almonte-train-wreck_l-accident-de-train-d-almonte/gallery/the-third-coach/

Fred Gauthier Survivor — 6 Months 1 Day –1942 Almonte Train Wreck – Vern Barr

1. Cpl. James H. Clifford and Miss Marion  McMillan-Survivors of the Almonte Train Wreck
2. Linda’s Dreadful Dark Tales – When Irish Eyes Aren’t Smiling — Our Haunted Heritage
3. Survivor still affected by 1942 Almonte train wreck
4. 55 years ago–One of the Most Tragic Accidents in the History of Almonte
5. Did You Know About These Local Train Wrecks?

Fred Gauthier Survivor — 6 Months 1 Day –1942 Almonte Train Wreck – Vern Barr

How do you portray the depth of what an infant possibly experienced on a cold winter night on December 27th, 1942 in the 9th worst railway crash in Canadian history?  Here is the untold story of the baby that survived that fateful night– Fred Gauthier by Vern Barr. Fred was the baby that was found the next day in a tree near the Almonte War Memorial by the town hall and was totally fineafter being thrown by the train.

79 years ago today in 2021

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
28 Dec 1942, Mon  •  Page 3

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
29 Dec 1942, Tue  •  Page 11

This is a photo of the Gauthier family who took that fateful train journey and was involved in the Almonte train wreck December 28,1942. The baby is Freddy Gauthier who was thrown out the train window 

The Ottawa Evening Journal – Monday, December 28, 1942

Almonte Wreck Death Toll 36; 118 in Hospital; Icy Rails Blamed(See photos below)10 Ottawa Residents Perish In Crash; Many Are Still Unreported.  Death List Mounting From Among 200 Injured.  The ghastly story of last night’s railway disaster still was incomplete this afternoon.  Mounting hourly, the death toll has reached 36.  To the horror of the slaughter and the suffering was added the confusion and uncertainty of identifying all those whose lives were lost in Ontario’s worst railroad wreck of 32 years.  C.P.R. Statement:  In the latest of its statements the Canadian Pacific Railway said 33 had been killed and 118 injured when the troop train sliced through the three rear coaches of the Pembroke-Ottawa local boarding holiday passengers at the Almonte station.  Death had out-dated the railway’s list even as it was issued.  At noon there were 30 bodies in the basement of the Almonte Town Hall, one of them that of a child found in the wreckage late in the morning.  Aboard the hospital trains, bringing the injured to Ottawa, another four had died.  At the Civic Hospital one more was added to the death list.  This afternoon, with the total of dead at 36, hospital authorities reported others among the injured were in critical condition and might not survive.  23 Identified.  Of the dead, 23 had been identified.  Ten of them were residents of Ottawa.  Estimates of the number injured ran as high as 200.  While investigators yet had issued no statement on the cause of the disaster, railwaymen blamed icy rails, a down-grade in the line, and the congestion of holiday travel which disrupted running schedules.  The Pembroke-Ottawa local, crammed with people returning to work at the end of the holiday week-end, should have left Almonte an hour before the collision at 8.30 p.m.  The night was stormy, with sleet and snow falling, and the train had been delayed at each stop along its Ottawa Valley run by the record holiday traffic load.  Soldiers aboard the troop train said it had been travelling at “a fair rate of speed”.  Rolling as an extra, and making no stops for passengers, the troop train was on schedule when it research Almonte, where, for an hour, the track should have been clear.  The troop train was on a down-grade when its headlight, piercing the darkness and the added gloom of slanting sleet and snow, picked out the red lamps on the rear coach of the Pembroke-Ottawa local.  Brakes Failed.  Railwaymen theorized that at this moment when the troop train rolled down the grade leading to the Almonte station, its brakes failed to do more than slow it.  The wheels, locked by the brakes, they believed, skidded down the icy rails, sending the heavy locomotive plowing through the rear three wooden coaches of the standing train.  There were no sidings leading off the main line to which the troop train could have been switched before it slice through the local.  The crash was on a single-track main Canadian Pacific line.  Further down the grade, and closer to the Almonte station were switches leading to three or four sidings.  But between those switches and the troop train were the end cars of the local.  Investigators of the railway and the Dominion Board of Transport Commissioners were at Almonte today probing the tragedy.  Open Inquest.  At 11 o’clock this morning – 15 hours after the disaster – an inquest was opened by Coroner A. A. Metcalfe at the Almonte Town Hall, in the basement of which rested bodies of 30 of the dead.     These pictures were taken by Wilma Munro, of Almonte,  with her “Brownie” camera in 1942.  She had many copies made and sold them in McDonald’s Store, Almonte, Ontario for 5 cents a copy.

Dead—With only a number of the 32 persons killed identified at an early hour this morning, following is a tentative list of the dead and injured:  DEAD – Melville C. Bailey, 19, soldier, of Calabogie, son of Mrs. Gordon Bailey, Calabogie; Miss Rae Burgess, Renfrew; Samuel H. Butler, Admaston, Ont.; Darlene Belcher, 22 RR No. 1, Arnprior, Ont. (identity positively established by father).  Miss Belcher worked in Ottawa.; Joseph Charron, 202 Bolton street, Ottawa.; Mrs. C. Couvrette, 41 St. Marie street, Wrightville.; Private E. J. Desjardins, Brockville, Ont.; Francis S. Herrick, 39, employee of Department of Transport, Ottawa, who resided at 396 MacLaren street.  His body was identified by his brother, Owen Herrick.; Private Michael Lapointe, Canadian Army Basic Training Center, Ottawa.; S. O. Link (or Lusk) of Renfrew.; Mrs. Mary Kelly, of Renfrew.; Pte. E. G. MacDonald, Chalk River, stationed at Kingston.; Miss Betty McPhail, Renfrew.; Janet McNab, daughter of Angus McNab, 592 Horton street, Renfrew.; Eldon Montgomery, of Arnprior.; AC2 K. G. Moorehouse, R.C.A.F., Kingston, Ont.; Lieut Douglas Merkham, 48th street west, Vancouver.; Harry F. O’Brien, 34, and his two-year-old son, Jack, 552 Hilson avenue, Ottawa.; Corporal P. O. Brien, Petawawa Camp, Ont.; Dorothy Rafter, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Rafter, Gillam, Man. and Arnprior.; Gilbert Raymond, 15 Katharine street, Carleton Place.; Mrs. Gilbert Raymond, Carleton Place.; Cecilia Rowan, 297, Arlington avenue and RR No. 2, Renfrew.; Gordon Scheels, Renfrew.; Private W. S. Storie, C100824, Ottawa.; Turcotte baby.; Private Fred Volz, 72 Balsam street, Ottawa and Frank White, 30 Hanna street, Eastview, Ont.

InjuredAt the Civic Hospital;Guardsman Fred Gauthier, 38 LeBreton street, shock; Viola Armstrong, 19 of 26 Lewis street, head injuries; Mrs. Fred Gauthier, suffering from shock and possible fractured nose; and their five months old baby boy, shock and other undetermined injuries; Julius Carl Kitner, of Fort Erie, Ont., injuries about the head and eyes; Mrs. Carl Kitner, of Fort Erie, severe shock; Elizabeth McPhail, 20 of Winnipeg and residing at 180 Lisgar street; Myrtle Moore, 275 Booth street, severe shock.In Rosamond Hospital;Miss Patsy Foulds, 124 Flora street; Bob Scheel, of Arnprior, employed with Laurentian Air Services, Ottawa; Pte. Howard Hillard, of Renfrew; Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Wilson, of Renfrew; Muriel Schell, Arnprior; Margaret Petinsky, Renfrew; Nora Beronsky, Arnprior; Dorothy Walker.Other Injured;Agnes F. Andrecheck, No. 8 Service Flying Training School at Moncton; Mr. and Mrs. H. Beauregard, 207 Laurier avenue, Ottawa, and their nephew Larry Sutcliffe; Anna Barsky, Arnprior; Titania Bratyenko, Montreal; Lila Barr, Renfrew; Alice Barr, Renfrew; Aileen Bescinsky, no address; Norman Butler, no address; Miss Margaret Campbell, Renfrew, who works in Ottawa, injuries unknown; Mrs. Chartrand; Anna Chepeskie, Renfrew, T. A. Cook, 511 Gladstone avenue, Ottawa; T. H. Coombs, Renfrew; L. J. Colds, RCAF, Headquarters, Ottawa; Mrs. Comberford, no address; Mrs. S. Cutts, 117 Gloucester street, Ottawa; Pte. Gordon Evans, Bancroft, Ont.; Philip Freemark, Renfrew; Douglas Finney, 9, of Ottawa, injuries unknown; Ronald Finney, 94 Marlborough avenue, Ottawa; Mrs. Walter Finney, 94 Marlborough avenue, Ottawa, (son also injured); Mrs. Flora Frappier, Arnprior; Margaret Froats, Ottawa, 180 Lisgar street, not serious; C. A. Grierson, 118 Irving avenue, Ottawa; Myrtle Graziano, no address; D. A. Highland, Arnprior; Gilbert Imbleau, Renfrew; Mary Anne Jocko, 206 O’Connor street, Ottawa; Cpl. Sadie Kranz, CWAC, Golden Lake; Kay King, no address; Aileen Liscinsky, Renfrew; Margaret Levinski, Renfrew; Thomas Lynn, Mount St. Patrick, Ont.; Margaret Malloy, Renfrew; Edith McDonnaugh, Arnprior, serious; Helen McDenna, serious; Miss Betty MacPhail, 189 Lisgar street, Ottawa, serious injured; Leslie McHugh, Renfrew, a civilian, fractured leg and broken nose; Miss Muriel McLean, Arnprior; Marion MacMillan, 157 Wesley street, Westboro, Ont.; Anna McHugh, Renfrew; Mr. McRae, no address; Mrs. Jean Muirhead, 238 Slater street, Ottawa; Felix Melsiki, no address; C. R. Nicholson, 91 Stewart street, Ottawa; Ray Poole, 248 O’Connor street, Ottawa; Mrs. Jean O’Brien, 552 Hilson avenue, Ottawa; Mrs. H. F. O’Brien, 552 Hilson avenue, Ottawa; John O’Shea, Renfrew; Charles O’Reilly, Douglas, Ont.; Howard Osler, no address; Lois Pilon, 190 Gladstone avenue; Margaret Robertson, Turtleford, Sask.; Corp. Esther Ross, RCAF, (W.D.), Ottawa, Jackson Building, injuries unknown; Florence Rantz, Petawawa; Mr. and Mrs. Emerson Roach, Renfrew; Olive Scott, Renfrew; Mrs. Desmond Raby, Petawawa; Sadie Shellhorn, 26 Kippewa Drive, Ottawa; Sylvester Sullivan, Barry’s Bay, a civilian, possible fracture of the skull.  Cuts to face and body and shock; Theresa Sulphur, Renfrew; Milton E. Smyth, Pembroke; Ben Toristskee, Killaloe; Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Turcotte, 371 Cambridge street, Ottawa; Cecile Turcotte, no address; Mildred A. Viner, 430 Clarence street, Ottawa; Bridget Wendle, Renfrew; Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Wilson, Renfrew; Pte. Coulus Zigner, Barry’s Bay, stationed at Lansdowne Park; Bernard Tugent, no address; Gunnard Taccott; Francis Valiquette; and Mildred Vince, no address.Others Injured;Gunner Orville Belair, CATC, Petawawa; Norah Bososki, Arnprior; Cpl. Beauchamp, Pembroke; Talena Batunanko, 3499 City Hall avenue west, Montreal; Rita Burns, Renfrew; E. W. Burke, 24 Spadina avenue, Ottawa; Elizabeth Carter, Huntley; Zita Carter, Huntley; Ellen Carswell, Renfrew; Jean Carswell, Renfrew; Mrs. Hector Jones, Renfrew; J. W. Chartrand, Petawawa; E. H. Collings, 150 Front street, Belleville, serious injuries; Mrs. E. H. Collins, Belleville; QMS, B. G. Crowley, 404 Gilmour street and Pte. Arthur Charbonneau, Arnprior. (more listed but center of page is missing)Injured in Wreck Tell Experiences84 Stretcher Cases, Some 20 Walking – Injured Brought Here by Hospital Train.Vivid descriptions of how death and destruction tore through the rear coaches of their train at Almonte station were told by badly injured who arrived by special hospital train at Union Station at 5.30 this morning.  The train left Almonte with 84 stretcher cases and some 20 walking injured – but three of the most seriously hurt died en route – two men and a woman.  There was not a murmur of pain or complaint from the shattered and bleeding forms as they were laboriously lifted from the improvised ambulance cars and rushed by a fleet of civilian and military ambulances to city hospitals. One of the Bravest Injured.  One of the bravest of the injured was Mrs. Harold O’Brien, of Ottawa, a young matron returning from spending holidays in Petawawa.  Lying on a stretcher patiently waiting her turn to be taken to hospital, she told reporters her husband, a two year old baby and her sister, Mrs. DesRavey, of Petawawa, were separated from her in the crash and she did not know what happened to them.  She had been in one of the rear cars of the train and had suffered leg injuries and a head injury, which left her unconscious until medical help revived her.  Tearless and patient, she inquired vainly for her family.  (Her husband and baby were later reported killed.)  Two pretty sisters, Alice and Lilah Barr, were sitting near the rear end of the second – last car when the troop special crashed through it.  They are Renfrew girls, who work in the Transport Department here and were returning from Christmas holidays at home. Lilah suffered broken legs while Alice escaped with a badly cut wrist and hand.  “We were sitting near the door, side by side,” Alice said, “talking to Mrs. English, of Renfrew, an old friend of ours, when the crash came.  They had to cut away seats to get us out.  Mrs. English was killed.”  Man Thrown 40 Feet.  Tom Lynn, a young war worker returning to his job in St. Catherines, Ont., after spending the holidays at his home in Mount St. Patrick, near Renfrew, told a vivid story of the crash.  “I was in the rear car”, he said.  The engine tore through it and turned it right on end.  I was thrown 40 feet from the wreckage but did not lose consciousness.”  “But I could not help the others.  My leg was broken and I had to lie there in the snow until help came.  The doctors and nurses were wonderful.  They gave me morphine and put a splint on my leg and I should be all right.”  Wilfrid Moisan, of Montreal, described seeing one sailor catapulted out a window and another through a hole in the root.  “I had just boarded the train and was walking down the aisle of the third car from the end when the crash came”, he said.  “There was a sailor standing hear the drinking water tank.  He shot out the window and that is all I remember until I recovered consciousness several minutes later.”  Moisan and his wife both escaped serious injury.  Two Cars Smashed.  “The engine went right through the end car and half through the next one,” he said.  “I helped pull seven or eight people from the wreckage, some of them through windows.  They were badly hurt.  “I don’t know whether they were dead or not.  We took them to a theatre across the street from the station.  “Among those I helped was a sailor who had been thrown through the roof where it had buckled.  He landed about 25 feet from the train.  When we started to get on the train at Almonte my wife wanted to get on the rear car but I thought there might be more room up front.  I am sure glad we didn’t get on the back.”  Nursing Sister Ann Thorpe of St. John’s, Que., was a passenger in the second car from the rear end of the train.  She arrived in Ottawa on the hospital train, her white collar flecked with blood and with only one desire – to get to a hospital and continue helping to care for the injured.  “I can’t tell you much about what happened”, she said, “but I can tell you the doctors and nurses did a splendid job.  I was not injured and so I was able to help.  Now I must get to a hospital and get back to work.”  Everything Flew Apart.  Mrs. Ann Barski, of Arnprior, Ont., and her seven year old niece, Tatanni Bratzenko, of Montreal, rode from the hospital train to an ambulance on the same stretcher.  Both suffered arm injuries.  Mrs. Barski had a magazine wrapped around her arm for a splint while her niece sat up on the end of the stretcher, silent but smiling.  Mrs. Barski said she was riding in the centre of the last car, one which was telescoped by the other engine.  “I saw the lights of the train coming”, she said.  “It seemed to be going quite fast.  The suddenly everything just flew apart and I felt as though I was all in pieces.”  Pte. J. Bechamp of Pembroke, suffered a compound fracture of his left leg when he tried to save a companion, Miss Lois Pilon, of Ottawa, from injury.  Miss Pilon also suffered a leg injury, but less serious.

Miraculous Escapes– Almonte Train Wreck

The Almonte Wreck Poem George Millar Dec 27 1942

Margaret Lisinski– Survivor of the Almonte Train Wreck

The Almonte Wreck Poem George Millar Dec 29 1942

A Personal Letter John Reid, Almonte 1942

1. Cpl. James H. Clifford and Miss Marion  McMillan-Survivors of the Almonte Train Wreck
2. Linda’s Dreadful Dark Tales – When Irish Eyes Aren’t Smiling — Our Haunted Heritage
3. Survivor still affected by 1942 Almonte train wreck
4. 55 years ago–One of the Most Tragic Accidents in the History of Almonte
5. Did You Know About These Local Train Wrecks?
6. Miraculous Escapes– Almonte Train Wreck

The Renting Racket of 1942

“Renting rooms in a house at a total revenue of more than is being paid for the whole place seems to be developing into a racket”.

One such case bared the fact that a tenant of a nine-roomed house in Overbrook, for which he was paying $27, asked the committee to allow him an increase of $4.25 from $21.75 for three rooms. The increase was disallowed.

A landlord in the West End who had converted a single house which formerly rented at $45, into a duplex and was occupying the lower half himself, sought permission to charge $65 for the upper duplex. He was allowed $50.

The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
29 Jul 1942, Wed  •  Page 18

However, all landlords were not unreasonable, by any means, and wherever increases were justified in 1942, they were given–of 17 cases heard, increases were allowed to tally or partially on 15.

A summer cottage in Woodroffe renting at $175 for the season was allowed a $25 boost to $200 instead of to $250 as sought. The present lease expires this month and the increase was for next year. The judge remarked that it was early to ask for next year’s rental. “Not at all,” replied the land lady. “We have people wanting to rent it in January for the summer.” There is a cabin and garage on the property, for the same rental, and the cottage is furnished.

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
29 Aug 1942, Sat  •  Page 29

A single house in Lower Town which had been gutted by fire was made into three apartments. The landlord occupies one and wanted $45 each a month on the other two, claiming he spent $8,000 in remodelling. A tenant argued that it was not worth the price since there was no electric stove or refrigerator and she had to buy ice. The walls are gyproc and we hear all the noise. The rooms are small the bathroom is only 4 1-2 by feet and it has no window, so have to pay extra electricity for the ventilator,” she said, and enumerated several other things which were wrong with the apartment. When she stopped talking Judge Daly remarked dryly “Aside from all that, though, the place is all right?” Everyone, including the landlord, laughed heartily. Rental was set at $40

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
23 May 1942, Sat  •  Page 25

"I rented three rooms in the lower part of the house believing I'd pay half the rent, lights, heat, etc. I've got in two tons of coal already for it." . . . "You've got two tons of coal?" interrupted Judge E. J. Daly during a fiery case at the Rentals Committee session last night. "That's no way to do. You should pay the landlady rent and let her pay expenses. I think I'll fix it that way." The tenant got excited. "If you do. I'll never have any life with her." she said emphatically. Her landlady, who asked a boost from $15 to $30 a month for the winter months, remarked, "It used to be rooms. Then she padlocked the door so we couldn't get through, so it's a flat now. I'm supposed to be the landlady but at times I feel like the tenant." The rental was set at $23 a month the year round."


The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
11 Dec 1942, Fri  •  Page 24



The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
27 Mar 1942, Fri  •  Page 22


A tenant of two rooms in Center Town won a $5 a month reduction from $15 when he explained that others in the house had to pass through the room he ate in on their way to the toilet which was just beside his room. "There's no light and no ventilation in it." he said. "You'd better have the sanitary inspector there." J. C. G Herwig told him. "The Same Thing." Explaining that his tenant expected to be married but went to war instead, "it's about the same thing." a lawyer sought a changeover from $10 a month with $4 worth of services, to $25 a month without services. The tenant who had a three-year lease helped fix up the place and agreed to pay SI 8 a month before he discovered ht'd have to go before the committee to have it ratified. "But you're asking $23 a month?" the judge asked the landlord's mother. "Yes," she replied, "when my son found I'd have to come here for him he said I'd better ask more to pay for my trouble." The judge chuckled, "Well, well, ask and ye shall receive, eh?" The tenant said the place was not worth any more. "It's on posts. It has no foundation, the walls are not finished and there's no furnace or hot water . . . but there are cockroaches!" Rental was set at $20 a month. Judge Daly encountered some more interesting cases.

In April of 1946 she bought a house on Frank Street in Carleton Place complete with hardwood floors. They really enjoyed the new space after dealing with three people in one bedroom for a few years. Marian and I both smiled as we talked about the first electric (mechanical) washing machine she bought. I remember my Grandmother telling me the same story about hers and how it made life easier for a lot of women. Her sister babysat and lived with Marian until Muriel married in June of 1947. When her sister minded her son, Marian played cards, bowled, and enjoyed fellowship with women her own age at our local Zion Memorial Church. Marian MacFarlane

The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
10 Dec 1942, Thu  •  Page 14

Houses of Almonte

We will build Brick Houses in Rideau Heights For $900 to $1200!

Smiths Falls Woman Built House With Her Own Hands — McNeil

Documenting Houses -Almonte — 133 Marshall Street

The Brick Houses of Carleton Place

Win a House in Carleton Place!

The Little Red House– Dinner Parties were Frequent and the Wine Flowed Freely

Dim All The Lights — The Troubled Times of the Abner Nichols Home on Bridge Street

Cpl. James H. Clifford and Miss Marion McMillan-Survivors of the Almonte Train Wreck

 

Christmas Day in 1942 was a happy day for Cpl. James H. Clifford and Miss Marion  McMillan as they got engaged. The couple were returning from a happy holiday visit to Glasgow Station, near Renfrew.  On December 27, 1942 the engineer of the passenger train that the couple were travelling on was unaware a troop train was was following as he approached Almonte. In twenty minutes several incidents happened: there was no 20 minute spacing behind the passenger train and the weather was bad, holiday traffic was heavy and steam was being difficult to be had for the CPR-550 passenger train. The engineer had no idea a troop train was bearing down. At 8:43 PM one of the worst  train accidents happened and the rest is history.

Corporal James H. Clifford, Clifford and his fiancee, Marion McMillan, both of Westboro received serious injuries in the train wreck that claimed at least 32 lives and  injured more than 200 at Almonte station that Sunday evening.

Cpl. Clifford, the first Canadian to receive his paratroop wings suffered two broken legs when the second coach from the end of the train in which he was riding with Miss McMillan was nearly demolished. Miss McMillan suffered a broken shoulder and superficial injuries in addition to shock.

Cpl. Clifford had turned down a Canadian’ Army commission some months ago, to join the paratroopers and trained at Fort Harrison, Montana. He was injured in a jump and was placed on sick leave. He was now stationed at Lansdowne Park was awaiting orders for new postings. Following the crash, Cpl. Clifford was placed in the C.P.R. hospital hospital train with his fiancee.

An Almonte priest telephoned his brother, George, in Westboro, who drove immediately to the scene. “The wreckage was strewn through the heart of the town”, George Clifford said on his return to Ottawa. “The rear car was utterly demolished and the second one smashed almost almost as bad”. The roof of one of the cars fell, across CP.R. telegraph lines and it was believed communications were disrupted.

“I looked around for my brother and his sweetheart and found them in the hospital car. It wasn’t too hard to get into the car. Everyone was pitching in to help and I grabbed the end of a stretcher and assisted in taking an injured person into the car near the station platform. When I got into the J car I looked around for Jimmy and found both him and Marion. He seemed to be taking it alright in spite of his broken legs. They had placed a tag on him and given him something to ease the pain. Marion had an injured shoulder, I believe it was broken.” 

The train crews and other workers had assisted in swinging the backs of the seats around to fill the gaps between the seats and it made a fairly comfortable surface for the injured. There were about 15 in this particular car and the scene of the train crash was one of horror and confusion.

December 28, 1942

 

Come and visit the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page– what’s there? Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read. Also check out The Tales of Carleton Place.

Information where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in The Townships Sun andScreamin’ Mamas (USA)

Linda’s Dreadful Dark Tales – When Irish Eyes Aren’t Smiling — Our Haunted Heritage

Survivor still affected by 1942 Almonte train wreck

55 years ago–One of the Most Tragic Accidents in the History of Almonte

Did You Know About These Local Train Wrecks?