page_title: Canoe River train crash
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: Canoe River train crash / Aftermath
caption_attribution_description: English: Canoe River cairn, erected to the memory of the 17 soldiers who died in the Canoe River train crash, Canoe River BC, south of Valemount, British Columbia. Note that the monument was erected in 1987, but the inscription is too simple to meet the originality threshold for copyright.
context_page_description: The Canoe River train crash occurred on November 21, 1950, near Valemount in eastern British Columbia, Canada, when a westbound troop train and the eastbound Canadian National Railway Continental Limited collided head-on. The collision killed 21 people: 17 Canadian soldiers en route to the Korean War and the two-man locomotive crew of each train.
  The post-crash investigation found that the order given to the troop train differed from the intended message. Crucial words were missing, causing the troop train to proceed on its way rather than halt on a siding, resulting in the collision. A telegraph operator, Alfred John "Jack" Atherton, was charged with manslaughter; the Crown alleged that he was negligent in passing an incomplete message. His family hired his Member of Parliament, John Diefenbaker, as defence counsel. Diefenbaker joined the British Columbia bar to take the case, and obtained Atherton's acquittal.
  After the accident, the CNR installed block signals on the stretch of track on which the crash occurred. The railway later realigned the main line in that area, eliminating a sharp curve that prevented crews from seeing oncoming trains.
context_section_description: The CNR adopted the inquiry recommendations, installing block signalling in the area of the accident. In 1953, it modernised its passenger fleet, ordering 302 new cars. In later years, the line was rerouted to eliminate the sharp curve on which the disaster took place.
  Atherton went to work for the Saskatchewan Transportation Company and settled in Saskatoon. Pepler retired in 1954, having served 20 years as British Columbia's deputy attorney general. He subsequently served as one of British Columbia's commissioners on uniform provincial laws and embarked on a revision of the rules of the British Columbia Supreme Court before dying on November 16, 1957, at age 66 in a suburban Vancouver hospital.
  Diefenbaker had represented Atherton at his own expense, though donations from railroad employees reimbursed him for about half his costs. The case had been followed throughout Canada's railway community, and on his return to Ottawa, Diefenbaker was widely congratulated for his victory. By 1957, he had become Leader of the Opposition and Progressive Conservative Party leader, and when he campaigned in Saskatchewan during that year's election, Atherton travelled to Regina to greet him, skipping his own wedding rehearsal. As Diefenbaker campaigned in British Columbia, the Vancouver Sun reported on the large, enthusiastic crowds he gathered, and noted that he remained well remembered in Prince George for his defence of Atherton. Diefenbaker's biographer, Denis Smith, wrote of the Atherton case:
  Diefenbaker had won a popular victory, redeemed his promise to Edna, and endeared himself for life to Jack Atherton and his fellow railway workers. The case was celebrated in the press and became one of his major political assets.
  Diefenbaker won the election and, on June 21, 1957, became Prime Minister of Canada.
caption: Monument raised to the soldiers who died in the crash by the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery near the Canoe River crash site
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