The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1902-12-30
GRAND TRUNK
TRAIN WRECK
DAY COACH TELEscoPED BY
BAGGAGE CAR.
MANY KILLED ANO WOuNDED
Operators Failure to Deliver Order
Cause of the Terrible
Disaster.

London, Ont, Dec. 23.-In the head
on collision near Wanstead on the
Grand Trunk railway, between west
bound passenger train and fast
freight, % persons were killed and 80
were injured. Some of the injured
may die. Many of the dead were
mutilated, and the snow about the
| wreckage was crimson with blood.
The Pacific Express was two hours
late and running at high speed when
| it reached Wanstead. The freight
was trying to make siding but fail
ed. When the through train struck
| the freight there was disastrous
crash. The locomotives reared their
pilots high in the air and tumbled
into the ditch. The baggage car Of the
express train telescoped with the
smoking car and here the death list
was made The Pullman sleepers did
| not leave the rails, and their occu-
pants escaped except for bruises.
| According to Master of Transporta-
tion Price of this city, it was the agent
and operator at Watford, the next
station east of Wamstead, who failed
| to deliver to the train crew of No. 5
their order to pass the freigh train at
| Wanstead. Trainmaster Price says
that in explanation of the mistake that
brought such terrible results, the
operator says he understood the dis
patcher to say to kill orders for No.
S to pass freight at Wanstead, but it
| is denied IN the dispatcher's Office
here that the order was killed.
The Pacific Express, which was
late and endeavoring to make up time,
was made up of two Pullman cars,
two first-class day coaches and two
baggage cars. The engineer opened
wide his throttle as he pulled out of
Watford at 9:5S o'clock A blizzard
was raging and the air was thick with
swirling snow The train was crowd
ed with people returning from holi-
day trips. No. was running fully so
miles an hour through the blizzard
when at Wanstead siding the head
light Of the freight engine loomed
up through the snow. 1t was impos-
sible to see hundred feet ahead, be-
cause of the snow, and the trains
crashed together almost before the en-
gineer realized that a collision was
imminent
The impact threw the two engines
clear of the track on the right hand
side. The two day coaches of the ex-
press were between the heavily load
ed baggage cars and the weighty Pull
mans, with terrific grinding crash,
! the rear baggage car was driven into
| the first day coach for three-fourths Of
its length and in a twinkling a score
Of it's occupants were dead and two
score more were pinned down in the
wreckage, crushed and mangled
The horror of fire was mercifully
spared the suffering persons beneath
! the wreck. Flames burst out but the
uninjursd passengers extinguished
them before they could gain any head
way. The occupants of the two Pull
man cars and the second day coach
swarmed out of their cars to the res
cue. A perfect bedlam of noises greet
ed them. Cries and escaping steam
| from the wrecked engines, mingled
with piteous cries of the unfortunates
pinned in the ruins. Bitter cold wind
and snow added to their sufferings.
A volunteer rescue party was i'm
mediately formed. The rescue party
did heroic work. Meanwhile brake
man had rushed through the storm to
a telegraph Office and notified both
London and Sarnia of the accident.
Relief trains with surgeons and
Wrecking cars were on their way to
the scene from both ends of the di-
vision in the shortest time possible.
| While they were steaming at great
| speed the work of rescue was carried
on by the uninjured passengers. They
delved into the heap of debris and
guided by means and cries, found the
sufferers, pried and chopped them out
and carried them to the two Pullman
| cars, which were transformed into
temporary hospitals. The wounded
were given what attention was possi-
BILE before the surgeons arrived.
Several of the passengers had liquor