The Yale expositor., 1910-01-28
20 TO 50 KILLED
IN TRAIN WRECK
BROKEN RAIL THROWS CANADIAN
PACIFIC TRAIN INTO SPANISH
RIVER NEAR SUDBURY, ONT.
PASSENGERS DEATH TRAP
Three Loaded Coaches are Submerged
In River-conduetor Reynold Heroi-
caIly Rescues Eight Through Roof
Of Dining Car.


Death in all its most terrible forms
blotted out the lives OF at least two
score people when four cars of a Ca
madam Pacific passenger train on the
500 branch leaped from the tracks
near Sudbury. Ont, and went tearing
down steep embankment plunging
through the ice-covered surface of the
Spanish river
Some were drowned, others were
crushed to death in grinding timbers.
Most terrible of ALL MANNED and
injured, caught in the wreckage of
one of the cars, were burned to death.
The exact number of dead and in
jured was still unknown, but accord
ing to stories told by injured passen-
gers brought to Sudbury il was one
of the worst catastrophes in the his
tory of Canadian railroads.
The train wrecked was known as
No Z, en- route from Montreal to Sault
Ste. Marie and Minneapolis An off,
cial statement given out says that 1t
probably was due to broken rail.
Front Cars Stay on Track.
The engine, baggage, express, mail
and one second class car remained on
the rails, while one second class, one
first class, a dining car and sleeper
went down the embankment The
first class car and diner went into
the river. The sleeper and second
class car stopped on the embankment,
the second class car catching fire.
The wreck occurred about 81 miles
west Of Sudbury where the tracks cut
into the side of a steep hill which is
skirted by the river. The forward
part of the train passed over the
break, whatever ii was, In safety. The
day coach, which was the fourth from
the end of the train, was the first TO
leave the rails.
The train was running at the rate
of about 40 miles an hour and the
momentum carried the car down the
hill in a terrific plunge. About 20
passengers were in this car. and II is
practically certain that none escaped.
Only the Roof Above Water.
Two minutes after the first crash,
only the roof of the day coach showed
above the flowing ice in the river.
The second class car, the next in the
train, smashed against the end of
culvert and was crushed to splinters.
Some of the passengers were killed
outright, but others caught in the
wreckage, which almost Immediately
broke into flames, were roasted to
death before they could be rescued.
Uninjured passengers and trainmen
Immediately turned their attention to
the rescue of passengers imperiled by
the fire.
The telegraph lines were all torn
down and II was evident that relief
could not be summoned by wire. 1t
was five miles to the village OF Marin,
and a drenched survivor ran the dis
lance to deliver a report of the wreck
at the Canadian Pacific depot.
Meanwhile Conductor Thomas Rey-
holds was proving himself hero in
rescuing eight passengers from the
sunken dining car. When the wreck
occurred, Reynolds, with w. j. Bell
and David Brodie, had just sat down
for an early dinner, Bell and Brodie
facing the engine and Reynolds sit
ting opposite them and riding back
wards. The diner was the last car to
enter the water and did not sink at
once, but settled slowly, while the
passengers climbed upon the tables to
keep their heads above the rising
waters. With several passengers
standing in water TO their chins, the
situation was desperate.
Then it was that Conductor Rey-
nolds made a dive to reach a window,
broke the glass and succeeded in ris-
ing to the surface or the river, outside
the car. Happily, he reached the sur
face where hole in the ice enabled
him to gain a solid footing by resting
one arm on the roof of the car and
the other on the ice.
Some Taken Through Roof.
Gaining the roof of the car. he broke
a fan light with his fist and rescued
little Alfonso Rousel, of Sault Ste.
Marie. After the little boy came ID.
NJ Brodie, of Sudbury. who was small
enough to pass through the fan light.
Six more passengers who were too big
to be rescued in this manner, were
taken out through hole broken in the
roof of the car.
II never heard such terrible cries
as when those cars went over the
bank; / shall never forget it as long
as / live" said Conductor Reynolds.
81 put the killed at between 40 and so.
The first coach carried about 35 or 40
passengers, and of this number only
one man escaped"
Gangs of wreckers to the number
of 100 were Immediately sent to the
scene of the horrible disaster.