Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

Ottawa Citizen 17 August 1909 Wreck on G.T.R A mixed train going west derailed a short distance from Barry's Bay at 9.15 last night. W.J. Thurston, fireman, Madawasgar, [sic] is missing. It is surmised he is killed. Ottawa Citizen 18 August 1909 FIREMAN KILLED Cloudburst Causes Washout at Barry's Bay. A mixed G.T.R. train going West on Monday night run into a washout near Barry's Bay at 9.15 o'clock. The engine, tender and four cars loaded with merchandise and two empties left the track, and rolled down an embankement near the lake. The passenger cars did not leave the rails. All escaped unhurt but the fireman. W.J. Thurston of Madawaska. For some time he could not be found but at Iast was found under a car, crushed to death. He was 20 years of age, and a brother of William Thurston, a G.T.R. operator at Alexandria. The latter has been notified and left for the scene of the accident. The washout was due to a cloud burst which wrought havoc to crops, and railway lines in that district. It washed away the ballast along the G.T.R. line at different points. It was one of the heaviest rains in many years in that district. However the main line has been repaired and the trains are running as usual. Ottawa Journal 18 August 1909 A RAILROADER MEETS DEATH W.J.Thurston, 20 years of age, a fireman on the G.T.R., was killed in a washout accident at Barry's Bay, Monday night at 9.15 o'clock. The wash-out was due to a cloud burst, which had a damaging effect upon the crops and railroads for miles about. Thurston was firing on a mixed train going west. The engine, tender, four cars loaded and two empties, left the track and rolled over a steep embankment many feet high. Thurston lived at Madawaska, and was a brother of Wm. Thurston, train operator at Alexandria. Ottawa Journal 19 August 1909 OTTAWA CREW HAD NARROW ESCAPE Passed Over Scene of Barry's Bay Fatality an Hour Previous A number of Ottawa railway men employed on the Grand Trunk consider themselves very fortunate in escaping the wreck at Barry's Bay. Monday night, caused by a cloudburst and in which W.J. Thurston, of Madawaska, was killed. Just an hour before the accident occurred the Ottawa bound train passed over the spot where the fatal accident occurred. The Ottawa train escaped the violent storm, which caused the washout, and the wreck. When the crew of the Ottawa bound train heard the news of the fatality they considered themselves most fortunate, although deeply grieved at the death of a fellow employee. Almonte Gazette 20 August 1909 A mixed G.T.R. train going west on Monday night ran into a washout near Barry's bay. The engine, tender and four cars loaded with merchandise and two empties left the track, and rolled down an embankment near the lake. The passenger cars did not leave the rails. All escaped unhurt but the fireman, W.J. Thurston of Madawaska. He was found under a car, crushed to death. He was 28 [sic] years of age, and a brother of William Thurston, a G.T.R. operator at Alexandria. The washout was due to a cloudburst which wrought havoc to crops, and railway lines in that district. Renfrew Mercury 20 August 1909 There was a wreck on the Grand Trunk Railway on Monday through an unusual cause - a cloudburst. The accompanying torrent of rain rushing down a steep hillside undermined nearly a mile of track near Carson Lake a few miles beyond Barrys Bay and a mixed train was ditched before any damage was known.  The fireman being killed.  Another train had passed only a short time previously.  The fireman was W.J. Thurston of Madawaska whose fatal injuries resulted from him being crushed under a car.