Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1895, August  - CPR express derailed between Sharbot Lake and Smiths Falls

Almonte Gazette - 9 August 1895 A Brave Fireman. The Smith's Falls News has been told of an incident which occurred on the C.P.R. recently, between Sharbot Lake and Smith's Falls, which makes a fireman in the company's service as great a hero as the brave engineer who last year saved so many hundred lives during the great forest fires in Wisconsin. The news says: The C.P.R. express, due here at 4:15 in the morning, was thundering along this side of Sharbot Lake, when the two drivers left the track, although the front wheels remained on the rails. The engine was thumping along on the ties at such a rate that the engineer was thrown to one side of the cab, and was unable to reach the air brake. The brave fireman, seeing the state of affairs and realizing the danger to the hundreds of human lives they had in charge, quickly climbed over the tender and back to the express car, where he was able to operate the air brake, and thus stop the express. The engine was stopped just as it reached a small bridge, and had it not been stopped when it was, it would certainly have broken through, and many lives would have been lost. The incident was related to the news by Mr. Jamieson, the local superintendent, and the name of the brave firemen is withheld by request. It was certainly an act of heroism that should be recognized and there are many just such heroes in our midst.

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Updated 14 July 2023