Details of Railway Incidents in the Ottawa Area
1926, March 29 - A special train of convicts leaves Kingston for Stoney Mountain penitentiary, Manitoba.
Ottawa Journal 29 March 1926 EIGHTY CONVICTS CHANGE QUARTERS 5 O'Clock C.P. Despatch KINGSTON, Ont, March 29.- In charge of 16 guards, 80 convicts of Portsmouth penitentiary this afternoon were placed in three prison cars with barred windows and specially built doors and were transported to the penitentiary at Stoney Mountain, Manitoba, which will be their future home for some time at least. The transfer is being made to relieve congestion at the Portsmouth institution. Montreal Gazette 30 March 1926 SPECIAL CONVICT TRAIN Party of Eighty Leave Kingston for Manitoba Kingston, March 29. Eighty convicts of Portsmouth penitentiary left here today on a special convict train for Stoney Mountain penitentiary, Man., where they will complete their terms. The prisoners are being transported under the direction of the Department of Justice at Ottawa with Inspector Jackson of the department in charge. Elaborate precautions were taken to guard against escape when the men were being brought from the penitentiary to the train today. The roads leading to the train were heavily guarded. The convict train is specially constructed and consists of two convict cars, a combination baggage and commissariat car and an officers car. The baggage car is at the front of the train and the officers' car is at the rear. The windows and doors on all the cars, with the exception of the officers' car, are locked and covered with steel bars. An electric alarm system has been installed, so that an alarm rings in the officers' car if any attempt is made to tamper with the doors or windows. There is a raised platform at each end of the convict cars for the guards. Several guards from Ste. Vincent de Paul penitentiary were brought to help guard the prisoners while they were being moved from the penitentiary to the train. Ottawa Citizen 30 March 1926 To Stoney Mountain Kingston, Ont., March 30. Ex-Constable Charles Graham, of Ottawa, serving a term for robbery, was among the eighty convicts transferred from the Portsmouth penitentiary to the Stoney Mountain penitentiary in Manitoba yesterday. Winnipeg Tribune 31 March 1926 CONVICT TRAIN FROM KINGSTON REACHES CITY Contained 80 Long-Term Prisoners Transferred To Stony Mountain In charge of Inspector Jackson, of the federal department of justice, 80 convicts from Portsmouth penitentiary, Kingston, Ont., arrived at Stony Mountain penitentiary by special train today. They were transferred to the penitentiary there. The train on which they travelled consisted of two convict cars, a combination baggage and commissariat car, and an officers' car. With the exception of the officers' car, doors of all other cars were locked and windows protected with steel bars. An electric alarm system was installed to register any attempt to tamper with doors or windows. At the end of each car on a raised platform a guard was posted. 16 Officers In Charge The train was in charge of 16 oficers. It left Kingston at 8.35 o'clock Monday afternoon and made the trip to Winnipeg without mishap. Coming in by the Canadian National Railways, It was transferred by the Paddington switch to the Canadian Pacific line. Col. Meighen. governor of StonyMountain penitentiary, met the train at Winnipeg. The 80 new members of the Stony Mountain population will bring the total up to 300 at that place. Besides Col. Meighen several officers stepped to the platform as the train awaited dispatch orders. An armed guard stood at the door of the car. Chief Detective George Smith was on the platform, as well as the Canadian Paclflo Railway constables. Morrisburg Leader 2 April 1926 Eighty convicts of Portsmouth Penitentiary left Kingston on a special convict train for Stoney Mountain Penitentiary, Manitoba, where they will complete their terms. The prisoners are being transported under the direction of the Department of Justice at Ottawa. Another train ran in 1929. Ottawa Citizen 23 April 1929 Convict Train Leaves Kington For West 170 Prisoners Moved From Portsmouth Pen. KINGSTON. Ont., Apnl 22. Tonight a special convict train left over the Canadian National Railway with 170 from Portsmouth penitentiary. for penitentiaries to western Canada. the train being in charge of Inspector E. R. Jackson, of the penitentiaries branch. Ottawa, and Deputy Warden Cummings, of Dorchester penitentiary. Seventy prisoners are consigned to the provincial penitentiary in Manitoba. and the remainder go to Saskatchewan. The train was made up of four specially fitted out coaches, with substantial bars at each window, in addition to which there was a commissariat coach with cook house and stores, a coach for the officers in charge and a baggage car. A small army of penitentiary officers from the other institutions in the Dominion came to Kingston today to assist in guarding prisoners during entrainment and en route to the West. Ottawa Citizen 25 April 1929 Convicts Reach Winnipeg WINNIPEG, Man., April 24. The convict train, bearing 170 prisoners from Kingston, Ont., to Western penitentiaries, reached, here today. Seventy prisoners were immediately transferred to Stony Mountain penitentiary, a few miles north of Winnipeg, while the remaining 100 continued the westward journey to Prince Albert penitentiary. |
Updated 23 September 2021