Dundas Train Crash, Christmas 1934

by Stan Nowak
This article was first published in two parts, in the October 29 and November 5, 2004 editions of the Dundas Star News. Reproduced with permission of the author.

The crank pin was really getting hot. If he didn’t do something about it soon, he wouldn’t be able to brake the train at the final destination. Engineer Norman Devine had just pulled the CNR Holiday Special out of the Dundas Station and was heading east. Aboard were 365 passengers heading to Toronto for the holidays. The date was December 25, 1934.

Knowing the approach of another train was imminent, the Holiday Special was to be pulled off to a side track to assess the situation. Engineer Devine slowed the train and signaled four toots on his steam whistle for the forward brakeman to throw open the switch leading to the side track. The forward brakeman, Edward Lynch, was dealing with a few passengers’ queries at that same instant and failed to observe the signal. Devine leaned out of the locomotive window, shouted for a brakeman, and was heard by Charles Phelps, the rear brakeman. Phelps ran on ahead, opened the switch, waited until the whole train was on the side track, then closed the switch. He then hung red lanterns onto the caboose. The main line signals turned green when Phelps locked the switch. These signals indicated that there was a train on the side track (red), but that the main line was clear (green). The time was 9:10 p.m.

The Holiday Special was stopped about 190 metres east of the Dundas Station. Edward Lynch, who was normally responsible for the switching, was unawares that the train had been diverted from the main track.

It was soon decided that the engine was unserviceable and would have to be replaced. Both Edward Lynch and Charles Phelps were at the scene. Mr. Lynch volunteered to walk back to the station to call for a new locomotive. As he got to the rear of his train, Mr. Lynch noticed a light far down the track. He knew that it was the CNR No. 16 "Maple Leaf Flyer" making its scheduled run from Detroit to Montreal. The light was speeding closer, and a sudden panic seized Mr. Lynch. The No. 16 was speeding towards a certain rear-end collision with the Holiday Special (or so he supposed).

Frantic, the brakeman seized flagging equipment from the rear coach and began racing westward towards the ominous beacon. As he reached the switch 65 metres from the rear of his train, he unlocked and and threw it open. Thinking he had saved the day, what he had actually done was to switch the No. 16's route onto the very track where the Holiday Special was standing immobilized.

Aboard the “Maple Leaf Flyer”, it was business as usual for engineer Bertram Burrell, who noted the green signals and proceeded as per standard operating procedure. Although no stop was scheduled, he applied the brakes as he approached the Dundas Station to slow his speed along the curving track. The No. 16 consisted of 15 cars and was powered by the biggest locomotive the CNR had in stock. He estimated the train was traveling at about 22 km/hr (witnesses later said it was closer to 35 km/hr). As the train passed the station, Burell released the brakes and started coasting down the gentle hillside towards the spot where the Holiday Special was standing. Burrell’s vision was obscured by steam and smoke caused by the braking.

At the critical switch, the engine was going at about 20 km/hr when it suddenly lurched gently. Fireman John Kennedy, spotted what was just ahead and shouted "Soak her". At that instant, engineer Bertram Burell saw the lights of the Holiday Special closing in rapidly. He instinctively reached for the emergency brake, but it was too little too late. The time was 9:21 p.m., Christmas night, 1934.

On December 26, 1934, the headline read "At least 15 dead, others missing in wreck in Dundas". The No. 16 Maple Leaf Flyer had indeed crashed into the Holiday Special the night before, pulverizing the rear car into kindling, partially destroying the second car, and tossing a third car on its end—and onto the edge of a 150-foot cliff overlooking the Dundas Valley. A fourth car was smashed in from the rear. The sound of the impact resonated through most of Dundas, and many residents rushed to the scene of the accident.

Immediately upon impact, engineer Bertram Burrell and fireman John Kennedy aboard the locomotive of the Maple Leaf Flyer began hosing down their firebox to prevent a flare-up in their engine. That done, they both joined in the rescue work.

The passengers from the Holiday Special were flung forward at the moment of impact and all the lights of the train went out. For three hours, in almost total darkness, assistance was given only to those who could be found by their screams and groans. Both sides of the track were littered with debris and the bodies of dead and injured passengers thrown from the Holiday Special.

Fire broke out from the demolished rear coach which was sitting partially on top of the No.16 locomotive and revealed a grisly scene of "horrible death and suffering". Many passengers were also trapped inside the twisted wreckage of the rear cars.

Fortunately, several doctors were aboard the two trains and were able to assist in the rescue effort. Since the accident had occurred only three miles from Dundas, ambulances and medical help arrived almost instantly. Rescue efforts continued on through the night, and by the next morning the final tally was 15 dead and 40 others hospitalized with various injuries. All the dead and most of the wounded were passengers in the two rear cars of the Holiday Special.

It could have been much worse. The impact uncoupled the last four cars of the Flyer, lessening the momentum of the Flyer into the Holiday Special. Two of the four rear cars of the Holiday Special buckled, thereby lessening the effects of the impact to the front of the train and reducing the chance of injury to the occupants. No one on board the No. 16 Maple Leaf Flyer suffered any injuries.

On January 5, 1935, a coroner’s inquest in Hamilton laid the blame squarely on the front brakeman of the Holiday Special, Edward Lynch, who was arrested and charged with manslaughter. A preliminary hearing committed him to trial, and the case went before a judge and jury for final disposition.

The trial was held on January 24, 1935 with Mr. Lynch, Charles Phelps and others reconstructing the fateful events of December 25. Much blame was also put upon Mr. Phelps and Bertram Burrell, the engineer of the Maple Leaf Flyer. Why was Lynch not at his post? Why had Phelps performed Lynch’s duty on the switch? How had Burrell not seen the switch? How could he not have noticed the signal lights? Had the No.16 been going too fast?

There was a lot of testimony—much of it contradictory—for the jury to consider as they retired at 5:10 p.m. to discuss the fate of the defendant. After three hours and 43 minutes of deliberation, the jury filed back into the courtroom and sat down—all but the foreman, who stood facing the defendant Edward Lynch.

Had the jury rendered a verdict, asked the judge? Yes they had, stated the foreman. What was the verdict?

"Not guilty", he declared.

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