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A communication trouble was blamed for the appalling crash. After 40 minutes of deliberation, the
jury acquitted John Atherton. "Prosecutors stated Atherton omitted the words "at Cedarside" from 1
sentence." Such omission would have misled the troop train engineer as to the place of the
Transcontinental train.
The disastrous accident triggered the deaths of 17 soldiers, the two train engineers and two train
firemen. Diefenbaker focussed on the weak wooden automobiles in which the soldiers have been
sitting and comparing the extreme harm to the fairly safer steel automobiles. Seconds later, two
train engines hit, head-on.
Diefenbaker. As if the scenario was not dreadful adequate, an oil fire began, hindering rescue
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zypHStVawdo and recovery.
Lawyer John Diefenbaker for the Defence
Troop and Transcontinental Trains in Head-on Collision
"Canoe River Train Memorial," The Rocky Mountain Goat Accessed November 15, 2010
The sacrifice produced by the 1 RCHA gunners was recognized at Valemount, BC on September ten
to 12, 2010 on the 60th anniversary of the train crash. Engineers and firemen of each trains
perished. Returning waves to loggers at the side, the CNR Transcontinental train engineer forged
ahead. The injured and other individuals in http://www.koreatimesus.com/tag/car-crash/ the crash
have been pretty cold - there was six inches of snow on the ground and a lot more falling, and with
both engines broken, there was no heat in any of the remaining train cars.
"Canoe River Train Wreck," Roots: Valemount & Location Museum, Virtual Museum Accessed
November 15, 2010
Changes were produced to the rail line at the Canoe River scene, such as the removal of the blind
corner to protect against any additional horrific accidents at that point. The Transcontinental
passenger train was bound for Montreal from Vancouver. "The crash brought down all
communication lines so there was no way of radioing for aid," stated the Virtual Museum. "The
engine of the troop train shot into the air and came down onto the second coach, crushing it onto the
tracks," mentioned Virtual Museum's entry on the "Canoe River Train Wreck." "The initial vehicle
telescoped and landed on leading of the front section of the third coach. Diefenbaker was
constructive the telegraph operator was innocent and being employed as a "scapegoat," mentioned
CBC Digital Archives. (He was not tried for the deaths of the soldiers or the three other civilian
guys.)
The Transcontinental train and passengers were pulled back to Kamloops, BC. Lawyer John
Diefenbaker went on to turn into the Prime Minister of Canada from 1957 to 1963.
Sources:. The west-bound troop train carrying about 340 military males - gunners of the 2nd
Regiment of the 1 Royal Canadian Horse Artillery - was enroute from Shilo, Manitoba heading for
battle in the Korean conflict. Telegraph operator Bill Fischer rigged an emergency telephone and
produced a call to his headquarters in Jasper, added Virtual Museum. There had been several
possibilities for blanking out the message need to there be a lot of snow or something else (like
verified occasion of a bird putting a dead fish on the wire, said Virtual Museum). The occasion
remembered the 17 soldiers lost, the men listed on Veterans Affairs Canada:
"The Canoe River Train Accident," Veterans Affairs Canada Accessed November 15, 2010
Seventeen Soldiers, Four Trainmen Dead in Crash
Communication Lines at Canoe River Down
Gunner Arden Joseph Atchison
Gunner Weldon Eugene Barkhouse