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Engine Plunges Into Welland Canal
[Waterford Star, July 4, 1929]
Welland, June 28—Kiwanians returning from their convention had a narrow escape from death or serious injury this afternoon when the Michigan Central special train in which they were travelling just escaped going into the Welland Canal through the open bridge.
The engine of the special toppled over the bridge into the water, the coaches going off the track and halting on the brink. Engineer James Odell, with his fireman, succeeded in jumping from the cabin of the locomotive before it commenced its descent. Odell was seriously injured and was rushed to the Welland County General Hospital on an N.S.&T. trolley car. He is suffering from severe lacerations of the head.
The Welland division of the Niagara, St Catharines and Toronto Railway, above the city, to Port Colborne, was tied up for some time. The accident, however did not tie up navigation, both north and south bound boats taking the easterly channel, while the locomotive lies buried in the centre of the western passage.
Two front wheels of the baggage car, which was next to the locomotive, were hanging over the brink of the canal when the engine broke loose and plunged into the canal. According to statements of several passengers, there were about 175 Kiwanians on board, mostly all bound for New Jersey. They assert that the train was traveling at a fast rate. At the point where the accident occurred there is a derailing switch which in some manner threw the tender of the engine off the track. It bumped along for a distance of 150 feet, when it hit a frog, throwing it back on the track again. It is said that had it not been for this, the passenger cars would have been thrown on their sides and many occupants injured. The baggage car was coupled next to the engine and when the locomotive went through the open bridge, the front wheels of the car were over the embankment. The engine snapped off, this automatically acting as a brake to the remainder of the train, which was brought to a standstill. The engineer had applied the brakes some distance from the bridge. There were six passenger cars in the train.
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