Originally published in Lake of the Woods Area News, Volume 54, Number 3, Summer 2024
The summer of 1947 was drawing to a close and with it the camping season. This was particularly true for those whose summer places or vacation spots were located in communities along the Canadian National (CN) railway line, Redditt, Minaki, Ottermere, Wade, and Malachi.
The last run of the season by what was known as the Minaki Campers’ Special train was set for Monday, September 1.
Campers were prepping their cabins and properties for winter, while making some final memories at the lake that would hold them over until the next spring. The Pala Camp and Minaki Lodge were also closing for the season, so their guests were enjoying a last summer getaway.
It was a busy weekend, so busy that the CN had to put on an additional train to accommodate all the travellers heading back to Winnipeg. The first train left Minaki at around 6:30 p.m., followed an hour later by the Extra #6001.
Among the passengers on #6001 were members of the Dixon family—Grenville, Annie, Donald, Patricia and Merle—who had spent the weekend closing up camp at Malachi. Their sadness over the end of another summer was tempered by the excitement they had about the upcoming wedding of young Donald. Their house in Winnipeg was already decorated for the celebration.
John White, his brother and their friend Roy Pennington had spent the weekend at Pistol Lake, near Minaki. There was the Perron family, the Simpsons, the Mellors, the Adamses, the Steeles and others, bringing the passenger complement to 326.
Also travelling on the main CN line, but in the opposite direction, was the Continental Limited No. 4 passenger train (#6046), full of travellers heading east. It had come to a halt at the Dugald station, waiting for the Campers’ Special to take the siding, and in doing so, allow the Continental, which had priority, to carry on its way to Toronto.
But the Campers’ Special didn’t take the siding, instead it powered through, rounding the S curve just east of Dugald, heading straight for the stationary #6046. The engineer tried to brake but it was too late. The crew on the Continental, seeing that the Special was not stopping, jumped to safety. The ensuing head-on collision, at 9:44 p.m., was so forceful that the two engines fused together. The steel cars of #6046 stayed on the tracks and suffered only minor damage like broken windows.
The Special, powered by the steam locomotive, had two steel baggage cars, nine wooden coaches lit by gas lighting, and two steel parlour cars with electric lighting. John White, a passenger, recalled that after he escaped from the wreckage, he saw that the baggage car, directly behind the locomotive, had stayed on the tracks. The second baggage car had derailed to the south. Three of the wooden coaches had been pitched off the tracks on the north side, while the fourth and fifth coaches stayed upright on the tracks. The sixth coach was toppled onto its side. The last three coaches and the parlour cars held to the track.
White’s friend, Roy Pennington, said that it was soon after the crash that he “saw flames from the gas lighting, rolling through the coaches like a fireball.” It was, in fact, fire that claimed most of the 31 lives that were lost in the accident, including the entire Dixon family. Only the engineer and the fireman were killed on impact. In addition, another 81 people were injured.
The residents of Dugald were the first on the scene, alerted to the crash by the noise, the steam shooting high into the sky, and the flames that engulfed not only the train coaches but also a nearby grain elevator and the Imperial oil depot. Townsfolk were assisted in their rescue efforts by surviving passengers and passengers on the Continental. Signs and whatever was available were used as stretchers, and grain trucks were employed to take people to the hospital.
Neil “Chick” Edie, a survivor, said, “I remember my mother, Jenny, laying her fur coat on an injured couple who had been moved from the wreck on car doors. It was later learned that they were husband and wife. They were taken into Winnipeg in the back of a grain truck. I believe they both died. My mother’s coat never came back.”
Many of the injured were transported to the St. Boniface Hospital by car, ambulance and truck. The remaining passengers boarded the Continental, which was split and the latter half was shunted back to Union Station in Winnipeg.
On September 10, a funeral cortege of 22 hearses, 46 cabs carrying family members, and 18 other vehicles carrying RCMP, city police, CNR police, pall bearers and clergy made its solemn way from Cook’s Funeral Home in Transcona, around the Manitoba Legislative grounds, and then west along Portage Avenue to the Brookside Cemetery. Thousands lined the route to pay their respects.
Of the 31 people that were killed in the crash, only seven could be positively identified. Two bodies were never located. The remains of the other 22 were buried in a mass grave marked by a stone monument. As well, a heritage plaque was placed near the grave detailing the tragedy.
An inquiry into the crash was conducted by the Board of Transport Commissioners and was completed on October 18, 1947. Several contributing issues came to light as a result. The first was that the signaling system at Dugald was faulty. While the crew of the Special had been instructed to take the siding east of Dugald to clear the main line for the Continental, the rear brakeman claimed that the train’s order signal was green and gave it the right-of-way to the main line. This was corroborated by a passenger.
Another issue was the use of wooden coaches, which were being phased out at the time. However, because of steel rationing during World War II, the old wooden cars had been kept in service until newer cars could be procured. Their arrangement between steel cars was noted as a hazard upon impact and it was recommended that, going forward, wooden cars should be placed only at the end of the trains. Because of the gas lighting which was serviced by compressed gas tanks under the coach, and the flammability of wood, the crash resulted in far more fatalities than would have occurred in the steel cars. The recommendation of the Commissioners was that the gas lighting be replaced with electric lighting.
In the end, blame was assigned to the crew of the Campers’ Special for not carrying out the order to take the siding. These were written orders that were received and acknowledged by the crew, and yet the train stayed on the main line as it came into Dugald. Secondly, the speed with which the train was travelling as it entered the yard exceeded CNR regulations. Trains were to slow to 8-10 mph so that they could either safely take the siding or stop. It was estimated that the Special came in at 30 mph, although some passengers were convinced that it was travelling even faster than that, upwards to 70 mph.
Survivors continue to tell the story of that horrific night. While some recall the exact spot where the trains met, others talk about how they got out safely and how they tried to help others. Others recall those who saved their lives. Others’ memories take them back to the destruction, the fire, the endless sirens, and the loss of lives.
Two other monuments have since been erected to commemorate those whose lives were so tragically lost. In August 1950, a cairn was built on Memorial Island at Malachi, Ontario by the Malachi Campers’ Association. All 27 passenger victims had a connection to Malachi. On September 1, 2007, to mark the 60th anniversary of the crash, the Springfield Women’s Institute unveiled a monument in Dugald.
This tragedy is counted among Canada’s worst train accidents.
Special thanks to Suzanne Langlois, Library Assistant, Kenora Library, for her efforts in helping us locate some of the additional archival photos from various sources.
