Belmont Station, NS Train Wreck, Dec 1902

TRAIN WRECK KILLS SIX

Canadian Pacific Express Rolls Down and Embankment.

Accident Occurs Seventy Miles from Halifax---Many Injured Passengers Suffered For Hours in Cold.

HALIFAX, N. S., Dec. 6.---Six persons were killed in a wreck on the Inter-Colonial, the Canadian Government railway, at noon to-day near Belmont Station, seventy miles from Halifax. The Canadian Pacific express for Montreal rolled down an embankment, completely wrecking the locomotive, the postal, express, and baggage cars and several passenger cars.

The train left Halifax at 8:45 o'clock for Montreal, connecting at McAdam Junction with the Maine Central Road for Bangor and Boston. Many of the passengers were destined for points in the United States. The accident was caused by the pilot becoming loose and falling from the rails. The train plowed ahead for fifty feet and then turned over and rolled down an embankment.

The engine was completely wrecked, and the cars next in the make-up of the train were telescoped by those in the rear. Trider, the engineer, was killed at his post, the only member of the train crew to lose his life. Four passengers were killed, and one fatally injured. The colonist car ran under the full length down to the windows. The baggagemaster, postal clerk, and express agents were among the injured, besides a brakeman and a number of passengers. The list of the dead and injured follows:

THE DEAD.

TRIDER, SAMUEL, engineer, of Truro, Nova Scotia.
McDONALD, W. B., merchant, New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN, who boarded the train at Bedford.
THREE MEN, whose bodies are badly mutilated.

THE INJURED.

KENNEDY, William, of Black Rock, Newfoundland; will die.
BROWN, R. H., express messenger.
EDWARDS, J., brakeman.
NORTON, P. J., express agent.
DEVOE, Frank, express agent of Newcastle, New Brunswick.
VICKARS, William, commercial traveler; not seriously hurt.
CAVANAGH, James, passenger; injuries unknown.
PIPPELL, J. P., postal clerk, of St. John.
BELYEA, A. S., of St. John.

Harry Campbell, the fireman, was hurled through the window of the cab and was picked up in an adjoining field practically unhurt.

Among the passengers injured were three men from Sydney, C. B. for Boston. Everybody in the second-class car was bitterly cold, and it was hours before help arrived.

Trider was the oldest engineer on the road, having taken the first through train over the Inter-Colonial from Truro to Amherst thirty years ago. He had been injured several times in wrecks on the road.

Though the wrecked train belonged to the Canadian Pacific, it was in charge of an Inter-Colonial crew. The Canadian Pacific's lines terminate at St. John, N. B., and the Inter-Colonial takes charge there and hauls the trains daily to Halifax and back. At St. John a Canadian Pacific Railroad crew takes charge again and runs the train through to Montreal.

The New York Times, New York, NY 7 Dec 1902
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Transcribed by Linda Horton. Thank you, Linda!