"The crash brought down all communication lines so there was no way of radioing for support," said t...

1. RCHA Soldiers Killed in Train Wreck at Canoe River in 1950
"The crash brought down all communication lines so there was no way of radioing for support," said
the Virtual Museum. Loaded aboard the relief train, the survivors and the casualties have been
taken to Edmonton, Alberta. Engineers and firemen of both trains perished. The train tracks curved
into a blind corner, and each and every train engineer was confident that the rail ahead was clear.
The steel cars were fine, but the old wooden automobiles were crushed." Steam from hot water
pipes formed a cloud in the frosty air over the internet site, the hot steam severely scalding
numerous men. (The occasion was held early to stay clear of winter situations.) Residents of the
region, veterans, cadets, train passengers and crash survivors attended the event. The injured and
other people in the crash have been really cold - there was six inches of snow on the ground and
extra falling, and with each engines broken, there was no heat in any of the remaining train vehicles.
Communication Lines at Canoe River Down
"Canoe River Train Wreck," Roots: Valemount &amp Location Museum, Virtual Museum Accessed
November 15, 2010
The trial started on May possibly ten, 1951 in Prince George, BC with a 12-member jury and Justice
A.D. John Diefenbaker spent various weeks understanding about telegraph procedures prior to
heading into court.
Changes had been produced to the rail line at the Canoe River scene, such as the removal of the
blind corner to avert any additional horrific accidents at that point. As if the predicament was not
dreadful sufficient, an oil fire started, hindering rescue and recovery.
The Transcontinental train and passengers have been pulled back to Kamloops, BC. Diefenbaker
focussed on the weak wooden automobiles in which the soldiers have been sitting and comparing the
severe damage to the somewhat safer steel automobiles. "The case against Atherton hinged on a
message sent to the telegraph operator that he then relayed to the conductor of a train complete of
Korea-bound soldiers," said CBC Digital Archives. Three hours later, a hospital train arrived from
Jasper and a relief train arrived from Kamloops. The Transcontinental passenger train was bound for
Montreal from Vancouver. The system of message transmission had also been declared a dilemma in
the preliminary hearing by Diefenbaker. The event remembered the 17 soldiers lost, the guys listed
on Veterans Affairs Canada:
Seventeen Soldiers, Four Trainmen Dead in Crash
"Canoe River Train Memorial," The Rocky Mountain Goat
Accessed November 15, 2010
"Diefenbaker for the Defence," CBC Digital Archives
Accessed November 15, 2010
A communication challenge was blamed for the appalling crash. There had been numerous
opportunities for blanking out the message must there be a lot of snow or something else (like
established occasion of a bird putting a dead fish on the wire, said Virtual Museum).

2. "1 RCHA - Canoe River," Canadian Armed Forces Accessed November 15, 2010
Gunner Arden Joseph Atchison
Gunner Weldon Eugene Barkhouse
Gunner Norman William Carroll
Gunner Frederick William Conway
Gunner Robert Arthur Craig
Gunner Austin Emery George
Gunner Urbain Joseph Levesque
Gunner Robert William Manley
Gunner Basil Patrick McKeown
Gunner Albert William Orr
Gunner David Owens
Gunner Leslie Albert Snow
Gunner Albert George Stroud
Gunner Joseph Thistle
Bombardier James Milo Wenkert
Gunner James Joseph White
Gunner William David Wright
Lawyer John Diefenbaker for the Defence
The military train fared significantly worse. "Twelve soldiers had been killed outright - like 4 whose
bodies were never recovered," mentioned 1 RCHA, adding "four more died aboard the relief train
soon after leaving Canoe River, and 1 died in hospital 18 days soon after the accident."
The sacrifice produced by the 1 RCHA gunners was recognized at Valemount, BC on September 10
to 12, 2010 on the 60th anniversary of the train crash. Returning waves to loggers at the side, the
CNR Transcontinental train engineer forged ahead. Suffering with leukemia, she died prior to the
preliminary trial started. Mrs. The trains collided in a devastating crash at Canoe River, close to
Valemount, BC. Lawyer John Diefenbaker went on to become the Prime Minister of Canada from
1957 to 1963.

3. Sources:
The loggers were not waving greetings to the engineer
they have been attempting to warn the trainman of the
impending disaster they saw ahead. The 22-year-old
Canadian National Railway telegraph operator John
Atherton was arrested and tried for manslaughter in the
dead of the CNR fireman aboard the train. "Immediately
after spending some time in Edmonton and Wainwright,
they [the soldiers] returned on a train to the coast,"
stated The Rocky Mountain Goat in "Canoe River Crash Memorial."
A medical doctor rushed from the Transcontinental train to aid the injured soldiers, and quite a few
other travellers supplied nursing care. "Prosecutors said Atherton omitted the words "at Cedarside"
from a single sentence." Such omission would have misled the troop train engineer as to the place of
the Transcontinental train.
The engineers could not see what lay ahead on the mid-morning of November 21, 1950. 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. "The engine of the troop train shot into the air and came down onto the second coach,
crushing it onto the tracks," said Virtual Museum's entry on the "Canoe River Train Wreck." "The
very first automobile telescoped and landed on leading of the front section of the third coach. The
Transcontinental had various cars knocked off the tracks and the engine was broken beyond repair,
but the passengers survived.
"The Canoe River Train Accident," Veterans Affairs Canada Accessed November 15, 2010
60th Anniversary Memorial of Canoe River Crash. McFarlane listening to the testimony. (He was not
attempted for the deaths of the soldiers or the 3 other civilian guys.)
Troop and Transcontinental Trains in Head-on Collision
The disastrous accident brought on the deaths of 17 soldiers, the two train engineers and two train
firemen. Diefenbaker was positive the telegraph operator was innocent and being made use of as a
"scapegoat," mentioned CBC Digital Archives. Telegraph operator Bill Fischer rigged an emergency
telephone and created a get in touch with to his headquarters in Jasper, added Virtual Museum.
Immediately after 40 minutes of deliberation, the jury acquitted John Atherton. Seconds later, two
train engines hit, head-on.
On the tips of his ailing wife Edna, defence lawyer and Saskatchewan MP John Diefenbaker took on
the young Atherton's case