A disaster of the highest level
The Desjardins Canal Bridge disaster that killed 59 people in 1857 was one of the worst railway disasters in Canadian history
Fifty-nine passengers on board a Great Western Railway train from Toronto to Hamilton on March 12, 1857, were killed when an axle broke as the train was crossing the Desjardins Canal Bridge. The train left the tracks, pushed through the side railings, and crashed into the frozen waters below.
It was the worst accidental loss of life in the area’s history. The tragedy left the community reeling and remains one of the worst railway disasters in Canadian history.
Several prominent people died, including Samuel Zimmerman, who was described by The Spectator at the time as a “renowned railway contractor and banker, whose name for years has been known as a household word in the mouth of almost every Canadian.” The train was the most celebrated technology of the era. It was creating prosperity and laying the groundwork for nationhood. But the crash demonstrated that technology can sometimes have horrific consequences.
An official day of mourning was held, and a large public funeral was attended by an estimated 10,000 people.
A coroner’s inquest began the next day. The tragedy — at a time when the canal and its bridges were major transportation routes — left Hamilton in shock. Investigations and official reports followed.
The inquest was among Canada’s first to use forensics — by incorporating detailed photographs. It concluded a broken axle on the locomotive caused the train to jump the track, crash through the wooden swing bridge and plunge 18 metres (60 feet) into the icy canal below, killing 59 people.
For a period of time, trains stopped before the bridge to allow passengers to walk across.
The permanent bridge built in its place no longer allowed ocean-going schooners to pass through. So the Great Western tragedy also killed the Desjardins Canal’s vital role in Dundas’ shipping trade and its connection to the Great Lakes.
In 1869, the Hamilton and Milton Toll Road Company built a new high-level bridge for local traffic. That bridge, and the railway bridge, were both replaced again in 1897 by the T.H.&B. Railway.
In 1932, the city built a fourth High Level Bridge — part of its western entrance beautification scheme and unemployment relief measures. By 1962, Highway 403 was under construction close to the railway bridge and over part of the Cootes Paradise marsh. The High Level Bridge became a heritage landmark in 1986, received a major facelift in 1987, and was renamed the Thomas B. McQuesten High Level Bridge in 1988.
On July 1, 2000, the Hamilton Harbour Waterfront Trail opened with a floating walkway at the canal that parallels the boat channel. The canal, in which many drowned that fateful day in 1857, is now vital to preserving Cootes Paradise’s fish spawning grounds by housing the Great Lakes’ first two-way fishway that keeps out destructive carp.
Each day, thousands of cars on Highway 403 pass over that canal, and hundreds of people walk, cycle and in-line skate near the spot where the train plunged into the icy waters.
Rendition of the Great Western train falling into the water.