I saved the best for last!
More suits, more hats, and more pictures of any kind, visit www.sepiasaturday.blogspot.com
Ramblin' Rose---My life and how I see it.
Mirrored image of the Centennial Bridge
One frosty and very still morning in November, 2010, Centennial Bridge, Miramichi, NB, Canada
About Me
Hay Island, Neguac, New Brunswick, Canada
Reflections in the water
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Sepia Saturday, February 22, 2014
I saved the best for last!
More suits, more hats, and more pictures of any kind, visit www.sepiasaturday.blogspot.com
Friday, February 14, 2014
The Day the Circus left town
I came across this story on the Facebook site, Our Miramichi Heritage Photos. It is a gathering of many people, the outcome was not so grand....the circus left town on a train bound for a derailment between Newcastle to Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
1930 Circus Train Wreck
It was July of 1930, and the
5-ring Al G. Barnes Circus was touring eastern Canada. They had finished their
Newcastle performance and had loaded the gear back onto the circus train. That
was early in the morning of Sunday, July 20th, and their next performance was
to be in Charlottetown. After Charlottetown, they were to stop in Moncton and
then continue with stops in Nova Scotia.
It was 4:25 AM before the train pulled out. There was a locomotive and tender followed by ten cars for the animals. These were followed by eleven flat cars and gondolas and eight passenger cars. Finally there was the caboose. Newspaper reports indicated that there were over 700 people on the train. This seems unlikely, but the number was certainly large.
The departure from Newcastle had been delayed, and the circus employees tried to get some sleep. It had been a warm day and the passenger cars were sweltering, so several of the crew decided to sleep on the flat cars and gondolas.
The train was passing through Canaan Station about fourteen miles northwest of Moncton when it derailed at 6:55 AM. It was indicated in early newspaper reports that the train had hit a broken rail at 30 m.p.h., but later they said that there had been a broken arch-bar on one of the cars. Railway cars no longer have arch bars, which was a steel frame holding the four-wheel assemblies together at each end of the car. It was the eighteenth car, one of the flats or gondolas, which first left the track. Three passenger cars at the rear end of the train and the animal cars at the head end also derailed, but many of the others were sent off the track. Some of these remained upright, but a good number of others were totally destroyed.
A relief train was sent out from Moncton and many citizens also attended the scene. The injured were taken to the hospital and the dead were removed from the wreckage. Four or five people had died and another seventeen or eighteen were injured. Those who had been sleeping on the open cars had been in special jeopardy.
The list of dead was reported differently in the newspapers. One reported the dead to be Los Angeles prop men Albert Johnson and Frank Finnegan, a waiter named James McFarland believed to be from Toronto, James A. Stephenson of Fredericton, and an unidentified hobo; five in total. Another mentioned Johnson, Finnegan and McFarland (believed to be from Montreal) as circus employees, plus a James Arthur Stephens possibly of Fredericton; four only. Stephens or Stephenson may therefore have been the hobo, and it seems that the count of four dead is correct.
The families of Albert Johnston and James McFarland could not be located, and they were buried in the Elmwood Cemetery in Moncton on July 24, 1930, Rev. S.J. MacArthur officiating. There was a large funeral procession from the Tuttle Brothers Funeral Chapel with the mayor and other dignitaries in attendance.
The damaged circus equipment was taken to the Fair Grounds in Moncton for sorting and repairs, where possible. The Charlottetown show was cancelled, but a show was put on in Moncton and the circus then proceeded to Nova Scotia. ·
It was 4:25 AM before the train pulled out. There was a locomotive and tender followed by ten cars for the animals. These were followed by eleven flat cars and gondolas and eight passenger cars. Finally there was the caboose. Newspaper reports indicated that there were over 700 people on the train. This seems unlikely, but the number was certainly large.
The departure from Newcastle had been delayed, and the circus employees tried to get some sleep. It had been a warm day and the passenger cars were sweltering, so several of the crew decided to sleep on the flat cars and gondolas.
The train was passing through Canaan Station about fourteen miles northwest of Moncton when it derailed at 6:55 AM. It was indicated in early newspaper reports that the train had hit a broken rail at 30 m.p.h., but later they said that there had been a broken arch-bar on one of the cars. Railway cars no longer have arch bars, which was a steel frame holding the four-wheel assemblies together at each end of the car. It was the eighteenth car, one of the flats or gondolas, which first left the track. Three passenger cars at the rear end of the train and the animal cars at the head end also derailed, but many of the others were sent off the track. Some of these remained upright, but a good number of others were totally destroyed.
A relief train was sent out from Moncton and many citizens also attended the scene. The injured were taken to the hospital and the dead were removed from the wreckage. Four or five people had died and another seventeen or eighteen were injured. Those who had been sleeping on the open cars had been in special jeopardy.
The list of dead was reported differently in the newspapers. One reported the dead to be Los Angeles prop men Albert Johnson and Frank Finnegan, a waiter named James McFarland believed to be from Toronto, James A. Stephenson of Fredericton, and an unidentified hobo; five in total. Another mentioned Johnson, Finnegan and McFarland (believed to be from Montreal) as circus employees, plus a James Arthur Stephens possibly of Fredericton; four only. Stephens or Stephenson may therefore have been the hobo, and it seems that the count of four dead is correct.
The families of Albert Johnston and James McFarland could not be located, and they were buried in the Elmwood Cemetery in Moncton on July 24, 1930, Rev. S.J. MacArthur officiating. There was a large funeral procession from the Tuttle Brothers Funeral Chapel with the mayor and other dignitaries in attendance.
The damaged circus equipment was taken to the Fair Grounds in Moncton for sorting and repairs, where possible. The Charlottetown show was cancelled, but a show was put on in Moncton and the circus then proceeded to Nova Scotia. ·
The following are three pictures depicting the aftermath of the accident:
To keep on track and see more crowds (for various reasons) go to
www.sepiasaturday.blogspot.com Hope you all had a good Valentine's Day on February 14th.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
SepiaSaturday, February 8, 2014
I found a few portraits on the walls in some of these pictures I found in "Our Miramichi Heritage Photos" of the Old Manse Library. It is the boyhood home of Max Aitken who became Lord Beaverbrook. He was raised here in Newcastle, New Brunswick, Canada. His father was a Presbyterian minister, thus, the name Old Manse. This grand home was turned into a library.
We are now called the city of Miramichi after the salmon rich river, Miramichi River. I remember going to this library quite a lot when I was a little girl. We lived in a little bungalow, so I thought it was just grand to be able to go up and down stairs. It is here that I got my love of books. I can also remember the distinct smell of furniture polish. Funny how pictures can take you right back.....
We are now called the city of Miramichi after the salmon rich river, Miramichi River. I remember going to this library quite a lot when I was a little girl. We lived in a little bungalow, so I thought it was just grand to be able to go up and down stairs. It is here that I got my love of books. I can also remember the distinct smell of furniture polish. Funny how pictures can take you right back.....
Well, that was my walk down memory lane, you can take a walk down many memory lanes by going to www.sepiasaturday.blogspot.com Have a great week fellow sepians!! Rosie.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)