Site of 1887 Rail Collision

Disaster struck in St. Thomas on July 15th, 1887 just after 7pm.[1] It was a warm, Friday evening when a Grand Trunk Railway passenger train running northbound on the London and Port Stanley (L&PS) line struck a westbound Michigan Central (MCR) freight train, where the two lines crossed near the intersection of Moore and Centre Street. It would become the deadliest disaster in St. Thomas history.[2]

The passenger train was transporting around 400 people back from a day at the beach in Port Stanley, where Centre St. Baptist Church had held their annual picnic.[3] The train was coming into town too fast, and it is believed that the engineer, Harry Donnelly, had misread the signal telling him to stop.[4] [5] Donnelly realized his mistake too late, however, only to find that the air brakes did not work.[6] Instead, the engine hurtled into two 5000-gallon oil tanks attached to flat cars on the MCR freight train which burst into flames.[7]

Harry Donnelly died in the inferno.[8] Ten other passengers in the train would also meet a similar terrible death.[9] Other passengers, meanwhile, scrambled to escape the wreckage and flames. Townspeople soon arrived and joined escaped passengers in helping pull men, women, and children from the burning cars. Mr. Westlake, a passenger on the train, saved a child by kicking out a window and carrying the child out to safety. Then he returned to the smoke-filled car to save as many people as possible before the heat became too intense. The St. Thomas Journal, quoting Mr. Westlake, describes the scene as, "one of the intensest horror, which can never be forgotten by those who witnessed it.”[10]

The fire spread to nearby buildings as the St. Thomas firefighters desperately tried to limit the spread of the flames, dousing surrounding buildings with water by hand through a bucket brigade.[11] John Campbell’s nearby frame house was lost, as were two warehouses, a coal shed, and a stable.[12]

Just as it seemed like it couldn’t get worse, more disaster struck. About a half hour after the initial collision, the second oil tank exploded and was thrown into the air. It sent up a Black mushroom cloud over the hundreds of people gathered at the site of the disaster—victims, firefighters, doctors, and general spectators.[13] The explosion broke windows as far away as Talbot Street.[14]

The gathered crowd retreated in a panic, desperate to escape the burning oil about to drop out of the overhanging cloud. People were trampled and one man—the Hon. Allan Francis, United States Consul at St. Thomas—was seriously injured by a runaway hose reel.[15] And then the oil fell, burning anyone unable to take cover. Hundreds were burned and injured.

At that time, a firefighter named Herman Ponsford was standing on the roof of the Dake Hotel at the northwest corner of Talbot and Railway (Princess) streets.[16] He was showered in burning oil and sustained serious, and ultimately fatal injuries.[17] A plaque in his honour still stands in the St. Thomas Firehall.[18]

After the explosion, the fire slowly began to subside, as the firefighters continued to work to save nearby buildings, doctors tended the wounded, and distraught family members tried to reunite with their loved ones. The accident had also cut the telegraph line, meaning it was extremely difficult to communicate quickly with people in Port Stanley and further abroad. Some family members of the dead were still in Port Stanley, expecting to see each other only hours later.[19]

Remarkably, the clean-up and repair of the rails began almost immediately. The St. Thomas Journal described the scene:

“The scene was presented as one long to be remembered. The smoke curling up from the burning ruins, scores of busy men working at the track, others with lanterns in their hands directing operations, and around them being a circle of citizens anxiously awaiting the arrival of [subsequent] train[s] from the Port to find out whether loved relatives or friends were safe or were amongst the unrecognizable victims.” [20]

Although the Michigan Central Rail was repaired in time for a train a mere three hours later, the effects of the tragedy were felt for years to come.[21] The death toll was fourteen people, including six children.[22] A Miss Thompson, who drowned earlier that day at Port Stanley, is often included in the death toll, bringing it up to fifteen.[23]

• Mrs. J. Smither (age 35) and her son Robert (age 3 months), of St. Thomas. Mr. Smithers was a dry goods merchant.
• Mrs. Samuel Fraine (age 50) and her son Frankie (age 3), of St. Thomas. Mr. Samuel Fraine was a tailor.
• Mr. Samuel G. Zealand (age 47) and his daughter Annie (age 2), of St. Thomas. Mr. Zealand was superintendent of the carpet department in J. W. Mickleborough’s store. Mrs. Samuel G. Zealand was fatally burned and died a few days later.
• Mrs. John W. Baynes, and her daughters Lylia (age 11), Edna (age 10), and Vina (age 7), of London. Mr. John Baynes was a moulder. His entire family died in the tragedy except for one son.
• Mr. Harry Donnelly, Engineer, of London.
• Mr. H. Ponsford, Fireman, of St. Thomas. Mr. Ponsford was a bricklayer.
• Mrs. Allen, of Glanworth. She died of injuries the following day. Her husband was a G.T.R. section man.

The coroner’s inquest on July 16th 1887 found that the Grand Trunk Railway (who had leased the L&PS) was at fault through criminal carelessness:

“The engineer was unfit for his duty as shown by the speed with which he ran his train into the city limits; Second, the negligence of the conductor in not examining the air brakes before leaving the Port; Further, had there been an inspector, as there should have been, at the Port, the serious consequences would probably have been avoided.”[24]

The collision was later immortalized in a painting by local artist William St. Thomas Smith, which depicted the aftermath of the disaster looking north along the L&PS tracks. A derrick is visible removing tanker cars, as is the Dake House Hotel, on which Mr. Ponsford was fatally injured.[25]

[1] St. Thomas Journal, July 19 1887

[2] EHS Video

[3] St. Thomas Journal, Jul 19 1887

[4] Tillsonburg Observer, Jul 22 1887

[5] St. Thomas and Its Men of Affairs, p. 92

[6] Ibid.

[7] St. Thomas Journal, Jul 19 1887

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Ibid.

[14] St. Thomas and Its Men of Affairs p. 90

[15] Tillsonburg Observer, Jul 22 1887

[16] Ibid.

[17] St. Thomas Journal, Jul 19 1887

[18] St. Thomas Times Journal, May 28 2018

[19] St. Thomas Journal, Jul 19 1887

[20] Ibid.

[21] Ibid.

[22] This death toll is a combination of deaths reported in the St. Thomas Journal, Jul 19 1887, and the Tillsonburg Observer, Jul 22 1887. Mrs. Allen’s death is only reported in the Observer.

[23] St. Thomas Journal, Jul 19 1887

[24] St. Thomas and its Men of Affairs, p. 92

[25] Elgin County Archives

Broadly, Laura. (2018, May 28). Local hero's portrait donated over 130 years after his death. St. Thomas Times-Journal. https://www.stthomastimesjournal.com/2018/05/28/local-heros-portrait-donated-over-130-years-after-his-death/wcm/4a15300e-6da3-e78c-7466-51646f5d36d1

Elgin County Archives. (2011). William St. Thomas Smith Painting - Aftermath of 1887 Railway Collision, St. Thomas [Archives Entry]. https://inmagic.elgin.ca/ask/permalink/114716/

Elgin Historical Society. (2015). 1887 Rail Disaster , St. Thomas, Ontario [video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-sBRKm-qNk

Miller, W. C. (1967). Vignettes of Early St. Thomas. The Sutherland Press.

St. Thomas Journal. (1887, July 19).

St. Thomas and Its Men of Affairs. (1914). The Journal Printing Company.

Tillsonburg Observer. (1887, July 22).