Special Broadcast on the Almonte Train Wreck

Last week a radio piece entitled "The Night the War Came to Almonte" was aired on CJHR 98.7 FM Renfrew (Valley Heritage Radio) to coincide with the anniversary ceremony that took  place the evening of December 20^th in Almonte.  The piece will air again on December 27th which marks the 70^th anniversary of the 1942 Almonte Train Wreck.

The broadcast features, the voices of train wreck survivors Mervin Tosh (now deceased), John Southwell Sr. of Carleton Place, and Ed Muldoon of Ottawa. Accounts from the Dec. 28, 1942 edition of the Ottawa Evening Journal are read by Shirley Walsh of Carleton Place. Fiddle "lament" pieces recorded in the Almonte United Church in 2003 by Rick Legree of Mississippi Mills are featured throughout the piece. The broadcast ends with a performance of “Amazing Grace” by the Royal Scots Guard.

We hope you all get a chance to listen to it.

Should you not be able to recieve this station where you are, just go to www.valleyheritageradio.ca and listen to the livestream on your computer.

A new book on the Almonte Train Wreck is available now. Proceeds will go to support the North Lanark Historical Society.  To order copies email peter@moller.ca.

Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!

Almonte Train Wreck 1942

On a snowy December night in 1942, the town of Almonte, Ontario's Christmas celebrations were cut short when a train transporting Canadian troops rear-ended an Ottawa-bound passenger train that was waiting at the station platform. The collision killed 36 people and injured more than 200. It is considered one of the worst train wrecks in Canadian history.

Tickets are now on sale for our upcoming event Trolley Cars & Steam Whistles in the Park featuring the Ottawa Storytellers who will present us with a live re-telling of this great tragedy.  

Join us on November 29 at 7:30 p.m.  at the Ron Kolbus Centre located in Ottawa's beautiful Britannia Park. 
To order tickets email: info@workershistorymuseum.ca


Watch this short video of eye witness accounts of the wreck created for the Canadian Cultural Video Library.

Yesterday and Today: The Almonte Train Wreck. Copyright:1987 for the MTREX 11 Collection:

 

Follow this event on Twitter @WorkersHistory #Almonte1942

Tell us your memories of Britannia Park

Photo from the City of Ottawa Archives

 

Established in 1900 by the Ottawa Electric Railway as a "Trolley Park,” Britannia Park has been a fixture in the social and cultural life of Ottawa for over a hundred years. We are now collecting its history and need your help. 

Did you attend dances, concerts, church or company picnics at the park?  Did you learn to swim at the beach?  Which big bands did you see in the old " Annex"?   What events did you attend at "Lakeside Gardens"?  What stories do you have to share about riding those old trolley cars to the park?

We are looking to collect your stories, photos and artifacts of the park's past.  If you would like to share these memories with us we would love to hear from you.

Workers History Museum

Post Box 4461, Station E Ottawa, ON K1S 5B4 

info@workershistorymuseum.ca

Photo from the City of Ottawa Archives

 Racontez-nous vos souvenirs du parc Britannia

Créé en 1900 par la compagnie de chemin de fer électrique d’Ottawa comme «parc à trolley», le parc Britannia fait partie depuis plus d’une centaine d’années maintenant de la vie sociale et culturelle de la ville d’Ottawa. Nous préparons ces jours-ci son historique, et à cette fin nous avons besoin de votre aide.

Avez-vous assisté dans le parc à des bals, concerts, pique-niques de votre église ou  entreprise? Avez-vous appris à nager à la plage du parc? Quel orchestre avez-vous vu dans la vieille «Annexe»? À quels spectacles ou événements avez-vous assistés dans les «Jardins Lakeside»? Quelles histoires pouvez-vous partager avec nous sur vos voyages à bord des vieux trolleys pour vous rendre au parc?

Nous faisons appel à votre aide pour recueillir des histoires, photos ou objets sur le passé de ce parc. Si vous avez quelque chose à contribuer, alors faites-nous signe!

Musée de l'histoire ouvrière

Case postale 4461, Succ. E, Ottawa (ON) K1S 5B4 

info@workershistorymuseum.ca