DAR locomotive No. 10 derailed at Canning, November 9, 1912. The locomotive was on a Kingsport bound train approaching the level crossing of Chapel Road beside the Canning School when one of the axles broke. The locomotive and the baggage car derailed and tumbled down a 16 foot embankment, while the passenger car and several freight cars remained on the track. The conductor, Augustus Wilbur Dickie of Canning (1861-1949) broke his wrist. He had just returned to work after being off for three months with a broken leg.^[1] The engineer Thomas William Hiltz (1878-1947) had a fractured skull and had to be rushed to Halifax on a special train for treatment.^[2] Both men recovered and continued with long careers on the DAR into the 1920s.^[3]

The boy standing on the locomotive smoke box is Bill H. Payzant (1908-1998) while his cousin and violin teacher 15-year old Minnie Vivien Miller (1897-1980) can be seen with her violin case in the foreground.

With thanks from the Kaye Family collection, Fieldwood Heritage Society, Canning and to Linda G. Layton for the background information about those involved.

References