Alternate title: A Caboose Runs through It
For over a century, trains passed by Kingston's 'outer station'.
This event occurred after this segment of the main line had become a spur.
Above, the camera is facing timetable east in April, 1985. Behind the camera is Elliott Avenue. The south track has been lifted, The north track remains. It is possible that a slight downgrade leads around the curve to the former Kingston station. There was generally a 30mph limit on this curve while it was the main line, and eliminating this sharp curve was the principal reason the line was relocated.
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| from: Altitudes of Canada; James White; 1901; Government of Canada. |
Above is the elevation and mileage data circa 1900. It is important to note that the Kingston (outer) station was then 'Kingston junction' and the Grand Trunk 'Kingston station' was downtown, west of Kingston City Hall.
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| from: Unknown railway directory (front section missing); 1874. |
Above, looking at what is probably the mileage calculated from Montreal Bonaventure Station, you'll notice that mile 172 is Kingston. As well, a through train only makes a 10 minute stop, so we can safely conclude that Kingston (above) refers to Kingston junction.
None of this has much bearing on the subject of this post, but sometimes it's nice to scan in some old references in case people find them interesting.
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| from: CNR Great Lakes Region Timetable; June 1 1981; Kingston Sub footnotes. |
Above: The employee timetable from the era of our tale (below) shows how this segment of the long-standing main line has been reduced to a 10 mph spur.
Above, the camera is looking timetable west to the original Grand Trunk Kingston main line station. You can see the south track forming the station lead has been lifted and that the old north track remains. A dump of concrete ties which did not perform well under the relocated line segment await legal and literal disposal.
A broadside of a boarding car. Some of these photos have been lightened to show more detail of the trucks and other systems hidden in the shade. I know the date of this incident because (as usual) my brother, Eric, had properly recorded it. You can see some of his photos of this event and other interesting period developments through the link to his page below:
Above, you can see that the caboose has run into the stop-block at the east end of the spur.
Except for the trainwreck-style physical damage, this seems like a minor incident. However, you can imagine that company officials and the legal department would take this kind of thing very seriously, partly because of its potential to cause casualties and damage beyond the railway property. Visible behind the caboose is Montreal Street - one of Kingston's main south-north links to the 401.
So those are my photos of this little affair. The superlative Transportation Safety Board was not created until 1990, so one of its excellent reports would not have been filed about this event.
Cause?: Perhaps the caboose was at rest, an effort was made to couple on to it, and the pin didn't lock properly. Perhaps a handbrake had not been applied to secure the coupling movement so the caboose just rolled away.
The enlarged image of the open knuckle (below) makes it tempting to conclude this was the cause. However, the impact popped an inspection light out on the leading end (seen farther above) so the force of the impact could also have shaken up the coupler.
This caboose was built in 1980 and it was returned to service after this event.
