Lehigh Express Leaves the Rails!

116 years ago, the Lehigh Express derailed between Ingersoll and Woodstock, Ontario. Miraculously, no one was killed.

By Liz Dommasch, Archivist

In the early morning of November 16, 1906, disaster struck the Lehigh Express running east between Ingersoll and Woodstock when all the passenger cars left the rails near Beachville Road where it crossed the Grand Truck line. One passenger coach overturned into the ditch, while the other three partially overturned. The baggage and mail car ended up on its side, while two other baggage cars and the engine broke off and stopped one hundred yards farther away from the derailment. Miraculously, although many suffered slight injuries, and Mr. and Mrs. J.R. Smith of Rochester, N.Y. were sent to the hospital with more serious injuries, no one was actually killed.

A photo of the Lehigh Express train derailment. The train car are off the rails. A group of people are standing at the back of the train. One man is in the foreground wearing a long coat and bowler hat.

Lehigh Express train derailment, 16 November 1906.

Following the derailment, the lights went out immediately and the eighty passengers on the train were left in darkness. Many used matches to light their way or groped seats while trying to find windows or doors to exit. A number were able to escape, and those that remained were assisted once the trainmen appeared with lanterns.

According to the article published in the Sentinel-Review later that same day, one man in the overturned coach was said to have made a rather hasty and excited exit following the accident, as he groped his way through the car to a window to call for help. He grabbed a “little woman” who was trying to get out, climbed over her shoulders, and exited through the train window. In his haste, he neglected to pull the woman out after him and instead left her to extricate herself as best she could.

Fortunately, the coaches were not badly demolished and fire didn’t break out. The injured passengers were first taken to nearby houses, where they were attended by area physicians that arrived on the scene. Those that were uninjured attempted to find their belongings, though in many cases in vain and hung around the wreck till morning broke before wandering up the track to the station and G.T.R. hotel. Most of the passengers could continue their travels on the special shortly after 9 o’clock, along with the baggage and mail that had been safely guarded before being transferred to the new train.

A photo of the Lehigh Express train derailment. The train cars are off the rails. A large group of people are gathered around the train, with a crowd standing in the distance. Buildings can also be seen in the distance as a town is nearby.

Lehigh Express train derailment, 16 November 1906.

The work of cleaning up the wreck took the remainder of the day, though how the accident occurred was a bit of a mystery. It was believed that the accident might have happened due to a portion of the baggage car breaking, which caused the rails to spread resulting in the passenger coaches being pulled off the tracks. Many of the spectators that arrived at the scene noted the badly decaying and unsafe rail ties that they felt may have factored into the derailment.

A photo of the Lehigh Express train derailment. The train cars are off of the tracks. Some of the wreckage is laying beside the train A small group of men is standing near the train. A letter is written over the photo.

Lehigh Express Derailment with a handwritten note from a man named Harold that reads: "Dear Father, This is a picture of the accident that happened in Woodstock last week. I was down to see it, and I can tell you it was quite a sight, there were several injured but nobody killed. Love to all. From Harold."

Image credits: COA oversized postcard collection #68, #69 and #77A