End of the Line

The 1857 Train Wreck at the Desjardins Canal Bridge
In 1857 a Toronto-to-Hamilton train crashed on the Desjardins Canal bridge. Sixty people died, making it one of the worst railway disasters in North America. These are the stories of those associated with the bridge's construction and those who perished in the accident, capturing the ebullient economic confidence of pre-Confederation Canada.

Sixty people died in 1857, leaving behind their stories and the tales of those involved.

In 1857, the Desjardins Canal bridge collapsed under a Toronto-to-Hamilton train, creating one of the worst railway wrecks in North American history. Sixty lives, including that of the main contractor, were lost. The story of how the Great Western Railway was conceived, where it was located, and how it was constructed is replete with high irony covering political intrigue, commercial skullduggery, and bold entrepreneurship. Woven into the tragic events of that cold March evening are a cross-section of pre-Confederation Canadians whose lives contrasted sharply with the dour stereotypical view of pioneering Canada.

End of the Line portrays the personalities of these global travellers, burgeoning industrialists, and simple railway servants – all connected by the common thread of catastrophe. Particular attention is focused on the little-known life of Samuel Zimmerman – the irrepressible contractor who died in the accident. Captured throughout is the spirit of economic venture infecting the mood of the continent.

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