Train plunge marks dramatic moment in Saskatoon history

On March 4, 1912, one of Saskatoon’s railway bridges collapsed while a train was crossing it.

The Canadian Northern Railway bridge gave way beneath the CNR sleeper “Kipling,” part of the Capital Cities express travelling from Regina. Details of the accident were reported in the March 5, 1912 edition of The Daily Phoenix.

The Canadian Northern Railway bridge in Saskatoon collapsed on March 4, 1912 while a train was crossing it, sending one railcar plunging about 50 feet to the frozen river below. Twelve people were injured, but no one was killed. Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan

As the train approached the bridge, it was navigating a switch to the Goose Lake line when the rear wheels left the track without the engineer realizing it. The derailed cars continued forward onto the bridge, striking the heavy guard supports along the west side of the structure.

According to the newspaper account, the cars “sliced off the heavy twelve-inch guard supports on the west side of the bridge like matchwood and tore the bottom of the roadbed into pieces.”

When the train had travelled about halfway across the span, the already weakened structure gave way.

The second-to-last car crashed through the bridge and plunged approximately 50 feet to the frozen riverbed below. The couplings to the final car broke, leaving it suspended on the bridge with about 10 feet hanging over the edge.

Despite the dramatic collapse, there were no fatalities. Twelve people were reported injured in the accident.