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Caption: Taking it easy on a Friday evening, a pair of aged workhorses trundle their way home to Preston along the Fergus spur. Mile 27 sits just about one quarter mile west of the former settlement of Gourock. Originally founded circa 1857 just after the building of the Galt & Guelph Railway (leased to the Great Western upon completion), the settlement included a post office, general store, and a flag stop on the railway, but little else. The post office ceased to be in 1913, and the flag stop too was gone shortly after, not shown in the 1920 Grand Trunk Railway timetables. Any inhabitants made their way north to Guelph, and some a few miles south to the lime quarry town at Glen Christie.
The morning of September 22, 1906 saw a fatal head on collision at Gourock within a few hundred feet of Steve's photo linked above. An extra train loaded with fruit from St. Catharines had failed to take the siding at Hespeler to clear the main for train 44, the mixed from Guelph. Neither crew saw the oncoming train until just a few hundred feet from impact. Engineer Thomas Farley on #44 was crushed in the cab, his fireman, Lorne Palmer, jumped clear. On the extra, engineer Mark Reid, brakeman Harry Andrews, and fireman Cecil Bright all jumped, suffering full body scalding and Cecil suffering numerous broken bones. All were transported to Guelph for medical care. Reid and Andrews would recover, while Cecil Bright succumbed to his injuries at Guelph General Hospital on September 25. The ten passengers onboard 44 sustained only minor injuries. Factors of the wreck included crew fatigue and working hours as the conductor of the extra, Joe Thompson, had fallen asleep after being on duty for twenty two hours, and his exhausted engineer had forgotten a meet was imminent.
Some scenes of the Gourock Wreck:
North side of the tracks facing east,
South side of tracks facing east. Note the curve from Steve's photo just above the wrecking cranes.
*Thanks to the late Wellington County historian, Stephen Thorning, (1949 - 2015) for extensive information regarding the wreck.
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