The Tragedy of William J. Thurston
About this episode
This episode recounts the tragic story of William J. Thurston, who lost his life in a train derailment in 1909 near Carson Lake.
Late one summer evening in 1909 twenty-year old William J. Thurston was hard at work, busily stoking the steam engine of a train passing along the north shore of Carson Lake. It was part of the Grand Trunk Railroad running between Ottawa and Parry Sound. But that mixed train of passengers and freight never got more than six kilometres west of Barry's Bay when something happened to end Mr. Thurston's young life. Recently, the tragedy of that train derailment was unravelled and commemorated by Frank Burchat and his friends who all still live on Carson Lake.
People in this episode
Host: Scholar-Gypsy
Topics covered
- train derailment
- historical tragedy
- local history
- commemoration
- early 20th century
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Grand Trunk Railroad
Places: Carson Lake, Barry's Bay
More episodes of The Opeongo Line
- From Skead's Road to Sunset Boulevard
- Some Curious Algonquin History
- 19th Century German Methodists of Renfrew County
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