Until its annexation by Barrie in 1896, Allandale was a distinct community within Innisfil. It existed almost solely thanks to trains.
In 1853, The Toronto, Simcoe and Lake Huron Union Railroad Company (later renamed the Northern Railway) built a station, and a community took root in its shadow.
But while the railway brought prosperity and growth, it could also deliver tragedy.
Snow lingered later in 1888. March still saw significant snowfall, enough that the railway still needed to clear the tracks on multiple occasions.
Dealing with snow was a perennial problem for railways in Canada and the United States. They operated engines fitted with a giant steel plow in front.
The plows featured inclined planes to bring the snow up off the tracks and a pointed, triangular wedge to throw it off to both sides. The crew numbered as many as a dozen, including the engineer, coal stokers, and one or two men seated in the cupola above the engine to observe the tracks ahead.
This day, March 20, 1888, started like any other for the five-man crew of Allandale based plow. The men kissed their families goodbye before heading off to work. Upon arriving at the railyard, they learned that there had been heavy snowfall on the tracks north of Barrie, so they boarded the plow, built the pressure in the boiler, and then headed north. Routine, nothing out of the ordinary.
What the men couldn’t know was that a terrible mistake was about to be made.
An order board at Washago indicated that the plow was to pull aside at the Washago junction to allow a southbound train to pass. Inexplicably, the two men overseeing the snow-removal operation, tail conductor William Glassford and engineer George Forster, failed to heed the order. The plow was allowed to continue on, its crew unaware of the tens of thousands of tons of steel death heading straight for them at 30 kilometres per hour.
One can only imagine the terror when the crews of the two rapidly closing trains saw one another. Brakes were applied but it was too late. They crashed into each other with terrible force.
The smaller plow was thrown in the air, flipped, and landed astride the tracks. The train was derailed, its engine landing atop the plow. Five members of the plow crew were killed instantly: crewmen Teesdale, Wilson, Gilpin, Faulkner and Hope.
The tragedy shook Allandale. Five funerals had to be planned and attended. The first, for newlywed Teesdale, was held on March 24.
“Sad Scenes at the Homes of the Bereaved,” cried the headline of the Northern Advance.
“The Longest Funeral Procession Ever Seen in Barrie. Twenty-Five Minutes Passing a Given Point. Thousands of Spectators Lining the Streets.”
Incredibly, though charged with manslaughter, neither Forster nor Glassford were found guilty and were allowed to continue their careers.
But an empty chair sat at the dinner table of five Allandale homes.
