“Disaster struck as the locomotive, Union Colliery No. 4, crossed over the Trent River. The trestle, only ten years old, gave way under the weight of the locomotive, hurling it into the canyon below. The loaded coal cars and passenger car were dragged along behind it killing six people and injuring many others.

The disruption to the coal market was felt by James Dunsmuir immediately. He tasked engineers to find a lower point to cross the Trent River and within a week a new trestle was in service. “