It was Canada's first major train wreck, leaving 52 people dead[1] and indeed the worst rail disaster in North America at that time.
As was commonplace during that early time of rail travel it was subject to several delays; these were caused by dense fog, a derailed gravel-train, a burst cylinder head and a slow freight train ahead of it.
Witnesses described several of the bodies, which included eleven women and ten children, as being "crushed out of all human shape".
The second-class cars carried many German emigrants on their way to the United States.
The 48[1] (some sources 60[4]) injured were taken to Chatham where their moans and cries could be "heard throughout the town", with blood literally dripping from the cars.