Historedia
Episode 1 of 2

Train Derailment at Open Bridge

When
June 29, 1864
Where
Richelieu River swing bridge
Part of
St-Hilaire train disaster

A Grand Trunk Railway passenger train fell through an open swing bridge into the Richelieu River near Belœil, Quebec, on June 29, 1864.

The train, carrying between 354 and 475 passengers, failed to obey a stop signal. It plunged off the open bridge, killing 99 people, mostly German immigrants. This event remains the worst railway accident in Canadian history.

Sources

  1. Beloeil train disaster Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-01
  2. Beloeil, Quebec Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-17

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.