The Trent River disaster was the most tragic of all the train accidents in the area. On August 17th, 1898, a new No.4 locomotive, traveling tender first, left the mine for the wharf pulling twenty cars of coal and one car of lumber. Alf Walker was at the controls; Hugh Grant was stoking the boiler; a young Alex Mellado was working as a brakeman; and Matt Piercy was the rear brakeman, riding in the last car. The passenger coach was only scheduled twice a week; passengers would often hitch rides in the engine or on the cars on the days when the coach was not running. Even though this was against company policy, the posted signs and notices in the newspaper did not prevent anyone eager to quickly ride the train between towns. This rule was never enforced by the engineers, whose responsibility it was.

The train approached the Trent River Bridge at about seven miles per hour. William Bell, a civil engineer and his helper, Enoch Walker were working under the bridge when they heard a crack like a gun exploding. They looked up and got out of the way of the falling train and bridge just in time. The 58 ton engine with 30 ton tender was two-thirds of the way across when the bridge collapsed and the locomotive plunged, nose first, 100 feet into the gorge below. It landed on its side across the river, surrounded by coal and cars. Brakeman Piercy saw the cars going down in front of him and jumped clear. When the dust had settled, Piercy was one of the first men to help those who needed assistance. He managed to free one woman but the rest were trapped under the wreckage and more tools were needed to get them out.

The news of the disaster traveled fast to the streets of Cumberland and soon many rescuers were on their way to see the wreck and help in any way they could. They rescue had a difficult time finding and recovering the remaining six bodies. In total, the engineer, Alf Walker; the brakeman, Alex Mellado; and five hitchhikers were killed in this horrible accident.


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Copies of the following books used to research this article are available for use and/or purchase at the Cumberland Museum:


One Hundred Spirited Years: A History of Cumberland
D.E. Isenor, E.G. Stephens, D.E. Watson

The Friendly Port: A History of Union Bay 1880-1960
Janet Glover-Geidt

Cumberland Heritage: A Selected History of People, Buildings, Institutions & Sites 1888-1950
Jennifer Nell Barr

Voices from Bevan
Betty Annand

Land of Plenty: A History of the Comox District
D.E. Isenor, W.N. McInnis, E.G. Stephens, D.E. Watson