| Thursday, February 21, 1924 | The Globe (Toronto) | Page 2, col. 2 |
Worst storm in half century buries province.
(Continued from Page 1, Column 6.)
dictating that train operation is possible.
Long list of trains cancelled.
From Toronto yesterday, 10 trains on the Canadian Pacific and 15 on the National Railways, nearly all northbound, were cancelled. Reports from Western Ontario vied with those from the East in describing the difficulty of operation. Railwaymen here, however, are of the opinion that the matter was fairly evenly divided—the C.P.R. maintaining remarkable operation on the Montréal and Ottawa Division, where the C.N.R. suffered most, and the Nationals carrying off the laurels west of Toronto.
The greatest single difficulty encountered by the Canadian Pacific was with the Chicago train on Tuesday night After spending the whole time from midnight until early yesterday morning completely stalled among the huge drifts between Woodstock and Galt, the train arrived here yesterday, drawn by two locomotives. After remaining at the station for 20 minutes, the snow clogged wheels became so stiff that no fewer than five locomotives were necessary to haul the cars to the yards.
Other service on the C.P.R. yesterday was maintained very efficiently. From Toronto all trains, except the cancelled northbound, where despatched no more than 30 minutes behind schedule. Apart from a few exceptional cases, all inbound trains averaged from twenty minutes to two hours late.
Trains sent out only to return.
On the Canadian National, eastbound service has been, and still is, quite uncertain. Montréal trains have been despatched, in some instances three times, without success. Passengers leaving for Montréal on Tuesday night enjoyed a quiet sleep for ten hours while the train crews struggled drifts, only to be wakened by porters announcing Toronto in the morning. At Scarboro' the drifts have been found impassable, and the train had returned to the Toronto yards to spend the night. The passengers had been allowed to sleep.
Montréal trains leaving yesterday morning suffered a practically similar experience, being held up in the neighbourhood of Scarboro' until nearly 4 o'clock in the afternoon while snowplows and emergency crews labored to clear the lines. Other reports received from the north and west place the centres of greatest difficulty in the neighborhood of Bolton, Guelph and Woodbridge.
Better luck befell the transcontinental services of both railways than the local operation. The Canadian Pacific through train from Vancouver arrived in Toronto last night only a few minutes late, while the National Limited was delayed somewhat more.
According to general reports reaching Toronto, the worst effects of the snow have been confined to the lower lakes and Georgian Bay districts of Ontario. Last night the storm centre was reported to have moved east, the railways suffering greatly east of Smith's Falls.
Toronto's poor facilities not helpful.
Emergency crews at the Union Station yesterday were supplemented by the addition of nearly 200 men, supplied by the Government Employment Bureau. Gangs were kept busy cleaning switch points, clearing the running gear of cars and locomotives and clearing the yards from tons of high-piled snow.
According to local officials, much of the delay in the arrival of trains could be laid at the door inadequate terminal facilities at the old station. Several trains were held up for periods varying from 15 minutes to 2 hours at the foot of Yonge Street, while gangs labored to move other trains and to free the switch points from snow.
On the platform congestion of mail and milk cans, piled high on trucks, added to the difficulties of the terminal superintendents. Traffic yesterday, despite the uncertainty of making connections, was surprisingly heavy, according to officials, the through travel from the West being much above the average.