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This programming is sponsored by Linscombe

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Wealth, a wealth management firm partnering

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More at linscombewealth.com. This

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is the Engines of Our

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Ingenuity, made possible by the

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friends of KUHF Houston. Today,

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a final goodbye. The

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University of Houston presents this series about

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the machines that make our civilization run

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and the people whose ingenuity created them.

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On the morning of December 6th, 1917, Vincent

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Coleman reported to his post on the north

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end of Halifax, Nova Scotia. He

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worked as a dispatcher for Canada's Intercolonial

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Railway. The Richmond station where he

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worked lies on the shore of the Narrows,

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an inlet separating Halifax and nearby

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Dartmouth. Halifax was already

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a busy seaport on Canada's east coast,

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but World War I transformed it into

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a military port. The Canadian

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Royal Navy maintained the Atlantic trade routes

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and required all neutral ships to stop

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in Halifax for inspection. Submarine

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nets installed at the end of the Narrows had

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to be lowered to allow convoys in and out

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of the harbor, but this limited

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ship traffic and caused frustrating delays.

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Impatient ships packed the harbor as usual that

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morning. At 8.45 a.m., two

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ships collided near Pier 6, about 750 feet

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from Richmond station. The

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unladen SS Imo cut into the starboard

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hold of the SS Mont Blanc, which

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carried 2,600 tons of munitions bound for

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Europe. The Imo reversed

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engines to pull back, but the scraping metal

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sparked a fire that soon raged out of

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control. The Mont Blanc's crew

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quickly abandoned ship. One

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sailor made it to the Richmond station and warned

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the dispatchers of the fire and imminent explosion. Vincent

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Coleman and the others ran. Finally,

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Coleman stopped. He

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realized that the number ten train carrying three hundred

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people from St. John, New Brunswick was due any

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minute and its track would take it right next

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to the burning Mont Blanc. He

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returned to his post and repeatedly tapped the

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following message to other stations. Hold

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up the train. Ammunition ship, a

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fire and harbor, making for Pier 6 and

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will explode. Guess this will

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be my last message. Goodbye boys.

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Twenty minutes after the collision, the Mont

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Blanc's cargo exploded with a force one-seventh

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out of an atomic bomb. The

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shockwave leveled Halifax and Dartmouth and could be

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felt for one hundred thirty miles. The

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Mont Blanc's anchor landed two miles away. Two

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thousand people died and over nine thousand were

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injured. The

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number ten train remained far enough away that it

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only suffered minor damage. It continued

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on after the blast but stopped short of Richmond

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due to debris on the tracks. The

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passengers saw the devastation then quickly

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became rescuers. They used

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the train's tools to pull survivors from the

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wreckage and tore bedsheets into bandages. The

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number ten became a hospital train carrying the

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wounded to the Trojos station to the north.

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Coleman's message also warned the other stations of

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the disaster. Otherwise, those dispatchers

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would have wasted hours wondering why

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Halifax went silent. Instead,

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they quickly mobilized rescue efforts which

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arrived within hours. Good

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thing too. A blizzard blew

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into Halifax the next day, shutting down

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rail traffic. More relief trains

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couldn't pull in for two more days. Vincent

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Coleman died trying to stop the number ten

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train and save its passengers. But

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his self-sacrifice saved countless others who

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would have surely perished without immediate

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medical attention. For his

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heroism, Vincent Coleman was inducted into

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the Canadian Railway Hall of Fame in I'm

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Chris Miller along with the University of

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Houston where we're interested in the way

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inventive minds begin. you