On November 21, 1950 a westbound troop train carrying Canadian soldiers enroute to the Korean War and an eastbound No. 2 Continental collided head-on at Canoe River, B.C. The collision killed 17 soldiers, the locomotive crew of each train and injured 60 others. Harvey Church, Hank Prosiuk, Adam Oleschuk and Jack Stinson were among those who lost their lives.

The 22 year old telegraph operator at Red Pass, Jack Atherton, was charged with manslaughter. It was alleged that he was negligent in passing an incomplete telegraph message, leaving out the word CEDARSIDE on the train order to the troop train. Atherton was defended by John Diefenbaker and acquitted.

A memorial cairn was erected at the Canoe River site in 1989, a roadside marker was dedicated at the Starratt Wildlife Sanctuary south of Valemount in 1998 and, in 2021, a Canoe River Disaster plaque was unveiled at Jasper’s cenotaph.