The Little Moose Bridge Truck Collision 1950 (Bill & Reg)

Bill was 8 years old and Reg was 6. The school bus had dropped us off and we were walking the 2 miles home to our parent's farm. A passing truck stopped to offer us a ride, as it would be passing our house. Reg joined the driver and his assistant in the cab of the truck and Bill rode in the grain box behind the cab. 

In the 1940s in our area, trucks often used sleigh trailers to carry logs or lumber to town. These worked fine, unless you needed to stop, since the sleighs had no brakes. 

 As we were descending the hill to Little Moose creek, a truck with a sleigh trailer loaded with lumber was descending the longer hill on the other side of the creek. The bridge was narrow and both trucks tried to stop.

The collision was like a slow-motion train wreck. We were coming down a hill onto the bridge when the collision happened. Bill was in the truck box and flew out onto the frozen creek, along with some sacks of grain and a couple of saws. The back of our truck landed on the ice as well, pushed by the heavier truck. 

Reg was in the cab and the guy riding with him decided to bail, he jumped out pushing Reg out first. Reg landed in front of the truck's rear wheel. The wheel wasn't turning because of the ice on the road and the fact that the driver had the brakes locked up. Reg just slid along on the ice in front of the wheel for a few feet, till the truck stopped. 

If the wheel had been rolling, Reg would have been crushed and possibly killed. 

We are thankful for the miracles in our lives.

[I decided to remove this story from the cold weather posting and post it here with a photo of a truck load of lumber on a sleigh trailer. Thanks for the photo Lloyd.]