Central Station bombing was 40 years ago
La Presse looks back 40 years to the bombing at Central Station and talks to a man who was injured in the incident that killed three young tourists from France. Wikipedia has a detailed entry on the bombing; here’s the Gazette front page the following morning.
I’ve never been convinced that the addled Thomas Brigham was capable of constructing and placing such an efficient device. Brigham was convicted of murder, but his conviction was appealed and he died in prison before his second trial could take place.
La Presse claims the incident has largely been forgotten. They may be right – I’ve seen it mentioned occasionally only because it’s the reason Central Station has no lockers for passengers.
Adding later: Radio-Canada also recalls the incident and speaks to Claude Beaulieu, who was also present that day.
Janet 12:23 on 2024-09-02 Permalink
I arrived in Montreal shortly before that incident, when there were still lockers. I had no job, little money and no place to stay so I stowed my big knapsack in a locker and set off to find a bed at the youth hostel. For the next few weeks, I would return to Central Station at the same time to pay for my locker for another day. And every day they would announce that the train was about to leave for Vancouver — where I had home, friends and could easily find a job. But I stuck it out and made a great life here. Can’t believe that was 40 years ago.
Daniel 18:06 on 2024-09-02 Permalink
That’s a nice story, Janet. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Kate 19:05 on 2024-09-02 Permalink
Indeed.
It can be quite odd, the public incidents that become signposts in our memories.
Ian 07:32 on 2024-09-04 Permalink
I always found it odd that this single incident was grounds for removing lockers, compared to Europe where there are multiple bombings per decade in major cities from the 60s onwards including of trains and train stations and yet there are train station lockers in pretty much every station.
At least we didn’t get armed soldiers paired with cops like NYC post-9/11.