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Plaque remembers Japanese workers who died in Burnaby rail disaster

The City of Burnaby and the B.C. Labour Heritage Centre have teamed up to add a plaque commemorating the 110th anniversary of the Great Northern Railway disaster. On Nov.
Chris Campbell

The City of Burnaby and the B.C. Labour Heritage Centre have teamed up to add a plaque commemorating the 110th anniversary of the Great Northern Railway disaster.

On Nov. 28, 1909, a tragic rail accident claimed the lives of 23 Japanese railway workers. The men were travelling through Burnaby on their way to complete track repairs in the Fraser Valley when their boxcar plunged into the Lost Creek ravine.

A plaque marking the location of the Great Northern Railway disaster has been installed along the Central Valley Greenway, where Lost Creek flows into the Brunette River.

great northern railway disaster burnaby
The commemorative plaque in memory of the Japanese railway workers killed at Lost Creek is located along the Central Valley Greenway. City of Burnaby contributed photo

“There were many Japanese Canadian railway workers in B.C., but not many people know their stories,” said Lorene Oikawa, president of the National Association of Japanese Canadians.“Japanese-Canadians were longtime settlers in B.C., like my family who came in the 1800s. I hope the plaque will bring awareness to this story, and to the working conditions of Japanese Canadians and other racialized and Indigenous workers in the early 20th century.”

The plaque was created by the centre through its Remembering Working People: Plaques Around the Province program, which marks important events, groups, individuals and places that demonstrate the contributions of working people to the history of B.C.

Financial support for the project is provided by centre’s project fund, WorkSafeBC and the Boag Foundation.