the time; the actual rail cars would be constructed at the nearby TrentonWorks rail car plant which was struggling for orders. Subsequently, the 37 cars, CN 347000–347036, were built by National Steel Car at Hamilton, Ontario, during November and December 1991. Mine opens On September 11, 1991, the mine was opened to great local fanfare, but immediately problems began to surface, when multiple roof collapses occurred within the first few months. Two months prior to the opening, MLA Bernie Boudreau wrote to Nova Scotia labour minister Leroy Legere, asking why the mine was using potentially dangerous mining methods not approved for coal mining. The labour ministry gave Curragh Inc. a special permit to use these methods to tunnel until they reached the coal seam, but not actually mine coal. Legere was not aware that the company continued to use these methods, three months after the mine opened. Accusations were made by mine workers of company cutbacks in safety training and equipment and of negligent and outright criminal behaviour toward safety inspections. Miners complained about working in deep coal dust. In November 1991, coal miner Carl Guptill made safety complaints to labour ministry inspectors, but they were not investigated, and he was fired in January 1992 for making his claims. The disaster On Saturday, May 9, 1992, methane gas and subsequent coal dust explosions at 5:18 a.m. ADT killed 26 miners. It was Canada's worst mining disaster since 1958, when a bump at another Nova Scotia coal mine in Springhill claimed the lives of 75 miners. In the wake of the explosion, Canadian and international media coverage descended upon the tiny hamlet of Plymouth and the nearby towns of New Glasgow, Stellarton, Westville and Trenton. Coverage gripped Canadians for several days as teams of dragermen (mine rescuers) searched the debris-strewn depths of the mine for survivors. Over the next several days, media reported non-stop from a community centre located across the road from the mine, while rescue teams encountered extremely hazardous conditions underground. Westray officials did not cooperate well with the media, which affected the release of information. The bodies of 15 miners were discovered and, afterward, the search and rescue was changed to a search and recovery operation. After underground conditions worsened, the decision was made to abandon recovery efforts, entombing the bodies of 11 miners in the depths of the mine. The 117 miners who were not working on