Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1940, January 1 - Girl falls from Gatineau train, takes taxi after special train sent

Ottawa Journal  2 January 1940 Girl Falls From Gatineau Train Takes Taxi After 'Special' Sent A special engine, a coach and a doctor were dispatched along the CPR Ottawa-Maniwaki line on Monday night, when it was learned a young girl had fallen, from the Gatineau train near Ironside, Que., shortly after 8.30 p.m. But the errand of mercy was unnecessary. The girl, Miss Laurencia Fournier, 18, of Lac Ste. Marie, only-suffered slight injuries and was able to walk to the Avalon Hotel, secure a taxi-cab and get home. Officials first received word of the accident when an excited girl jumped off the Maniwaki train at the Hull station and told the station operator that her girlfriend was probably lying dead or injured along the right-of-way several miles outside the city. CPR officials took immediate action. Another engine was put on the tracks. A coach was attached for Dr. C. G. Gunn, and a search begun for the girl. The special train no sooner had left Hull than word was received the girl was safe and sound in Hull. Miss Fournier was shaken up and had a pain in her abdomen, but otherwise was unhurt. A doctor whom she visited in Hull told her she would be better in the morning. "I guess I was lucky that the train was not moving very. fast", Miss Fournier told The Journal. She is employed at the home of the late Dr. Paul J. Moloney, of Ottawa. Miss Fournier and her companion. Miss Colombe Mayotte, 18 also of Lac Ste. Marie, got on the train at Kazabazu and were on their way to Ottawa. ''When the train slowed down, I thought we were at our destination, I picked up my luggage and went to the door. The train stopped but it started moving before I had a chance to get out of the coach. "When I did get out the train was moving fairly fast. The door was open and out I fell, luggage and all", she told The Journal. Miss Mayotte said she became very excited when she saw her fall out "I saw her in the snow beside the train and was afraid she was going to be run over by the wheels. I did not know what to do; As soon as the train stopped at the next station, which was Hull, I got out and telephoned a taxi-cab. I was going to have him drive me out the road to pick her up. When I learned the taxi-cab could not come right away I told the operator at the station." Neither girl could say exactly where the accident happened but it was near a flag station not far from the Avalon Hotel. Officials believed it was near Ironside.

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Updated 14 July 2021