Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1954, November 11- Attempt to Derail the Chalk River Local at Renfrew, CPR Chalk River sub., no injuries

From the Ottawa Citizen 12 November 1954 CP Train Nearly Upset RENFREW (Special) Believed to be the work of children, an attempt was made near here yesterday to derail a CPR passenger train. The Ottawa-Chalk River local was delayed for a few minutes about 11 a.m. after a slight jar caused the engineer to brake his engine-and-three-car train to a halt. Metal Bars A pile of rocks, two metal bars and collection of wire had been piled on the track about a quarter of a mile west of the iron railway bridge on the outskirts of Renfrew. The obstruction had been placed there sometime between 10.30 and 11 o'clock, investigators said, as another train had passed on the same track at 10.30 and had not been jarred. The weight of the engine cut one of the metal bars in two. Slight scratches were caused to the engine and several road ties were shuffled slightly. Service on the line was not disrupted. Provincial Constable Tom Wark of Renfrew made the first investigation. He was later joined by CPR investigators from Ottawa. There were about 100 passengers aboard the train at the time of the incident.

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Updated 29 October 2019