Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1956, October 9 - CNR Supercontinental derails four cars on the approach to Ottawa Union station

From the Ottawa Journal Wednesday 10 October 1956 Luxury CNR Ran Off Track at Station In Ottawa 8 Hours The Super Continental, CNR's sleek Trans-Continental luxury train, made an embarrassed departure from Union Station last night after sitting for 8 hours under the Laurier Avenue Bridge. The delay in schedule was caused by a switch derailment of the last four cars as the engine slowly edged its way into Union Station at six o'clock. No one was injured in the resulting slight jar. Cause of the derailment has not yet been determined. The wheels of the last four cars slid from the track to the siding - a sleeper, a parlor, a grill and a coach. The wheels of the sleeper and grill were damaged, necessitating the addition of new ones. The fast train was on its regular route from Montreal to the West Coast with a scheduled 10-minute stop in Ottawa. Instead of leaving at 6.10 p.m., the Super-Continental departed from Union Station at  2.15 a.m. The coach carried only Montreal-to-Ottawa passengers so they suffered no inconvenience. Transcontinental passengers ate their supper on the new grill car and retired in the new sleeper during the eight-hour delay. Paul Bown writes, February 2021 Grill Cars were Parlour Grill cars built by PS in 1954. The were in the series 900 (Francois Lake) to 908 (Luster Lake). The had 20 parlour chairs and a 16 seat dining room. All were converted to 48 seat diners (1360 -1368) in May 1965. From the Ottawa Citizen Wednesday 10 October 1956. CN Train derailed at Depot Scores of passengers, some from Ottawa, escaped without injury early last evening when four cars of the crack CNR train from Montreal jumped the tracks while pulling into Union Station. Five-hour delay Passengers for western points were delayed five and one half hours. The four end cars of the Supercontinental slid off the rails at 6 p. m. as the train was slowing for the station, just north of Laurier Avenue bridge,. CNR officials said the cause of the derailment was unknown but that the first wheels left the rails at a "double slip switch". Ottawa passengers, walked from the scene to the station while yard cranes lifted the cars back on the tracks. There was no damage to the coaches. After a thorough check the Supercontinental pulled out for the west after midnight.

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Updated 6 February 2021