Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1959, May 16 - Crossing Accident Acres Side Road, CPR., Carleton Place sub., minor injuries

From the Ottawa Citizen  19 May 1959. Grid Star Jumps Clear As Train Wrecks Car. Tormer Ottawa Rough Rider quarterback Hal Ledyard, 27, jumped from his stalled station wagon seconds before it was destroyed by a speeding diesei locomotive Saturday. Ledyard. who lives at 10 Donna Street, City View, landed in a deep ditch as the two-unit train atruck his machine squarely on the right front door. He was taken to Civic Hospital for treatment of minor cuts and bruises and shock, but was not admitted. The accident occurred at the CPR crossing on the Acres side road, connecting Highways 15 and 17. half a mile west of the City limits. There is no warning signal at the crossing. Ledyard told Nepean-Gloucester police constables Peter Monette and Wilf Mahoney he had seen the train approaching and had put on his brakes, but his car slid onto the crossing. He said he tried to move his machine away, but the motor had stalled. "I made a couple of attempts to get it going, but it wouldn't start," he said. "1 knew I wasn't going to be able to get it moving, so I jumped. Even at that, it was close. The train was right on top of me." Engineer Harry Barber, of 71 Holland Avenue, operator of the westbound Brockville Dayliner, said he saw the blue station wagon slide onto the tracks. He said he had been sounding his whistle for the crossing, and redoubled his blasts when the machine did not move off his right-of-way. The- collision bent the station wagon into a right angle, completely demolishing it. Damage estimated at $1,000 was done to the front end of the train, which was held up for almost two hours. "At first, it was believed Ledyard had been struck as he leaped from his vehicle. Witnesses said he appeared in a semiconscious state although still on his feet. But hospital doctors said be was suffering only from shock, and that the injuries from his fall were negligible. Ledyard is still on the roster of the Rough Riders but has not been invited to training camp and it is understood the club is trying to make a deal for him. He previously piayed with the University of Chattanooga and San Francisco 49'ers.

Return to Main Page of Railway Accidents

Updated 4 January 2020