Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1959, January 12 - Crossing Accident Roosevelt Avenue, CPR Carleton Place sub., three injuries

From the Ottawa Citizen  13 January 1959. 30 Foot Toss Train Hits car Injuring 3 Men Three men were injured one of them critically yesterday as the CPR's sleek, stainless steel "Canadian" plowed into an automobile at Roosevelt Avenue near Scott. In fair condition in Civic Hospital is Leo Laflamme, 49, of 231 Clarence Street. He has chest, head and possible abdominal injuries and was on the hospital's critical list until this morning. Suffering a fractured leg and other injuries, but in satisfactory condition is Maxime Poitras, 34, of 38 Courccllette Street, Hull. Also with a fractured log and lacerations is Gervais Poitras, 37, 137 Maisonneuve Street, Hull. The luxury trans - continental train with domed bar car had just pulled out of Ottawa station after dropping Russia's new ambassador to Canada Amasasp Aroutunian and his family who rode the train from Montreal. The train demolished the late model car, flinging it 30 feet along the right of way west of Roosevelt Avenue spilling bodies as it went. Damage to the diesel engine driven by William Shorthouse of 173 Daly Avenue was not sufficient to hold up the train more than half an hour. The three men were returning from a construction job at Bells Corners when the mishap took place shortly before 5 p.m. Leo Laflamme, the most seriously injured of the three was driving the car at the time. Gervais Poitras told police he was sitting in the front seat beside Laflamma with his brother Maxime in the rear seat. \As they approached the crossing adjacent to Scott Street they failed to see the train and did not hear either the bell or the horn, he said. Saw Train Too Late Maxime did see the train at the last moment he said, and yelled to Laflamme to step on the gas and beat the train across he was afraid if the brakes were applied the car would skid into the engine on the icy roadway. The train hit the car almost dead in the center and two of the men were spilled out onto the side of the track while Maxime Poitras was pried out of the wreckage. Four witnesses who either lived nearby or were passing at the time told police that they had heard both the horn and the bell of the train being sounded shortly before the smash. There are no wig-wag signals at the crossing.

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Updated 2 January 2020