Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1959, January 6 - Fire Wrecks a Coach in Smiths Falls Yard, CPR.

From the Ottawa Citizen  6 January 1959. Fire Wrecks Train Coach SMITHS FALLS (Special) Smiths Falls firemen were called out in sub-zero weather this morning to fight a stubborn blaze in the buffer coach of CPR train No. 21 in the yards near the William Street crossing. It was extinguished after a three-hour fight. The fire apparently started from a heater which employes had lighted to boost the heat in the car. The fire started while the train was in the vicinity of Rosedale, some four miles east of Smiths Falls, and crewmen succeeded in getting about five pass-holding passengers into another car. No regular passengers were riding in the coach at the time. The train, second section of the Montreal-Toronto No. 21, arrived in Smiths Falls at 2.20 this morning and the burning coach was shunted to the section of the yard where firemen were called to fight the blaze. The interior of the coach was almost gutted and CPR officials hesitated to place any actual damage figure although they indicated the car would probably be scrapped.

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Updated 2 January 2020