Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1962, July 4 - Locomotive on Passenger Train Catches Fire at Portage du Fort.
 

From the Shawville Equity 5 July 1962 Train fire. Last night, as the Trans Continental (sic) CNR passenger train rolled into Portage du Fort (Quebec) station, a sectionman noticed an extreme amount of smoke surrounding the diesel.  After it stopped and discharged Mr. Godon Gibbins, a passenger, it started on west. Just then the flames began to shoot from the auxilliary engine, and the sectionman flagged the engineer, who until then had not been aware of the problem.  They immediately unhooked the passenger cars and pushed the auxilliary unit onto a siding. Portage volunteer firemen continued to fight the blaze, which was now burning fiercely.  The main engine then picked up the passenger cars and proceeded west. One wonders what the results would have been if the fire had not been noticed until the train had left the station, carrying 1400 gal. of fuel and headed for the bridge to Ontario. (Shawville Equity, July 8, 1987.)

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Updated 28 March 2018