Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1964, July 6 - the Canadian Pacific eastbound "The Canadian" is derailed 2 1/2 miles west of Chalk River. 14 persons were injured.
The last six cars derailed (dining car, four sleepers and the dome observation car)

Ottawa Citizen 7 July 1964 Caption to front page picture Fourteen hurt as train derailed Ottawa-bound CPR Canadian went off the track at Chalk River, 120 miles west of the Capital, Monday, injuring 14 persons. Six cars of the crack train left the rails, but remained upright. Only one person was seriously injured. 14 passengers hurt in wreck Chalk River. Fourteen persons were injured  Monday afternoon when the CPR Ottawa-bound transcontinental train the Canadian was derailed about 2 miles west of here. Chalk River is about 120 miles west of Ottawa. M.A. Anderson, 72, of Winnipeg, was admitted to Deep River Hospital. He suffered shock and undetermined injuries. Hospital officials expect to release him sometime today. Cars slide along sandy siding Thirteen others were treated for various minor injuries and were then released. Full details shown. The train's conductor was Jack Smith of Smiths Falls, the brakeman was Andrew Law of Smiths Falls and the engineer was E. Trucheon of North Bay. The dining car, four sleepers and the dome observation skipped the single track about 4.35 Eastern Daylight time. The cars, the last six on the train, ripped up about 30 yards of track but remained upright as they slid along the flad sandy siding. Coaches tilt at crazy angles. Some windows were cracked but none were broken. The fifth car, a sleeper, straddled the tracks and several others tilted at crazy angles. Said one passenger who was travelling in the dome car, "I was sure they were going to topple." One report said the last of the coaches to remain in the track went 10 feet into the air, came down, righted itself and snapped off the following coaches. The cause of the derailment has not yet been determined. One railway main said tracks distorted by heat may have caused the accident. It was 80 degrees here Monday. Another said it appeared that a wheel had not functioned correctly. CPR spokesmen said the railroad would investigate, but it would be "some time" before the results of the investigation were released. It was estimated that the eastbound train, CPR No. 2, was travelling about 50 miles an hour when the accident occurred. Another train had gone the same route at 3 p.m. and the track had been patrolled just 15 minutes before the derailment. Railway men said a freight train just five minutes behind the Canadian had to be stopped and backed up 15 miles to a siding at Moore Lake Road Station. The train was held up for three hours and 40 minutes while injured passengers were taken to hospital Three additional cars were added at Ottawa for the remainder of the trip to Montreal.

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Updated 17 August 2017