Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1970, May 1 - 25 (or 33) car derailment at Cornwall, Canadian National.

Ottawa Journal 2 May 1970 LINE CLOSED 30 cars Jump Cornwall Track CORNWALL (Special) A main CNR line was disrupted Friday and damages are expected to run as high as $1,000,000 following a major freight derailment in Cornwall. A 104-car eastbound freight had nearly 30 of its assorted rail cars jump the east track just before noon, causing widespread havoc to both east and westbound lanes. The twin diesel engines had just cleared the diamond where the CPR crosses the CNR main line when cars jumped the trackand hurtled into a water-filled ditch. Before the train ground to a halt coal cars, boxcars, tank cars with an assortment of cargo were strewn more than 1,000 feet in all directions. Rail ties were ripped up like matchsticks and complete steel rails were twisted out of shape. The impact of the heavily-laden rail cars threw water and mud for hundreds of feet. No one was injured in tne crash, however, all traffic on the CNR main line from Toronto to Montreal is being diverted at Coteau and Brockville How long the main line will be. blocked is not known but officials at the scene estimated damage to the lines would run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Ottawa Citizen 2 May 1970 CORNWALL (Special) The derailment of 33 cars of a 104-unit CNR train spilled crushed coal, corn and steel pipe over farm fields about one mile east of here Friday. There were no injuries as the middle section of the train ripped out 1,500 feet of double track before "mountains and mountains of boxcars piled up" said one observer. Damage is estimated at about $1,000,000. A break in a wheel section is believed the cause of the 11.40 a.m. crack-up of the Montreal-bound train travelling at about 60 mph. "The first thing I knew the emergency brakes went on," said engineer Sidney Batchelor of Brockville. The engineer, a brakeman and fireman at the front of the train and a conductor and a brakeman in the rear were in parts of the train that stayed on the tracks. The Cornwall fire department was called in to guard a chemical tank car that left the tracks but stayed upright and unopened. A crew of more than 100 workers and two cranes were at work clearing the wreckage less than three hours after the derailment. Cornwall terminal traffic manager John Gregoire said he expected the cleanup to be completed by noon today. It was the third derailment within three years on the 17-mile stretch of track.

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Updated 7 February 2019