Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1974, June 20 - westbound Canadian Pacific train derails 26 cars at Apple Hill, Winchester subdivision

Ottawa Citizen 21 June 1974 Cornwall.  The derailment of a westbound Canadian Pacific freight train Thursday left 29 cars, including one containing a shipment of chlorine gas, scattered along the track. The accident occurred just east of the village of Apple Hill, 20 miles northeast of here, about noon. The cause and extent of damage are still under investigation by CP authorities. Canadian Industries Limited in Cornwall sent an emergency team to the scene to determine whether the tank car containing the chlorine gas was leaking or damaged. The chlorine gas was being shipped by Standard Chemical of Beauharnois, Que. Chemical producers across the province have a co-operative agency called the Transportation Emergency Assistance Plan, to help out in situations where there is a potential chemical hazard to people and the environment. An emergency team from  Beauharnois later rerailed the tank containing chlorine and sent it back to Standard Chemical where it will undergo further tests for any damage. Approximately half of the derailed cars were empty while others contained coke and lumber. A CP official said that while repairs were being carried out, trains from Montreal would be rerouted through Ottawa and Smiths Falls.  It is expected that more than 400 feet of new track will be laid by 3 p.m. today. The 117-car train left the track about 50 feet from a railway crossing where five CP workmen had been reconstructing the crossing. The train, out of Montreal, was bound for Toronto with a stop in Smiths Falls.

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Updated January 2014