Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1974, June 8 - CNR freight train derails 17 cars near Brockville, Kingston subdivision

Ottawa Citizen 10 June 1974 Dupont personnel avert disaster after train wreck PRESCOTT (Staff) - Dupont Canada personnel averted what could have been a major disaster Saturday when 17 cars derailed on the Canadian National Railways mainline near the Dupont chemical plant, three miles west of here. There were no injuries in the accident, but one of the derailed tank cars carrying highly explosive tetraeihyl lay on its side leaking the poisonous liquid. A five-man Dupont emergency crew worked  3 1/2 hours to seal a filling valve, which leaked about 18 gallons of tetra-ethyl lead onto the tracks. "It's like a nightmare when you look at the way the car was bounced .alJ over the place," said John Myers, chemical manager for the Dupont plant. The body of the tank car, which was carrying the chemical for "no-knock" gas from the Sarnia Ethyl Corp., was not damaged. Traffic along the line was halted for about 20 hours. While the track was out of use, passenger trains were rerouted via Smiths Falls and Cornwall. Cause of the accident, which occured about 8:20 p.m. Saturday was not immediately determined. CN officials are still assessing extent of the damage, which was unofficially estimated at $500,000. "It's fortunate that the accident happened right outside our place because we had the expertise to stop the leak right away," said Mr. Myers. He said 20 per cent of the 6,000-gallon tank would have spilled if the leak hadn't been stopped. "We were prepared to dam off the area if the leakage got serious," he said. The body of the car, which was shipping the ingredient for "no-knock" gas from the Sarnia Ethyl Corp., was untouched. Mr. Myers, who is on 24-hour weekend call, was summoned to the accident because Dupont is a member of TEAP, a co-operative emergency program run by the Canadian Chemical Producers Association to deal with accidents involving chemicals. Ottawa Journal 10 June 1974 Freight derailment BROCKVILLE, Ont (CP) Mainline traffic between here and Montreal was resumed Sunday after being halted for about 20 hours by the derailment of 17 cars of a Canadian National Railways freight train. There were no injuries in the crash, which a CN official estimated to have caused damage totalling $500,000. The cause was not immediately determined. While the track was out of use passenger trains were rerouted via Smiths Falls and Cornwall. One tanker car containing 6,000 gallons of tetra-ethyl lead, an additive for gasoline, sprang a leak but officials held it under control while crews repaired the car. About 20 diesel truck chassis chassis and cabs were scattered in a ditch when a truck car overturned.

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Updated 18 February 2019