Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1974, December 3 - Canadian Pacific two-car passenger train derailed at Gatineau, sevral injured.

Ottawa Citizen 4 December 1974. CP passenger train derailed in Gatineau, six people injured. -- The two-unit train left the tracks at 8.43 p.m., three minutes after leaving Gatineau station enroute to Hull and Ottawa with nine passengersand three crew members. "It would have been much worse if the train had been travelling faster," commented Constable Gerry Pilotte who arrived at the scene minutes after the accident occurred. The derailment took place at the junction of the main CP line and a Gatineau Lumber Co. siding, about 30 feet north of Maloney Boulevard. While cause of the derailment has not been determined, police officials speculated vandals tampering with a line switch near the accident scene may be responsible. The slow speed of the train prevented the two cars from rolling and possibly crushing the occupants. Miraculously, occupants of the first unit, a combination engine-passenger car, suffered only shock and bruises. Engineer Harold Greenlaw of Ottawa and four passengers occupied the first unit, which ended up on its side 200 feet from the main line. The second unit was perched precariously on an angle a few feet from the main line.  Only deep snow and a hydro pole prevented the unit from toppling over. The train makes a regular nightly run from Montreal to Ottawa, arriving in the city at 9.05 p.m. after dropping passengers off in Gatineau and Hull. Constable Pilotte said all 12 occupants of the train were shaken up, but stated that only six, including Engineer Greenlaw, required treatment. Five were treated at Sacred Heart Hospital in Hull for shock, cuts and bruises and later released.  One passenger was taken to Ottawa General Hospital for observation of bruises to the head. Ottawa Journal 4 December 1974 Eleven injured in train crash By DAVE McKAY : Journal Reporter Gatlneau police believe vandals caused the derailment of a two-car CP passenger train which resulted in 11 persons being taken to hospitals Tuesday night. Nine of the 11 injured were treated for shock and released from hospital following the 8.45 p.m. wreck. Engineer Harold Greenlaw of 1130 Meadowlands  Dr. was treated for shock and back injuries. Conductor Rene Labelle of Verdun, Que., and brakeman George McKale of Val-des-rapides were treated for shock. Passengers treated for shock and minor cuts were: Maurice Bourdon, of Masson, William Kicks of Ottawa, Eddley Dwyer and Christopher Dwyer both of St. Amase, Philip St.  Germain and William Kesler both of Montreal, Margaret Morton of Ottawa and Mrs. Mignon Lavinge of Rockland. There were 12 persons on the train including the three-man crew at the time of the derailment, police said. Police said a switch at the junction of the main line at Montee Paiment Boulevard crossing had been tampered with prior to the derailment The front part of the self-propelled  train, slipped onto the spur but the train's speed coupled with the back pressure of the second car caused the tracks to spread apart with the front part of the train sliding along the ground ending up on its side about 150 feet from the tracks "It was a lucky thing that the train had stopped in Gatineau because it didn't have a chance to build up speed," said a police spokesman. The second car remained upright but at a 45-degree angle, skidding just its own length from the tracks. A crane will be used to put the two cars back on the tracks. No one has been arrested in connection, with the smashed switch.

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Updated 18 June 2018