Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1975, 1 February 1975 - Freight train derails 26 cars at Constance Bay, Canadian National Beachburg subdivision, no injuries

Ottawa Citizen 3 February 1975 Freight Train Jumps Track A Canadian National freight train derailment threw 26 cars off the track and tore up at least 700 feet of rail on the Ottawa to Pembroke line near Constance Bay Saturday night. Damages have been estimated at $250,000, but there were no injuries. A broken rail or a buildup of ice are suspected as the cause of the accident. The cars, part of a 77-unit freight train bound for Edmonton, jumped the tracks at 9 p.m. at March Township Concession Road 3, 20 miles west of Ottawa. Mrs. Waltruat Davis, who lives near the scene of the derailment, said her house shook and she thought a plane had crashed. "It went on like a long rumble for several seconds," she said. "It moved the chair I was sitting in." The derailed cars were boxcars holding concrete railroad ties, tank cars with dry cement, and empty propane tankers. Two cranes have been called in to clear up the wreckage, and the rail line is expected to be open late this afternoon. Caption to photo 26 cars jump tracks - damage $250,000 Canadian National crews were clearing the tracks today after 26 cars of a 77-car freight train jumped the tracks and ripped up 700 feet of rail on the Ottawa-Pembroke line near Constance Bay Saturday. CN trains are being rerouted over Canadian Pacific lines until the tracks are cleared, probably later today. The accident, which caused about $250,000 damage, was attributed to a broken rail or a buildr up of ice. Ottawa Journal 3 February 1975 Damage $250,000 in derailment By SHEILA BRADY Journal Reporter A Canadian National freight train ran off. the track near Dunrobin on the Constance Bay Road early Saturday night causing an estimated. $250,000 damage. None of the four crew men were injured in the 9 p.m. mishap, which derailed 26 of the 77-car freight train. No cause for the mishap has been made public yet but CN and the Canadian Transport Commission are investigating . The derailment blocked the Constance Bay road for approximately half an hour Saturday evening. Eric Summers, CN track supervisor ruled out the possibility, of an ice buildup causing the accident Cement ties The train was carrying cement ties and cement mix. "There were no combustable gases; in fact the tankers were empty end being towed back to be refilled," said Mr. Summers. Approximately 60 CN employees worked all night in the 20-below-zero. temperatures to clear the track of the twisted metal and broken box cars. Auxiliary trains from Montreal end Capreol, north of Sudbury travelled to Dunrobin to lift the cars off the track. Debris was strewn over a quarter of a mile and piled more than 30 feet high. CN police patrolled the site all night to keep back the curious, but no reports of looting were reported. The Ottawa-Pembroke line was cleared of debris by midnight Saturday and open for the 22 freight trains which use the track daily. But it will be days before all of the broken cars are cleared from the sides of the track. The Ottawa-Pembroke line's last mishap was four years ago when a passenger train ran off the tracks approimately four miles from the site of the weekend accident.

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Updated 14 May 2020