Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1980, June 17 - Crossing collision with new train on test, Alexandria, CNR., Alexandria sub. one injury

Pictures from the Glengarry News over this caption TRAIN, TRUCK COLLIDE--A major accident in Alexandria yesterday resulted in impressive damage when a speeding Amtrak train slashed through a tractor trailer. Top photo: The trailer section lies overturned in the right foreground while curious onlookers peer at the damaged tractor, far left. Below: The truck’s transmission was wrenched out by the impact of the train and flung nearly 50 feet. Here it lies in the foreground while workers attempt to clean up around the wrecked cab. (Staff Photos-- Cameron Ward) Glengarry News 18 June 1980 Train making final run smashes truck to pieces By Brian Filion A thundering tremor accompanied by a mushroom of dust brought the northern sector of Alexandria to life just before the noon hour on Tuesday. When the dust had settled a tractor trailer had been sawed in half by a high speed passenger train heading west on the C.N. tracks. People were awed by the accident scenario. What could have been a derailment resulting in numerous fatalities was simply a smattering of the truck over a 1,000-foot radius. No one was seriously injured. Within 10 minutes after the collision, William John Brown, 35, of St. Marys, Ontario, operator of the unit, was being removed from his capsized cab which had spun 180 degrees when it jackknifed, then overturned. He was promptly transported to Glengarry Memorial Hospital for treatment of a fractured left foot and will be kept under observation there, a hospital spokesman reported. Two engineers in the front-running locomotive were shaken up but not hospitalized. Damage to the tractor trailer was estimated at $80,000 by the Alexandria Police Department while damage to the train could not be assessed at the scene. A diesel locomotive from Ottawa towed the train into Montreal on Tuesday afternoon. Two empty flat-bed trailers owned by A. Gledhill and Son Inc. were northbound, heading to their Hawkesbury terminal, when the accident occurred. The second truck was only half way across when the train struck him just behind the cab near the back axle, a first-hand observer who wished not to be identified only as Bob, reported. Mike Bellefeuille, an employee at nearby RVA Steelworks Ltd., heard the collision and looked up only to see a cloud of dust. Alexandria Police Chief Sylvio Cleroux said that from his investigation it appears the trucks may have gone through the railway crossing lights. A half-ton truck driven by Bernard Oullette of 48 Route 201 St. Louis de Gonzague was parked on the north side of the tracks when the collision took place and flying debris smashed the left front end of his truck. The streamline five-car train manufactured by Bombardier Inc. was on a test run from Montreal to Ottawa before being sold to a United States rail company, Amtrak. Dominique April, a Bombardier test crew member said the newly designed passenger model was capable of speeds exceeding 120 miles per hour. He estimated the speed at the time of collision at 80 m.p.h. The train was on its last trial run on this route before delivery to the buyer at the end of the week, one crew member lamented. Ottawa Citizen 18 June 1980 New train totals truck while on raining run Via Rail's new futuristic train collided with a tractor-trailer during a test run through Alexandria Tuesday, sending a St. Mary's man to hospital. Alexandria police said . William John Brown, 35, is in hospital with minor injuries after the collision at a railway crossing on Highway 34 in Alexandria. The LRC (Light, Rapid, Comfortable) train is being tested throughout Ontario and Quebec by Via Rail for high-speed passenger service. Police chief Sylvio Cleroux said a freight train was stopped near the crossing, giving the LRC the right of way. The warning lights were flashing when the tractor-trailer crossed the tracks and was struck by the experimental train. " Cleroux said the five-car train carrying 18 Via Rail and Amtrak staff members was probably travelling about 60 to 70 m.p.h. run [sic]. None of the staff members were injured. Police said the tracks were closed for two hours before a diesel from Ottawa arrived to tow the damaged train back to Montreal. The $80,000 truck was a write-off. The train was making a test run from Montreal to Ottawa. Police said a car stopped on the other side of the tracks at the time of the collision sustained $500 damage from flying debris, and three cars in a parking lot nearby sustained $1,500 damage.