Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1980, June 7 - 15 car derailment near Cornwall, Canadian National Kingston subdivision.

Ottawa Journal  Monday 9 June 1980 CORNWALL (Special) Passenger and freight traffic on the Canadian National main rail line is reported back to normal this moming following a derailment here that played havoc with weekend rail traffic from Montreal to Toronto. Early Saturday morning, 15 cars including a tanker carrying highly-flammable butane gas derailed one kilometre east of here. The 93-car freight train was westbound from Montreal to Toronto. Cause of the derailment was not immediately known and there is no estimate of damage. No one was injured in the mishap. CN maintenance crews from Montreal and Belleville worked throughout the night relaying about 500 metres of track, clearing debris and righting the cars, a spokesman said. Of the 93 cars on the freight, 61 were loaded and of the 15 that derailed 11 were loaded. Their cargo, consisting of tissue paper, fibre board and wood pulp was strewn around the track to a distance of 300 metres. The only danger was located in one car that contained highly-flammable butane gas that derailed but since it remained upright and was not ruptured officials on the scene said there was no danger. However, officials from the ministry of the environment were called to the scene as a precaution. Ottawa Citizen 9 June 1980 With picture Work crews rushed to the outskirts of Cornwall over the weekend to begin cleaning up the wreckage from an early Saturday-morning (7 June) freight train derailment that saw 15 cars jump the track and spill their contents of paper towels, diapers and huge rolls of paper. A tank car with thousand litres of butane also left the track but was not damaged. Canadian National work crews replaced about 100 metres of track, and cleanuip efforts are continuing today. Officials have not yet determined the cause of the derailment.

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Updated 8 April 2018