Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1987, September 18 - Crossing collision, Ashton CPR., Carleton Place sub. Locomotive derailed, no injuries

Ottawa Citizen 19 September 1987 Passengers escape injury in VIA train, truck collision The locomotive pulling The Canadien, VIA-Rail's cross-Canada train, derailed Friday near the Ottawa Valley hamlet of Ashton, forcing 64 passengers to take buses to Ottawa and Montreal after a two-hour delay. Const. Gary Couture, of the Perth detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police, said the train's engine was knocked sideways off the track but remained upright at a slight angle. The cars were not damaged and none of the passengers, mostly tourists on the train which left Vancouver on Sept. 15, were injured. A semi-trailer driven by Ronald Boal, 39, of Ashton, was crossing the tracks at 7:15 p.m. at a private crossing owned by Cavanagh Construction, when the back end of the truck's empty flat-bed collided with the. locomotive pulling six passenger cars. A VIA spokesman said the railway provided two buses to Ottawa and Montreal. A bus with 40 passengers left about 9:40 p.m. for Dorval. A second bus left later for Ottawa with 24 passengers. Cavanagh Construction workers provided a truck and a grader to unload the baggage from the train onto the buses.

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Updated 12 July 2020