Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1991, October 8 - Crossing collision, Smiths Falls, CPR., Brockville sub., minor injuries

Ottawa Citizen 9 October 1991 Man survives collision as truck hits train SMITHS FALLS - Leonard Snyder's truck didn't survive a collision with a VIA train Tuesday. But Snyder was a whole lot luckier. Police feared that Snyder, 36, had suffered major injuries in the accident near Smiths Falls. But he didn't. He was released from hospital a few hours after the 11:40 a.m. accident. Snyder's pickup hit the third car of a four-car train at a railway crossing on Eric Hutcheson Road, two kilometres southwest of Smiths Falls. Witnesses say they heard brakes screeching just before the truck hit the Toronto-Ottawa train, which was travelling an estimated 116 kilometres an hour. "I've never seen metal fly like that," said Scott Cowan, 27, who was travelling to Ottawa from Kingston. "It looked like pieces of fiberglass shattering." Don McDavid, a Toronto resident, was looking out the window listening to his Walkman when he saw the truck hit the train. "He didn't show any signs of slowing down," said McDavid. "I was saying to myself: What the hell is he doing?" Louise Hutchinson's first-ever train trip turned out to be more exciting than she had imagined. "This is one trip I won't forget," the 87-year-old Don Mills woman said. No one on the trian [sic] was injured. Passengers were delayed 50 minutes. Snyder, from Smiths Falls, was alone in the truck. He was treated at Smiths Falls General Hospital. Ontario Provincial Police are investigating the crash. Police said the truck was a write-off.

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Updated 10 August 2020