Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1992, August 28 -  Teenager killed by train on bridge, Brockville, CNR., Kingston sub.

From the Ottawa Citizen 29 August 1992 A Brockville teenager was killed Friday when he was struck by a VIA Rail passenger train on a railway bridge. Larry Harold Barlow, 14, was riding a trail bike across the bridge when the train, travelling at more than 100 kilometres an hour in the same direction, hit him from behind at about 4:30 p.m. Const. Garry Dunklin of Brockville police said the youth rode on to the bridge from a well-worn dirt path frequently used by trail-bikers. Dunklin said the train engineer had no time to blow a whistle or slow down.. The youth's father, James Barlow, said his son just got the trail bike the day before the fatal accident The youth, who was going into Grade 8 this year, traded another bike for it and had been warned repeatedly to stay off the railway tracks. "He just didn't listen," said Barlow, 44, his voice cracking with emotion. "They think they're invincible but please kids, listen to your parents." The bridge, near the western boundary of Brockville, is a shortcut for trail-bikers to a series of paths near train yards on the other side. Barlow said the bridge is frequently used by pedestrians, including workers at a nearby plant Police said the youth was wearing a helmet and may not have been able to hear the approaching Toronto-bound train. Barlow's death is the latest in a series of train accident fatalities in Eastern Ontario. Tuesday, two people died and six were injured when a VIA train slammed into a passenger van on Hwy. 138, about 30 kilometres north of Cornwall. The same day, a 68-year-old Arnprior woman was killed when she drove in front of a train at a level crossing. On Aug. 17, seven-year-old Jason Burns of Barrhaven died when he was hit by a ladder on the side of a passing VIA train while he was playing near the tracks. - - -

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Updated 16 August 2020