Details of Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area

1992, February 13 - Train kills railway worker, Iroquois, CNR., Kingston sub.

From the Ottawa Citizen 14 February 1992 DIDNT HEAR WHISTLE Train kills railway worker A railway maintenance worker who failed to hear a train's warning whistle was killed Thursday when struck by a westbound VIA train just west of Iroquois. Iroquois is 80 kilometres south of Ottawa. George MacDermid, 34, of RR 5, Alexandria, was clearing ice and snow from a switch on the Canadian National Railways main line with a gas-powered blower mounted on his back when struck by the train, A fellow worker told provinicial police MacDermid had his head down and did not hear the train's whistle over the roar of his torch. MacDermid was married with two children. Ottawa Citizen 20 June 1992 Handle safety, foremen told MORRISBURG Foremen of railway maintenance crews should be safety coordinators rather than actively participate in the work, says a coroner's jury. This was one of the recommendations made following an inquest into the death of a CN rail worker who was killed at a track maintenance site just west of Iroquois, 65 kilometres southeast of Ottawa. George MacDermid, 34, foreman of a five-member maintenance crew, was killed when he was hit by a VIA train on Feb. 13. Evidence presented at the hearing showed that MacDermid was working in the middle of the north track when he was struck from behind by the westbound passenger train. MacDermid, an Alexandria area resident, was working with a noisy snow-blower when he was hit. The jury said a foreman of a track crew should be more of an observer with the responsibility for safety. The coroner's jury also recommended that railway employees working along tracks wear fluorescent garments such as vests. MacDermid was the second area railway worker killed by a train in the last two years. Another was killed when he was struck while working on tracks in Cornwall.

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Updated 15 August 2020