Trackside Log for Saturday, January 27, 2001

I was in the vicinity of Canadian National's MacMillan Yard and decided to take a quick swing by to see what was going on. I noticed a peculiar looking blue locomotive parked in front of the shops.

• Toronto, Ontario - CN power in transit - DJPX 3809

I certainly wasn't expecting to find a David J. Joseph Co. U36C in Toronto. I took a quick photograph and then resumed my trek homeward. As I crossed the Canadian National York Subdivision on Keele Street I looked down the track. I was rather awestruck by what I saw. It was a covered hopper sticking up into the air. I made my way to the back of an industrial building where I could take some photographs of the scene.

• Toronto, Ontario (mi. 24 York Subdivision) - CN 313 west - CN 2523-CN 2617

Evidently train 313 was experiencing mechanical difficulties and couldn't pull the train into MacMillan Yard. Another train coupled onto the back and was pushing the train into the yard. When train 313 subsequently went into emergency the second train kept pushing. Train 313 derailed in three locations.

Trackside Log for Monday, July 10, 2000

On July 9th VIA train 683 derailed at the east siding switch of Rockcut siding in Rockwood. The following morning I drove over to photograph the incident. The siding was occupied by equipment used by 360Networks for fibre optic installation along the Guelph Subdivision right of way. Apparently the switch had been left in the reverse position. Train 683 struck some construction equipment and a Canadian National flat car.

• Rockwood, Ontario - VIA 683 west - VIA 6413

Shortly after I started to photograph the scene a VIA rescue train arrived to pull train 683 back to Toronto.

• Rockwood, Ontario - VIA extra 6436 west - VIA 6436

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada report on this incident can be found here.

Trackside Log for Wednesday, November 10, 1999

On the evening of November 9th VIA train 85 was involved in a derailment at 4th Line in Limehouse, Ontario, near Acton. The train, with VIA 6422 and Amtrak coaches, struck a dump truck loaded with gravel. The only fatality was the driver of the truck. This morning I made the short drive from Guelph to Acton to photograph the aftermath.

• Limehouse, Ontario - VIA 85 west - VIA 6422

The scene was rather dramatic. VIA 6422 was flipped on its side and facing the wrong direction and the first Amtrak coach was thrown diagonally across the tracks with holes ripped in the stainless steel. One of the F40PH-2's trucks was embedded into the dirt some distance away.

The complete consist of the train was:

• VIA 6422 - locomotive
• AMTK 34036 - Superliner bi-level coach
• AMTK 34051 - Superliner bi-level coach
• AMTK 34006 - Superliner bi-level coach
• AMTK 35005 - Superliner bi-level combination coach / snack car

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada report on the incident can be found here.