Alexandria

Date	Statement	Source
1881-12-30	The Witness remarked: "An effort is being made to make Alexandria the mechanical metropolis of the Canada Atlantic Railway, a free site for the workshops and freedom from taxation being the bounty offered ... In this case Ottawa is the other claimant. The decision come to will be interesting." Quoted from the Montreal Witness as reprinted in the Ottawa Free Press.	Ottawa Free Press 1881-12-30(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1883-10-16	The Canada Atlantic Railway purchased 40 acres of land adjoining their station at Alexandria from the Hon. D.A. Macdonald, for $3,000. Finding the old water tank inadequate for the number of engines taking water there, the company planned a new, larger tank fed from a stream about half a mile away. Some along the line initially supposed the company intended to erect workshops on the property, in retaliation for the Ottawa Council's dispute over the $100,000 bonus.	Ottawa Free Press 1883-10-16(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1883-10-30	The water tank at Alexandria, for which the Canada Atlantic Railway had purchased 40 acres, was being built with great rapidity, though the company would have difficulty finishing it before the frost set in. A substantial brick engine house nearby was nearly complete.	Ottawa Free Press 1883-10-30(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1883-11-22	The Canada Atlantic Railway was building a new baggage house at Alexandria station, a much-needed improvement.	Ottawa Free Press 1883-11-22(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1884-05-21	The steam shovel which was at work on the Chaudiere track of the Canada Atlantic Railway has been taken to Alexandria.	Ottawa Free Press 1884-05-21(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1886-09-29	A number of navvies hired to work on the CPR short line railway, and had been paid to Alexandria, refused to leave the Canada Atlantic train at that station Monday night, and it was only after a delay of several minutes that they were forced off the train.	Ottawa Citizen 1886-09-29(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1894-01-05	The Dreadful Grade Crossing. Several level crossing disasters are reported, one occurred at Alexandria, on the 5th, when the Ottawa eastbound morning express, while entering the station, struck the sleigh of Mr. Donald Cameron, of Lochiel. The accident occurred at the railway crossing, a little west of the station. Mr Cameron, his daughter Winfred, and a Miss Young, of Montreal, were in the sleigh at the time, and were on their way in to the village with grist for the Alexandria roller mills. Seemingly, they did not hear the whistle, and were opposite the Alexandria Manufacturing Company factory, situated on the north side of the track, when they first perceived the approaching train. Knowing he could not turn his horses and believing he had time to cross, Mr Cameron made the attempt, but had hardly reached the track when the engine struck them, leaving the horses unscratched on the south side, and hurling the sleigh and its occupants to the north side. The two ladies escaped with slight bruises, but Mr Cameron received several scalp wounds and the right thigh bone was broken. Surgical aid was called in, and Mr Cameron is reported as doing well.	Eastern Ontario Review 1894-01-19(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Almonte Gazette 1894-01-12(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1898-07-02	On Saturday July 2nd there was a small wreck on the C.A.R. near Alexandria. Two cars laden with corn were derailed and precipitated into the ditch while a dozen others were badly damaged. A wrecking train under James Ogilvie, superintendent of motive power, was immediately sent down from Ottawa and by 7 o'clock Sunday morning the track was completely cleared. The accident was caused by a portion of a freight train breaking loose.	Eastern Ontario Review 1898-07-15(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1899-11-13	The first class and Pullman car of the Canada Atlantic express from Montreal left the rails at Alexandria, Ont., Monday tearing up 300 feet of rails and ties. This was the only damage done outside of slight damage to one of the Pullman trucks. (Eastern Ontario Review, 17 November: 'The C.A.R. fast train left the track at Alexandria last Monday (13/11) owing to the switch breaking.') No passengers were injured, per the Eastern Ontario Review.	Montreal Star 1899-11-14(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Eastern Ontario Review 1899-11-17(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1901-01-04	Mr. John Morrow, C.A.R. agent, has succeeded in establishing a regular stage line from Alexandria to Green Valley to connect with all C.P.R. trains.	Eastern Ontario Review 1901-01-04(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1902-06-17	A C.A.R. MISHAP. Owing to an accident at Alexandria this morning the Montreal express on the C.A.R. was over an hour late. A switch had been left open by mistake and when the train pulled into the station, going at the usual rate of speed, it ran from the main line on to a siding, crashing into a number of freight cars there. The pilot of the engine was broken, the van at the rear of the freight cars smashed and some other damage done, but no one was injured. Another engine had to be secured to bring the train to Ottawa.	Ottawa Citizen 1902-06-17(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1907-04-26	CRASHED INTO A FARMER'S RIG. The G.T.R. express from Ottawa to Montreal struck a carriage at the crossing at Alexandria. Mr. John St. John of Alexandria, about 59, and Mrs. Mary Landry, who was driving with him, were thrown several feet off the track. The long freight on the siding and piles of lumber are believed to have prevented St. John from seeing the approaching passenger train, which was slowing down to make the station but was still too fast; the engine caught the carriage, tearing it from the horse, which escaped uninjured. St. John was hurled about 120 feet, his head badly crushed, left leg broken above the knee, and left hand and forearm mangled. Mrs. Landry was thrown nearly 50 feet and badly injured but was expected to recover.	Ottawa Citizen 1907-04-26(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1907-04-26(Corroborating report naming the second passenger a...)
1907-04-26	DIED OF HIS INJURIES. John St. John, who was injured on Friday when a vehicle in which he was driving was struck by a G.T.R. express on the crossing at Alexandria, died on Friday evening.	Ottawa Citizen 1907-04-29(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1908-12-21	Struck by a Train. A valuable team of horses owned by Laughlin McKinnon of Laggan were killed by the Grand Trunk train No. 27 at the bridge east of Alexandria. McKinnon, driving home along the Laggan road, accidentally turned the horses onto the track; the Montreal train, travelling about 50 miles an hour, struck them at the bridge, where one horse had become stuck between the ties, and threw them to the river about sixty feet away. The driver jumped clear and was not injured. After the horses were struck the train backed up, but after searching for half an hour among the mangled remains and in the snow no trace of the driver could be found; he was found later by a farmer and driven home.	Eastern Ontario Review 1908-12-25(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1911-05-26	The gang of G.T.R. employees who were engaged in laying the Eastern Pipe and Construction Co.'s siding at Alexandria have completed the same, and now three sidings at the station here will be operated by the one switch. Two carloads of piping consigned respectively to Vaudreuil and Rigaud were shipped out this week by the Eastern Construction Co. of Alexandria, and as four cars of British Columbia fir are expected in a day or so, we may reasonably look for a boom at this factory.	Eastern Ontario Review 1911-05-26(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1912-08-13	On Tuesday morning a section man, Mr. Chartrand, was riding on a speeder when he was struck by an express about 9 o'clock. The train was stopped and he was picked up and brought to the station, where he lived for only a few minutes. These double accidents inside of a week cast a gloom over the town.	Eastern Ontario Review 1912-08-16(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1912-08-17	On Saturday afternoon last about two o'clock little Isaac Theoret, aged fourteen, crawled under a freight car standing on the siding at Alexandria. He wanted to keep out of the rain and did not notice an engine shunting on the track. The car was moved in shunting and the boy was caught under it; his left leg and right arm were both severed. He died Sunday morning.	Eastern Ontario Review 1912-08-16(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1914-11-06	Another attempt was made to wreck the G.T.R. train at Alexandria by a man named Diotte, who is supposed to be mentally deranged. The young man, about twenty years of age and a life-long resident of Alexandria who had worked that day as a teamster, is supposed to have quit work about five o'clock, put his horses in the stable, and gone and done the work a short distance west of the station. Three ties were placed across the track, two in a V shape and another under the connecting end of the V, a clever arrangement for derailing trains. Had it not been for the discovery of the arrangement by a young Alexandrian returning to town, the fast train from Montreal to Ottawa due in Alexandria at 5:30, a few minutes after the discovery, would probably have hurled many lives into eternity. The young man stood preliminary trial the following Saturday night, pleading guilty, and was taken to Cornwall on Sunday for a medical examination. Churcher's own note on this item records that a first such attempt occurred near Coteau landing.	Morrisburg Leader 1914-11-13(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1915-08-27	W. McFarland, a brakeman of Montreal on the Grand Trunk special bringing the annual load of excursionists from Montreal to Ottawa, fell off his train one mile west of Alexandria and was killed. When the train reached Greenfield, the first station west of Alexandria, he was missed and a wire was sent to Ottawa, which was transmitted back to a second train asking that a lookout be kept for him. His body was found lying beside the track. There were no marks indicating whether he had killed himself in the fall or not.	Morrisburg Leader 1915-08-27(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1925-09-21≥	By 21 September 1925 (the issue date), the paper reported: The C.N.R.'s new "Oil Electric Articulated Car" made a run from Montreal to Ottawa on Saturday afternoon "in two hours and 55 minutes, which includes three stops en route, one at Alexandria, where about 150 curious people gathered to give it the once over, and at Coteau where photos were taken."	Ottawa Citizen 1925-09-21(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1932-05-02	"When he fell off a Canadian National freight train and under the wheels here late tonight, Alex A. Cameron of Stellarton, N.S., suffered amputation of both his legs above the knees and died before medical aid reached him. The freight had stopped here for water, and it was while testing the wheels of the cars that the conductor found the man beside the track."	Ottawa Citizen 1932-05-03(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1936-08-01≥	By 1 August 1936 (the issue date), the paper reported: Allan Snider, 78, of Alexandria, returning from a fishing trip, "was struck and killed by the nine o'clock Canadian National Railways Ottawa-Montreal express about a mile and a half east of this place." The engineer reported at Glen Robertson that he thought his locomotive had struck something on a curve east of Alexandria; sectionmen found the body. Snider was stone deaf.	Ottawa Citizen 1936-08-01(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1939-08-23	Laurent Jeaurond, 12, "was killed instantly and five other persons escaped uninjured when the hay rack on which they were riding was struck by the C.N.R. Montreal-Ottawa express, four miles east of" Alexandria, at 11.15 a.m. The crossing "was on a grade and the train crew was unable to see the rack until it was too late to avoid a crash." The train crew were Engineer John Fellowes, Fireman Alfred Huntsinger and Conductor Alex Runciman.	Ottawa Journal 1939-08-23(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Citizen 1939-08-23(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1940-11-01	A truck entering Alexandria on Highway 34 stopped for the wig-wag signal at the railway crossing; "a long freight passed and the signal ceased. Just as the front part of the truck was crossing the track it was struck by the caboose of the train which had become uncoupled and was travelling about 800 feet behind the rest of the train." Neither man was hurt.	Ottawa Citizen 1940-11-02(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1943-12-31≥	By 31 December 1943 (the issue date), the paper reported: Engineer T. C. Reasbeck, 54, of Ottawa, was killed "late last night when a steam pipe burst on the locomotive of an eastbound freight train en route from Ottawa to Montreal at a point between Greenfield and Alexandria, about 50 miles east of Ottawa." Fireman M. S. Cybulski and brakeman A. Valliere were scalded and taken to the Civic Hospital; Reasbeck, hurled from the cab, died of a fractured skull. The train of 55 cars was pulling a grade; it "was finally stopped about three quarters of a mile east of the point where Reasbeck was found", and the Transcontinental No. 1 behind it was delayed about two hours and 20 minutes. Superintendent Paul Fox stated there had been no boiler explosion. Filed on Alexandria, the nearest named place in both reports.	Ottawa Journal 1943-12-31(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Cornwall Freeholder 1943-12-31(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1947-06-21	Charles Massia, an Alexandria district farmer, "was instantly killed about 11 o'clock here this morning when the car in which he was driving was struck by an Ottawa-bound special CN train", one carrying pilgrims to the Marian Congress; the car was dragged three-quarters of a mile. The crossing "is protected by a warning bell and wig-wag system. The warning apparatus was in operation this morning."	Ottawa Citizen 1947-06-21(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1948-09-06≥	By 6 September 1948 (the issue date), the paper reported: "Canadian National Railway transportation and freight services were disrupted for more than seven hours shortly before three o'clock Sunday morning, when an eastbound CNR freight train crashed into the rear of another CNR freight standing in the yards less than a mile from Alexandria station." No one was injured; an empty caboose was demolished and a wrecking crew from Montreal worked until well after 9 p.m.	Ottawa Citizen 1948-09-06(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1953-05-06≥	By 6 May 1953 (the issue date), the paper reported: Albert Vaillancourt, 43, "died instantly last night when his car collided with a CNR freight train at a level crossing in Alexandria" at 11.05 p.m. The eastbound freight was pulling out of a siding; "with the train on a siding... the automatic electric warning signals were not in operation" and skid marks showed for 66 feet.	Ottawa Citizen 1953-05-06(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1956-09-11≥	By 11 September 1956 (the issue date), the paper reported: Two persons "escaped with minor injuries when their car rammed into the side of a freight train one mile east of here yesterday morning."	Ottawa Citizen 1956-09-11(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1959-07-23	The C.N.R.'s eastbound Continental Limited, Vancouver to Montreal, "jumped a switch and rammed into six cars on a spur line near the Alexandria station at 9.50 this morning", the two end cars of the train and several freight cars leaving the track; the engineer, Joseph Ouellette, saw the open switch and braked from about 80 down to about 50 miles an hour. A coal car fell on a parked car and J. L. Gauthier, shovelling coal from it, was buried to his neck and freed in about ten minutes; no one was seriously hurt. The train was delayed about two hours. The Citizen notes a similar accident on 5 June 1929.	Ottawa Journal 1959-07-23(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Citizen 1959-07-23(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Montreal Gazette 1959-07-24(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1959-07-24(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1963-03-12	"A CNR freight train minor derailment five miles east of here this morning forced some 40 Ottawa to Montreal passengers on a later train to transfer to buses." A broken axle on a box car on Freight No. 408 caused the block; passenger train No. 48, due in Montreal at 9.55 a.m., was held up until afternoon and passengers were taken by bus from Alexandria; train No. 47 used the C.P.R. line.	Ottawa Citizen 1963-03-12(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1963-07-29≥	By 29 July 1963 (the issue date), the paper reported: "The CNR westbound passenger train travelling from Montreal to Ottawa Saturday night struck and killed seven cattle trapped on a rail" bridge at Alexandria; the train was delayed an hour and a half but suffered no damage. The item says the cattle were trapped on a "rail" (probably a word lost from "rail bridge"); the headline says "bridge". Filed on Alexandria, the place the bridge is at.	Ottawa Citizen 1963-07-29(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1965-01-25	"The CNR trans-continental 'Panorama' passenger train was stopped short behind a freight derailment near Alexandria this morning delaying arrival of about 100 passengers in Ottawa by five hours": they waited three hours on the train and then rode two buses. "A wheel came off the boxcar about a mile down the line, ripping up a section of track and derailing the car"; there were no injuries.	Ottawa Citizen 1965-01-25(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1965-02-05	"Emergency crews from Montreal and Belleville are working near here today trying to get the CNR main line open following an early-morning freight derailment." A 90-car eastbound train "tore up hundreds of feet of rail when nine cars left the track" at about 1.25 a.m.; there were no injuries, and coast-to-coast and Montreal-Ottawa trains were rerouted over Canadian Pacific lines.	Ottawa Journal 1965-02-05(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1966-11-14≥	By 14 November 1966 (the issue date), the paper reported: Dan Gill, 58, a Kenyon township councillor, "was killed in a car-train crash four and a half miles northwest of here at 1.42 p.m. Sunday." His car "was dragged 110 feet west from the railway crossing on the fourth line road"; "the CNR passenger train struck his car in the rear" as he pulled out of his laneway, the westbound Montreal-Ottawa train going about 30 miles an hour.	Ottawa Citizen 1966-11-14(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1967-12-30≥	By 30 December 1967 (the issue date), the paper reported: "Ottawa-bound passengers aboard a CNR train from Montreal Friday night were taken to Ottawa by three school buses from here when the main Ottawa-Montreal line was blocked by a derailment." Wheels from a car of an earlier eastbound freight "were believed to have jumped the track causing the car to derail and blocking the line for several hours."	Ottawa Journal 1967-12-30(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1979-09-24≥	By 24 September 1979 (the issue date), the paper reported: Gary Major, 29, of Alexandria, "died Saturday when he lost a race with a freight train at a level crossing at which warning lights and bells were working", struck shortly before 9 p.m. about 70 metres from his home; the eastbound train was delayed more than an hour. The Journal says it was a Montreal-bound Canadian National Railways freight at the Main Street crossing at 8:50 p.m., going about 100 kilometres an hour.	Ottawa Citizen 1979-09-24(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1979-09-24(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1979-11-26≥	By 26 November 1979 (the issue date), the paper reported: Renald McGillis, 20, of Alexandria, "barely escaped death early Saturday when a CN freight train rumbled over him near Alexandria station": lying face down between the tracks at about 3:30 a.m., he was run over by five cars of the train pulling away from a siding and "didn't get so much as a scratch". Engineer Mark Merriman said he saw an object between the ties "but was not concerned until he was almost on top of it".	Ottawa Citizen 1979-11-26(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1980-06-18≥	By 18 June 1980 (the issue date), the paper reported: "A thundering tremor accompanied by a mushroom of dust" followed Tuesday when a five-car Bombardier LRC test train on a trial run from Montreal to Ottawa struck a tractor trailer at the crossing on Highway 34 in Alexandria "just before the noon hour"; the driver, William John Brown, 35, was taken to hospital with a fractured foot and the train's crew was shaken up. The truck was a write-off ($80,000); a diesel from Ottawa towed the train to Montreal. Police said a freight train was stopped near the crossing, giving the LRC the right of way. The Glengarry News puts the train at 80 m.p.h. and the Citizen at 60 to 70.	Glengarry News 1980-06-18(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Citizen 1980-06-18(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1985-03-21≥	By 21 March 1985 (the issue date), the paper reported: Louis Carriere, 75, "died instantly Tuesday when he was hit by a train while crossing the tracks on foot here": Alexandria OPP said he was "crossing the tracks opposite the Alexandria train station at about 7 p.m." and was hit by "a westbound train not scheduled to stop in Alexandria".	Ottawa Citizen 1985-03-21(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1990-06-11≥	By 11 June 1990 (the issue date), the paper reported: "Two Lancaster-area residents died at about 10:30 a.m." Sunday "when their car was hit by a passenger train, about 90 kilometres east of Ottawa": Lori MacDonell, 20, and Keith McDonell, 23, were killed "as they attempted to cross the CN Rail tracks on Massie Road about four km east of Alexandria". The railway warning sign at the crossing "had been broken off by vandals just hours before the accident", the Lochiel Township roads superintendent said; the Ottawa-bound VIA Rail train was coming from Montreal. The crossing "has been the scene of two previous collisions in recent years", in 1987 and 1989.	Ottawa Citizen 1990-06-11(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Citizen 1990-06-12(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
1997-05-20≥	By 20 May 1997 (the issue date), the paper reported: "An unidentified male pedestrian died last evening. He was struck by a train near Alexandria at about 7 p.m." The OPP later identified him as Stephane Daoust, 24, of St-Bernardin, "walking on the tracks at about 6:30 p.m." when "fatally struck" by a Montreal-bound VIA passenger train on Monday night; "Mr. Daoust did not react to the train's horn."	Ottawa Citizen 1997-05-20(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Citizen 1997-05-21(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
2014-03-03≥	By 3 March 2014 (the issue date), the paper reported: "An extra locomotive on a VIA Rail train caught fire Sunday afternoon just east of Ottawa": the train, No. 57 from Montreal, stalled at Canyon Concession Road near Alexandria around 4 p.m. and was moving again at 6:30 p.m.; the locomotive, "non-operational and just being pulled by the train", was extinguished by Alexandria's fire department. The item puts the stall near Alexandria though its first sentence says "just east of Ottawa".	CFRA 2014-03-03(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)
2023-05-28	"More than 200 passengers were stuck on a VIA train near Alexandria for several hours Sunday evening, after a mechanical issue stopped the train." "VIA says train 37 stopped approximately 'half a mile away from the Alexandria station' due to an engine failure", with 210 passengers aboard from Montreal to Ottawa; train 39 pushed it to Alexandria station and towed it to Ottawa.	CTV News 2023-05-28(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...)