10 February 2005
Local Man Killed in
Car-Train Collision
EMS workers
and RCMP attend to the scene of a fatal car crash Wednesday morning, (9 Feb 2005), involving a train at the Railway Avenue crossing in
Canmore. An elderly gentleman was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause is still
under investigation.
An elderly Canmore man was
killed when his car was hit and dragged for about 15 metres by a train at a Canmore crossing yesterday
morning (9 Feb 2005).
RCMP are still trying to piece together the exact cause of the fatal accident, but say a witness
indicates the car appeared to slide into the path of the 70-car train moments before
impact.
The identity of the deceased, known to be a lifetime Canmore resident born in 1920, is not being
released at this time, pending notification of next of kin. RCMP say they are likely to release his
identity today (10 Feb 2005) some time.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The accident happened at about 10:25 a.m. at the Railway Avenue crossing near the A&W fast food
restaurant. The road appeared covered with compacted snow.
The crumpled silver Honda Accord, which was traveling north along Railway Avenue, came to rest by the
train about 15 metres from the crossing, on the north side of the tracks.
"It happened so quickly. It smacked into the car, the car seemed to do a somersault with the
force of the train. I just saw it go in the air," said a visibly shaken Hazel Anderson, of
Canmore.
"I stopped and ran out. I shouted underneath, "Is somebody with him?" Then someone
said, "Yes, he's still alive." She raced back to her friend in a waiting car to call 911.
Witnesses from nearby stores were also quick to run out with blankets and jackets to cover the man.
Gill Happy, owner of the nearby Solo Liquor Store, said he was first to reach the elderly man after
racing across deep snow and jumping the railway line safety fence.
"We checked (his) pulse three times. He was alive, but unconscious," he said.
"I yelled, "sir, sir, sir", but he didn't speak," Happy added.
"It was very shocking. I feel very sad." Ed Greenberg, a spokesman for Canadian Pacific
Railway, said the company has determined that all lights, bells and safety arms at the crossing were
working.
He said the two-man crew used the train's emergency stopping procedures, but
unfortunately could not avoid the tragic collision.
A fully-loaded train takes at least a mile to come to an emergency stop, said Greenberg,
adding the train was traveling well below the track speed of 45 mph (72 km/h).
"This is tragic. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the deceased and the family and friends of
the deceased," he said.
"A terrible incident like this is also traumatic on the crew, who are being offered critical
incident support."
Canmore RCMP Const. Maria Thomas said the police are still investigating the cause of the accident,
but hope witnesses will come forward to help police with the investigation. If anyone has
information, please call the Canmore detachment at 678-5519.
The intersection was blocked for several hours, with all traffic being diverted to the western railway
crossing. A new crew was brought into Canmore and the train continued westward around 1:15 p.m.
Yesterday afternoon, trains approaching the intersection sounded the horn.
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