12 February 2005
Crash Kills
Man
One of Elkhorn's
long-time residents was killed in an instant yesterday when a fully-loaded
freight train plowed into a pickup truck at a railway crossing on the edge of town.
RCMP said the crash occurred at about 10:15 a.m. when the truck failed to stop at the intersection of
the Canadian Pacific tracks and Provincial Road 256 and was struck by the 71-car train.
The truck was dragged nearly 160 metres down the tracks.
Terry Stremel, 41, the only occupant of the truck, was trapped inside the twisted wreckage and died at
the scene. Terry's father, Ted Stremel, said he had seen his son, along with a friend in a second
vehicle, drive past the Elkhorn cafe where he was having coffee only moments before the accident.
"We saw him go by," Ted said from his home through tears of grief yesterday. "It was
about an hour later we found out. The Mounties showed up at the house."
Warning lights at the crossing were reportedly still flashing and bells ringing when emergency
officials arrived at the scene a short time after the accident. "Did he try to beat the train, or
was his mind on something else - you just don't know," said Westman RCMP Staff Sgt. Moe Massart.
"And you may never know, because unfortunately the only person that can really tell you was in
the vehicle."
RCMP said the man driving the second vehicle was behind Stremel's pickup truck and witnessed the
crash. The witness was too distraught to comment yesterday.
Emergency crews had to cut the roof from Terry's pickup truck to extricate his body from the wreck.
CP Rail spokesman Ed Greenberg said the westbound train was going about 65 kilometres per hour when it
hit the pickup, which was heading south out of the village of about 470 people, located 102 km west
of Brandon. Greenberg said the crew inside the locomotive spotted the truck shortly before the
collision, too late to brake in time. "As soon as the crew realized there was a problem at the
crossing, they went into emergency mode," Greenberg said. "In addition to putting the train
into emergency stop mode, they were sounding the horn in an attempt to avoid this tragedy."
Lights and bells were fully functional, but there was no crossing gate, he said.
The train sustained minor damage to its front end and no crew members were injured. "Critical
incident" counselling was being offered to the badly shaken railroaders, Greenberg said.
Terry, who lived in Elkhorn most of his life, was married and worked as a heavy equipment operator for
local company Rowan Enterprises. His brother Derek Stremel is a country-western singer
and songwriter in Alberta, but Ted said his eldest son Terry was also a musician in his own right.
"He had a big, fancy organ and he played, mostly country-western and dance
music," Ted said. "And he played the accordion. He loved music."
Ted fondly recalled the days when both Terry and Derek helped him out on the family farm, starting
when they were only children. Ted said he was receiving condolences yesterday from family and dozens
of friends who knew and loved Terry. "He was a pretty well-liked little guy,"
Ted said. "We'll miss him a lot. I've got so many memories."
CP Rail officials and Westman RCMP continue to investigate the cause of the accident.
Greenberg said he didn't know whether the accident would prompt a formal review of safety at the
Elkhorn crossing. Neither Massart nor RM of Wallace Reeve Vince Heaman could recall any previous
accidents at the crossing in the past.
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