Goderich-Exeter Railway, a Genesee & Wyoming road, suffers runaway and derailment
Written by David C. Lester, Editor-in-ChiefA Goderich-Exter Railway (a short line owned by Genesee & Wyoming) freight train that runs between Goderich and Stratford, Ont. yesterday began rolling backward down a hill toward Goderich Harbor yesterday, collided with a tractor-trailer, a pickup truck, and demolished a shed before coming to rest with about a dozen of its 34 cars derailed, according to reporting by the CBC and CTV television news.
Amazingly, no one was injured in this accident; the driver of the tractor-trailer was not in his truck at the time, and two people in the pickup truck saw what was happening and were able to move the truck to avoid a more serious collision with the oncoming train.
The train was not carrying any hazardous materials, and the railroad expected a street blocked by the derailment, Harbour Street, to have been reopened this morning. Genesee & Wyoming is working with law enforcement officials and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada to determine the cause of the accident.