The Wreck of Locomotive 6167

Engines 6166 & 6167 collide in head-on crash - one engineer dead...

Montmagny, Quebec, July 6th.1943 at 3:18 p.m. Weather conditions: Bright and clear.

The “Ocean Limited”, train No. 1, (6166) from Halifax to Montreal with 15 cars, was operating

late while Fourth class eastward freight train No. 702, (6167) handling 41 cars and caboose, at

3284 tons, had left St. Charles, Quebec. – It’s Engineer J. Lavasseur was under the impression

that train No. 1 was on time and passed that point.

Both trains were operating at high speed as they approached each other east of Montmagny,

Quebec on a tangent track, which stretched five miles to the east and two miles west of

Montmagny Station. Engineer J.H. Blier on No. 1 saw the opposing train and applied his brakes,

his train was almost stopped at the moment of impact. The brakes on 6167 had not been applied

until moments before the impact as 6167 was still travelling very fast. 6167 Engineer Lavasseur’s

account was never heard, as he died in the cab.

The collision occurred on a river bridge a half mile east of Montmagny Station. All wheels on both

engines were derailed, while the tender of engine 6166 was resting at an angle against the

girders of the bridge. Estimated damage to 6166 was $35,000 and to engine 6167 $40,000.

Other damaged equipment included express refrigerator car 10010, loaded with fresh fish,

which was demolished, While baggage car 8778 was badly damaged and laid across the

track at a right angle. The other 13 cars on No. 1 remained on the tracks. On Train No. 702

(6167) there were 6 cars of merchandise and 14 cars of coal derailed on both sides of the track,

jammed into a 200 foot long area between the river bridge and a nearby road crossing.

In addition to the death of 6167 Engineer J. Lavasseur, other injured employees were: 6166’s

Engineer, both locomotives Firemen, one baggageman, four Royal Mail clerks, one Express

messenger and a dinning car steward. However there was 43 passengers on Train No. 1,

whom received only minor injuries. The mult-span bridge over the river at mile 77.5 on the

Montmagny Subdivision was extensively damaged.

Auxiliary locomotives from Joffre and Riviere du Loup re-railed 6166 and 6167 by midnight

July 7th, It took an additional 16 hours to make temporary repairs to bridge spans 4, 5, 6 and

7 before traffic was again permitted to cross the bridge.

Had it not been for the critical shortage of locomotives during the war years of World War 2, it is

likely that 6167 might have been scrapped, rather then being repaired and returned to service.

6167 continued to operate until March 1959, when she was then put into serviceable storage

after 1,266,930 miles of service. On July 10th 1960, 6167 was returned to service to operate

as an excursion train. Over 50 trips were made, logging some 12,000 additional miles and

hauled over 40,000 passengers during excursion service.

In 1967 C.N.R. Locomotive 6167 class U2e was donated to the City of Guelph, Ontario.

It sits as static park display just east of the Via Rail Station in downtown Guelph. Current

plans (2008) call for a cosmetic restoration that will include the removal of asbestos and

new boiler jackets. Guelph City Council (January 2007) approved a $250,000.00 contribution

towards the cosmetic restoration.

6167 is the last remaining Northern class U2e locomotive in the world.

 

 Wreck photographs are posted in the "Document Section" elsewhere on this site. 

Article Sources:

Upper Canada Railway Society Newsletter Number 225, October 1964

The Guelph Mercury Newspaper

Guelph Civic Museums