Written By Alice Gibb
The Jack Van Hoorn family was enjoying supper on April 28, 1958, when they were startled by the sounds of a tremendous crash. Two derailed CN freight cars had skidded to a stop literally inches away from the Van Hoorn’s backyard. Needless to say, the family of tobacco farmers, didn’t waste any time vacating their house.
The derailment, involving 20 freight cars loaded with grain, took place at 6 p.m. on the CNR main line on the eastern outskirts of Komoka, within yards of a railway overpass. Several of the freight cars rolled sideways along the right-of-way, eventually tumbling down the embankment. The lengthy freight train had been drawn by three diesel cars. Fortunately, there were no human injuries in the mishap.
Following the derailment, by 7:30 p.m., CN Rail had dispatched two wrecking cranes and a work gang of 75 men to the area. A quarter mile of track and hundreds of track ties had been destroyed in the force of the derailment. Since the accident happened on the main rail line, 14 London-bound train passengers had to be re-routed on their journey to London. Passengers on the Chicago-Montreal express should have reached the London station at 8:23 p.m. Instead, their journey was extended when the passenger train was re-routed to Lucan, where passengers were loaded into taxis. They finally arrived at the downtown London station at 10:05 p.m.
Not surprisingly, the force of the impact of the loaded freight cars twisted the twin railway tracks like spaghetti. In some places, railway ties were forced deep into the roadbed. Telegraph lines were instantly snapped when one of the boxcars flipped upside down and landed between the two poles. A London Free Press photographer, who shot photos of the work crews through the night, reported that the derailed cars looked like an accordion that had been forcefully tossed to the ground.
Also, tons of grain spewed from the damaged boxcars, which was likely very welcome to any birds circling in the area. A bulldozer was brought in to clear the roadbed of all the debris.It was eventually decided that the derailment had been caused by a burned out journal box on a wheel on one of the boxcars – and not by human error. After the derailment, other freight trains were re-routed on the Drumbo and Forest subdivision lines.
After working through the night, the east-bound track of the CNR main line had been cleared of wreckage by 1:10 p.m. the next day. Work on the west-bound track was expected to take another day to clear.
As for the Van Hoorn family – one wonders if they were able to relax enough to enjoy the rest of their interrupted supper?
