Dugald rail accident

1947 head on collision and subsequent fire in Manitoba, Canada

The Dugald rail accident was a head on collision between two Canadian National passenger trains on September 1, 1947, in Dugald, Manitoba, Canada, resulting in the deaths of 31 people.

A westbound Canadian National Railways (CN) train, The Minaki Campers’ Special operating as Passenger Extra 6001 West, was a seasonal excursion service carrying vacationers from the Minaki region of Northwestern Ontario on the Monday evening of the Labour Day holiday weekend. It had been given orders at Malachi, Ontario, 100 mile (161 km) east of Winnipeg, to meet train No. 4, the eastbound Continental Limited at Vivian. These orders were later changed, so that the meeting point was relocated 16 mile (26 km) westward for a meet at Dugald, 14 mile (23 km) east of Winnipeg. These second orders had been received at Elma, Manitoba. at approximately No fatalities occurred in the vacation train's two rear cars or on the Continental Limited. Both of the locomotives involved were rebuilt and repaired by CN after the wreck.

An inquiry blamed the crew of the vacationers' train for failing to obey orders. The inquiry also determined that the crew's error had been precipitated by their seeing a "clear" signal, which implied that the track ahead was clear, and that the Continental Limited dimming of its headlamp while waiting in the station lessened its visibility to the oncoming vacation train. This resulted in both the acquisition of modern rail cars and the improvement of rules regarding operations on the line.

"The Minaki Train Crash " episode about the Dugald rail accident from the documentary Disasters of the Century (2000), aired on Canadian network History.