Although this would not be classified as a 'wreck where lives were lost', and although I was not there, I do have permission from Lynx Images to reprint the story they have on this mishap.
Laurie, Board Administrator

MIRACLE DERAILMENT
Mississauga, Ontario
November 10, 1979

Canadian Pacific Freight Train No. 54 was pulling a poisonous, explosive load. Among its 106 cars were tankers of liquid chlorine, caustic soda, propane, chlorine, styrene and toluene. Near midnight on November 10, the train snaked through Mississauga. One of its wheel bearings began to heat until the axle snapped. A set of wheels flew off into someone's backyard. The car's undercarriage dragged along the tracks, showered sparks, and then derailed. One by one, 22 railway cars slipped off the tracks and crashed into each other. Some of the tankers burst into flames, followed by a massive blast that shook the ground and woke up most of the city.
"When I arrived just before midnight, I thought many of us would not live through the night," firefighter Cyril Hare told The Toronto Star. Firefighters and residents had arrived to witness a spectacular fire that mounted 1500 metres (5,000 ft.) into the air. A second explosion knocked the crowd to the ground. Pieces of metal spun through the air. A few minutes later, a third explosion sent a propane tank flying 700 metres (2,300 ft.) into a field.
The chlorine tanker was the biggest worry. If it had exploded, it would have suffocated residents. Police began evacuating the nearest 3,500 residents and the 1,400 patients in surrounding hospitals. To avoid further explosions, the tankers were cooled and the escaping gases allowed to burn under control for the next three days.
After the derailment, hazardous cargoes faced new legislation: the use of devices to detect overheating components on the rails; reduced speed through populated areas; and safer arrangements of cars according to their contents. Miraculously, no one was killed in the spectacular disaster, although one cameraman fell and broke his leg, and eight firefighters were treated for chlorine inhalation. Residents were permitted to return home six days later.
Posted with permission of Lynx Images
Page 246, Disaster Canada
published by Lynx Images
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