Twenty-four rail cars jump the tracks in North Bay

An ONR train derailment early this morning left rail cars hanging from trees off Highway 63, and caused police to close the highway for a time.

The road has now been re-opened.

Three homes were evacuated as police feared the rail cars might roll down the hill and onto the house. A couple of cars are just feet from a house and Malcolm Small Engines business.

The accident occurred about 30-40 metres from the road. The rail cars came off tracks on the rail line running parallel with Highway 63 between Silver Lady Lane and Peninsula Road.

Seven sulphuric acid rail cars of a total of 25 are off the tracks, but are empty.

Renée Baker, Communications Manager at ONTC told BayToday that, "At 5:30 this morning 25 empty rail cars derailed about six miles north of North Bay. There were no in juries and no environmental concerns and no spills. Our crews are currently re-railing the cars."

Baker said an engineer and conductor were on the train at the time.

The #113 train was travelling north bound from North Bay to Englehart.

There is no timeline as to when the track will be reopened at this point.

Some people nearby residents were stunned by the unexpected noise. "I was literally woken up by a train wreck 200 meters from my house at 5 a.m. this morning," said Dave Clement on Facebook this morning. "We are okay."

"It's a scary way to wake up," noted another nearby resident who ran outside his home to see where the noise was coming from.