Frozen Ham on the Tracks - Part 1 of 3

In 1963 I was employed as an Insurance Adjuster at Thunder Bay, Ontario, which is located on the north shore of Lake Superior. One of my first accidents I received, was to investigate the roll over of a tractor and cargo trailer many miles west of town. It was also my responsibility to recover the tractor, trailer, and the cargo, then report the circumstances of the accident to the insurance company.

The truck was loaded with 1760 individually wrapped and frozen hams. One man was driving the truck while the second was resting in the sleeper portion of the cab.

As the truck approached a sharp left hand curve in the road, it was traveling at an excessive rate of speed and came close to leaving the road. It almost went through the guard rails and into a steep ditch on the right hand side of the road.

Once around the curve, the driver was faced with just as sharp a curve, but in the opposite direction. The trailer started to tip to the left and at the same time the loose cargo shifted to the left as well.

The trailer fell onto its left side, then slid forward until the leading edge of the trailer snagged on the railway tracks.

The force of the loaded trailer pushed the tracks out of alignment, but at the same time the tracks stopped the trailer from sliding any further.

The main Canadian Pacific Railway line was blocked              Continued on Part 2