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Highway 63 train collision leaves one in hospital

Major industrial highway saw heavy traffic detoured throughout Sept. 7
Hwy 63 Train web
A Sept. 7 collision between a train and a southbound truck on Highway 63 north of Newbrook has left one man in hospital and closed the highway for more than eight hours.

ATHABASCA – A train versus vehicle accident on Highway 63 last week that saw the two people in the vehicle survive, leaves one man in stable condition in an Edmonton hospital. 

Redwater RCMP, Boyle RCMP and fire rescue crews from Thorhild County and Boyle were called to the scene on Highway 63 about five kilometres north of Newbrook in Thorhild County, 40 km southwest of the Village of Boyle. 

At approximately 11:30 a.m. Sept. 7, a man and a woman travelling south on the highway in a Dodge truck with trailer in tow came around a slight curve and collided with an oncoming train. Trapping the man beneath the dash of the vehicle for several hours before he could be rescued. He was then sent via STARS Air Ambulance to Edmonton. The woman who was in the passenger seat suffered minor injuries and was also sent to hospital but has since been released. 

Highway 63, the major thoroughfare between Fort McMurray and Edmonton, was closed for more than eight hours into the early evening, leading to disruptions and detours for countless travellers, many of whom haul machinery, parts and people to and from the oil patch. Southbound travellers were redirected at the Highway 663 junction west of Boyle, while northbound traffic was diverted east at Newbrook to Highway 831. 

A GoFundMe page, organized by Rachael Reinhardt, in support of the man in the truck, surpassed its $10,000 goal within its first day and sits at more than $16,000 as of Sunday afternoon, Sept. 11. Reinhardt is the owner of a barbecue rib business that operates in Eastern Canada and Alberta. She said the pair was returning to Calgary after a 15-week tour with the company’s “rib truck.”   

The Advocate has chosen not to publish the names of those involved in the accident. 

“Yesterday, September 7, we received a terrifying phone call that our two friends ... were in a severe accident colliding with a train on their way from Fort McMurray to Calgary, hauling the rig,” said Reinhardt on the GoFundMe page. “The truck was disintegrated, and (he) was crushed beneath the dash for several hours, awaiting medical care.” 

Reinhardt went on to note the man, who manages the company’s Alberta operations, broke his tibia in four places along with his ankle and has undergone three surgeries since the accident, including an initial six-hour operation when he arrived in hospital. 

“We are beyond thankful that they are both alive and stable from this traumatic event,” Reinhardt said, adding the man was to start a new position as an assistant hockey coach in Texas this season, but has had to forgo those plans. “As such, we are starting this GoFundMe project to help relieve some of the financial burdens ahead.” 

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