A teenager has been charged with impaired driving after crashing into the children’s railway house yesterday morning. Volunteers have been able to salvage most of the attraction.
Police were called to 334 Metcalfe Street West in Strathroy-Caradoc around 3:30 a.m. Canada Day due to a vehicle that crashed into a building. The building at the Sleepy Hollow Railway House was severely damaged, and the car was found fully inside.
A teenager under the age of 18 was charged with impaired driving. In speaking with the municipality, Strathroy Police says damages are estimated to be between $50,000 and $70,000, but the exact number can’t be confirmed at this time.
The railway house opened for the season on Easter weekend and celebrated its fifth anniversary this past weekend. The house is owned by the Municipality of Strathroy-Caradoc and is maintained and operated by a team of volunteers with the Strathroy Model Railroad Engineers.
“When we arrived we saw exactly how bad it was, and it was really bad,” says Alan Johnson, volunteer with the Strathroy Model Railroad Engineers. “We’ve been able to go in there and start cleaning up as of today, and we just completed a run around the track with the engines and some riding cars, which is fantastic news. It means we will be able to run this Saturday for RibFest.”
On July 1 around 8:30 a.m., they received a call saying there had been an incident at their storage building but were not given more information at that time. Upon their arrival, there were rail cars on top of rail cars sideways, upside down and all over the place, according to Johnson.
“Our immediate concern was that the rider cars would be damaged beyond use in the near term, which would shut us down fully. That’s not the case, and as we just found out moments ago, we are still able to run,” Johnson says. “There’s three or four cars that are severely damaged, but the rest of them are rather superficial, which is really good news.”
On social media, many parents, grandparents and other locomotive enthusiasts have expressed their condolences and offered to help contribute to the cleanup. However, there is still no damage estimate available for the incident.
“We’ve been following up on the comments and seeing all the love and good vibes everybody is sending out for us, which is just phenomenal. Thank you so much for that,” Johnson says. “We will have more information on our Facebook shortly about how you can help financially if you do want to.”
“At this point it’s a little tricky (to estimate damages) because some of the cars are hand built by the members, so there’s no receipt for those. You can’t go and say ‘Hey, it costs this much,’ so assessment damage is going to take some time.”
Strathroy Police says no injuries were sustained due to the collision. The vehicle was impounded and the driver’s license was suspended for 90 days. The young driver was released with an upcoming court date.
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