An eastbound freight train and the westbound "Super Continental" collided at around 2:30 am on September 28, 1974, at a location about north of Kamloops. Initial reports indicated the accident may have been caused by an "automatic switching malfunction" that put the freight train on the same track. The freight train was travelling at while the "Super Continental" was travelling at . The engineer and a trainman on the freight train were both killed; there was at least one report of looting among the passengers, but many of the children aboard the train stayed asleep through the accident.