Drunk man survives brush with train

A 20- year- old Alberta man is lucky to be alive after a night of drinking brought him face- to- face with a Canadian Pacific Railway train over the weekend.

The unidentified male was reportedly walking the tracks near Fernie, B. C. around 7 p. m. on Sunday when he decided to take a rest.

“He was laying in between [ the tracks] ... on the railway ties,” said Fernie RCMP Sgt. Dave Dubnyk.

Shortly after, a CP Rail train was spotted bearing down on the resting man.

The train conductor repeatedly blasted the horn in an attempt to wake him but was forced to hit the brakes when he didn’t move.

“Of course you don’t stop a train on a dime,” Dubnyk said. “By the time the train was stopped, he was laying underneath the 26th car.”

The man was assumed to be dead after his run- in with the train, when he reportedly awoke unscathed, grabbed his beer and hit the road.

A Cranbrook police dog tracked the man to a nearby campsite, where he was arrested for being drunk in public.

“He is very fortunate to be alive,” Dubnyk said.

CP spokesman Kevin Hrysak said the conductor tried to alert the man by “every means possible.”

Crews will have access to counselling.

“These types of incidents can have an extremely profound effect on the train crews,” said Hrysak.