WETASKIWIN, Alta. — RCMP say a 29-year-old man came close to freezing to death after jumping onto a slow-moving train in central Alberta.
The intoxicated man climbed aboard the train early Friday morning in Wetaskiwin, Alta., about 70 kilometres south of Edmonton.
The train picked up speed and the man realized he was stuck outside, between two train cars, in extremely cold weather.
He called police on his cellphone, but it took some investigative work by officers and railway officials to figure out which train he was on — there were two in the area.
They asked the engineers on both trains to blow their whistles at different times.
It was only when they heard the train whistle through the man’s cellphone that they figured out he was on a train near Red Deer, Alta., dozens of kilometres from where he jumped on board.
Police caught up and managed to save the man.
