Train - hazardous cargo "accident"

[tcartwri]

What is clear is that the ceo hung himself today for liability. He should have kept his mouth shut.

Missing persons number has been increased to 50, with 20 confirmed deaths.

 

[Leyenda30]

The 'one man crew' is expected to set the manual hand brakes on all those cars? (probably rusty and stiff at that)
That sequence would probably take 1/2 the night to perform! and next morning release them all?
No way do I think that ever happens, it would end up as overtime for sure.

Actually it would take 15 to 20 minutes to set 10 hand brakes which would be sufficient to hold 72 cars on the downhill end. It is unbelievable it is not regulation or it was and not complied with. This will get messy once the lawyers assemble.

 

[Cub 7274]

No doubt but it brings the 1 man crew into question dont you think?
To perform a proper test with a remote unit?
If he put 10 on and it didnt hold he should have put 11 it could go no and on
But now they have their scapegoat someone to blame

 

[madmax12]

story in a nutshell, as of Monday afternoon propane cars were also involved
________________________________________
The details I have so far are a one man crew tied down unit train with 4 engines and RC Cab on the point for the night in Nantes siding, 8 miles uphill from Lac Megantic. Air was probably set throughout the train with a single unit, to keep the air brakes pressurized.

After he checks in the hotel for the night, a fire breaks out in the idling locomotive's engine compartment. Nantes fire responds, and as protocol, shuts down the unit to cut gas flow to burning engine. Nantes fire extinguishes the fire and contacts MMA RR officials to tell them what they did to the engine and which controls they messed with. At this point the ball is in the court of the RR officials to get that train inspected and checked on. That time of night, minimal mention of brakes was discussed.

The fire company remains on site for awhile, then loads up, and finally leaves around 1 am.. Five to ten minutes later, a witness at a campfire outside his Nantes home near the tracks recalls hearing and feeling (not seeing) the train begin rolling away with no lights or power on. Within a few more minutes he sees the skyline light up miles away, followed by large thunderous explosions.

Downline, other witnesses reported a train moving at 60+ mph, no lights, no horn, brakes smoldering and smoking, no activation of crossing gates.

Apparently the lead units and a few tank cars made the curve in the center of Lac Megantic, and rolled right on thru the main point of derailment. The remaining 60 cars picked the switch at the jct, rolled and detached from the head end, and piled-up accordion style. Propane cars parked on a nearby adjacent track may have been struck, causing the massive initial explosions that ignited everything.

Apparently the most casualties were in the world class Music Café/Bistro/Grill&Tap adjacent to the pileup, where witnesses say at least 40 were still inside finishing up a birthday celebration with a live band. Most likely the charred remains will never be found, as most everything but metal, stone, or brick was incinerated from the heat.

In the post/quote above, a witness says brakes smoldering while train moving. So he set the brakes and some remained applied. I think the head of the company should have waited for the investigation before voicing a conclusion.

 

[buickanddeere]

I read a better article earlier today, but can't seem to find it now. Sounds like the FD in the neighbouring town had to put out a fire on the locomotive - their first move was to shut down the engine, geared to dealing with fuel leaks. The other article indicated they were on the phone at the time with the railroad, advising what they had done.

I don't know much about locomotives, but I find it hard to believe there is no provision for parking brakes w/o the engine running. Try getting an automobile safetied using that story !

Nantes fire chief confirms late night fire before Lac-M鬯ｯ?･??ｮantic explosion

NANTES, Que. Firefighters in the small town of Nantes said they extinguished a fire in the locomotive of a train Friday night and left it in the hands of railway employees to secure.

A short while after the firefighters finished their job at the scene, the train broke away and careened downhill into nearby Lac-Megantic, causing a deadly explosion.

Fire Chief Patrick Lambert, the head of the 20-man department said one of his crews responded to a call for a fire in a train locomotive at 11:32 p.m. Friday, and when they arrived at the scene 10 minutes later, the 12 firefighters put out the fire, which originated in a fuel or oil line.

No employees from train company Montreal, Maine & Atlantic were present.

"They told me it's normal during a shift change", Lambert said, adding that by the time his men were done at 12:13 a.m., two MMA employees were on the scene.

Lambert acknowledged his men had done some joint training in fighting locomotive fires with MMA, but that training had nothing to do with the air brake system.

"We don't touch the brakes", he said. "We are not specialists on trains, we're not mechanics. Our specialty is putting out fires."

The story keeps changing about who actually shut down the engine.

 

[buickanddeere]

Does the gas made from this oil come back down into the states? Or is it sold in Canada? I can see why they send it north. It is 1312 miles from Minot ND to Houston. Maybe a pipeline to Milwaukee or Chicago would make more sense. Only eight hundred miles to Chicago.

Irving Oil supplies the east coast of Canada and the US. Refining heavy crude is a task only a few refineries can handle.

 

[buickanddeere]

no crossing gates? i figured those would be on some sort of proximity sensor to lower when a train approaches.

lots of stuff wrong here.

brakes that DO NOT or MAY NOT work without power.. and safety controls that rely on a powered train? really?

in this day and age where a plane can almost land itself. there should be a button that can be pushed to make a train stop. just like your tv.. if it's plugged in.. even if the screen is off.. something is alive inside loking for the remote.. same could be done on the train. some system alive when train off.. awaiting emergency commands.. etc.

The funky train brake system exists due to the ease the shunting of rail cars in the yards. Otherwise air release- spring apply brakes would be used.
Complacency is a factor. The company and staff had been parking a loaded train at night for years , no problem.
Maybe the hand brakes were supposed to be set in some cars but the engineer was tired ?
At that time of night. Chances of the fire department and local rail offials Finding anybody awake, on staff and with some authority would take many hours.
Would not be the first time a company sent a "know nothing" out on inspection in a situation such as the minor fire. Any rail person with experience would have been all over the situation getting air from another unit.

 

[buickanddeere]

Wait for the results of the investigation. Ever watch the show Mayday? The one thing every one of those "accidents" has in common (they have done at least two train accidents) is there are always multiple factors and failures involved that come together like a perfect storm to cause a disaster. You already see that with a fire on this train and the fire department responding. There will be elements of human error, inadequate policies and equipment failures that will have all contributed to the disaster. All we know now is it's a tragic event that we should learn from to ensure it never happens again. There's much more to come.

One of the best descriptions of what happens I have read yet.

 

[buickanddeere]

Wow, the plot thickens! As a "rail" this story seems to get more confusing and interesting at the same time.

Add to it that Quebec is an independent country inside Canada with it's own language. Rules and regulations vary.

 

[RoyJackson]

Add to it that Quebec is an independent country inside Canada with it's own language. Rules and regulations vary.

Actually, the province is self-governed, but it's not an independent country (although they have tried to separate from Canada in the past). As far as the regulatory aspect, I'd be very surprised if the province could do that on their own without the Canadian government's concurrence. Perhaps one of our Canadian members can enlighten both of us.