CN Has Another Derailment

Tuesday, August 21, 2007 07:43 PM

10 cars off the tracks just before just before the bridge crossing the Quesnel River near Plywood Road and Johnston Ave (photo Opinion 250 staff)

CN has another derailment on its hands.

This time, 10 empty rail cars have derailed in the CN yard in Quesnel.

CN spokesperson Kelli Svendsen says there were no injuries, no environmental impact. The derailment occurred about 6:15 this evening and is blocking a public crossing. Svendsen was not able to say what impact if any this incident will have on the regular traffic on the rail line.

There are reports the derailment has caused delays to the Rocky Mountaineer Tourist train which makes a regular stop in Quesnel.

The cause for the derailment is under investigation. No further information is available at this time. (scroll down for more)

(if you look closely, you will see the sign which reads "DERAIL" photo opinion250 staff)

This is the second incident for CN rail in less than a month in the central interior. On August 4^th, there was a collision and derailment in Prince George, just 107 km’s north of the scene of the Quesnel incident.

The Prince George incident has already resulted in CN being served with a notice of orders from Transport Canada, and orders from the Provincial Ministry of Environment.

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Posted on Tuesday, August 21, 2007 07:43 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: REALIST on August 21 2007 7:57 PM

oh yeah, our safety record is improving...

Posted by: lunarguy on August 21 2007 9:16 PM

My respect and trusting of CN went down so much when they said the same thing about the recent derailment in PG and I could see clearly with my own eyes the fuel going into the river and the burnt vegetation in a wide swath. CN public relations needs to get better information out there and the Management needs to keep the trains on the track ! Get the policy and procedures such that it keeps the trains on the track versus padding the bank accounts of the stock holders.

Posted by: diplomat on August 21 2007 9:53 PM

Concrete sleepers have become more common mainly due to greater economy and better support of the rails under heavy traffic.

Perhaps using 19th century technology (wooden ties or sleepers) in the 21st century has its disadvantages after all.

The trains, heavier and longer than ever will keep falling off the tracks.

Time to bring the tracks up to the best condition possible before the (stacked double high) container trains try to make regular runs from and to Prince Rupert.

Posted by: sparks on August 22 2007 3:27 AM

I'll bet CN will be "puzzled, mystified and disappointed" by this event too.
Maybe they'll even blame the employees, because it couldn't possibly management's fault.

Posted by: sparks on August 22 2007 3:31 AM

Diplomat.Concrete ties get ground down in about ten years. Treated wooden ties last longer.

Posted by: Gofaster on August 22 2007 6:38 AM

I heard the news this morning,
CN's rely is still the same....
" NO ONE HURT, NO ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE".
I wonder how long that expression is going to fly...
And this also happened at a spot where there was a prior derailment....
Are they repairing the tracks properly after derailments or just enought to get operations running again?????
Now I wonder if they properly repaired the tracks where the fire was here in Prince George, as they had the rail open rather quickly after the burned out cars were removed????

Posted by: Honestjoe on August 22 2007 7:06 AM

Has anyone given any thought to the results of this derailment, at a bridge above the Quesnel River, if the rail cars had been loaded with caustic, diesel, gasoline or many of the other hazardous chemicals transported by rail? Gordon, Shirley, Pat and John continue to remain silent...maybe Kelli Svendsen should follow their lead. Who belives anything that comes out of her mouth. In all fairness, she only repeats what the high-priced help of CN Derail puts in front of her.

Posted by: diplomat on August 22 2007 8:22 AM

"Concrete ties get ground down in about ten years."

Not if the bed underneath is constructed properly. All the heavy rail traffic, including all the high speed trains in Europe, Japan and elsewhere run on concrete sleepers which have cushions between them and the rails.

How many high speed trains (300km/h +) run on wooden ties?

Traffic density is ten times or more in those densely populated countries and if it were true that they are ground down in ten years they would be replacing them every few months; of course, they don't.

Posted by: Coffee2 on August 22 2007 12:17 PM

With regards to the earlier Prince George derailment -- a friend of a source at CN has indicated that some of the cars contained some very hazardous material that if they had been ignited would have led to disastrous consequences for the Prince George bowl area. Reports of this haven't been heard in the media - does anyone know any further information about this? were there any cover ups perhaps?
If this is true that there could have been disastrous consequences for the bowl, it could explain the excessive amount of police barricading around the outskirts.

Posted by: REALIST on August 22 2007 4:06 PM

The C.N. employee's I talked to said that the situation was so dangerous, they left the city A.S.A.P. to avoid being in the expected explosion. Yes, the train was carrying very dangerous goods and yes C.N. has refused to acknowledge this fact. It was only by the grace of god we were not obliterated. As for the presence of the R.C.M.P. they did what they could but with C.N. refusing to tell the authorities what was involved in the wreck, the perimeter placed by the police would only have added more victim's to the explosion as an exploding railcar levels the area in a two kilometer circle (depending on what explodes). Despite what authorities have said, the emergency response as put in place was basically useless if the cars had blown up. I continue to be very concerned not only for our safety, but also by the emergency services that were virtually absent at the scene of this disaster.

Posted by: sparks on August 22 2007 6:05 PM

The concrete ties were supposed to be 100 year ties. The ballast between the ties is harder than the concrete and as the roadbed moves when trains pass over, or frost heaves upset the geometry of the track,the ties get ground up.
I think Europe does not have the extremes of weather Canada has.
I do take your point about a properly-built and maintained roadbed.
Maintenance crews looking after the track have been cut back for years, and overtime is discouraged.
In any case the concrete ties are not lasting as long as they were intended to.

Posted by: sparks on August 22 2007 6:27 PM

I should add that where I am in Northern Ontario it is swampy, and in winter cold snaps the temperature is often below minus forty degrees. I cannot speak about any other part of Canada.

Posted by: diplomat on August 22 2007 6:49 PM

I would be interested in knowing what kind of ties the Russians use in Siberia, where temperatures drop to minus 60 or even lower.

Here we haven't had minus forty degree cold snaps in ages and that is why we have the mountain pine beetle problem.

With CN and its hardware there are three factors: The rolling stock, the rails and how the trains are operated.

CN claims that the rolling stock is in A-1 shape and that the trains are being operated properly.

That leaves only the rails and ties and whatever keeps them properly fastened down and in alignment.

I would suspect that the trains fall off the tracks because there is a problem with them.

Posted by: Chadermando on August 22 2007 7:18 PM

On most trains half the brake don't work. The rust buckets need to work if you're going to keep them on the tracks. CN says as long as half the brakes work everything is OK, but anyone that has experience moving a train will tell you the momentum can be very unforgiving if all your brakes aren't working properly. It makes the neighboring car wheels skid and it is my theory that that is the cause of every single derailment in this area recently. I think they changed the rules so CN wouldn't always be in violation of regulations. My estimate would that 50% of the cars on our tracks don't have properly working brakes....

Posted by: diplomat on August 22 2007 8:22 PM

Very pathetic, if true.

Posted by: sparks on August 23 2007 6:00 AM

CN has an agreement to share locomotive power with other railroads. One result is the new power ends up working on other lines a lot of the time and foreign units are run here.
On most trains 100% of the brakes are working but the equipment is worn, and when inspected rushed through the repair shops to increase production and reduce dwell time.
Air brakes on train cars are supposed to stop the car in emergency while empty without skidding.
When I've seen wheels skid it's because the brakes did not release on one car, or a cut of cars, either from a failure in the air brake system on the particular car, or sometimes because the engineer mishandled the air brakes while cycle braking. When only one car's brakes stick, or a small number of cars, they get very hot and the brake shoes sort of weld themselves to the wheels.
Flat spots on the running surface of the wheels can also cause the wheels to skid. One car skidding should not cause an adjascent car to skid.
I guess my point is we are trying to do too much, too fast with too little, under pressure from supervisors who do not understand what they are doing.