Lac Megantic disaster

[lonewolf]

From what I'm hearing and what I know from working as a trainman in my youth is that this could have been avoided if the hand-brakes were applied .
Every rail car has hand brakes and when a train sits unattended at least 5 cars have to have the hand-brakes applied . If train sits on an incline even more brakes must be applied.
This was common practice at CP even if train is left running (which most are)

[JJ 911SC]

Someone was sleeping at the switch...

There will be over 50 people dead by the time they finish cleaning. Except for a plane crash its the most fatalities in one event that I can remember.

[2porscheguy]

Ironically enough but my older brother was in Lac Megantic just the w/e before and stayed downtown for a couple of nights.

[lonewolf]

Been listening to the latest transport Canada press conference.
It's pretty clear that they and every railroad person out there like myself knows exactly what happened. Rule 112 was not followed.No or not enough handbrakes applied. it's as simple as that,unfortunatley.


This train only had one crew member,the engineer,and he did not put on any hand-brakes or not enough hand-brakes.
In my day we had 4 man crews and no way would you ever see an engineer cranking on hand-brakes.That was a job of the lower rank crew member.
The engineer and the company are in a lot of trouble here and lawsuits will be filed very shorty I'm sure.

What's going to come out hopefully from these proceedings is that trains are left all the time unmanned and running, doors have no locks. They are very soft targets. Anyone with knowledge , a brick to put on the dead mans pedal and a lever to slip into the throttle control can set a train down the track into god knows what.

[Raynald]

It is terrible !
I am living 45 minutes to Lac Megantic and I was there for a Porsche Ride two week ago !
Ray

[Mr Beau]

I don't understand this:

He said when a fire broke out in the locomotive sometime later, the local fire department arrived, extinguished the flames and shut off the engine, unknowingly disengaging the brakes.

Burkhardt said fire department called one of MM&A's local track employees, who went to the scene to investigate the incident.

"I doubt track man or dispatcher realized air brakes would release at that moment the air pressure not being maintained," he said. "Had people been aware it probably still would have been too late to do anything about."

Don't air brakes fail engaged?!?

source: Head of train company in Quebec derailment defends rail line's safety record - Montreal - CBC News

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by Mr Beau

I don't understand this:


Don't air brakes fail engaged?!?...

It should be a requirement but as everything else, cost too much and would drive the price up...

Meanwhile:

[lonewolf]

On a train if there is a break in an air line the brakes dynamite and lock on.
When a train leaves a bunch of cars on a siding the air brakes are locked on but also hand brakes are on.
When an engine comes to pick up the cars the first thing that is done is the air line from engine to cars is hooked up,then the hand brakes are released manually and then the engineer pumps up the system to release the air brakes.
The engine needs to pump them up to release them. When the engineer left he would have set the brakes but they bleed off over time ,that's why handbrakes are always applied when a train is going to sit for a while. When I worked for CP putting on handbrakes was just part of the procedure and was always done. As an example ,If we left a bunch of cars on a siding and I didn't put the handbrakes on and later the cars started to move ,no matter how far I would get written up ,fired or worse. Also the person who was to make sure I did it would face the same thing.

[Mr Beau]

So it's no too expensive and complicated on heavy duty trucks/trailers but it is on trains?