Full Version: MMA Train explodes at Lac-Mégantic
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Not the funny kind of news to be awaken to in the morning.

A tragic derailment occured on Montreal Maine Atlantic early in this morning. In fact many tank cars exploded, destroying an important part of the historic downtown (including the local newspaper and the public library). Actually, over 30 buildings were destroyed and the fire is far to be controlled because of the heat. 73 oil tank cars were part of the train.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/s...-fire.html

In fact, a month ago I was railfanning this very spot, standing at the crossing nearby the church and chatting about how it was a nice spot for trains and how that oil was bringing new life to this almost vegetative railway. How ironic.

I'm a little concerned how this accident will have repercussion in the future.

At least, no casualies for the moment. Pray it stay like this.

Matt
Some update. They've shown on TV a picture someone took of the train about 45 minutes before the incident near Nantes. Clearly, the train was already on fire. I couldn't tell perfectly because the picture was dark (taken on a cellphone), but looks like an engine had caught fire (a "common" occurence on MMA).

Matt
Hopefully no one got hurt or killed.
Officials actually report only 1 casualty.

Matt
Strange occurrence ......can't remember when a train explosion has also taken out about 1/3 of a town .......one report says the loco was on fire for several miles beforehand...not sure how accurate that was Eek

T
teejay Wrote:Strange occurrence ......can't remember when a train explosion has also taken out about 1/3 of a town .......one report says the loco was on fire for several miles beforehand...not sure how accurate that was Eek

T

The loco was actually on fire at some point. Presumably after the crew change at Nantes where the train was parked and idle for the night. I photoshopped the picture of the engine on fire. I can't say what kind of engine it was, but the fire was near the rear end where exhaust is larger than the hood. At this point, something happened to the brakes and the train went rolling down the slope toward the downtown. The slope is quite steep there. In the process, the cars detached themselves from the driverless engines (which stopped) according to some accounts and crossed the main street at high speed where they derailled then exploded. More than that, I guess the inquiry will let us know.

When I railfanned there a few weeks ago, I was standing exactly where the derailment occured. An oil train was passing by. I made the remark to my friend that the cars were leaning on the curve as if they would derail. It was kind of scary and I told him it looked dangerous. I guess it was OK at normal speed but definitely a bunch of cars at high speed here would jump of the curve and crash into the buildings.

Aerial pictures show that crude oil spilled toward the lake. You clearly see the oil trace and that everything in the spill burn down to the ground including a park.

It's quite crazy. I wouldn't be surprised this could be among the worst train wreck in Canada history, not in term of railroading but of damages. Really frightening. Unfortunately, this wreck seems to start protest against trains in general, something this industry doesn't need at all.

I don't know what will be the conclusion about all this, but it makes we wonder about this North American culture of rundown railroads doing business letting tracks, rolling stock and other stuff in bad state. I just think about CN practice of running down subdivisions to the extreme to make the best out of profit. Maybe it have nothing to do with this wreck, but it does nothing good in the long run. We may find funny to model rundown engines, patched rolling stocks, but in fact, it's a symptom of something that maybe not be just aesthetic. I'm quite puzzled. I only hear about run down railroads with speed limitations and other restriction...

Sorry about this rant, but as proponent of railroading, sometimes I feel thing goes wrong.

Matt
That is serious, we saw pictures on the news and hearing that it took out most of the town's downtown area. I read the report and it's kind of sketchy at best, but that's to be expected so soon after the derailment. We wish everyone involved, the best....
The " people reported missing " doesn't sound too good .

T
If you have not been a trackworker, or a track inspector, and understand railroads a person does not know what is safe or not. For example, class 1 track in the US requires 1 good tie in 5 to safely haul a passenger train at 15 miles per hour and one bolt on either side of a joint bar is also all that is required. A good tie is not necessarily a new tie. (railroads hauling hazmat or passengers have to be inspected twice weekly with at least one day in between inspections) Before I got involved with railroading I did not know what was safe and what wasn't, but I thought if it looked bad it was. The speed of a train primarily is based on the class of track. There are tables for speeds around curves.

If all rail lines had to be class 5 or 6, which would compare to most model railroads, there would be many railroads torn up and sent to the scrapper.
Neither of our countries can afford to put more trucks on the highway.

When I retired we were paying $24 (no labor cost here) each for an industrial grade tie. There are 3000 to a mile, and they last from 15 to 25 years on a short line, where a class one railroad uses 7X9 inch ties costing around $100 each installed so do the math.

I can tell you from driving truck many years ago that a lot of drivers made the trucks nice and shiny so they were not looked at very closely at road inspections.
In the US we have a 92 day inspection that is done on the locomotives, and this applies the same to a shortline (we ran 500 miles in 90 days) as well as a class one (where locomotives run 500 moles per day or more) It is smart to put your money into safety before you do a nice shiny paint job.

There is way more to this accident than has been reported, and I sincerely hope they determine the real cause, what ever that may be. There are too many things that don't add up to my thinking.

Charlie
Thanks for your input Charlie,

I had a late friend who trucked from Eastern Canada to Chicago, what you says about trucks fits what he told us back when he was still among us.

As you stated, this accident seems to be made out of many and various causes which, at this moment, can hardly be sorted out. An unfortunate twist of fate that we won't undestand until the inquiry explains what happened when the train was parked at Nantes for crew change.

The locomotive that caught fire was, according to a picture, ex-BN 5017, a GE C30-7 unit.

@Teejay: About an hour ago, the police chief said he wouldn't be surprised if death toll reached a few dozens at this point.

Matt
In one of the TV news reports, one official said that it was possible that some of the bodies had been vaporized and no trace might be found.
About 40 missing or unaccounted for ............I guess it would be asking too much that maybe these 40 townspeople would be away on vacation . It doesn't look good .

T
Do any of our friends North of the border know the requirement for the number of hand brakes that must be applied before leaving a train unattended in Canada?
Charlie
I don't know that Charlie , but whatever the regulations on brakes , there was a grade to take into consideration too .

T
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