Canadian freight train derails, explodes

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Coming to think of it both 91/92 and 97/98 have two man crew from Jacksonville to/from Hamlet and Florence respectively too. Also 97/98 has Jacksonville to Miami.

For 19/20 crew change points are Charlottsville, Charlotte, Atlanta, Meridian
 
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So there is a lot of routes that still have a fireman. This is good, always makes people feel secure. Many train accidents could have been avoided with two in the cab, the other one to watch out for problems. But the Hinton crash was really weird, the CN ran the duo-red anyway.
 
That took about a month. I'm actually surprised it happened so quickly...though I suspect it's largely preemptive considering what's ahead for that line.
 
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The Orford Express excursion service. ...normally runs over a portion of the MM&A between Eastman, Magog and Sherbrooke, Quebec (about 20-25 miles north of the Vermont border), and it’s making a special trip farther east to Lac-Megantic. Looks like it uses Budd Skyline domes and RDCs, probably ex-VIA or ex-CP equipment. Here’s the website: http://www.orfordexpress.com/en/home.htm
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Lac-Megantic: Tourist train’s visit part of devastated town’s recovery
The mayor of Lac-Mégantic announced Tuesday that trains will return to the Quebec town in two weeks, marking the first time since the July 6 train derailment that killed 47.
In “a step towards reclaiming our town,” the mayor of Lac-Mégantic announced Tuesday that trains will return to the Quebec town later this month, the first time since the derailment disaster that killed 47 and wiped out a swath of the downtown core.

A regional train called the Orford Express will carry an estimated 5,000 people to Lac-Mégantic beginning Oct. 14, part of a tourist attraction that takes riders on routes throughout Quebec.
The train will run on tracks a few kilometres outside the town, and bring passengers to a park beside the lake. Trips are scheduled during the last two weeks of October.
“We’ve been through a tragedy. Nevertheless, we have to move forward and the Orford Express coming through Lac-Mégantic is a step towards reclaiming our town and an interesting occasion for (its) economy,” mayor Colette Roy Laroche said in a statement Tuesday.
The plan for the tourist train was arranged before the July 6 disaster. Organizers met with town representatives after the derailment and decided the route should go ahead, as it would help bring visitors to the area.
More than 2,000 tickets have already been sold, according to a Lac-Mégantic spokesperson.
Just days after the disaster, Laroche urged tourists not to cancel their plans to visit the town, saying “if you want to help us, don’t abandon us.”
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Lac-Mégantic Blast Leaves Impact On Town, Rail Industry

...Warning Signs

Adding to the pain and frustration, a growing number of experts and government officials in the U.S. and Canada say that there were plenty of warning signs long before disaster struck.

Robert Mercier, Lac-Mégantic's environment officer, says his office tried to raise questions about the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway and its growing shipments of hazardous oils and chemicals.

"We were very worried about the conditions of the rail — we were talking about that many times," Mercier says. "It was a great concern about the train and the condition of the rail and all these tanks that were passing every day."

A Sub-par Freight Car

Since July, investigators in the U.S. and Canada have focused on a wide range of red flags — from the condition of the tracks, to the staffing level of these big industrial trains, to new evidence that the hazardous chemicals aboard the Lac-Mégantic train were mislabeled.

But much of the scrutiny has fallen on the type of freight car that erupted that day — the big, sausage-shaped tank car known in the industry as a DOT-111A.

"It's rigid, it's prone to derailment, and when it derails because of the coupling design, they're prone to puncture," says Lloyd Burton, a professor at the University of Colorado who studies rail transport of hazardous materials.

It turns out DOT-111A's make up two-thirds of the tank cars used in the U.S. and Canada — they're like the workhorse of the rail industry.

Thousands of them roll through towns and cities across America every day. And Burton says they're carrying increasing amounts of increasingly volatile crude oil and chemicals produced by North America's booming energy industry.

"The most dangerous crude, the highest sulfur crude, the most explosive and most flammable materials are being carried in tank cars," he says, "And they're being carried in tank cars that are simply not equal to the task."

Changing The Tanks

For decades, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has been issuing strongly worded reports about the safety of these very same DOT-111A's, calling them "inadequate" for carrying "dangerous products."

Despite those warnings, the rail industry has resisted replacing its tank car fleet.

Newer double-hulled cars are expensive and railroad executives have argued that freight trains overall have a strong safety record. But last month, the CEO of one of North America's biggest railroads signaled a major shift.

Speaking on the Business News Network, Hunter Harrison — head of Canadian Pacific — said the disaster in Lac-Mégantic had changed the debate over DOT-111A's.

"Well, I think they'll be phased out as far as dangerous commodities. We're much more, rightfully so, sensitive about the environment today than we were when these cars were built," he said. "Shame on us as society."

Experts say phasing out DOT-111A's in North America would take at least five years.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Transportation launched a new rule-making process that could determine once and for all whether the industry will be forced to replace its tanker fleet. That review is now on hold because of the government shutdown in Washington.
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TSB: Systemic problems lead to Lac-Mégantic train accident; additional safety measures needed


The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) investigation into the July 2013 Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway (MMA) train derailment in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, concluded that a number of factors led to the accident.
The TSB is also now calling for additional physical defenses to prevent runaway trains and for more thorough audits of safety management systems‎ to ensure railways are effectively managing safety.
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