Oil train disaster in Lac-Mégantic, Québec 07-06-2013

The death toll in Lac-Mégantic is now at three, and officials fear it will continue to climb:

Bangor Daily News wrote:“Three bodies have been found,” police spokesman Michel Brunet told reporters Sunday morning. “People have been reported missing or disappeared but … we are not going to issue a figure. We know there are going to be more deaths.”

Source: http://bangordailynews.com/2013/07/07/n ... d-to-rise/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The events that occurred involving this train between when it was parked at Nantes siding and when it exploded will be very interesting to know. A local fire department extinguished a fire on board one of the locomotives between when the train was tied down and the explosion in Megantic.

I have not heard the exact whereabouts and condition of the locomotives either, but presumably they derailed somewhere. This train was eastbound and Nantes is west of Megantic, therefore, the tankers must have passed the locomotives at some point. I don;t see how that could happen if they didn't derail.

A real tragedy and mystery as well.

MEC407 wrote: https://twitter.com/MrHuchette/status/3 ... 7897071617" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Honestly, I think this will go down as the "money shot".

The lead unit looks like it has an engineroom fire, and the fire is illuminating the cupola of a remote control caboose. The remote caboose has pass through MU and loco controls, and evidently is entrained in the power set behind the lead unit (as in, there are other locos behind the caboose)

The fire probably resulted in a false control signal being sent to the remote, which sent the train off on its own. This would seem to jibe with eyewitness reports that the train was already on fire when barreling into town.

Are you for real?

25Hz wrote: Only 2 people confirmed dead from that incident, yet news of half a town wiped out & possibly of 100 dead isn't worthy of coverage. It's all about fearmongering in the US news circuits.

Gilbert B Norman wrote:To what extent our NTSB, widely regarded as the best in the business, will have any jurisdiction in a matter occurring on Canadian soil and a Canadian corporation (somewhere there is a Canadian subsidiary for MMA's Canadian lines) is questionable.

At this point in time, it appears that the NTSB is focused on the 777 crash in SFO. That's not to say that they couldn't handle multiple investigations at once, but I Googled "NTSB Lac Megantic" and came up dry — no mention of the NTSB investigating, nor any mention of NTSB assisting Canadian investigators.

MEC407 wrote:At this point in time, it appears that the NTSB is focused on the 777 crash in SFO. That's not to say that they couldn't handle multiple investigations at once, but I Googled "NTSB Lac Megantic" and came up dry — no mention of the NTSB investigating, nor any mention of NTSB assisting Canadian investigators.

The NTSB can't force themselves into having jurisdiction in another country and there's no reason to think that Canadian investigators can't manage this.

'one man crew who left the train to go to a hotel?' 'engine fire', detached power. is this not criminal negligence? is irving on the waybills? if any of these turn out to be factual, there will be jail time for some folk. i can't believe irving/mma could be so penny-wise as to run trains with 1 driver. and a foolish one at that. he bottled the air. there's no way the cars could roll if the head end angle cock was open. ken patrick

chrisf wrote:The NTSB can't force themselves into having jurisdiction in another country and there's no reason to think that Canadian investigators can't manage this.

Agreed. I was not implying that they would try to force themselves in or that the Canadian investigators can't handle the situation; I was just sharing my observation that it appears that the NTSB is not involved at this time.

newpylong wrote:Are you for real?

25Hz wrote: Only 2 people confirmed dead from that incident, yet news of half a town wiped out & possibly of 100 dead isn't worthy of coverage. It's all about fearmongering in the US news circuits.

Yes, only 2 people confirmed dead from plane crash. Everyone else alive and accounted for, yet that is what CNN and other US outfits are fixating on.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/ ... antic.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Says 2 cars are sill in danger of exploding and are filled with crude oil NOT LPG, LNG or butane. This event is still unfolding and could get a lot worse yet.

Death toll now at five, according to 25Hz's link:

CBC News wrote:The official death toll has grown to five in Lac-Mégantic, Que., one day after a derailed train carrying crude oil exploded in the town’s core, levelling buildings and forcing as many as 2,000 people from their homes.

KEN PATRICK wrote:'one man crew who left the train to go to a hotel?' 'engine fire', detached power. is this not criminal negligence? is irving on the waybills? if any of these turn out to be factual, there will be jail time for some folk. i can't believe irving/mma could be so penny-wise as to run trains with 1 driver. and a foolish one at that. he bottled the air. there's no way the cars could roll if the head end angle cock was open. ken patrick

Railroads have wanted 1 man crews for years, so it is no surprise that some have found a way to get away with it. I really hope it was the RCO caboose, railroads have been covering up accidents caused by them for years. My worst fear is that the train wasn't properly tied down(hand brakes TESTED, not just applied, engines isolated, full-service reduction etc, etc,...) I wouldn't want the head angle cock opened, brakes in emergency will eventually bleed off, or release when you reset, before you have enough air to apply the brakes.

Death toll is now five with 40 or more missing, but the fire still rages and a thorough check of all the burned structures is not possible at this time. With this many deaths and the human involvement its cause, the Canada Govt has named the location a 'crime scene' and clearly this will cause an even larger investigation.

9axle wrote:

KEN PATRICK wrote:'one man crew who left the train to go to a hotel?' 'engine fire', detached power. is this not criminal negligence? is irving on the waybills? if any of these turn out to be factual, there will be jail time for some folk. i can't believe irving/mma could be so penny-wise as to run trains with 1 driver. and a foolish one at that. he bottled the air. there's no way the cars could roll if the head end angle cock was open. ken patrick

Railroads have wanted 1 man crews for years, so it is no surprise that some have found a way to get away with it. I really hope it was the RCO caboose, railroads have been covering up accidents caused by them for years. My worst fear is that the train wasn't properly tied down(hand brakes TESTED, not just applied, engines isolated, full-service reduction etc, etc,...) I wouldn't want the head angle cock opened, brakes in emergency will eventually bleed off, or release when you reset, before you have enough air to apply the brakes.

An investigation of the locomotives will tell if the brakes were properly set.

Have they even located the locomotives yet? It seems highly strange and mysterious that they're still unaccounted for, and that there are multiple conflicting reports about whether or not the locomotives were even on the train at the time of impact...

No doubt at the center of the rubble pile.