1986 VIA Crash Hinton, Alberta

Does anyone have any info on what happened in the 1986 VIA Crash in Hinton, AB? I know it hit a CN train.

I was recently reading an article from the book Diesels in the Maritimes and Newfoundland, by Roger G. Steed........of the last run of CP Rail's Atlantic Limited, Train # 40, Montreal to St. John, New Brunswick, powered by FP9A, # 1422. The date of the last train to terminate in Saint John was October 28, 1979 @ 8 am. Later that same day VIA began it's Halifax-Moncton-Saint John-Montreal service.

Engine 1422 was rebuilt for VIA Rail and renumbered, 6566. It was to have a tragic end.

On February 08th, 1986, it was the lead unit of eastbound VIA RAIL # 4, when it collided with a westbound CN RAIL freight, 11 miles east of Hinton, Alberta. In total, 23 people lost their lives, including 16 passengers and 7 CN employees.

I remember hearing about the wreck very well, and it hit home:
Just about 10 months previously, I rode that same engine (VIA 6566) somewhere west of Winnepeg, between tow station stops.
This was on the westbound CANADIAN. By this time, it was somewhat unusual to get a former CP engine on the Canadian, as the lions share of FPs running on VIA were ex CN.
As I recall: the 6566 was reduced, by impact, to about 1/4 of its' size.
The ENGINEER and FIREMAN of the Passenger train had a JOINT funeral service. A crewmember (Engineer?) of the opposing freight train had his funeral service in the same church, a few days later or earlier.
ALSO: there was VERY little media coverage of this wreck in the USA, I guess seeing that it did not occurr in the "lower 48", it was deemed not to be of interest by the American news media.

B&M E7 wrote:ALSO: there was VERY little media coverage of this wreck in the USA, I guess seeing that it did not occurr in the "lower 48", it was deemed not to be of interest by the American news media.

My area got coverage of that wreck on the news....not just a blurb either. That still sticks in my mind, right along with the Amtrak wreck at Chase, MD, less than 11 months later.

Does anybody know the numbers of the other locos/ cars in the Via train involved please?

6566, 6633, 6300(Skeena), Skyline 513, 3 "E" sleepers, 2 EM coaches, 2 baggage cars(one may have been a Baggage dorm), I believe one Cafe-Lounge(750 series), and at least one SGU, but I think possibly 2. That is from memory, somewhere I have the list of names and numbers, have to find it though. All the equipment was former CN, except 6566(1422) and the Skyline car.

Thats great thank you. I remember hearing that there was an ex CP dome in the train. I watched the Mayday doccumentry on Youtube yesterday and the pictures of the wreck reminded me of just how bad it was. May all the people who died rest in peace and hopefully the injured made a good recovery.

Well, today 6300 is the last FP9A on the Via roster, used sporadically as the shop switcher here in Vancouver, and may well be the only surviving piece of equipment involved in the wreck. If she makes it into preservation eventually, a plaque would be a fitting tribute. There is a cairn at Dalehurst(the actual location of the accident).

http://railwaymuseum.ab.ca/files/pdfs/m ... ar-apr.pdf

There are pictures at this link if you scroll down.

They also list the B unit lost in the wreck as 6632, which is incorrect, it was definatley 6633.

Here is an interesting video reconstruction on the wreck...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAaa7eF3zJg

Thanks for sharing Kim. That's an excellent set of videos depicting the Hinton disaster. I was especially impressed with the animation recreating the actual collision but found the Dutch subtitles sometimes got in the way.

RE: youtube video:
I saw that show air on a Canadian cable channel when I was on a visit to Ontario three years ago...likely in mention of the 20th anniversary of the wreck.

Quite an eye opener....

I have a copy of the 200-page report relating to the crash. The collision was the result of the westbound CN freight train (Train 413) running through a red signal and turnout (lined against it) into a stretch of single track, just as the eastbound VIA train (Train 4) was approaching from the opposite direction. Train 413 was moving about 60 mph and Train 4 about 50 mph. The consists were:

Train 413:
GP38-2(W) 5586
SD40 5104
SD40 5062
High speed spreader
35 grain hoppers
7 flats
45 sulphur hoppers
21 tank cars
6 grain hoppers
caboose

Train 4:
FP7A 6566
F9B 6633
Baggage car
Day coach/snack bar
Dome car/lounge
Sleeper
Sleeper
FP9Au 6300
Steam generator car
Baggage car
Day-nighter, coach
Cafe/lounge car
Sleeper
Steam generator car

The collision brought about an extensive review of Canadian railway operations, including working hours, safety appliances and railway "culture". There were no major problems with any of the track, signals, trains or radios. Braking systems were fine, but neither train made an emergency brake application before the crash. However, the "deadman's pedal" (a safety feature designed to keep crews alert) could easily be overridden, and there was no "reset safety control" on the lead unit of 413 (a more advanced system for the same purpose). There were no mandatory limits on work hours like in the US. The report highlighted another worker who had previously worked two 20+ hour continuous shifts with a 3-hour break in between. There report concluded that there were serious fatigue (and some health) issues with the crew of train 413, and issues with radio communication practices and working hours. Based on these factors, it linked the collision to an incapacitation of some sort of the crew of train 413.

I've known about the collision and had the report for 6 years, but the it still sends shivers down the spine!

You mean there was no Hours of Service regulations for Canadian railways at the time of that crash?

Silverliner II wrote:You mean there was no Hours of Service regulations for Canadian railways at the time of that crash?

Apparently not. I was surprised to find that the engineers on the Super Continental didn't apply the breaks. Of course, many of our safety enhancements arise out of major tragrdies like this. No we have in cab signals that will stop a train if the engineer blows through a stop signal. Plus, I believe that now, the Via train would probaly be stopped once a freight blew a signal and came off the siding back onto the main line.

Plus, I believe that now, the Via train would probaly be stopped once a freight blew a signal and came off the siding back onto the main line.

However, that probably would have been the case in 1986, too--had there been enough time. As VIA Train 4 was approaching the siding, it had a clear signal. The switch was lined for Train 4, and CN Train 413 was (supposedly) going to stop to wait for it to pass. But by the time 413 ran the signal and entered the single track, it was only 40 seconds before the collision.