Train Derailment near me...3 engineers dead

[King James]

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/02...rain-derailed/

Ive gone over that area of track more times than I could count. Ive been in train derailments before, but this has me rattled and i wasnt even involved

I watched it unfold on cameras CN (my employer) has set up at a yard near there. I watched the first responders show up and focus only on getting the engineers out. Then I watched them cut them out. First time in my life where I can use the word surreal and actually mean it.

[Gemini]

wow damn

[Jarrett]

That's terrible to hear. Did you by any chance know them or know their names? I will certainly be praying for their families.

[King James]

I didnt know them. The engineer I was working with today knew them thought and I did find out their names but I cant remember. There were 2 engineers and one was in training.

They hit a track crossover that has a speed limit of 15mph at 68.

In all honesty its amazing no passengers were killed.


Fucked up moment that we had to laugh at though. So we had the cameras on literally moments after it happened and nothing was happening. Shit wasnt lookin good at all, then outta nowhere, this random blonde chick climbed out of one of the cars that was still upright. She was carrying her luggage and just started walking down the tracks.

Im sure she was loosing it but from our point of view (as we didnt have sound) it looked like she just got off at her station.

[Pandemic]

I saw this on the news and thought of you actually. Really sad but what the hell were they doing going through that fast? News was saying there's a possibility of a sabotaged track too? I guess that was the case with a freight train derailment a few years back.

[deevergote]

Man, glad you weren't involved... it's sad that those three died, though.
But yeah, I'm with Matt... what the hell were they doing going nearly 5x the limit? Was there something wrong with the train, or was it carelessness?

[stevediraddo]

was 2 experienced engineers and a new guy. methinks some showing off may have sparked a problem or gotten out of hand.

it was a spectacular wreck, i'm amazed no passengers were hurt (some passengers got off the train and just left, went home)

as a CN employee, what are the chances of getting a copy of the security footage?

[deevergote]

was 2 experienced engineers and a new guy. methinks some showing off may have sparked a problem or gotten out of hand.

it was a spectacular wreck, i'm amazed no passengers were hurt (some passengers got off the train and just left, went home)

as a CN employee, what are the chances of getting a copy of the security footage?

Via said three passengers were airlifted to hospital with serious injuries and 42 other passengers and one crew member were also taken to local hospitals.

People were hurt, but the only ones killed were the 3 engineers.

[stevediraddo]

People were hurt, but the only ones killed were the 3 engineers.

right i meant killed, my bad

[AstroVannin]

I was listening to that on CBC this morning ... Glad you're safe James

[owequitit]

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/02...rain-derailed/

Ive gone over that area of track more times than I could count. Ive been in train derailments before, but this has me rattled and i wasnt even involved

I watched it unfold on cameras CN (my employer) has set up at a yard near there. I watched the first responders show up and focus only on getting the engineers out. Then I watched them cut them out. First time in my life where I can use the word surreal and actually mean it.

I feel what you are saying. Anytime anything happens like that in my business, it is always a pretty severe reality check and wakeup call. It is unfortunate, but I wonder if the excess speed was the result of normalized deviation? That is essentially where engineers would deviate from a published policy as commonplace. Even though it isn't officially "condoned" it in essence is because it is never corrected.

A good example I can think of on the aviation side is when Southwest Airlines ran a 737 off the end of a runway in Burbank back in the late 90's early 2000's because the pilots were high and fast. Rather than go around and try again, they elected to attempt the landing on a short runway, and they touched down nearly 3,000' down a 5,000 foot runway, going to fast. Needless to say, the airplane didn't stop, went through the fence and ended up at a gas station across the street. As the plane skidded to a stop, the cockpit voice recorder taped the Captain saying "there goes my career." That indicates that he knew what he had done was wrong, but he did it anyway in the hopes of saving a little bit of time. Clearly that didn't happen, and Southwest started to crack down on such behavior.

To a degree, there is some of this in every company, but I guess the question is, "is exceeding limits like this commonplace at CN?"

[King James]

Its frustrating listening to the media speculate as to what caused the crash

They werent going that fast to show off (the trainee was already qualified to work an engine. He was mainly there to learn territory). It happened because of complacency. The engineers work that train everyday and almost everytime they go straight instead of going over the crossover. The signal indication for that crossover told the guys to go slow because they were be using that crossover. The problem with that is they stopped at a station AFTER the signal and more than likely they just forgot and thus went track speed thinking nothing different was going on.

Scott is an unbelievable reality check. I cant stop thinking about all the close calls Ive had because of complacency.

[busak87]

That area of track is about 5min from my house James...it sucks the engineers lost their lives but glad no passengers were hurt. They were also lucky that it didnt happen in a heavily populated area...that area doesnt have many houses close to the track, imagine if they were going through a residential area...scary

[King James]

was 2 experienced engineers and a new guy. methinks some showing off may have sparked a problem or gotten out of hand.

I feel the need to address this; there is absolutely no way any running trades employees will go 50mph over a 15mph crossover to show off. We are all professionals and we know how dangerous it can be on the rails (hopefully this helps remind everyone else).

Theres a saying for conductors/engineers and its that our rule book was written in blood. We may not always agree with the rules but we fully understand why they're there.

Not to direct this at you persay, but Ive heard this speculation a few times and it bothers me.

Ill reply to scotts normalized deviation here as well. I cant speak for VIA employees (although Ive no doubt they are as vigilant as CN ones) but with it comes to speeds on the main line or anything that could hurt or kill the general population this doesnt happen. Freights are limited to 60mph and we never exceed that. If there are slow orders or anything like that we always follow them. I dont want to die at work. Im not willing to cut a corner if it could cost me my life and I know all of my co-workers feel the same way.

This only pertains to main line freight or passengers. In the yards where we build them, normalized deviation is the fucking devil.

[Leung]

I wonder if anyone ever caught up with that lady who hopped out and started walking off with her luggage.