MMA Crude Train Derails and Explodes

[AARR]

Quebec premier lashes out at rail boss after inferno
http://news.msn.com/world/quebec-premie ... er-inferno

[GreatLakesRailfan]

One thing is pretty obvious in the news stories I've seen, Railworld/Burkhardt could use some massive public relations help. The damage to their reputation and credibility from the wreck/explosion is bad enough, but they really seem to have totally dropped the ball in their response to the situation. There were several reports of bad translation in their French responses, when they actually were responding to the situation. It might just be me, but I also believe Burkhardt was acting like a loose cannon, first by (rightly or wrongly) accusing the Nantes FD of screwing things up, then with his statements about the engineer's alleged mistakes. Maybe it's just the railroad industry, but as the leader of the company that destroyed the town and killed dozens of people (allegedly), shouldn't he be doing things to limit additional damage to his company and people, rather than making his people (i.e. Harding, the engineer) out to the criminal masterminds?

Perhaps my response is more related to a public relations course I took this spring, but the whole situation strikes me as a public relations disaster for Railworld.

[MP73point4]

One thing is pretty obvious in the news stories I've seen, Railworld/Burkhardt could use some massive public relations help. The damage to their reputation and credibility from the wreck/explosion is bad enough, but they really seem to have totally dropped the ball in their response to the situation. There were several reports of bad translation in their French responses, when they actually were responding to the situation. It might just be me, but I also believe Burkhardt was acting like a loose cannon, first by (rightly or wrongly) accusing the Nantes FD of screwing things up, then with his statements about the engineer's alleged mistakes. Maybe it's just the railroad industry, but as the leader of the company that destroyed the town and killed dozens of people (allegedly), shouldn't he be doing things to limit additional damage to his company and people, rather than making his people (i.e. Harding, the engineer) out to the criminal masterminds?

Perhaps my response is more related to a public relations course I took this spring, but the whole situation strikes me as a public relations disaster for Railworld.

Poor French translations aside, I think it's kind of refreshing to see someone stand up and accept responsibility for what they've done. I'm pretty sick of everyone constantly trying to spin things to make things look like they are someone else's fault. Too many people have taken the ol' public relations class and not enough have taken the personal responsibility class.
I'm not sure there's a whole lot a PR person can do for you when you've just been involved in burning down half a town and killing 40 people. It would be shockingly tasteless to do anything short of accepting the role your company played in the tragedy. If one of his employees was a key player, so be it.
Burkhart/Railworld are doomed no matter what. They're going to be involved in personal injury lawsuits until after Burkhart is in his grave regardless of the outcome of the investigation. If he sees things that could/should have been done differently, I applaud him for standing up and admitting it. I'd rather see a man of character up on the podium than another PR snake.

[AARR]

...I think it's kind of refreshing to see someone stand up and accept responsibility for what they've done.

I agree with you, but did you see how the city's mayor responded as well as the towns people? Even after Railworld/Burkhardt did what you and I feel is the honorable thing and accept responsibility for a horrific event they were still blasted personally and professionally for how things were handled.

I don't know all the details about the event so maybe Railworld/Burkhardt could have handled things better and deserve admonishing but at this time I don't know what they could have done differently.

[Stinger4me]

Earlier today I read a news release which stated the train was a "one person train", the engineer(the one person) has been suspended without pay. I realize railroads have insurance, with 50 people presumed dead and a good portion of a town destroyed, can this firm afford next years premiums? Are there places in the U.S. where there are "one person trains"?

[Saturnalia]

Earlier today I read a news release which stated the train was a "one person train", the engineer(the one person) has been suspended without pay. I realize railroads have insurance, with 50 people presumed dead and a good portion of a town destroyed, can this firm afford next years premiums? Are there places in the U.S. where there are "one person trains"?

One crewmember trains are not all that uncommon. The LSRC runs at least the southbound from Alpena with just an engineer. Sometimes at northbound runs with a solo person as well.

[CSX_CO]

Are there places in the U.S. where there are "one person trains"?

Most shortlines will utilize 'one man crews' as cost savings on 'thru' type assignments. Might even have a 'roving conductor' in a truck to drive ahead to line switches, do the ground work, etc. I don't necessarily see anything inherently 'dangerous' about 1 man assignments. Plenty of terrible conductors out there that you'd be better off 'alone' anyway. Plenty of instances where 2, 3, 4, and 5 man crews didn't prevent disaster from happening too.

I have a feeling that there is going to be several things that led to this disaster. Handbrakes weren't sufficient, locomotive catching fire, etc. That's the way most of these things go. A series of events that by themselves, wouldn't mean anything would happen, but in the right order created a disaster that killed almost 50 people.

Practice Safe CSX

[Super Chief]

I too am missing something on the brake issue? If the air is down won't the brakes lock up. I thought the air compressor when the engine is running is maintaining air in the cars air tanks to aleviate a long delay on start up. If some hand brakes are set and air brakes being bled off because of engine fire wouldn't the train just sit? Are we talking tonnage and incline grade as overcoming all matter of braking? An engineer is welcomed to chime in on how the brakes work?

[Norm]

I too am missing something on the brake issue? If the air is down won't the brakes lock up. I thought the air compressor when the engine is running is maintaining air in the cars air tanks to aleviate a long delay on start up. If some hand brakes are set and air brakes being bled off because of engine fire wouldn't the train just sit? Are we talking tonnage and incline grade as overcoming all matter of braking? An engineer is welcomed to chime in on how the brakes work?

It's a given that air brakes are going to leak. Could be the brake cylinders slowly venting to atmosphere, slow leaks in the plumbing, or a check valve inside the triple valve leaking back into the train line. My understanding is that once the locomotive is shut down the pressure maintaining feature in the control valve is no longer effective. A leak back into the train line would signal a release of the brakes as the pressure increases.

Trucks cured that problem with the invention of the spring brake, but that would be impractical on RR cars.

[SD80MAC]

Train brakes only apply when the cars have sufficient air pressure. When you see an engine or train uncouple from a car or cut of cars, the resulting sudden loss of brake pressure will put the brakes into emergency on the car or cut that was left standing. When this happens, the air was only dumped from the trainline, each car's reservoir still contains air at the correct psi which keeps the brakes applied. After enough time, enough of that air will have leaked out of that reservoir (let's face it, most pressurized tanks are not 100% air-tight) that the brakes will release, as there's no pressure to keep them applied. That's what happened in this case.

[JStryker722]

reason way loss of air wouldnt matter most of the time with a cut of cars sitting there is that most of the time the ground one would park cars is at least semi-level and the cars wont roll,but these cars were parked on a downhill grade without enough brakes set,so gravity and murphy's law had a field day once the brakes leaked enough air lol

[CSX_CO]

reason way loss of air wouldnt matter most of the time with a cut of cars sitting there is that most of the time the ground one would park cars is at least semi-level and the cars wont roll,but these cars were parked on a downhill grade without enough brakes set,so gravity and murphy's law had a field day once the brakes leaked enough air lol

As free rolling as freight cars are, it doesn't take much of a gradient to get them rolling. Also, its nigh impossible to find 'perfectly level track'. You'd be surprised how easy a railroad car is to push a long if needed. I used to push empties in the bowl just to see if I could. Doesn't take much.

That's why you apply and test hand brakes when leaving a cut of cars unattended.

Practice Safe CSX

[cnw8835]

New directives issued by Transport Canada today that are in effect until permanent are issued...
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/ ... rules.html

[CSX_CO]

It will be an interesting investigation. I've heard from some fellow railroaders "norte of the border" that MMA wasn't very well liked in town after CP pulled up stakes when they sold out. I'm sure there weren't any fire fighters with relatives in that small town that had worked for CP that would be bitter, do you?

Practice Safe CSX

[trnwatcher]

New directives issued by Transport Canada today that are in effect until permanent are issued...
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/ ... rules.html

Got this from Trains today....

MMA Story Update
OTTAWA – In an order issued today, the Canadian Transportation Agency suspended the certificate of fitness for Montreal, Maine & Atlantic to operate in the country, finding that the railroad does not have adequate liability for ongoing operations. The suspention is effective Aug. 20, 2013, permitting MM&A time to arrange for the orderly cessation of its operations in Canada.

Given the exceptional circumstances of the derailment in Lac-Mégantic on July 6, the agency contacted MM&A seeking confirmation that it continued to hold adequate liability insurance coverage with respect to any continuing operations as stated in its certificate of fitness.

The agency reviewed the company's insurance coverage and additional information it provided, but is not satisfied that MM&A has adequately restored its liability insurance coverage to the same level as prior to the derailment at Lac-Mégantic, nor does it have the financial capacity to pay the self-insured portion.

The suspension applies operations of both MM&A, formally Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Ltd., and its Canadian subsidiary, Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Co., operations in Canada only. Most of its U.S. operations are unaffected by the order.

However, on the Newport (Vt.) branch, a portion of the line dips into Vermont and then returns north into Quebec. There is one customer on the U.S. portion that will be cut off from interchange service, Blue Seal Feeds in Richford, Vt. A representative with Blue Seal declined to comment on the pending shutdown of rail service and, in fact, did not even know about the Canadian suspension when contacted by Trains News Wire on Tuesday afternoon. Satellite imagery of the facility shows more than two dozen covered hoppers on the property at one time.

The Canadian Transportation Agency released a statement on Tuesday morning regarding the emergency order. "MM&A and MM&AC were given full and fair opportunity to demonstrate that they have secured adequate third party liability insurance coverage for their ongoing operations, which is a legislative requirement to operate a railway in Canada," Geoff Hare, chair and CEO of the Canadian Transportation Agency says. "This was not a decision made lightly, as it affects the economies of communities along the railway, employees of MM&A and MM&AC, as well as the shippers who depend on rail services. It would not be prudent, given the risks associated with rail operations, to permit MM&A and MM&AC to continue to operate without adequate insurance coverage."

According to the agency, the derailment in Lac-Mégantic has raised questions regarding the adequacy of liability insurance coverage to deal with catastrophic events, especially for smaller railways. Increasing shipments of crude oil and other hazardous materials by rail highlight the need to determine how best to ensure that railways, small and large, have appropriate levels of third party liability coverage, including for possible catastrophic events such as Lac-Mégantic.

The agency states that railroads like the MM&A typically carry third party insurance of up to $50 million and that only 30 to 40 companies offer railroad liability insurance. Because of this, there are practical limits to what liability insurance railroad companies can obtain at a reasonable price.

This fall, the agency will undertake a consultation and review of adequacy of insurance coverage requirements for the issuance of certificates of fitness required by federally-regulated railways.

Trains News Wire is unable to reach officials with Montreal, Maine & Atlantic for comment.

[AARR]

I believe MM&A has other connections (than Montreal) but their customers may not want to use them. Wonder how they'll get this issue fixed.

[JStryker722]

If this wasn't an issue before all of this happened,then either MM&A being hiding how much insurance they have or the Canadians don't like them anymore and just found a legal way of kicking them of the rails,literally. Lol

[Saturnalia]

Wonder if this will effect Van's in Walker on the MQT, since at least the boxes are often MMA

[CSX_CO]

Wonder if this will effect Van's in Walker on the MQT, since at least the boxes are often MMA

Why? As long as they aren't getting loaded in Canada on the MMA, they'll continue to roll. Even if they shift the ownership of the cars to a different paper company, they'll still roll until stenciled.

Cars going to the normal interchange points for the MMA will just start backing up there until they secure the insurance to resume operations.

Practice Safe CSX

[Saturnalia]

Wonder if this will effect Van's in Walker on the MQT, since at least the boxes are often MMA

Why? As long as they aren't getting loaded in Canada on the MMA, they'll continue to roll. Even if they shift the ownership of the cars to a different paper company, they'll still roll until stenciled.

Cars going to the normal interchange points for the MMA will just start backing up there until they secure the insurance to resume operations.

Practice Safe CSX

IDK if they come for Canada or not, that is why I brought it up