Lac Megantic explosion: Controversies and contradictions amid the despair (LOCOMOTIVES FOUND by LSM)

Toronto Star ^ | 7/11/2013 | Rosie DiManno

[Paladin2]

Five locomotives, the front end of a death train, sit almost completely hidden on a shabby stretch of track nestled within lakeside bush.

A person could pull the stakes out of the rotting and splintered ties with one good yank. Yet this corroded rail line held fast against the wheels of a runaway train’s forward section — the stubby head of the beast — with no engineer at the switch, no human manipulating any of the route.

How this severed section of the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railroad freight train got to this location remains a matter of speculation. Officials won’t even reveal when these engines were found, far beyond the fatal jumping off spot where the rest of the 72-car haul crashed into the soft underbelly of central Lac-Mégantic.

To get from there to here, these locomotives would have rolled on right through town, clear around the bend of the bay and then curved back in the opposite direction — about a kilometre in distance from the full-bore impact epicentre.

There was enough forward thrust momentum from the train’s 11-kilometre downhill slide — the gradation incline between neighbouring Nantes and Lac-Mégantic — to send this uncoupled hunk of engines hurtling ’round that entire hook of shoreline before it slowed down to a full stop, causing not a shred of damage.

This is the “other” crime scene, according to RCMP officers who’ve been guarding the far-flung rump of train — squatting in its bucolic arbour — since Sunday. Only on Tuesday did investigators with the Transportation Safety Board catch up with the wayward locomotives as evidence of interest. But of course attention has been focused on the ground zero wreckage of derailed fuel cars that exploded into successive fireballs shortly after midnight ...

[Paladin2]

As theorized.

[Paladin2]

ping.

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See also:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/07/11/1222645/-More-Mystery-Surrounds-Canadian-Ghost-Train-Where-are-the-locomotives

[DManA]

I can’t believe this railroad company is going to survive this.

[Blueflag]

Check the bank accounts and travel plans of all “Asian” employees. I use Asian in the British way.

[AZLiberty]

Before going off the comment radar, Burkhardt had essentially accused the Nantes firefighters of inadvertently teeing up the dreadful derailment. They had responded to an earlier call-out about a fire aboard one of the locomotives, this after the engineer had finished his shift. Burkhardt said the responders had fatefully turned off the engine while fighting the mysterious blaze, which caused the brakes to fail afterwards as the train began nudging away from Nantes. For the brakes to remain functional, the train must not be completely turned off.

“It’s shutting the engine off that did this,” said Burkhardt.

If they designed cars like that, San Francisco would be in a lick of trouble. How about an interlock device that prevents you from turning off a train's engine when it's parked on a hill?

Sheesh!

[Paladin2]

" Burkhardt said the responders had fatefully turned off the engine while fighting the mysterious blaze, which caused the brakes to fail afterwards as the train began nudging away from Nantes. For the brakes to remain functional, the train must not be completely turned off.

“It’s shutting the engine off that did this,” said Burkhardt."

Shutting off an engine when the fire is being fed by fuel leaks from the engine running is low level common sense.

It's leaving a train unattended for hours, held on a grade by a 27 to 37 yr old running engine that is a risky business.

[Paladin2]

[RedMDer]

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[dynachrome]

hmmmmmm.

[okie01]

One of the most "loaded" news stories I've ever read.

There is no doubt where this reporter's sympathies lie: anti-fracking, anti-fossil fuels, anti-business, full socialist. Some of her prejudices may, in fact, be well directed -- but I wouldn't trust her judgment on anything.

[thackney]

Thanks

[thackney]

How about setting the hand brakes as required when left stopped.

[NonValueAdded]

Indeed ... hard to believe the handbrakes on the engines were engaged when they traveled so far including a stretch uphill.

[Figment]

Interesting. Did the locomotives derail? How they came to be de-coupled needs to be answered. Could this be ELF at work?

[Figment]

Would have been simple to get the train rolling, de-couple the locomotives on level ground and out run it under power. The unpowered train takes awhile to pick up speed on the incline, you cruise through town, the tank cars don’t

[thackney]

I could see that the engines with a lower center of gravity passing the curve that tips over the tank cars. As the tank cars tip from the locomotives, they could twist apart leaving the locomotives on the tracks while spilling the tank cars behind.

Only a theory, might be completely false. But possible knowing the difference between the engines and the tanks.

[Figment]

Twisting enough to derail is one thing, twisting enough to de-couple without derailing the locomotives, I have a problem with. I’m not one to jump to conclusions and shout conspiracy, this one doesn’t pass the smell test though

[BluH2o]

For what it's worth I'm probably the only Freeper, other than a few who may have jumped on board recently who live in the area, who actually has visited Lac-Megantic. This was many years ago ... and the town is only vague in my memory. But what I do remember is that a fair amount of English speaking residents still lived in this Eastern Township community ... immediately north of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Many of them descendants of Loyalists ... those who refused to participate in the American Revolution ... for the most part because they had arrived recently from England and felt loyalty to the 'throne'. The designation 'Loyalist' (with appropriate proof) was of enormous benefit to future generations of families that could trace their heritage back to that era ... access to top Canadian universities, for instance, was assured if academic credentials met the criteria. This era has passed in Canada, for the most part, but is still considered a definite plus.