Posted on 12/14/2013 8:41:05 AM PST by rickmichaels
Two pregnant women, children and seniors were among the 270 passengers who sat freezing for eight hours on a train after it lost power in Labrador Friday morning, as temperatures plummeted below - 30 C.
Tshiuetin Rail Transportation rail conductor Joe Shecanapish was unable to bring back power to the train, which was heading to Sept-Iles, Que. from Schefferville, Que.
"We did everything we can. We couldn't do it. Water froze, toilets froze, everything," he said.
Shecanapish said they tried to squeeze people into a small cabin to warm up. He said some blankets were provided to passengers.
During the ordeal, temperatures ranged from - 26 C to - 33 C.
The train stopped about 65 kilometres from Labrador City, with about eight hours to go before its final destination. It was hours before the town was notified about the train.
"Minus forty. It's like, hey. Right now my feet are still cold," said Simon Einish, who was travelling with his family to Ontario.
Some of the passengers were taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure, but there were no major injuries.
Fire Chief Joe Power, who was one of the first to the train, said the passengers were lucky the train stopped where it did
"It could have been a lot worse this evening. They could have been 100 km or so up the track with no help."
Five buses transported passengers to Labrador City, where they spent the night at Menihek High School.
Other passengers were taken to neighbouring community Fermont, Que., to spend the night in bunkhouses.
That’s right.
Before we know it, these idiots will want people to idle their cars for an hour a day to raise the temperatures when it’s really cold.
We were travelling through Canada just after they went metric and heard a radio guy report that one woman called in, wanting to know that with the conversion, would the temperature there now be warmer.
So then you'd have a train car full of dead people from the propane exhaust.
Eberspaecher hydronic heaters are the way to go. The should heat a car or two of every train with them.
Googled Schefferville, Quebec and discovered total population is 231. Now with 270 stranded on the train, the real question is has the whole town of Schefferville skipped town?
And then the train stops...Labrador Iron mines nearby... sounds like a job for Scully and Mulder.
;>)
This railway (along with the Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway line, Arnaud Railway, and Wabush Lake Railway) form an isolated railroad network, as it does not interchange with any other rail lines on the North American network."
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