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.
Willie Green would have been horrified.
Without Globull warming, they’d have been in real trouble.
Would like to know what was around. Wood still burns as far as I know. Would have made lousy pioneers.
Ya gotta get up and do jumping jacks and pushups to stay warm....not the pregnant women
no one could bounce a call off a satellite?
You would think they would keep a few portable propane heaters onboard for just such emergencies.
Headline should be... "Joe Power Saves Powerless Train".
That's what someone said about one of the pregnant women due to the cold ....
Hey, it's not like it was -40 Fahrenheit ....
Never go out in such extreme cold without a gortex parka.
And a rat hat.
Read a story on FR on how this happened in Houston, but it was electric cars. There was flooding in the city and the electric cars were useless.
Is Carnival Cruise Lines operating the trains in Labrador?
-40 Fahrenheit and -40 Centigrade are the same.
Now they know what it will be like when the SHTF.
What would a potential disaster be without a couple of pregnant women along?
“Without Globull warming, they’d have been in real trouble.”
Aye, without global warming instead of the -30C temperatures, the mercury would have dropped to the much more life threatening -30.7C
... that Labrador, Canada has rail service, or ...
... that dogs actually grow that big ...
And a pair of good boots.
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