Quebec town rocked by explosions, fire after oil train derailment

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
117,209
14,249
113
Low Earth Orbit
There will be a municipal meeting this week , call in french MRC , a regional assembly of mayors , my father being one , said they will pressure the company to fix their rails before anymore transportation can continue , this may not be exactly a related issue with what has happened here but the rails are in dire need of repairs , just in my village there was missing 24 inches of rail ... walk along the rails just in front of my house and too many spikes are loose and sticking out.... in any case i am betting the company will be going belly up before that.
All of Canada's infrastructure is complete and total junk.
 

Goober

Hall of Fame Member
Jan 23, 2009
24,691
116
63
Moving
Rail cars brakes work on the same or similar system as tractor trailers, air brakes. No air, loss of air the brakes set.
Called dynamiting the brakes.

Lac-Megantic death toll hits 13, exec claims train was tampered with before explosion | Canada | News | National Post

Eight more bodies have been recovered from the aftermath of the Lac-Megantic, Que. train crash, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths to 13.

The number of those pronounced dead has risen now that investigators have managed to gain better access to the zone closest to the blast. Fifty people are still missing.

The climbing death toll comes as the chairman of the company whose train exploded in the town claimed he is certain it was tampered with.

“We have evidence of this,” said Ed Burkhardt, of Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway. “But this is an item that needs further investigation. We need to talk to some people we believe to have knowledge of this.”
 

eh1eh

Blah Blah Blah
Aug 31, 2006
10,749
103
48
Under a Lone Palm
When trucks lose air pressure the brakes default to the full braking position. The air pressure in a truck braking system holds the brakes off. Springs actually do the braking.
Apparently this is how train brakes work too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_air_brake

An air brake is a conveyance braking system actuated by compressed air. Modern trains rely upon a fail-safe air brake system that is based upon a design patented by George Westinghouse on March 5, 1868. The Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) was subsequently organized to manufacture and sell Westinghouse's invention. In various forms, it has been nearly universally adopted.
The Westinghouse system uses air pressure to charge air reservoirs (tanks) on each car. Full air pressure signals each car to release the brakes. A reduction or loss of air pressure signals each car to apply its brakes, using the compressed air in its reservoirs.
 

L Gilbert

Winterized
Nov 30, 2006
23,738
107
63
71
50 acres in Kootenays BC
the-brights.net
If it wasn't, you'd be naked and hungry and you're Starbucks would be black.
Bullsh|t. We grow or trade with neighbors for food, plastic is not the only material made into clothing, I don't really need to work fixing machinery, and I don't use that powder people put in coffee. So far, petroleum has only helped humans. It's been nothing but bad for the rest of the object we live on.
Yeah, there were no people before petroleum was dug up and just because people can find a use for something doesn't mean it's good. :rolleyes:
 

tay

Hall of Fame Member
May 20, 2012
11,548
1
36
The rail cars were parked uphill because earlier in the night, there was a small fire in one of the car which was easily contained by firefighters. MMA says that the car rolled downhill because the train’s air brakes released. MMA blames the air brake release on the head firefighter following protocol and shutting off the engine. The fire chief fought back saying that MMA explanation of the accident makes no sense, “I don’t understand how (MMA) can say, ‘You guys shut the engine off. That’s what released the brakes.’ It doesn’t work that way. It should be the opposite. MMA did not reinvent the brake system.”


Fire chief from Lac-Megantic train crash denies suggestion from railway his crew may have played role in disaster | Canada | News | National Post



In short, there are bodies at the foot of Laval Street. Crime scene “evidence” that, at some point before Saturday morning, had names, joy, dreams, disappointments.


Now they are using garden rakes to find them












 

El Barto

les fesses a l'aire
Feb 11, 2007
5,959
66
48
Quebec
The rail cars were parked uphill because earlier in the night, there was a small fire in one of the car which was easily contained by firefighters. MMA says that the car rolled downhill because the train’s air brakes released. MMA blames the air brake release on the head firefighter following protocol and shutting off the engine. The fire chief fought back saying that MMA explanation of the accident makes no sense, “I don’t understand how (MMA) can say, ‘You guys shut the engine off. That’s what released the brakes.’ It doesn’t work that way. It should be the opposite. MMA did not reinvent the brake system.”


Fire chief from Lac-Megantic train crash denies suggestion from railway his crew may have played role in disaster | Canada | News | National Post



In short, there are bodies at the foot of Laval Street. Crime scene “evidence” that, at some point before Saturday morning, had names, joy, dreams, disappointments.


Now they are using garden rakes to find them












lower left of 6 is my bank , Musi-cafe is where we gathered now and then after work and , our staff parties. Number 5 that building is where I apply to my UI for the winter and also get my back massaged and below out of frame lower left of 5 is where i get my groceries
 

DaSleeper

Trolling Hypocrites
May 27, 2007
33,676
1,666
113
Northern Ontario,
A few questions....

Was the engine that was shut down, the only one that ran the compressor that supplied the air to the brakes.?

If so...why didn't the engineer set the handbrakes on the cars (You know...that big vertical hand wheel on all rail cars?) which is supposed to be set on any locomotive parked on a grade?

If he did, who took them off...
On most air brakes you need air to relieve the brakes, I understand that locomotives are the opposite.
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
75,301
548
113
Vernon, B.C.
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the engineer responsible for the train? Fire fighters are there to extinguish fires.
 

Goober

Hall of Fame Member
Jan 23, 2009
24,691
116
63
Moving
A few questions....

Was the engine that was shut down, the only one that ran the compressor that supplied the air to the brakes.?

If so...why didn't the engineer set the handbrakes on the cars (You know...that big vertical hand wheel on all rail cars?) which is supposed to be set on any locomotive parked on a grade?

If he did, who took them off...
On most air brakes you need air to relieve the brakes, I understand that locomotives are the opposite.

The CEO is blaming a lot of people.
I understood the opposite. No air, brakes lock. Same as on a trailer.