Lac-Megantic (A British Opinion)
12 Friday Jul 2013
Here’s a link to an interesting British perspective on the Lac-Megantic disaster. I won’t disagree with their position. (A tip of the hat to the reader who passed on this article.)
12 Friday Jul 2013
Here’s a link to an interesting British perspective on the Lac-Megantic disaster. I won’t disagree with their position. (A tip of the hat to the reader who passed on this article.)
No comments
July 12, 2013 at 1:26 pm
This short-line railroad is the equivalent of a backyard mechanic; painting all railways with that brush is not accurate. You would not catch a Class 1 railroad with only one operating crew member or parking a train on a 1.2% grade (steep). Even this little railroad had protocols which are to be strictly adhered to and were not.
After setting the appropriate amount of hand brakes, the engineer is required to release the air brakes and use the locomotive’s power to try and move the train. If it moves, he is supposed to set more hand brakes until the train is secure. This was one man’s responsibility. This man was exceptionally well trained, knew his responsibilities and was well aware of the possible consequences. For a one man crew, setting the hand brake would require climbing up and down from the locomotive, waking a dozen cars back several times and climbing up and down on each car to set the brakes. If he was disgruntled about not having a conductor to set the hand brakes and he decided not to make a second trip to set more; he will have to live with what he did and will likely be prosecuted.
The railroad is not the only place people’s lives depend on a skilled individual knowing what to do and when. Commercial pilots, ship captains, air traffic controllers and other jobs like those have people lives hanging in the balance on a daily basis.
A side note: Normally crude oil is not volatile, it burns but it is not explosive. This light crude from North Dakota is closer to gasoline and should be hauled in double walled tankers and treated the same as other dangerous chemicals. This is an expensive change that Transport Canada must enforce.
For the people who have lost their lives or family members in this disaster, no answer or action will ever be enough. Helping them heal and rebuild is where our collective energy should be spent.
September 11, 2013 at 9:09 pm
An interesting article:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/09/11/tsb_to_update_lacmegantic_probe_amid_alarm_over_crude.html