Derailment is 11th of the year
Another CN train goes off the tracks between Squamish and Whistler
CN officials survey the damage following the latest derailment near the Cheakamus Canyon.
Glenn Bohn, Vancouver Sun
Published: Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Another CN train went off the tracks Monday between Squamish and Whistler, in the same area where a CN derailment this August dumped 40,000 litres of highly corrosive caustic soda into the Cheakamus River and killed thousands of salmon and other fish.
Although all seven cars that jumped the tracks Monday in the Cheakamus Canyon were empty and there was no toxic spill into the river this time, it was the 11th main-track derailment along the former BC Rail line this year.
That’s almost double the accident rate that BC Rail had before CN Rail bought the line from the the B.C. Liberal government in July 2004 and began running longer and less frequent trains than BC Rail did on the mountainous route.
Train car plunges off trestle in CN’s second B.C. derailment in a single day
Canadian Press
Published: December 6, 2005
RICHMOND, B.C. – A CN Rail train has derailed on a trestle crossing the Fraser River between Richmond and Burnaby, sending a railcar loaded with automobiles into the Fraser River.
The derailment late Monday night was the second of the day for CN, after seven empty cars jumped the tracks in the Cheakamus Canyon north of Squamish, B.C.
If they keep this up they will be spending more on ‘damage’ and ‘damage control’ than if they had invested funds into the proper places in the first place…i.e perhaps shorter trains, better track, distributed power, etc.
This is only the beginning. With a predicted colder than normal winter this could very well be, a very bad end to a very bad year for a railway that prides itself on deferred maintenance and reduced manpower. Spring won’t arrive soon enough for Mr. Harrison.
I think this just proves that BC Rail never should have been sold. (What is CN’s problem anyway?. I get the local BC news and it seems like there is something about a CN derailmenmt on there every day!) What a mess.
Does anybody else smell a public inquiry? With the federal elections underway, CN is at risk of being another victim of political scoring.
Good luck Hunter, you are going to need it-Paul Martin, Stephen Harper and Jack Layton will be analysing your mistakes for possible points on the opinion polls for upcoming January election.
CN ordered to shorten trains to no more than 80 cars after B.C. derailments
Canadian Press
Published: December 8, 2005
VANCOUVER – CN Rail was ordered to limit the length of its trains to 80 cars on an old B.C. Rail line north of Vancouver on Wednesday after 11 derailments on that stretch of track this year.
B.C. Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon said it is his hope that the order from the federal government will “lend confidence to the public” in CN’s operations in the province.
Transport Canada “is taking every possible cautionary decision in the interim until such time as the investigation is completed and we actually know the reason why these trains have been derailing,” said Falcon, who earlier spoke to his federal counterpart, Jean Lapierre.
Another fine example of CN **** poor management. Most of the senior engineers have left BCR since the take over (BCR Uses Distributed power), add CN management running trains (some CN management hasn’t run trains in years), CN doesn’t use distributed power(RCL)isn’t trained to run it, Reduced maintenance of the track and derailments are bound to happen. I have to shake my head at CN chasing the operating percentage to ever lower levels, everything is starting to fall apart. All I can say is “Hail Hunter” way to run a railway into the ground.
This is my personal view and in no way is ment to slander CN or the good employees (there are a few) that work there.
Yes but should thease blokes already know all this. It is apparent that management are morons and can’t learn anything or refuse to accept the facts. Incidentally I didn’t know about cutting remotes into a train of empty centerbeams is a bad idea-however I am not working for a railroad and if I did I would know that because it is important to know. If thease managers actually new what they were doing, then this kind of thing wouldn’t happen. I would hope being that most of thease guys including the CEO, were real railroaders, they wouldn’t be so dense about the knowledge based on their experience and try to pull some of the crap they have.
To me its alot like saying because I have been a pianist so long and want to save on money or some kind of reasoning, I will not use a 88 key piano and use a 61 key keyboard to increase efficiency and increase quality of music-that may work for a little bit (harpsichord music is within that range). However now I decide well since that I have been more successful then the 88 keys with the 61 keys that increased efficiency, now I will reduce it to 45 keys. Efficient? Yes…cost efficient…yes (Casio keyboards are cheaper than 88 key real pianos). Is the quality the same? Heck no…Eventually quality becomes an issue because chopsticks and like music becomes irritating when played over and over again. You get what I’m saying-think deep…