RAILROADING’S TITANIC The story of Lac-Mégantic by Justin Franz

Crude oil tank cars in a Montreal, & Atlantic train burn at Lac-Mégantic, , on July 6, 2013. The fiery crash killed 47 people. Transportation Safety Board of Canada

10 TRAIN WRECKS • Vol. 2

ust before 11 p.m. on July 5, resulted in the death of 47 people and 2013, Montreal, Maine & At- leveled buildings in the heart of down- lantic Railway train No. 2, an town Lac-Mégantic, changing the small eastbound oil train, pulled to lakeside community forever. But the a stop at the east end of the incident also had impacts far beyond Nantes siding, 7 miles west of Lac-Mégantic and they continue to Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. Lo- impact the rail industry five years later. In comotive engineer Thomas many ways, the derailment and explosion Harding, a 33-year veteran of in Lac-Mégantic on July 6, 2013, changed the railroad, who first hired the rail industry in the same way the out on the Canadian Pacific sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic a century in 1980, emerged from the earlier impacted maritime transportation. cab of General Electric C30-7 locomotive No. 5017 into a SMOKE AND FLAMES warm July night. Ten minutes after Harding left the sid- The 74-car train with five ing at Nantes in the taxi, a nearby resident locomotives stretched into called 911 to report that the train in Nantes the darkness along Route 161 was on fire. Smoke and flames were pour- and, with the exception of the idling loco- ing out of the stack of the train’s lead loco- motives, all was quiet. Harding began to motive due to a build up of oil. Sûreté du Jwalk along the train and apply handbrakes Québec, the provincial police, called the on five locomotives, a buffer car, and a re- MM&A dispatcher in Farnham to inform mote control caboose placed between the him that the train was on fire. The dis- first and second locomotives. He then shut patcher told police that it was loaded with down the trailing four locomotives and did crude oil. a brake test. At 11:05 p.m., Harding called The dispatcher called the operations the dispatcher in Farnham, the division manager to advise him of the fire. They de- point to the west where he had started his cided that an MM&A employee from Mar- workday 10 hours earlier, to ask for a taxi ston, Que., just south of Lac-Mégantic, to take him to his hotel. should go inspect the train. The dispatcher While waiting for the taxi, Harding called twice but was unsuccessful in reach- called another dispatcher in Bangor, ing the former locomotive engineer and Maine, headquarters of the MM&A, to mechanic. Meanwhile, the Nantes Fire De- talk about issues he had with the lead lo- partment arrived at the scene, boarded the comotive throughout the day. Harding re- locomotive and shut down the engine ported that the engine had been losing using the emergency fuel cut-off switch in momentum throughout the trip and that order to put out the fire. he was unable to maintain power as he Just before midnight, a track worker guided the loaded oil train over the Sher- from the Lac-Mégantic area called the brooke Subdivision’s roller-coaster profile. Farnham dispatcher and told him that he He also noted that when he had arrived at had been contacted by the Nantes Fire from Lac-Mégantic arrived at the train and Nantes the locomotive was spewing black- Department about the blaze. The track met with two firefighters. He was told by and-white smoke. The dispatcher and worker told the dispatcher that the fire firefighters that the fire was out and that Harding agreed to leave the engine as it was out but that someone should be sent the locomotive had also been turned off to was and have the next crew, who would to the siding to check on the train. A prevent it from reigniting. The MM&A take the train from Nantes to Brownville track foreman from Lac-Mégantic was employee relayed the information back to Junction, Maine, deal with it in the morn- called to check it out. the dispatcher who told him to leave the ing. Shortly after ending the conversation, After talking to the track worker, the train as it was. The track foreman left the the taxi from Lac-Mégantic arrived. dispatcher called Harding at his hotel in scene at approximately 12:44 a.m. As Harding put his grip in the cab, the Lac-Mégantic and told him that the train While the train appeared to be station- driver asked about the smoking locomotive No. 2 had caught fire and that the lead lo- ary to the MM&A employee and the fire- that was spewing oil on the vehicle’s wind- comotive, No. 5017, was shut down. Hard- fighters, unbeknownst to them, the air shield. “The engine’s busted,” Harding said ing said that was the only engine he had brakes had been slowly releasing ever as he climbed in. left running and then asked if he should go since the engine had been shut down. At Two hours later, the back to the train to 12:58 a.m., train No. 2 began to roll same train that Hard- start another engine. toward Lac-Mégantic. ing had parked at a re- The dispatcher told Within 10 minutes the train was mote siding in Que- UNBEKNOWNST TO Harding that another already halfway to Lac-Mégantic and bec’s Eastern THEM, THE AIR BRAKES employee was heading reaching speeds of 25 mph on the down- Townships would be at to the site and that the grade. One of the firefighters from Nantes the center of the worst HAD BEEN SLOWLY engines would be re- was on his way home when he approached railroad accident in RELEASING EVER SINCE started in the morning. a railroad crossing just west of town. The modern Canadian and At approximately firefighter later said that he saw the train U.S. history. THE ENGINE HAD BEEN 12:30 a.m. on July 6, roll by with no lights on. The derailment of the track foreman who Seven minutes later, its speed had MM&A train No. 2 SHUT DOWN. had been dispatched doubled. A minute after that it was moving An aerial image shows a cleanup crew at 65 mph as it passed the Catholic church their lives. The Quebec Coroner’s office working in a burned-out Lac-Mégantic, on the edge of downtown and rounded the later determined that those who were not Quebec, on July 9, 2013, three days after curve over the Rue Laval crossing. As the able to get out of the bar in the first few the disastrous derailment that killed 47 train entered the Lac-Mégantic yard and moments of the fire most likely died of people. Canadian Press via Associated Press rounded the curve, the locomotives uncou- asphyxiation. The fire from the derailed pled from the buffer car and continued to train was so massive that it sucked all the his hotel. At 1:48 a.m., Harding called the roll east. The buffer car and the first few oxygen from inside the building and the Farnham dispatcher to tell him that tank cars rolled off the tracks and on to windows and doors imploded. downtown Lac-Mégantic was on fire. their sides. The other cars began to accor- The first 911 call came 2 minutes after However, there was confusion as to what dion into a pile over the west switch of the the train derailed. Twelve minutes after that started the blaze because there were no yard. A fire started almost immediately and Sûreté du Québec called the MM&A dis- hazardous material cars in the yard and massive explosions filled the sky over patcher in Farnham and told him that there the only two trains in the area, MM&A downtown Lac-Mégantic. Burning oil was a fire in the rail yard at Lac-Mégantic Nos. 1 and 2, were parked east and west of began to run down the streets. and that they believed it was the train that town, respectively. Within a matter of minutes half of had been sitting at Or so they thought. downtown Lac-Mégantic was on fire. Near Nantes. The dis- During the next 50 minutes, MM&A the epicenter of the inferno was Musi- patcher told the of- employees frantically tried to figure out Café, a local music venue along the tracks ficer that an what had exploded in the yard and, accord- that was packed that Friday night. Survi- MM&A employee ing to a Transportation Safety Board of vors later told newspapers that they felt a would be on scene Canada report, there were multiple phone rumble and then seconds later saw the as soon as possible. calls made starting at 1:50 a.m. Soon after, orange reflection of a fireball on the build- Meanwhile, the the dispatcher received a report that a train ings across the street. One survivor told explosions had rat- had been seen rolling into Lac-Mégantic the Globe and Mail newspaper that it was tled Harding, the earlier in the night. The dispatcher sent the “brighter than the middle of the day, a locomotive engi- track foreman who had checked train No. 2 blinding, lively orange.” Everyone ran for neer, out of bed at Michael Harding an hour earlier back to Nantes to check on

© 2018 Kalmbach Media Co. Co. This material maywww.TrainsMag.com not be reproduced in13 any form without permission from the publisher. www.TrainsMag.com An eastbound Montreal, Maine & Atlantic freight train holds the siding at their apartment when the train derailed. Board of Canada is- Nantes, Quebec, in March 2010, on the The girls’ father was just down the street sued a report that 1-percent grade where the July 2013 when the train derailed, and when he stated 18 different runaway began. Timothy Franz heard the explosion, he started to run to- factors contributed ward the apartment but he was halted by to the derailment, it again. At 2:39 a.m., the track foreman a wall of flames. including a “weak called the dispatcher in Farnham and told It took hundreds of firefighters from safety culture” at him that the eastbound oil train was no Quebec, Ontario, and Maine nearly two MM&A. The report longer at Nantes. days to put the fire out. When the smoke offered that trouble From the time of the explosions until cleared, approximately 30 buildings were started months about 3:30 a.m., Harding remained in con- gone, and the twisted remains of dozens of Ed Burkhardt earlier when the tact with the dispatcher in Farnham using tank cars sat charred in the heart of town. lead locomotive on a pay phone from a nearby gas station. An The MM&A hired workers to begin the the train, C30-7 No. 5017, had received a hour after the dispatcher had found out cleanup but within days it ran out of mon- shoddy repair. That repair began to fail in what really had happened, Harding had ey and the contractors threatened to walk the days before the wreck. called to give him an update. According to off the job, forcing the city and province to The safety board also determined that audio recordings, the engineer was talking pick up the tab. The 510-mile MM&A was the engineer had failed to apply enough for about a minute when the dispatcher in- owned by former Wisconsin Central vet- hand brakes on the train prior to leaving terrupted him. eran Ed Burkhardt’s Rail World Inc. and for the hotel. Harding tied down seven “It’s worse than that, my friend,” the was created with the 2003 purchase of hand brakes, including the brakes on the dispatcher said. Iron Road Railways. A month after the five locomotives, the remote control ca- “It’s your train that rolled down.” derailment, on Aug. 7, 2013, the MM&A boose, and the buffer car. However, accord- “No!” Harding replied. filed for bankruptcy in Maine and Quebec. ing to the safety board report, the train “Yes sir,” the dispatcher said. A court-appointed trustee was tasked with would have needed 18 to 26 hand brakes “No, RJ... Holy [expletive].” selling the crippled railroad and in Janu- applied to have remained stationary with- ary 2014, it went up for auction. Nearly 20 out the air brakes. Investigators also found A ‘WEAK SAFETY CULTURE’ companies showed an interest in the that Harding conducted a brake test while Forty-seven people died when train No. MM&A but in the end, only three bids the air brakes were still applied, giving the 2 derailed and exploded. The fire was so were submitted. Railroad Acquisition false impression that the train was secure. intense, law enforcement and investigators Holdings, an affiliate of Fortress Invest- Safety board investigators also criticized say, that five bodies were never recovered. ment Group, purchased the embattled federal regulators, such as Transport Cana- Among the victims was Éliane Paren- railroad for $15.85 million, significantly da, for not paying close enough attention teau-Boulanger, a 93-year-old woman who less than the $50 million Rail World paid a to companies such as the MM&A and en- lived alone in a house near the railroad decade earlier for the suring that it was fol- tracks. Her family said she loved to garden former Bangor & lowing the rules. “This and her strawberry-rhubarb pies were leg- Aroostook and was about more than endary. Geneviève Breton, 28, was an Canadian Pacific lines. MM&A NOS. 1 AND 2, hand brakes and what aspiring singer who was spending the sum- Fortress closed the WERE PARKED EAST the engineer did and mer back home with her parents. Her first deal on May 15, 2014, did not do,” said TSB album was released posthumously, and the and a few days later AND WEST OF TOWN, chair Wendy Tadros proceeds went toward a nonprofit organi- assumed operations RESPECTIVELY. OR SO during a news confer- zation that promotes music within the under the name Cen- ence in Lac-Mégantic. community. Talitha Coumi-Begnoche, 30, tral Maine & Quebec. THEY THOUGHT. “In all, there were 18 and her two daughters, 9-year-old Bianka In August 2014, the factors that caused this and 4-year-old Alyssa, were all sleeping in Transportation Safety accident and you take

14 TRAIN WRECKS • Vol. 2 10:49 p.m., the train stopped at Nantes siding Sources: Montreal, Maine & Atlantic, Transportation Safety Board of Canada 161 11:40 p.m., re reported by nearby resident 11:58 p.m., the engine was shut down, Nantes MP 8 and the re was extinguished 214 QUEBEC Siding on 1 percent grade 12:58 a.m., the train started to move MP 7 MP 9 MAINE 263 MP 6 Lac-Mégantic Maximum track speed: 45 mph MP 5 To Montreal

161 Rue Laval al Destruction area ntr MP 4 Maximum grade 1.3 percent N Boulevard des Vétérans Ce ec Chaudiére uéb du Q Rue River

MP 3 0 Scale 1 mile

10 mph restriction over Rue Frontenac 161 MP 2 Derailment site Lac-Mégantic MP 1 25 mph restriction through curves Rue Frontenac 1:15 a.m., the train Rue Salaberry derailed in Lac-Mégantic MP 117 204

Lac Mégantic 204 161 1 0 Scale ⁄4 mile MP 118 161 Locomotives rolled through Lac Mégantic town, clear of the derailment

CN Canadian National CP Canadian Paci c EMRY Eastern Maine r MMA Montreal, Maine & Atlantic ve LAC-MÉGANTIC To Maine i R MNR Maine Northern ce n NBSR Southern re WRECK w a PAR Pan Am Railways L t. QC Quebec Central S Madawaska JULY 5-6, 2013 SLR St. Lawrence & Atlantic St. Leonard WACR Washington County CANADA Limestone Presque Isle that the three men were directly responsi- Fort Fair eld ble for the derailment. But defense attor- QUEBEC UNITED STATES NEW BRUNSWICK neys countered that the three men were Houlton merely bit players within a failed system Oak eld CN/SLQ and that it was the railroad’s safety culture CN Vanceboro Millinocket and lack of government oversight that Saint-Hyacinthe QC Jackman CP CN ScotstownLac-Mégantic East Millinocket Saint actually led to the derailment. A 12-person Sherbrooke Mattawamkeag John Brookport Brownville Jct. jury deliberated for nine days before Derby South Lagrange St. Stephen Montreal Old Town finding the three men not guilty. Farnham WACR Northern Maine Jct. Bangor After the criminal trial, Harding said, “I SLR Hampden cannot find the words sufficiently to ex- Newport MAINE N A CP PAR Searsport E press my sympathies. I am deeply sorry for OC IC NEW ANT my part of responsibility in this tragedy.” 0 Scale 50 miles ATL YORK Three weeks after the criminal trial con- NEW © 2018 Kalmbach Media Co., N HAMPSHIRE TRAINS: Rick Johnson cluded, Harding and five other former Not all lines shown MM&A employees all pleaded guilty to vi- olating federal Railway Safety and Fisheries any one of them away and this might not because police were concerned about the acts in a case separate from the provincial have happened.” presence of weapons at his house. The criminal trial. Robert Grindrod, CEO and On May 12, 2014, engineer Harding, three men were detained until they made a president; Lynne Labonté, general manager manager Jean Demaître, and dispatcher court appearance the following day in a of transportation; Kenneth Strout, director Richard Labrie were each arrested and makeshift courtroom in Lac-Mégantic. of operating practices; Michael Horan, as- charged with 47 counts of criminal negli- The criminal trial began in October sistant director of operations; Jean Demaî- gence causing death in provincial court. 2017 and lasted for more than four months. tre, operations manager; and Harding all Harding had been arrested by a SWAT team During the trial, held in nearby Sher- pleaded guilty to not ensuring that enough at gunpoint in his backyard in Farnham brooke, government prosecutors argued brakes were applied to the doomed oil

www.TrainsMag.com 15 Head shields Jacketing Thermal protection Top-fittings protection DOT-117: Full-height head DOT-117: Weather-tight outer layer DOT-117: A layer between the DOT-117: Protection for ttings on shields with minimum of minimum 11-gauge (1⁄8-inch) shell and jacket to protect the tops of cars to keep hatches and Tank shell/wall thickness of 1⁄2-inch steel. ASTM A1011 steel. This type of steel contents when exposed to res safety valves from breaking open in thickness Steel used must withstand is used in barrels, automobile for 100 minutes or hit with a a roll-over accident or collision. 55,000 psi. frames, and farm implements. torch ame for 30 minutes. DOT-117: 9⁄16 inch DOT-111: None required. 7 DOT-111 DOT-111 DOT-111 DOT-111: ⁄16 inch : None required. : None required. : None required. Steel used: TC-128* Grade B, normalized steel. *TC-128 is an Association of American DETAILS OF THE Railroads‘ standard steel for pressure vessels, especially tank cars. DOT-117 TANK CAR Normalized steel has been heated to make the steel plate uniform in its consistency and free from internal stresses. Not required for DOT-111 manufacture. Thermal Tank shell protection Packing groups, or contents Group Flash point Boiling point Jacketing PGI: ≤140°F <95°F PGII: <73°F >95°F Phase-out schedule for flammable- Head PGIII: ≥73°F, ≤140°F >95°F shield liquids service tank cars Why it’s not clear: Shippers are required to Type/packaging group Retrofit or retire test liquids and verify contents regularly. Results can vary. DOT-111 w/o jacket/PGI Jan. 1, 2018 DOT-111 w/jacket/PGI March 1, 2018 CPC-1232 w/o jacket/PGI April 1, 2020 How thick? (Actual size) DOT-111 w/o jacket/PGII May 1, 2023 DOT-111 w/jacket/PGII May 1, 2023 CPC-1232 w/o jacket/PGII July 1, 2023 Head shield 1⁄2 inch All remaining in service May 1, 2025

Jacketing material 1⁄8 inch Thermal protection thickness as needed A tank car involved in the Lac-Mégantic wreck displays fire and crash damage, Illustration by Rick Johnson including a rail through the tank’s shell. Transportation Safety Board of Canada Illustration not to scale * Rule rescinded by train. Harding was sentenced to six months of the American energy sector. In 2005, the Tank shell 9⁄16 inch Federal Railroad probation while the other five each paid a Bakken Formation produced less than Administration in 2017. $50,000 fine that was put into a fund for 3,000 barrels of oil a day; seven years later Couplers Brakes and braking the community. The MM&A was also fined it was producing 547,000 barrels per day. Not mentioned in nal rules. New rule: Rules require unit trains of high-hazard Double-shelf couplers are already ammable liquids to use electronically controlled pneumatic $1 million for violating the same Fisheries Pipelines out of the region quickly filled to mandated for all tank cars. Bottom-outlet protection brakes for PGI-service tank cars after Jan. 1, 2021 and all capacity, so the oil and gas industry turned Speed restrictions in unit train flammable liquids service packing groups after Jan. 1, 2023. This is in addition to Act by polluting a nearby river and lake DOT-117: Incorporate an outlet handle existing distributed power and end-of-train device use with thousands of gallons of fuel. to railroads to ship their product to refin- New rule: Maximum 50 mph. Further limited to 40 mph in high-threat urban areas as dened by the U.S that will not open during an accident. requirements. government when tank cars do not meet DOT-117, DOT-117P, or DOT-117R standards. DOT-111: Bottom outlets optional; Old rule: Shipper preference on brakes (electronic or eries in nearly every corner of North Old rule: Maximum determined by local track speeds and emergency orders. NEW RULES America. In 2008, North America’s Class I when included, shipper reference. straight pneumatic). The Lac-Mégantic wreck put rail safety railroads moved just 9,500 carloads of on the front of nearly every newspaper crude oil. By 2013, it was moving more and newscast in North America in 2013 than 400,000 carloads annually. and 2014. Overnight, railroaders, regula- Politicians were quick to react follow- tors, and the public were asking a tidal ing the Lac-Mégantic oil-train wreck. Act has languished in Congress. In 2017, wave of questions about what happened Some believed the MM&A’s use of one- U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, reintro- in the small lakeside town: Why did the person crews was partially to blame. The duced the bill and in 2018, U.S. Sen. Heidi tank cars rupture in such spectacular argument was that if a second person had Heitkamp, D-N.D., introduced a Senate fashion? Why did the fire burn so intense- been present, additional hand brakes version of the legislation. ly? And what could be done to prevent it could have been applied to the oil train. A Although the bills have bipartisan sup- from happening again? month after the wreck, U.S. Rep. Mike port, the industry, specifically the Associa- There was also a sense of urgency to the Michaud, D-Maine, who then represented tion of American Railroads, has railed questions thanks to the dramatic spike in the congressional district the MM&A ran against it, noting that there is no conclu- crude oil moving by through, introduced sive evidence that two people aboard a rail, thanks in large the Safe Freight Act, a train would make it any safer. part to the Bakken oil bill requiring at least Public officials were also critical of gov- boom in North Dakota. “IT’S WORSE THAN two people in the cab ernment regulators for not doing enough With advances in hy- THAT, MY FRIEND,” THE of every freight train. to safeguard the movement of crude oil. draulic fracturing, “To me it’s common Karen Darch, Barrington, Ill., village presi- which helped release DISPATCHER TOLD sense that having an- dent, likened the DOT-111 tank car, the oil that had previously THOMAS HARDING. other person on that type of car that was involved with the Que- been trapped in the train is going to be bec oil train disaster, to the Ford Pinto, an tight shale rock below “IT’S YOUR TRAIN better than just one,” automobile prone to catch fire due to the the surface, the Bakken Michaud said. Since placement of its fuel tank that was later re- became the epicenter THAT ROLLED DOWN.” then, the Safe Freight called. Darch accused the U.S. government Head shields Jacketing Thermal protection Top-fittings protection DOT-117: Full-height head DOT-117: Weather-tight outer layer DOT-117: A layer between the DOT-117: Protection for ttings on shields with minimum of minimum 11-gauge (1⁄8-inch) shell and jacket to protect the tops of cars to keep hatches and Tank shell/wall thickness of 1⁄2-inch steel. ASTM A1011 steel. This type of steel contents when exposed to res safety valves from breaking open in thickness Steel used must withstand is used in barrels, automobile for 100 minutes or hit with a a roll-over accident or collision. 55,000 psi. frames, and farm implements. torch ame for 30 minutes. DOT-117: 9⁄16 inch DOT-111: None required. 7 DOT-111 DOT-111 DOT-111 DOT-111: ⁄16 inch : None required. : None required. : None required. Steel used: TC-128* Grade B, normalized steel. *TC-128 is an Association of American Railroads‘ standard steel for pressure vessels, especially tank cars. Normalized steel has been heated to make the steel plate uniform in its consistency and free from internal stresses. Not required for DOT-111 manufacture. Thermal Tank shell protection Packing groups, or contents Group Flash point Boiling point Jacketing PGI: ≤140°F <95°F PGII: <73°F >95°F Phase-out schedule for flammable- Head PGIII: ≥73°F, ≤140°F >95°F shield liquids service tank cars Why it’s not clear: Shippers are required to Type/packaging group Retrofit or retire test liquids and verify contents regularly. Results can vary. DOT-111 w/o jacket/PGI Jan. 1, 2018 DOT-111 w/jacket/PGI March 1, 2018 CPC-1232 w/o jacket/PGI April 1, 2020 How thick? (Actual size) DOT-111 w/o jacket/PGII May 1, 2023 DOT-111 w/jacket/PGII May 1, 2023 CPC-1232 w/o jacket/PGII July 1, 2023 Head shield 1⁄2 inch All remaining in service May 1, 2025

Jacketing material 1⁄8 inch Thermal protection thickness as needed

Illustration by Rick Johnson Illustration not to scale * Rule rescinded by Tank shell 9⁄16 inch Federal Railroad Administration in 2017. Couplers Brakes and braking Not mentioned in nal rules. New rule: Rules require unit trains of high-hazard Double-shelf couplers are already ammable liquids to use electronically controlled pneumatic mandated for all tank cars. Bottom-outlet protection brakes for PGI-service tank cars after Jan. 1, 2021 and all Speed restrictions in unit train flammable liquids service packing groups after Jan. 1, 2023. This is in addition to DOT-117: Incorporate an outlet handle existing distributed power and end-of-train device use New rule: Maximum 50 mph. Further limited to 40 mph in high-threat urban areas as dened by the U.S that will not open during an accident. requirements. government when tank cars do not meet DOT-117, DOT-117P, or DOT-117R standards. DOT-111: Bottom outlets optional; Old rule: Shipper preference on brakes (electronic or Old rule: Maximum determined by local track speeds and emergency orders. when included, shipper reference. straight pneumatic).

of knowing for years that the DOT-111 was prone to rupturing during a derailment but not doing anything about it. Regulators on both sides of the border quickly began to act. On July 23, 2013, just two weeks after the Lac-Mégantic wreck, Transport Canada issued an emergency directive in regards to the movement of crude oil by rail. The new directives re- quired two crew members aboard any train with one or more tank cars loaded with hazardous materials; that no oil train be left unattended on a main line; that the cab of all unattended locomotives on a main line be locked; that reversers be removed from any unattended locomotive; and that a suf- ficient number of hand brakes be applied to all parked oil trains. Two weeks later, on Aug. 7, the Federal Railroad Administra- First responders don hazardous materials suits and haul a toolbox to the site of a tion issued its own emergency directive simulated derailment at the Security and Emergency Response Training Center in with similar rules for the movement of oil the Transportation Technology Center near Pueblo, Colo. Shawn P. Burress

www.TrainsMag.com 17 trains. In late summer 2013, the FRA and way oil train collided with a derailed grain oil train derailed in northern Ontario. Less Transport Canada began to look at long- train near Casselton, N.D., igniting thou- than two months later, yet another CN oil term regulations to prevent more incidents sands of gallons of fuel and forcing the train derailed and exploded on the same such as Lac-Mégantic. evacuation of more than 2,000 residents. route just 23 miles away near Gogama, Meanwhile, oil-train derailments con- On Jan. 7, 2014, a Canadian National oil Ont. On Feb. 16, a CSX oil train derailed tinued to make headlines across North train derailed and exploded near Plaster along the Kanawha River, burning a nearby America, although none matched the trag- Rock, New Brunswick, forcing the evacua- house to the ground. On March 10, 2015, a edy of Lac-Mégantic. On Nov. 8, 2013, an tion of 150 people. On April 30, 2014, a BNSF oil train derailed near Galena, Ill., Alabama & Gulf Coast oil train derailed CSX Transportation oil train derailed and sparking a fire that lasted for more than and exploded near Aliceville, Ala., releas- exploded near downtown Lynchburg, Va., two days. On May 6, 2015, a BNSF oil train ing about 750,000 gallons of oil from 26 spilling nearly 30,000 gallons of oil into the derailed near Heimdal, N.D., spilling tank cars. On Dec. 30, 2013, a BNSF Rail- James River. On Feb. 14, 2015, another CN 60,000 gallons of oil. On July 16, 2015, a

Canadian Pacific ES44AC No. 8767 and AC44CW No. 8504 lead an empty unit crude-oil train near Harrowby, Manitoba, bound for a terminal in Saskatchewan in 2016. David Maiers BNSF oil train derailed near Culbertson, was implementing a self-imposed speed re- portation Anthony Foxx and Canada’s Min- Mont., spilling 35,000 gallons of fuel. On striction of 35 mph on oil trains moving ister of Transport Lisa Raitt announced a Nov. 7, 2015, the derailment of a Canadian through large municipal areas with popula- series of new regulations to safeguard the Pacific oil train forced the evacuation of tions of more than 100,000 people. The movement of flammable liquid by rail. Fed- dozens of homes in Watertown, Wis. And railroad stepped up the number of track eral officials called for the replacement of on June 3, 2016, a Union Pacific oil train inspections on its lines that had oil trains. both DOT-111 and CPC-1232 cars with derailed and exploded in Mosier, Ore., The railroad also announced that it would new DOT-117 cars. The new cars included a filling the scenic Columbia River Gorge no longer accept the older DOT-111 cars nine-sixteenths-inch tank shell, thermal with thick back smoke. within three years and even started to protection shielding, pressure relief valves, Railroads also began to implement their charge oil shippers $1,000 every time they and half-inch shields on either end of the own rules for the movement of oil. In used an older tank car to ship crude. cars. All new tank cars built after Oct. 1, March 2015, BNSF told customers that it On May 1, 2015, U.S. Secretary of Trans- 2015, had to be built to DOT-117 standards. Residents stand on the tracks at the site of the 2013 derailment in Lac-Mégantic on July 5, 2014, just a year after the incident. Canadian Press via Associated Press

Federal officials also called for en- regulate interstate commerce. Once such hanced electronic-braking systems that example was in Spokane, Wash. A grass- theoretically could stop a train faster, to be roots environmental group called Safer A view of downtown Lac-Mégantic installed on all oil trains by 2023. In 2017, Spokane put forward a ballot initiative in looking to the northeast in this spring President Donald Trump’s administration 2017 that called for the city to levy a tax 2017 image. The village is mostly repealed the electronic-brake system re- against railroads that moved oil or uncov- unrecognizable compared with before quirement. The DOT also ordered all oil ered coal within city limits. The group the disaster. Village of Lac-Mégantic trains to travel no faster than 50 mph, or argued that the bill was about keeping the 40 mph if there were any DOT-111 tank community safe from oil-train derail- amazing how quickly government regula- cars within the consist. Railroads were ments and coal dust, but opponents to the tors and the industry responded. “Regula- also required to share oil-train-route in- effort, including the mayor and the county tory change traditionally moves at a gla- formation with state and local agencies to sheriff, said it was unenforceable and cially slow pace. Proposals have to be help first responders prepare for an oil- would have had a negative impact on the made, comment periods have to happen, train-related incident. Lastly, the govern- economy. The initiative failed at the ballot revisions are made, it takes a long time. So ment agencies called for more frequent box in November 2017. when you have these headline-making in- cargo sampling to ensure that all unre- In the years following Lac-Mégantic, cidents, like Lac-Mégantic, it moves a lot fined petroleum-based products were railroads intensified their efforts to train quicker,” Burgess says. “The pace of properly labeled. first responders on how to deal with an change in this case was remarkable.” “Safety has been our top priority at oil-train wreck. The industry, led by rail- every step in the process for finalizing this roads such as BNSF, UP, and CSX Trans- UNITED IN REBUILDING rule, which is a significant improvement portation, spent millions of dollars to Five years after MM&A train No. 2 de- over the current regulations and require- train thousands of first responders from railed and exploded in Lac-Mégantic, the ments and will make transporting across the country on how to douse rebuilding has only just begun. The clean- flammable liquids safer,” Secretary Foxx crude-oil fires. Firefighters were frequent- up effort began almost as soon as the fires said during the announcement in Wash- ly sent to the Transportation Technology were out and it took nearly two years to ington. “Our close collaboration with Center near Pueblo, Colo., for multiday remediate the oil-contaminated soil. Al- Canada on new tank car standards is rec- courses on hazardous-material spills. Rail- though approximately 30 buildings were ognition that the trains moving unprece- roads also began using specialized destroyed in the initial derailment, just as dented amounts of crude by rail are not training tank cars and trains to take the many had to be demolished in the months U.S. or Canadian tank cars — they are courses to as many fire departments as after, because of contamination. In the part of a North American fleet and a possible. The BNSF training tank car, for end, about 30 acres were wiped clear. shared safety challenge.” example, helped firefighters and emergen- In the aftermath of the wreck, the mu- Federal agencies were not the only cy responders learn about the different nicipality established a Bureau of Recon- ones to try and regulate the movement of types of tank car caps and leaks that they struction to help spearhead the town’s re- crude by rail. States and municipalities could run into. birth. Once the cleanup was complete, made attempts to level fines against rail- Nikki Burgess, a regulatory specialist roads, sidewalks, and water and sewage in- roads for the movement of certain hazard- with more than 30 years experience in the frastructure were built. In 2017, some of the ous materials, although critics note that industry, says looking back at the years first new buildings were built and even neither a state nor a city has the power to following the Lac-Mégantic wreck, it is more were expected to be erected in 2018,

20 TRAIN WRECKS • Vol. 2 including a mix of commercial and residen- tims. The details of the memorial are ex- will split costs of the $133 million bypass tial buildings. The town is also encouraging pected to be released around the fifth anni- 60:40 and expect to open the line by 2022. developers to build environmentally friend- versary in July. There’s an old saying in transportation: ly buildings. Businesses that build to the lat- But more than park space, residents the rules are written in blood. Perhaps the est energy efficiency standards do not have want the railroad that caused the disaster most memorable example of this old adage to pay property taxes for the first five years. gone. Not long after rail service returned to is the sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic in 1912. Sonia Dumont, director of communica- town in December 2013, community Within weeks of the ship’s sinking, inquiries tions and marketing for the bureau, says members began to call for a rail bypass into the tragedy began in both the United despite the tragedy, Lac-Mégantic is around the town. States and Great Britain that would drasti- becoming a great place for people who A study looked at three different cally alter maritime law over the next few want a new beginning. bypass designs and the most popular years. The most famous example were new “We’re dedicated to the reconstruction would take the rails on a 7-mile detour laws requiring passenger ships to carry a of Lac-Mégantic and we’re not just talking north away from downtown and through sufficient number of lifeboats. While the about a physical reconstruction, we’re farmlands. In January 2018, Minister of Titanic was in compliance with the laws of rebuilding a people and a community,” she Transport Marc Garneau said the 1912, the 16 lifeboats it had were not nearly says. Dumont says city officials and devel- Canadian government would contribute enough to save the lives of the more than opers have worked hard to ensure that “a substantial sum” to the building the 2,000 people aboard the ship. Other chang- community members play an important bypass in partnership with the Province es included the establishment of a North role in how the downtown is rebuilt. of Quebec. An official plan was expected Atlantic ice patrol, which continues to warn One thing local residents asked for to be released later this year. ships of ice fields more than a century after during a number of public meetings was Executives with the current operator an iceberg sank the Titanic. green space and so a park connecting the of the railroad through town, the Central There are stories — often tragic — downtown to the lake is being construct- Maine & Quebec, have said in the past behind every rule in shipping. The same ed. “People are ready to move ahead, to that they would support whatever was goes for railroading. Usually, rulebooks are move forward. They best for the people of written by piecemeal, but every once in a want a downtown Lac-Mégantic. while, an event happens that changes every- where life takes place,” Prime Minister Jus- thing, be it the sinking of a ship or the de- she says. “SOME PEOPLE IN THIS tin Trudeau announced railment of a train. On the night of July 5, There will also be a COMMUNITY ARE STILL in May 2018 that gov- 2013, as people filed into Musi-Café for an place to remember ernment officials select- evening of music and dancing and as those killed in the trag- TRAUMATIZED BY ed a 6.8-mile route Thomas Harding guided an oil train east edy five years ago. PASSING TRAINS, EVEN around the town that toward Lac-Mégantic, few could have Dumont says in early would take the rail line guessed what was about to happen. 2018, the city finalized THOUGH THEY SEE AND through nearby farm- Few could have guessed that a town plans for a memorial to HEAR THE TRAIN land. The Canadian and and an industry were about to change, remember the 47 vic- Quebec governments and change forever. TW EVERY DAY,” www.TrainsMag.com 21