An investigation has been completed by the Transportation Safety Board into a January 7 train derailment in Kitwanga.
On January 7, a westward train experienced a train-initiated emergency brake application while proceeding at about 35 mph at Mile 70.14 of the Bulkley Subdivision. Inspection by the train crew revealed that 34 cars loaded with wood pellets had derailed. There were no injuries, and there was no environmental impact.
No alarms were triggered as the train passed 2 detectors. The locomotive event recorder was reviewed and no train handling anomalies were noted. The forward-facing video and audio from the lead locomotive were then reviewed. A sound was heard and a noticeable side-sway motion from the north side was observed as the train travelled through the left hand curve before the train-initiated emergency brake occurred.
The 3rd through 36th cars behind the locomotives derailed. In the report at the end it’s stated, “the video and audio recordings from the lead locomotive strongly suggest that a sudden track failure occurred.” It’s believed that bulk unit train traffic accelerated the development of priority wide-gauge conditions where the derailment took place. The gauge of a track is a clear minimum distance between the inner faces of two rails.
Photos provided by: The Transportation Safety Board.
If you want to read the full report you can find it here.
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