After the crash: behind the scenes of a train derailment
A former CN train engineer and a former TSB investigator explain what happens after the crash
Once the train has crashed and its crew has taken stock of the damage, what happens next?
It's a question many are wondering in the wake of a derailment this week in Strathroy.
On Wednesday, a CN train headed westbound derailed before dawn just south of downtown Strathroy, causing 13 cars to jump the tracks, including a box car that came to rest in the middle of Metcalfe Street.
Emergency officials called it "lucky" no one was hurt and said that the situation could have been far worse. The 128-car freight train was carrying a lone propane tanker car that was empty at the time of the crash.
For the driver, a derailment is not an uncommon occurrence, according to John Wever, a former CN train engineer whose career spanned almost 30 years on the rails.
From the engineer's perspective
"Probably everyone has been through a derailment," he said, noting that once the derailment happens, the driver brings the train to a full stop and the conductor will go out to inspect the length of the train and any damage.
"There's always a period of anxiety," he said. "There's no way to tell what happened back there."
"[The engineer is] hoping for the best. In other words, that there's minimal damage to the surrounding area, that there aren't any special dangerous cars that have cracked open, no-one's been hurt."
Wever said, even if the driver finds out no-one was hurt in the crash, the next couple days are no picnic either.
'This might have been my fault'
"You sort of give this sigh of relief," he said. "But you know over the next few days, there's going to be an investigation."
"First, the train master will show up and just get an idea as to how it may have occurred. Then the following days you'll be brought in for an investigation."
After that, there's more anxious waiting, as train company officials and federal investigators pore over all of the evidence involved in an investigation that can take days, according to Wever.
"You sort of wait for the other shoe to drop," he said. "You know this might have been my fault."
'Really up the creek'
Then the driver and conductor are interviewed about what happened and investigators try to match it to the data they took from the crash site, as well as the locomotive's black box, which records the conditions at the time of the crash.
"They'll have all the downloads, everything that they need to get your perspective of it. To essentially see if you're to blame, or the track or the cars."
If the crew is to blame, both the train engineer and the conductor could face disciplinary action, or worse, based on whether investigators believe one or both are at fault, said Wever.
"It might result in your firing, the accumulation of demerits or a dismissal for six months," he said. "There could be criminal charges. Say he's under the influence of alcohol or drugs, then he's really up the creek."
Wever said the rail industry zealously sticks to a zero tolerance policy when it comes to alcohol, noting that even the slightest hint of it in an employee's system can result in firing or worse.
Mostly though, he said accidents result in disciplinary action, which could include a suspension or in the best case scenario a verbal dressing down by a superior.
"You take your lumps and carry on," he said.
From the investigator's perspective
Once a derailment happens, the rail companies must notify the Transportation Safety Board. The TSB is an independent investigation and regulating agency that determines the causes of marine, air, rail and pipeline incidents.
"First of all, there will be a call from the railways to the TSB's hotline," said Ian Naish, a former director at the agency who served 11 years overseeing railway and pipeline investigations.
Naish said the company will give as much information as they have at the time, including the time of the derailment, injuries, deaths, damages and whether there were dangerous goods aboard the train.
Managers at the agency will then decide whether to dispatch investigators, who usually work in pairs, he said. In the case of an evacuation, it is normally coordinated by local emergency officials.
Black box
Once on scene, Naish said investigators will look at four things things: the point of derailment, whether human error was involved, possible equipment failure and track failure.
Naish said one of the most important indicators of what happened is the locomotive's black box, which records everything that happens on board the engine.
"It tells you whether the train was being operated properly," he said. "It basically validates the exact speed and the way the train is being operated and the time of the derailment."
If the data show that train handling might have been an issue leading up to the crash, investigators will then look at the crew to see whether fatigue played a role, Naish said.
"You look into what their last 72 hours of work involved. How much rest they got and so on," he said, noting investigators will look at the crew's training and experience among other things.
TSB investigators would also try to find the exact spot where the train went off the tracks.
"You have to identify the point of derailment and which was the first car off," he said. "You examine and see if there's anything unusual about the car. You look at marks on the rail to see the method of derailment."
After that, the TSB would look at the equipment being used by the the railway company. Whether faulty wheels, broke couplers or a failed brake line could have caused the accident, Naish said.
Naish noted that in the case of the Strathroy derailment, the train was 128 cars long, which without knowing how fast it was travelling, may have played a factor in the crash.
Difficult to handle
"It's a pretty long train, probably two miles long," he said. "The longer trains get, the more in-train forces you get when the train is being operated. There's a lot of kinetic energy in a thing like that," he said. "It can be difficult to handle."
Naish said finding a cause can take a lot of time, up to a year, or more.
"There is an official line that it usually is within a year, that is, if they're doing a full blown investigation," he said. "Sometimes you just have to say 'it's going to be longer, we have to do lab tests."
"You really have to look at all the aspects," Naish said. "You can make assumptions, but you have to test them."
However, Naish notes the public can get some information before the final report is released, through preliminary reports that give the public an idea of what happened.
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