Report identifies derailment cause
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This article was published 23/07/2018 (2103 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A failed thermite weld was the central cause of a train derailment near Dominion City last August, according to a report released by the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) on Tuesday.
In the afternoon of Aug. 11, 2017, a Canadian Pacific freight train was headed north when 22 covered hopper cars loaded with corn derailed while exiting a bridge over the Roseau River, near Dominion City. There were no injuries, and no product or rolling stock entered the waterway.
The investigation determined the train derailed when a thermite weld, which joins two pieces of rail, failed under the train.
The TSB report attributed the problems to “finning” in the thermite weld fracture, which occured when molten metal leaked from a casting mould and did not fully fuse with the rail. The report also indicated the weld experienced “higher stresses” due to geometry defects and track conditions at the location of the incident.
Though CP had been monitoring defects in the track, this location had not been identified for immediate repair, the report stated.
The rail company has now completed a rail replacement, installing about 5,000 ft. of continuous welded rail along what is known as the Emerson subdivision.