A westbound CP Rail train derailed in the early morning hours of Jan. 8 about five kilometres east of Golden, B.C. sending six cars off the track, including a tanker carrying fish oil that was breached and leaked some of its contents.
CP Rail spokesperson Kevin Hrysak said the incident happened just before 4 a.m. on Jan. 8, and was cleared by the morning of Jan. 9, more than 24 hours later. The derailment halted traffic through the main east-west track for the duration.
Neither of the two CP Rail staff on the train were injured.
Hrysak said the mixed-freight, intermodal train had three locomotives and 88 cars. Only one train was involved.
Hrysak said the train wasn’t carrying any hazardous materials, such as oil, liquid petroleum gas, explosives or hazardous chemicals. There was no fire associated with the derailment.
Of the six cars that jumped the track, some were empty. He said the breached car carrying fish oil did leak, but that the spill “was immediately contained.” No locomotives derailed.
Hrysak didn’t know where the train originated, but said it was destined for the west coast.
He didn’t have exact details on the stretch of track where the train derailed, such as whether it was near a tunnel, switch, a siding or a curve.
Hrysak said Transport Canada, the Transportation Safety Board and the B.C. Ministry of Environment were notified, but he was unsure if any officials attended the scene.
James Carmichael is the Regional Senior Investigator for the Canada Transportation Safety Board and is based in Calgary.
He said the TSB was notified, but that investigators wouldn’t attend the scene, partially because of the unremarkable nature of the derailment, which had “no leaks,” “no spills” and no injuries.
“We’re going to continue communications with CP on it,” Carmichael said. “Unless something changes, we are not going to do anything further with it.”
He understood the derailment happened near a series of small tunnels in the Glenogle area, and part of the train came to a stop in a tunnel.
The TSB will rely on an investigation and report from CP Rail.
Hrysak said it was too early to attribute a cause to the crash, saying the investigation could take “a month to a year” to complete. CP Rail will forward the results of their investigation to the Canada Transport Safety Board.
***
This story has been updated to include additional details provided by CP Rail after our initial interview, such as the total number of cars in the train.
***
Do you have more information about this incident? Photos? A different version of this story? Comment using Facebook below, or contact the private and confidential line of story writer Aaron Orlando at 250-814-8710.
