The Lac-Mégantic rail disaster 9 years later (Remastered)

This remaster was scheduled for next year but due to the class one railroads like NS and CSX pushing for 1 man crews I decided to release it early. This video follows the story on how a crude oil train with a defective leading locomotive ended up running away down a steep grade toward a densely populated Canadian town
Article describing the full dangers of 1 man crews: railroadworkersunited.squares...
Soundtrack
Fountain - Sean Murray
• Sean Murray - Fountain
Triathlon of Love and Tears - Roland Professional Music
• "Triathlon of Love and...
Sweet Dreams Are Made of Screams - TheUlfsteadLine
/ sweet-dreams-are-made-...
Past, Present, Future - Trevor Jones
• Trevor Jones/Runaway T...
Reflection - Trevor Jones
• Trevor Jones/Runaway T...
Dogma - Apple Music
(can be sourced from Final Cut Pro X)
Quiet Water - Toby Fox
• Undertale OST: 033 - Q...
Duncan Gets Spooked - Mavis M (original melody by Mike O’Donnell &
Junior Campbell)
• Duncan Gets Spooked In...
• Duncan Gets Spooked 20... (slowed version)
Ticking - David Fesliyan
www.fesliyanstudios.com/royal...
Burn in Despair - Toby Fox
• Undertale Ost: 088 - B...
Mauer Der Toten - Sean Murray
• Call Of Duty World At ...
Dark - Richard Zelda
• HORROR MUSIC - DARK (o...
Haunted Soul - Richard Zelda
• DARK HORROR MUSIC - HA...
The Cosmos - Sirius Beat
• Relaxing Calm | Free T...
Terminator Theme Song Remix - Her-Gmz (original melody by Brad Fiedel)
• Brad Fiedel - Terminat...
Terminator: Resistance main theme - Chris Detyna
• Terminator: Resistance...
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[@karlrobinson4887]

Outstanding narration. You really emphasized the right points (ie "The TSA examined their operations and they were HORRIFIED...) I worked for MMA in 2006/2007 as a trackmen. My first day on the job was at a massive wreck site (go figure). One of their senior guys jacked up a piece of track, left the huge "johnson bar" (basically a six foot long, 30 pound steel spike) in the jack, the jack failed, the track snapped back down, and that ungodly piece of steel was sent about 800 feet up at a good 200 mph. If we were on flat ground, it may have landed 50 yards away at most. As it was, it struck the steep hillside and tumbled all they way down practically to our feet. I, too, was horrified.

[@DaimosZ]

Good God reading that just made me wince. I guess OSHA compliance is just a suggestion list these days...

[@karlrobinson4887]

@@DaimosZ Oh it was quite the operation. During hunting season, everyone on the Tie Crew (about 20 of us) would come to work strapped with shotguns, rifles, and sidearms. We'd just start blasting away at wildlife whenever we saw it right from the equipment.

[@DaimosZ]

@@karlrobinson4887 Now I can't tell if MMA was trying to run an actual railroad or if it was just a circus show with trains just reading all this and of course what happened in 2013. No offense to your time there.

[@RailsofForney]

If they had jacked it any more that steel bar oiled be in space 😂

[@karlrobinson4887]

@@RailsofForney I think we maxed it out. Think about this: in the time it took that track to snap back down approximately six inches (a small fraction of a second), that six foot bar went from horizontal to vertical. The bar didn't lock into the jack. It fit loosely into the receiver and is supposed to be removed immediately after jacking.

[@157RANDOM]

We had to study this in such depth in training, it really hits home as a railroader. This accident is why rule 112 of the CROR was completely revamped. Handbrake requirements are much more fleshed out now, and regulations about non-railway personnel interacting with locomotives are much more strict. One man crews is something every railroader I work with is vehemently against, as am I. We know how difficult it would be with one man crews, especially since the terminal I wourk out of does long hauls (300 miles) so it takes 10 hours on a good day to get over the road. Even for short haul terminals (~150 miles) the fatigue issues would be immense.

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

Exactly why that borderline rant at the end was necessary. The only main reason the class 1s want 1 man crews is money especially since they laid so many conductors off and companies like NS got into huge trouble with labor unions by trying to force engineers to be conductors. Makes me sick how they can get away with their acts. I tell everyone if they wanna be a railroader, go to a shortline.

[@Tankproduction2022]

@@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren I agree with you. I was going work for csx here in florida but hearing this after high school I will be joining florida east coast railroad company

[@Tankproduction2022]

@@mirandapruett ho I know thanks

[@Kaithelegoguy]

Wow I really wanna know your journey throughout this amazing career is there any way you could film some parts of it

[@Tankproduction2022]

@@Kaithelegoguy I can try

[@FreedomLovingLoyalistOfficial]

As a Canadian, dispite the disaster being 9 years ago, my mind is still fresh when the News Papers and the news talked about the whole thing. It's sad that many died due to human error and let that never repeat in any curcumstances again. Mes condoléances vont aux familles des victimes.

[@williamcote4208]

Same.

[@jlaws8740]

And to think, some people just haven't learned from this accident. People who are for it should be shown this video, as well as the death count, of what they're standing for.

[@williamcote4208]

@@The-lay I didn’t see it coming, but my dad did. He called that company a « Une companies broche à foin », and at that time my dad was living pretty much next to the Farnham HQ of MMA.

[@gordonbyron5145]

The worst is that this isn't the first time there's an accident with this fuel train. It also happened in Ste-Madeleine in 99.

[@The_ScoFieldQc]

That my city i was there :( lost lot a friends that night

[@Railman1225]

That last line chills me to the bone. Let’s hope whoever’s SUPPOSED to be in charge of these railroads pulls their heads out of the ground and listens to reason, _before_ we get another Lac-Megentic Edit: I KNOW, I KNOW!!! For Pete's Sake, calm down!

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

I'm hoping so too. Especially since that "tying down on the mainline" hits close to home cause NS continues to do that especially by the PECO natural gas facility who complains when NS leaves trains there for days like "you forget something?"

[@drcovell]

Heads out of asses! This is when the executives should have gone to jail in 47 charges of manslaughter!

[@rhino2960]

They can't, and they won't, not as long as corporate is constantly pushing them to save money, and until they're raking in money, that won't stop, and some of the biggest sources of railroad money are industries being either dead, dying, or worse, being forcibly killed off by government interference and impractical regulation, the likes of which only ever seems to get worse as more and more people enter government and industry who have never had to change their own oil filter, let alone run, maintain, and coordinate a half mile or longer consist of train cars and locomotives, isn't helping the situation at all. The gap in those with a lack of practical understanding of how things work and those who do is growing alarmingly fast, and i fear as that gap grows wider, the chance of things like the Megantic disaster are only going to increase, technology can only counteract so much human stupidity.

[@darkmaster6481]

Railman1225 Sadly nothing will change until disaster hits and they know that due to people ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION OR STRAIGHT UP IGNORE IT!!

[@thecamocampaindude5167]

As a bilingual person from quebec. You said lac megantic pretty ok. But you are supposed to say it like this: lahc meygantic

[@dieselelectricrazor377]

Given the disaster at East Palestine Ohio recently... The final half of this video has never been more eerily relevant

[@scotthayes4135]

And Biden did nothing to help the people in East Palestine. No way they're gonna vote for him.

[@J-Bahn]

Definitley. At least no one died there.

[@johndeerefan725]

The one part of this video that was brought back to East Palestine was the DOT-111 tank cars, as there were several DOT-111s on the NS train that derailed.

[@ScorchLawson]

So US Rail companies are going to prevent disasters caused by poor crew resource management by removing the crew and dumping the work load on one person? The United States Postal Service tried that too. Wonder how that worked out for them?

[@Kishanth.J]

How did it go for the USPS?

[@ScorchLawson]

@@Kishanth.JIt went extremely badly. All that pressure caused postal workers to snap. It's where the phrase "going postal" comes from.

[@nursestoyland]

@Scorch Lawson sheesh. Who came up with 1 man crews anyways? It’s a dumb idea

[@generaljo7471]

@@nursestoyland Bean Counters trying to cut costs.

[@nursestoyland]

@@generaljo7471 whoever came up with that idea doomed freight railroading

[@glennjohnston2267]

Huge props to the Engineer or conductor in that radio exchange! That's a man who knows his job!!!!!

[@MK-fc2hn]

So many contributing factors, but the engineer for whatever reason didn't set enough of his hand brakes.. if he had taken the time to set them, or to set more than the minimum called for, this disaster would have been avoided. 😔

[@Sublette217]

As a former railroader who has watched Norfolk Southern park freights on the main in the last year or two, I completely agree with your editorial commentary about PSR and the dangerous notion of one man crews. It only takes seconds of distraction to put a train on the ground. And the UP points system flagrantly tells employees that their personal lives don’t matter, that they should just be happy robots.

[@thomasmiller158]

Wow, that sounds like retail horror story territory.

[@bojanglesthewizard8875]

It's like they're trying to push out all employees so they can go to no man crews

[@LegoWormNoah101]

​@@bojanglesthewizard8875and then who will they blame when autonomous trains kill people? The government wants us all dead?

[@davidakey9743]

One man Train Crews is NOT how we do things around in the railroad industry. What happens if that one crew member gets incapacitated by any reason? What's going to happen when Positive Train Control doesn't do what it should? That idea would only bring more incidents, lawsuits, destruction, and death.

[@opiumextract2934]

Won't say which railroad I work for but PTC works...when it wants to.

[@Timmi9303]

I drive trains alone over in Sweden and yes our trains are tiny compared to those massive consists over in North America. I don't see the issue IF you have proper(!) signaling systems and dead man switches with firm rules on how to operate when they fail. Like install a proper signaling system that can NOT be overriden unless you do specific stuff and that stops the train BEFORE the signal or speed reduction. Scenario, train driver passes out because of reasons, the dead man switch puts the train in to emergency after say 30 seconds, preferably a lot shorter. Scenario, train driver gets called by dispatch and while distracted misses the speed reduction coming up. The AutomaticTrainControll, ETCS, PTC or whatever system you use will warn and if no action is taken brake the train until train is stopped with the ability to release when the train is under the limit. This also prevents speeding. Also, what's the deal with the lack of switches that protect agains SPAD and front end collisions? If the train going in to the siding passes the signal it should be derailed either by a dead end switch and/or derailers. The system should not be designed around one person, rather multiple systems so you have a plan A, B, C and D if shit hits the fan. If I need to visit the bathroom I must stop the train because that's the sensible thing to do. If I get distracted by phonecall (yes we are allowed the use of personal and workphones while driving within reason.). and I miss a speed reduction I get a warning 13 seconds ahead of when I need to start braking. Then again at 8 and 3 seconds. If I don't do anything the train will automaticly stop the train for me. This works so well that the only issues come when the antennas get it wrong with the effect of a stop being initiated. Faultcodes are displayed and if there's no stop indication you are free to continue with reduced speed until it starts itself back up around 5 km later. Our system (ATC2) is great but far from perfect. It allows for warning ahead of malfunctioning crossings, speed reductions and signal restrictions. It also keeps an eye on the greatest speed allowed and the braking% to give you a fairly good estimate ahead of when you need to brake.

[@rhino2960]

@@Timmi9303 at least one sizeable part of the difference between your country's way of operating and canada's, is its size. The widest your country is between two points is roughly 1600 kilometers, canada's widest point is more than 3 and a half times that. A cross country trip for a passenger train here is a minimum of 6 days to a week, freight is even longer, as such, 1 man crews are simply not practical here, 2 to 3 man crews are needed to make it from point A to point B in good time frames.

[@Hairyegg]

They are trying to bring in driver only trains in the uk to save money and more profit for the share holders

[@rokyba_1289]

Australia has been running trains with 1 man crews for well over a decade. Even the iron ore trains in the north west (some of the world's longest and heaviest trains) are all manned by 1 driver. I driven them myself. Just me. No one else, in some of the most remote locations in the world. All with very few incidents. If the driver (engineer as you call them) is doing their job and following the procedures correctly, you can't go wrong. This incident wasn't caused because it was a 1 man crew. The engineer failed to do his job correctly. Yes, having a 2nd person may have prevented this. But it is just as likely the 2nd person would've failed to do their job correctly either. Not enough handbrakes were put on. Simple as that. Over here, if you have to stable a train on the mainline.....its 100% handbrakes. Poor procedures and poor safety culture caused this. Not to mention piss poor decision making from higher up.

[@SportyMabamba]

This idea of single crewing freights in the US/Canada is always gonna end in tears. We only get away with it in the UK because most of the support functions are performed by Ground Crew / Yard Staff and the runs are set out so that the Driver swaps en route and doesn’t have to sleep in the cab (although we have had incidents involving fatigued drivers on split-shifts where there isn’t adequate ‘napping’ accommodation).

[@notafanofthegovernment9982]

cant jim foote (CSX CEO) understand that

[@calebtrains2261]

@llama0wn3d That, And TBF U.K. Freight Trains Are MUCH Shorter Than U.S. Freight Trains.

[@Sniperboy5551]

UK routes are a hell of a lot shorter than anything you see in North America

[@bojanglesthewizard8875]

US and Canadian trains are 3-4 times larger than UK trains as well as having to go through rugged terrain like mountain ranges

[@alisonwilson9749]

@@bojanglesthewizard8875 All the more reason for having more safety regs rather than fewer....

[@medrep1000]

This an outstanding reconstruction of this awful tragedy. The editing is perfect.

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

Thanks

[@Gojira160]

​@@Thunderbolt_1000_SirenI think it's best if MMA brought back 3 crew members.

[@MK-fc2hn]

​@@Gojira160They went bankrupt.. good riddance to them.

[@ChrizKeyz]

To be honest the engineer is pretty innocent, yeah he could have added more handbrakes to the train, but was it his fault, no. Like Thunderbolt explained, the engineer did report situations with the train to the higher ups but they didn't do anything.

[@megladon6]

If he had a crew mate they might have been able to notice that he left the airs on or even just helped crank more hands down.

[@BBLoup]

A higher ups will never do the job for you, you need to do what you're suppose and the minimum was 9 and the Engineer knew it. This dumb lazy driver apply 7. Probably 9 wasn't enough too, who knows... But this guys is just a lazy ass, he put 7 and just expect the air brake will not fail. Yes his higher ups fucked up too by been negligant but he is the guy on the terrain, he is the engineer and the responsable of a hole Train full of Crude Oil he is the main reason why all this happen because if he would apply 4-5 more brakes 47 lives could have been saved.

[@tonyburzio4107]

More likely, both would have left.

[@kaiandkade]

yeah

[@JustaShrimp372]

If he hade a crewmate he couldve been warned about his improper handbrake test as well

[@BushForLife1946]

Being a Canadian made this hit different. Reading about this in the newspaper was something worse than a nightmare. Thank you for making this video and bringing attention to this train crash.

[@brianellis8620]

Even here state side they had us take foam up. We felt it too. We flew the maple leaf on every telephone pole for 2 months and every truck in our county scrambled fast as ever. The brotherhood between Americans and Canadians that day was beautiful in a time of despair

[@katiest-amand2488]

I Agree with you 3DSBNSF

[@Gentrol]

It frightened me, I live in Canada too and have been to Quebec many times and loved it.

[@nursestoyland]

@@Gentrol u got any extra maple syrup? But in all seriousness, that fireball was just like the Atomic bomb

[@Gentrol]

@@nursestoyland I've gotten all the Maple syrup you could think about

[@iankennedy7048]

This is very concerning seeing as I live in a small us midwestern town where CSX trains run through here daily. Half of the time they're hauling crude oil as it blitzkriegs through town. With that being said, this sounds like a case of those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Especially when it comes to things like this. The trains are only getting longer, putting on more responsibilities to the crewmen and companies like CSX, Norfolk Southern etc. want to cut back on the crew? That's idiocy at its finest.

[@TheTrueAdept]

No, this is just greed. Costs have only gone up and stockholders want wider and wider profit margins. Humans, I'm sad to say, are now just _too costly_ to employ in the current business environment, which is why they're getting automated to oblivion.

[@rsmith3033]

stock holders are TOO greedy if makin big profits results in death then each an every one should have to support the family’s of whom ever died, seems fair to me

[@TheTrueAdept]

@@rsmith3033 here's the thing, you can't deny that humans are just too expensive to work and the general work pool is shrinking year by year...

[@lancehammons5918]

They've been testing the 1 man bs between Clifton forge/covington, va to quinmont, wv Kinda worried they're gonna have a runaway down the 2.9% between wss, wv and ronceverte wv

[@iceresistance]

@@TheTrueAdept All it takes is a catastrophic disaster to change this, This happened in the Alps mountain tunnel between France and Italy in the 90s. And since then there are strict regulations to make sure it never happens again.

[@DaimosZ]

I am sad to say that history has repeated itself, on the Norfolk Southern's line passing East Palestine, Ohio. Except instead of a fire destroying the town, it's toxic chemicals spilled from tank cars.

[@EchoesofMordecai]

I’ve heard about it the chemicals that were leaking were Post-Vinyl Chloride which makes: PVC pipes, automotive parts and accessories, furniture, packaging materials, wall coverings, and wire coatings.

[@1981deloreanfan]

There were quite a few DOT-111 tank cars on that train. You got to wonder how many tank cars have actually been rebuilt/retired.

[@DaimosZ]

@@1981deloreanfan It really makes you think

[@ViperWasTaken]

fReE pAlEsTinE🙏🇵🇸

[@DaimosZ]

@@ViperWasTaken lol

[@CardScientist]

speaking crucial to history railroad wrecks, I would love to see you cover the Naperville train wreck. Its basically *the* wreck that halted all highspeed rail development in America and basically killed off passenger travel by rail for the US (at least on the same scale as Europe) Great work on the documentary!

[@harrisonofcolorado8886]

I agree. Very few people know that the Naperville crash is the reason why Amtrak trains can only go at a max speed of 79 MPH unless there were all sorts of measures & track improvements in place.

[@psychokinrazalon]

Sounds like we could use some help from the Chinese.

[@mrmaniac3]

@@psychokinrazalon I would not seek help from China on railroads. Though they've built out a nationwide high speed rail network of 40k plus miles of track, it was built out with absolute authoritarian power, and has already experienced crashes. I would seek help from Japan, Switzerland, France, and maybe even India.

[@casperreininga3253]

Another wreck I'd like to see covered is the 1876 UK Abbots Ripton accident. This wreck is basically the main reason we have the signalling system currently in use across the globe.

[@danielsacks7152]

We had a train wreck basically in our backyard in 1982, i believe. Norfolk and Western (now southern) on the Nickle Plate road at Sidney, Indiana. Burning molten sulphur and lumber cars. Lots of evacuation. Many fire departments and even airforce 8x8 foam trucks from grissom AFB. We were so close at less than a mile that the sulphur clouds went over us and we stayed. However it killed some of our trees. I remember walking the site as a kid because the Rail Road was behind our farm. Caused by a bearing failure on a barley car tossing the rail. Another mile either way it all would have been in a town. I still have a chunk of the sulphur. I wouldn't get too concerned about computers replacing crew members for very long. Automation is a self ending cycle. Computers and robots don't pay taxes or buy goods. Therefore, the entire economy collapses, and everything will grind to a stop, simple 6th grade economics.

[@brianellis8620]

Been visiting megantic since I was a kid. My dad bought tires at the spot of the derailment. I remember that day. Only 40 miles from here. We responded to it. Looked like a war zone. Bottles in bars left on tables like a bombing raid hit. Hauled through there until last year. The way those people rebuilt and recovered is incredible

[@darkterrierofficial]

The FRA just proposed that a minimum of two crew members need to be in the cabs so it suck to be NS and CSX

[@anthonyholroyd5359]

The phrase my union uses (in a different country where railways are also facing a reduction in traincrew to 'Driver only operation') is "Let the driver drive". I.e. just let the driver get on with the task of driving the train - let the guard handle ancillary duties such as dispatching at stations etc. Also our working conditions are so much better. By law: maximum 12 hour shifts; minimum 12 hours off-duty between shifts. My company actually has maximum 10 hour shifts for most crews with 11 hours by local agreement for more rural depots (where few trains run and getting you from one end of the line to the other would be nearly impossible inside 10 hours). Additionally you cannot work more than 13 days in a row without a day off. You can legitimately refuse to work due to being unfit through fatigue (and that's between you and your traincrew supervisor to decide - and you have final say). As for being 'on call'? You work your rostered shifts - some of those shifts you are 'spare' or 'as required', basically meaning you are paid to turn up at your depot and hang around incase something goes wrong and they need you to work a train in a hurry. As for your days off? We call them 'rest days' and if they want you to work they'll phone and ask. You can say no - but better is to fill out a 'Not Available' form ahead of time. That way they won't phone you at all. On your days off you are considered either 'Rest day - available' . . . I.e. they can phone to ask you if you want to work or 'Rest day - not available' . . . I.e. you've filled out one of those forms and they'll leave you alone.

[@opiumextract2934]

We are our own worst enemies. I've had engineers/drivers thank me for staying awake because others don't. Others will have the engineer answer the radio....thats not his/her job.

[@9751asd]

this disaster would have NOT happened if CP rail never left Eastern Quebec on December 31 1994

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

This is pretty true

[@Br-bs1xe]

Or if the brakes are activ if the air perssure is at 0bar/psi like by us in Europe

[@maverickmraz5356]

You are right it could have been prevented

[@bracdude181]

I remember reading a news article somewhere that said CP subcontracted the train to MMA because doing so was more profitable than handing the train off to CN for them to bring to Saint John…

[@sodorcontries4322]

So true

[@fmnut]

Excellent documentary. Well researched, well edited, well narrated and great graphics and media. I visited Lac Megantic back in the 1988-1990 era when CP was still owner. Quite a smart operation then. I was sickened when I heard the news of the derailment/fire. I am a retired NS employee and I am appalled at current developments in the rail industry. "Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are condemned to repeat them".

[@None-zc5vg]

They may well repeat them but they'll be careful not to have to suffer the painful consequences.

[@GR-Kevin]

Who else is watching this in 2023 when the East Palestine derailment happened? It'll be told in stories too

[@rwchannel8832]

And all over the world…….

[@4-8-4Northern]

I am

[@sarahboettcher3266]

Never heard of that one

[@nolijelmore220]

Yup

[@jennibun1]

Me

[@quebecpilotdreams1516]

I still remember seeing this on the news on the TV when I woke up. I was 8 years old at the time. I was shocked. I watched other documentaries about train accidents, but this one was a real one, in my region. I still remember the face expression my mom gave me when I saw the horrors happening on the TV. Thanks you for remastering this documentary. Hello from Quebec City, QC, Canada!

[@elizabethboyle-contreras9668]

Hi!

[@jd_kreeper2799]

This has got to be one of the best videos I've seen from you. Normally the story of a train disaster is obvious from the beginning, but this one had multiple plot twists. At first the locomotive caught fire, but the fire luckily didn't spread. But then the train became a runaway on the main line, and I expected it to collide with another train. During the scene where it went on that tight turn, I was not sure if it would derail or not despite the hints. When it derailed without hitting anything, I was confused on why this was considered a disaster as the locomotive didn't derail and therefore wouldn't start a fire, but then the crude oil somehow ignited, causing far more chaos than the diesel fuel in the locomotive.

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

Thats what I do with these videos and unfortunately why they become incredibly long. Most people concentrate on 1 factor, I look into every aspect as all accidents are caused by a chain of critical events that lead to the disaster. Its why I like shows such as "Air Crash Investigation" and "Seconds from Disaster" yeah some of it is dramatized for TV sake but overall both do a stellar job in looking into all the factors in an accident which is what I try to replicate myself.

[@ViperPilot16]

​@@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren I just want it to be known from me personally atleast. I can see your inspirations (having watched Air Crash Investigations, Mayday Air Disasters, etc alot myself), and I appreciate it. Your docus are some of my favorite videos to watch here on YT. Especially since I'm honestly getting into railroads now...after having been just a propellerhead all my life why not add rails too lol.

[@jonahmoran3751]

@@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren Seconds From Disaster! I see you are a man of culture as well!

[@MrLancealot]

I'm loving this remastered series, keep up the good work!

[@marchelinogeorge]

Yeah, me too. He should make remastered versions of the Salem Illinois derailment, the Fox River Grove collision, the Great Train Wreck of 1918, and the 1993 Big Bayou wreck.

[@cornholio329]

Agreed

[@coolman62801]

@@marchelinogeorge I only live 15-20 minutes southwest of where the Amtrak derailed on Tonti Road near Salem Illinois.

[@marchelinogeorge]

@@coolman62801 I didn't know that! Thanks for letting me know.

[@raillashupproductions7950]

One man train crews.. my ass. There’s really gonna led to major disasters. How the freakin hell would Railroads rely on engineers and engineers only to handle over 100-300 cars of cargos… that’s really gonna be too much to handle for a one man crew especially that PSR kicked in, it’s really gonna be from bad to worse if it does happen… that’s really gonna led to accidents, injuries, deaths, lawsuits, arrests, etc.

[@calebtrains2261]

@Raillaushp Productions Greetings, Also I Agree, If One Man Couldn't Handle 75, Technically 73 Cars. There Is NO WAY A Single Crew Member Can Handle 100, 200 Or Even 300 Cars.

[@TheTrueAdept]

The big problem is that crews cost a _LOT_ of money. Oodles of it, and those stockholders will riot if they don't get their expected profit margins.

[@davidty2006]

Here in britain and europe our trains despite being 1 man on the mainlines are really small rarely going above 20 wagons. The scale of american trains being multiple miles long does sure require the 2nd crewmember.

[@ChadDidNothingWrong]

There's a reason somewhere in the regulatory structure that this is happening. Otherwise it would have happened a century ago. Some kind of unintended consequences of the surrounding legal structure seems to be compelling the overall industry--not just the odd failing company--to take more risks to save costs. i.e. there's a reason why the nature of the cost-cutting efforts has suddenly changed in an old industry....especially if that industry is stable and not being replaced.

[@williamhoskins2300]

Ceo s need to be IMPRISIONED when these level of incidence occurs , not being held responsible will insure continuation of practices

[@leifopstad2972]

One man crews for trains sounds like way, way, WAY too much mental work and stress

[@jiovaniloncarevic]

I'm really impressed with how far these videos have come, especially compaired to the last Lac Megantic video. This documentary is arguably better than most professionally produced ones I've seen and has far more details in it. Well done!

[@alisonwilson9749]

Agreed- it's very thorough.

[@thehunter5740]

just watched the old version yesterday and I have to say this version is 100% better!

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

I fully agree. The old one makes me cringe now

[@AngelBrock1TubbySupporter8888]

@@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren I think Engines of Septa should come back...Don't you agree, Thunderbolt?

[@nursestoyland]

@Angel Brock what engines of Septa?

[@AngelBrock1TubbySupporter8888]

@@nursestoyland M-4 Subways & ACS-64's

[@nursestoyland]

@@AngelBrock1TubbySupporter8888 ohhhh ok

[@Tankproduction2022]

Those people didn't have to die like that my respect goes to the ones who had their love ones lost to this disaster and for those who lived this disaster that now live with ptsd from this disaster for their rest of their lives my respect goes to the people who lived in lac megantic who had to witness this

[@thenubking9740]

Honestly, not a lot of people have PTSD from that, maybe the firefighters that were on the scene, but most people are ok with it

[@bccarl88]

And finally. The FRA is pushing a law to make Two-Person crews a Federal Mandate. As a freight conductor myself, the FRA can be a hindrance. But I'm 100% behind Two-Person crews all the way.

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

As it should be. Glad the FRA has more braincells than these CEOs getting paid 20 million a month

[@ns3421thelocomotive]

Too late

[@cadenh03]

As someone who grew up railfanning Pan Am Railways, I had wondered from a young age why the oil trains had seemingly stopped coming through and never gave it much thought since. Now I know why...

[@calebtrains2261]

About Pan Am's Now Run By CSX, As They Acquired Them At Some Point This Year, I Believe.

[@trainsnthings2086]

I film trains in Texas along the Union Pacific in my town there’s oil trains that go through here all the time like every day and they go like 40 miles an hour in the middle of town there’s a lot of store shops and bars in town

[@parkslankford6114]

@@trainsnthings2086 welp, I hope the best of luck to you.

[@deanprowell7947]

A bit of supplemental detail At 12:12, the employee "RJ" that Engineer Harding was speaking to was Richard Fabrie, the US Rail Traffic Controller on duty for the area.

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

So basically a dispatcher.

[@WilliamHBaird-eq2hp]

You did a very good job on this revisit to the tragic "Incident". One little little error... it was sold to "J.D. IRVING" (a Huge Company in New Brunswick Canada) I recall it so well and I knew Tom Harding the MM&A crewman involved. He was devastated. It was a terrible "Perfect Storm" of errors. The American Owner of the company Ed Burkhart (of Chicago) finally came up to Lac Magantic, Quebec 5-days after the event. He was supposed to show some corporate sympathy to the grieving families. Instead at a Press conference downtown he chose not to say one single word in French ("Desoler" means Sorry and would have meant so much) and instead he put the full blame on his employee, Engineer Tom Harding, who in reality was not fully at fault. Just last month (October 2022) CP (who own the line one again) was granted the request to build the detour around the town with a portion of the rebuild paid by the Canadian Government.

[@johnpenner2632]

I hate to use this comparison but he truly threw Harding under the train. Burkhart was a douche for doing this. It's easy to sit in your office and blame the lower man on the totem pole but it never makes it right.

[@WilliamHBaird-eq2hp]

@@johnpenner2632 Agreed!

[@bruceghent8776]

Don't you mean K.C. Irving as in Irving Oil?

[@WilliamHBaird-eq2hp]

@@bruceghent8776 Yes... in New Brunswick, formerly J.D. Irving Oil

[@traingirl09]

I fully agree that your friend was 100% not at fault. You can tell in the audio when he is told that it was his train that rolled down, that he was devastated and in total disbelief. I can't begin to imagine what was on his image during those first few hours after finding out and today. What I find even more disgusting is how he was treated by Ed Burkhart. Between his firing and saying how the RR could no longer trust him is sickening. But, as an Illinoisan, he is from Chicago, so that is enough said.

[@perrystalsis55]

I am a British railwayman with 51 years service. I was a Driver [Engineer] in 1996 when Ed Burkhardt came to take over our freight railway and the first thing he did was increase our normal shift length from 8-9 hours to 12 hours, causing fatigue and disruption to our lives. He also introduced an on-call requirement, which put paid to us being able to plan anything outside of work, leading to many marriages breaking up. Our union [Brotherhood] just told us to be grateful for the extra money we were getting for trading in our conditions of service. I didn't know Burkhardt was at the bottom of this terrible disaster, but I am not remotely surprised to find out he was. Thank you for an excellent documentary, and let us never forget all the people who have had their lives ruined by corporate greed.

[@airliner7478]

So many have forgotten the lessons learnt in Lac-Mégantic? Don't worry. They'll remember when it happens again. History tends to repeat when history is ignored or forgotten.

[@None-zc5vg]

You can be SURE that it'll happen again.

[@weathermanfife6242]

Damn, that was one helluva documentary! Keep it up man, love the argument against one man crews too. Thanks for still doing this!

[@HistoryintheDark]

Ah, yes. The time MMA just left a clearly malfunctioning diesel on the mainline attached to oil tankers. Corporate ignorance at its most pure. Also, man you hit me right in the feels with Triathlon of Love and Tears. Went straight back to watching "There Goes A..." tapes as a kid with that song.

[@traindude432]

crude oil by north dakota is flammable no wonder why it exploded

[@ViperPilot16]

Hey nice to see you here too lol.

[@Tripleseven09]

I Think The Enginner Being Arrested was unfair as he was working alone was away from the train for most of what happened and was just following The VERY BAD MMA Protacalls

[@CommanderJoe1984]

Amazing video Thunderbolt, nice to see a remastered version of the original video. This one dives into things and explains everything leading up to the accident, during the accident, after the crash and the results of it. Just amazing the amount of work put into this. Keep it up :)

[@mikeyh9528]

Thanks for your hard work on this. It's a great achievement, and as always, very entertaining as well as respectful to those who died.

[@willbennett1272]

Watched this after reading about the 2023 NS East Palatine Ohio incident.

[@johndeerefan725]

I think both incidents involved DOT 111 tankers, and the East Palestine incident was caused by a hotbox in one of the wheels.

[@willbennett1272]

@@johndeerefan725 would not surprise me. I read somewhere it’s because NS refuses to address hotbox issues.

[@TrickiVicBB71]

I remember when this was all over CBC. The news reported that one of the business owners in DT was hearing one of his waitresses screaming over his cellphone for help as flames swept the area. And after the fire subsided. The town experienced a flux of tourists wanting to take pictures of the wreckage and take souvenirs. Which angered locals

[@scottymalmberg1301]

2 Things: 1) Your production has gone sky high man! I've seen all of your stuff and this is the best by far! Fantastic work! 2) There is a reason airlines require 2 pilots. Even with so much tech jammed into planes, there is a TON to do! While trains are not doing 400 MPH in the sky, they are often the heaviest things humans operate. Cutting down to 1 person, a single Engineer is BEGGING for disaster.

[@creaturexxii]

I was only 12 years old at the time and my family and I were visiting family in Québec. We saw the accident on the news and I remember seeing pictures of the flames consuming the town on tv. I didn't fully understand what happened at the time, but videos like these helped me understand what occurred on that fateful night.

[@user-uo4ro8jo4i]

"Those who don't learn from history, are bound to repeat it" - lets hope more Rail Roads remember those words.

[@amtrakproductions-mx9ib]

Like CPKC and union pacific

[@MarvelMTs]

I ❤️ seeing classic content rereleased with more info and attention. Thunderbolt 1000 Siren Prod., your wreck docs are one of my favorites series’ on all of KZbin, thank you for ending this series’ hiatus and reminding me why I ❤️ this series

[@scottrutherford3593]

I really am enjoying the remasters of the rail disasters and really hope the crazy 8's one will get the same treatment soon along with the cajon pass ones too.

[@brianmuhlingBUM]

EXCELLENT! A perfectly made documentary with great vision, good editing, good rostrum photos, no loud unnecessary music or effects and a well spoken narration (by whom?) that was not garbled. Other doco makers could take note and do similar. Congratulations!

[@blairterry9435]

I’m afraid your right. I smell a terrible train wreck in works and if NS and CSX don’t get bought by real railroaders then there will sure be a major disaster in the future.

[@jeromesutter7262]

This had to be the best documentary I've ever seen. You did a marvelous job of research and editing. It was a pleasure watching this video.

[@danc3488]

This is one of the best narrations you've ever done on this channel. Well done. And that was an absolute BADASS Terminator 2 theme at the end.

[@southeasternnewmexicorailf9851]

I agree with what everyone says, if 1 man ended in tragedy for MMA, then that means it would end in tragedy for all of the railroads in America. Seriously a lot of BNSF trains I see around New Mexico and in Texas as well have gotten huge, a good amount of these trains have gotten up to 2 or 3 miles in length.

[@harrisonofcolorado8886]

45:47 "And, he was right". -TTTE narrator in Put upon Percy

[@marcus_rrp_productions2648]

Metra, the commuter railroad has one engineer, no conductor. With two conductors to collect tickets. Conductors on Metra are even trained to operate the locomotives. As seen in Kenosha, the conductor leads the engine pass the station with the engineer in the cab car switching onto track 2 to start service.

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

Interesting. Though I think those 2 conductors would be called "trainmen"

[@marcus_rrp_productions2648]

@@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren they got the conductor uniform, hat included. Trainmen yes. It was just an interesting sight that conductors on Metra can also operate the train through the wye and crossovers of Kenosha. Not sure if the practices happen on the other lines since Kenosha is the only end of the line station where I've seen other trainmen in the locomotive cab not the engineer himself since he would of been in the cab car. One of those days Tom, ill see if I can get it in video.

[@michellejones9346]

I grew up with my dad working on the Victoria Railways in Australia; seeing this was like wow. Thank you for this fantastic clip I learned a lot.

[@northpennvalleysteamrailroad]

Great video man! This wreck was very intense. While another rail disaster like this is possible, let’s all hope one doesn’t happen in the near future.

[@lycanmotions]

Fantastically documented video, you really knocked it out of the park on this one.

[@RMSAquitaniafan55]

This is honestly the best documentary I've ever seen, the original you made was good but this is a great remaster that went very in depth and highlights the issue of 1 man trains I both cannot believe companies like NS and CSX are arguing that 1 man trains are a good idea but then again they are big corporations trying to figure out how to make easy money... May the 47 lost forever rest in peace

[@Bird1964]

Spot on

[@nimbly1693]

I love your in-depth explanation of the brake systems. I am a commercial truck driver and it hadn't really occurred to me that train air brakes are that different.

[@canadian_syrup8370]

Loving this remastered, plus with the mention of short line at the end of the video I 100% agree that short line are great

[@newobanproductions999]

As a Sydneysider (meaning I'm Australian), the idea of one-man operation is something we will not do over safety and operational reasons, with goods traffic needing to be handled by a two-man crew since most of these trains venture far beyond Sydney's protective ridges (like the Blue Mountains to the west near Penrith), which still use technology dating back to the days of New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR). Basically, we can't do one-man operations because you've got modern trains having to work around equipment going back to the steam era, maybe as far back as the 1880s.

[@cpchehaibar]

Very good job! Well researched and presented. I seriously thought I wasn't going to learn much more than I had from all the other videos on the subject but I was really wrong. Congrats and thank you.

[@WarDude-ug5ql]

i've been watching your train wreck videos for about 2 yrs now, and i really love watching these train wreck vids, they teach me so much of what happened years ago with train wrecks that i did not know about, and what is happening with the railroads of today?!?!, and i is possible for a wreck like that to happen, but anyways amazing video thunder, keep making amazing rail wreck videos, for the viewer of rn and the viewers of the future.

[@thompsonlover6997]

I'm just glad that you mentioned the Florida East Coast after all I get to watch them go by sometimes so it's nice to see a reference to something you know

[@mrmaniac3]

Gotta love how BNSF has been wanting to go down to one person crews, and to pay the remaining crew less and less

[@Bird1964]

Exactly.

[@aaowens97]

Very well produced! Thank you for making this a more known accident in rail history.

[@BuggsOgden]

This is one of your best, Thanks for posting!

[@devinfaux6987]

Knowing about this disaster really puts the East Palestine, OH wreck in context.

[@harrisonofcolorado8886]

When you were mentioning the problems of 1 man crews, you put the clip of the Amtrak 188 derailment. Given that you placed that clip there, do you believe that if another person was in the cab of Amtrak 188 along with the engineer at the time, then the crash would have been prevented?

[@ianjones4116]

Also a crash involving a high speed passenger train in the uk,,, caused by Driver placing his bag on the Dsd (driver safety device) Wouldn't have happened with 2 guys in the cab.

[@SeanBodine]

I like the extra content you placed in this remaster. Very nice.

[@musclespasm1557]

This is one of the longest documentaries I’ve ever seen. But it’s intriguing

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

Its my longest one to date

[@ExpressRailfan]

​@@Thunderbolt_1000_SirenI bet I can make one involving that, too.

[@Tomlin4014]

I actually live right across from some Pan-Am tracks that go into a paper mill in Rumford, Maine. The train passes buy frequently, but I heard that Pan-Am was bought by CSX a few months ago. Not sure if that is true... I have always dreamed of a train going by my house frequently, so this new house is very nice. This was a great documentary, Thunder! Keep up the great work!

[@citxsd70m-2]

Its true. CSX indeed acquire Pan Am Railways

[@Scagguy4014]

Take care of your Engines… lesson #1 Love the content on the channel. I look forward to seeing new crashes both modern and from the past.

[@ibbylancaster8981]

You do such a wonderful job on these videos. I live near the CSX mainline near Fayetteville NC. In 1943 , there was an accident in Rennert NC. I think it killed 73. My great uncle was a signal maintainer and I have heard many stories about this wreck as a kid. It was cold! It was so cold, the town doctor had to keep his bottles of Morphine in his jacket to keep them from freezing. It remains the deadliest crash in NC, still. I don’t know if you have researched it , but it might be a good read. There were a lot of military personnel on the trains bye to the fact that Fort Bragg was the next stop for the Northbound train. Much love and keep up the great work young man. 🤙

[@BlakesTrainsandMore4014]

Truly well done! That ending gave me absolute Chills, The best documentary you've made in my opinion!

[@SebisRandomTech]

Whenever someone proposes the idea of single man crews or autonomous trains, my response is always “would you trust a plane without a copilot?”

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

Exactly!

[@pepebeezon772]

Whenever someone proposes the idea of single man crew trucks, my response is "would you trust a plane without a copilot?" Whenever someone proposes the idea of single man crew buses, my response is "would you trust a plane without a copilot?" Whenever someone proposes the idea of single man crew taxis, my response is "would you trust a plane without a copilot?" Whenever someone proposes the idea of single man crew bicycles, my response is "would you trust a plane without a copilot?" Whenever someone proposes the idea of single man crew segways, my response is "would you trust a plane without a copilot?" This argument is even more ridiculous when you realize smaller planes do fly without copilots

[@SebisRandomTech]

@@pepebeezon772 So do smaller trains. But not mile long trains with explosive cargo, and not massive commercial planes with hundreds of passengers. You have absolutely nothing to add do this discussion aside from making a fool of yourself.

[@pepebeezon772]

@@SebisRandomTech "So do smaller trains." So you're admitting single man crews can be safe on trains. Okay then. "But not mile long trains with explosive cargo, and not massive commercial planes with hundreds of passenger." You said single man crews and autonomous trains, not single man crew or autonomous *mile long* trains with *inflammable cargo*. I absolutely do trust smaller subway trains and small airplanes, even small airplanes carrying massive bombs capable of leveling buildings being flown by a single man. "You have absolutely nothing to add do this" Lmao, neither do you.

[@SebisRandomTech]

@@pepebeezon772 Which railroad executive's ass have you been kissing? Just wondering. Have you ever worked for a railroad or know anyone in the industry who isn't on the Board of Directors? Didn't think so. You're admitting that you would rather have less safe trains if it saves a few bucks. I hope you still feel that way when your own life is on the line.

[@calebtrains2261]

You Certainly DO NOT Want To Tie A Train Down On Cajon Pass.

[@Inferiis]

well, a similar incident did happen at San Bernardino, although it was not parked, only in really bad state and the brakes failed (plus miscalculated weight)

[@stephenneptune022]

Great video man! Always look forward to when you post something

[@scotrailfan170]

Great video man love these remakes hope this keeps happening

[@Arkay315]

another great video, keep up the good work of railroad documentation

[@Seans_Station]

Nice reboot of this incident. From my time with NS on the HBG line, I can attest to the countless times when we had trains that were 250+ cars and not enough time to get to our destination due to building huge trains like that. Numbers were fudged by management to get us out and moving cause the only thing that mattered was getting the train to leave “on time”.

[@buckykattguitar]

I'm a huge fan of rail documentaries....I have been for 40 years....you've done a fabulous job on this.

[@aj237589]

I am happy this was made, because it gave me a bit more information on this tragic event, I was unaware a video of the train fire was made before the derailment happen, because I was only aware of that rare picture of the train on fire taken by a pedestrian, and I was unaware of the train being a bit across the river, I had thought that it just went to the left, not right after derailing the cargo at the town.. Thank you for this information, Thunderbolt.

[@capefeartrainsandsirens]

East Palestine Derailment: 100ft tall fireball Lac Megantic Derailment: 200ft tall fireball East Palestine Derailment: 38 car derailment Lac Megantic Derailment: 63 car derailment History will always repeat itself.

[@dougsscalemodels]

But in the case of the East Palestine Ohio disaster there was no loss of lives in the derailment, the body count will come with the EPA and NS's mishandling of the cleanup. Both seem intent on telling us everything is good. Nobody outside of their evacuation zone had any idea of the dangerous chemical burn off unless they were actively following the story. We live 15 miles from the site and knew there was a derailment, my son works about 3 miles from it, we weren't actively following the story so we had no idea what they planned to do. The bottom line is NS burnt off 5 cars rather than the one they initially planned on burning, not because it essential for public safety, but to save money on cleanup. They knew they were going to have trouble finding places to accept the waste. Their reasoning was, WE ARE THE EXPERTS IN THE MATTER, I believe that is a direct quote from a NS stooge. Let that sink in, Norfolk Southern believe that they are experts in all the areas of impact of a chemical leak and burn off of this nature. The EPA claimed they took over the cleanup but what they are actually doing is letting NS continue as they had been doing and by stating that they are in charge it's meant to give the public confidence in the work being done.

[@philippephilippe.mathers4259]

I remember this. Very sad day in Québec history. Great video !

[@tactical-crash]

Wow good job on the editing. Looking forward to other remasters.

[@crankychris2]

Great job on remastering this stunning disaster. CSX and NS pushing for one man crews...bad news!

[@caseyiel]

Cp: son please do your job nicely MMA: ok dad also MMA: *crashes more than 50 times* CP: your coming back with me

[@cbolanz1]

😂😂😂

[@alanmacification]

I could scream every time I hear that typical executive excuse: " How could we know, it hasn't happened before/yet. ".

[@23431]

What an amazing job that was a great video and I personally thank you for all your time and effort you put into making this video job well done good sir

[@Stale_Kracker]

I live in maine and was on one of the departments that responded. What an absolute nightmare. A hell on earth. Years later ive hauled wood to canadian mills in megantic and saint georges. The way these people came together and rebuilt their lives and town has been incredible

[@timsiemssen1148]

The question is when. When will the next one happen. Current business practices haven't changed and it's just a matter of time. Ps. Your entire production from beginning to end has greatly improved. Thanks once again.

[@NorthernNewEnglandRailfan]

The Eastern Maine Railway does operate east of Brownville, but the picture shown is actually a Maine Eastern FL9. Maine Eastern was a subsidiary of Morristown and Erie, based in New Jersey. MERR began operations in 2005, on the former Maine Central Rockland branch, a 56 mile shortline between Brunswick and Rockland. They had freight operations, serving Dragon Cement, in Thomaston and Rockland, Bath Iron Works in Bath, and Dicapearl Minerals in Thomaston. They interchanged with Pan Am Railways in Brunswick, and the freight money was able to support tourist passenger service, which was pulled by FL9s 488 and 489. My grandfather was vice president of the railroad, and director of passenger rail operations for MERR. They lost the contract in 2015-16 to CMQ. ( The branch is owned by the state.) The contract is now held by Canadian Pacific, since they acquired CMQ, and Finger Lakes is soon to take over, hopefully bringing back passenger service and cement to the branch.

[@EastBayTransit]

This deserves more attention. Well done!

[@thomasoates3003]

You hit the nail on the head with the single engineer bit at the end. We're seeing the exact same thing happening in the UK with Driver Only Operation, and it's only a matter of time before DOO causes a serious accident.

[@BMPellogia]

I really hope that railroaders in the us fight against single men crews.I worked for a railroad(in another country) that uses a system that resembles ptc and run with single man crews for 7 years...i lost count of how many times i fell asleep at the controls,ran unprotected crossings and worked more that 12 hours with almost no rest even at home,not mentioning the fact that my mental health was completely ruined by the end of the shitshow.

[@sioriggio6911]

Amazing video, love it 🥰

[@colemarie9262]

That footage is utterly insane. Imagine waking up to that sight in your little town!!

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

I wouldn't even know how to comprehend such a feeling especially since there's a crude oil contract and 1-2 Ethanols with 2 mixes that routinely carry LPG by where I live. Thankfully the chances of an accident are relatively low but NS still pulls stunts like tying the Oils on the main line -__- Imagine the engineer seeing that upon realizing it was his train that caused that.

[@amtrakproductions-mx9ib]

Many people woke up just as the explosion sounded

[@southyorkshiretrainspotter8846]

I love how educational the videos are keep up the hard work