Teamsters Canada Rail Conference

CN Rail has filed a $2-million lawsuit in connection with an Edmonton-area derailment where an 86-car freight train slammed into a paving machine left on the tracks.

According to a June 30 statement of claim, the July 10, 2008, derailment and subsequent damage was the result of negligence by two alleged vandals and the construction firm that was using the Caterpillar compactor involved.

CN alleges Aecon Construction Group Inc. took delivery of the compactor the day before the derailment and left it at an unsecured worksite, less than a kilometre from the tracks near Highway 16 and Clover Bar Road, with the cover to the electrical isolation switch unlocked.

Later that night, CN alleges Ian Douglas Gillie, 27, and Edward Arthur Vallee, 27, went to the work site, started up the compactor and operated it before abandoning it on the railway tracks on the overpass to Highway 16.

At approximately 12:25 a.m. on July 10, 2008, a freight train hit the compactor on the overpass, causing it to derail and resulting in significant damage to the train, the tracks and surrounding property.

CN alleges Gillie and Vallee either deliberately left the compactor on the tracks or abandoned it there when they knew or ought to have known that trains were likely to proceed through that location.

CN claims Aecon is liable for leaving the compactor at an unsecured work site with the electrical isolation switch cover unlocked, thereby making it vulnerable to theft.

At the time of the derailment, Strathcona County RCMP Const. Wally Henry said it was “very fortunate” that the 86-car train didn’t fall onto travellers on Highway 16.

“The possibilities – with the overpass being over a major highway as well as where the train derailed – the train could have easily come down on the highway from the bridge,” said Henry.

While a rupture in a locomotive’s fuel tank caused a brief fire, there were no hazardous goods on the train, which was heading west near Highway 21 when it hit the compactor parked on the south side of the overpass.

The stretch of Highway 16 between Clover Bar Road and Highway 21 was closed for several hours so workers could remove debris, salvage the 12 cars and two locomotives that derailed and replace the damaged track.

Gillie and Vallee were charged with mischief, theft over $5,000 and mischief causing damage in connection with the derailment, but the charges were withdrawn June 2.

tony.blais@sunmedia.ca