RICHMOND HILL, Ontario — An inadvertent brake release by the engineer as he left the locomotive cab led to the derailment of a runaway train earlier this year on the Goderich Exeter Railway in Goderich, Ontario, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada has determined.
In the Feb. 1, 2021, accident, two locomotives and six cars of a train ran away down a steep grade to a grain elevator at the Port of Goderich, striking two vehicles and destroying a structure before coming to a halt. No one was injured, even though one of the vehicles was occupied. [see “Digest: Canadian short line train derails …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 2, 2021, and “News photos: Goderich runaway cleanup continues,” News Wire, Feb. 5, 2021].
In a report issued Thursday, the TSB says the engineer bumped the automatic brake handle as he detrained to throw the switch for a derail, moving the brake handle from fully applied to release. While he was on the ground lining the split switch for the derail, the train began to move, and the engineer was unsuccessful in reboarding the train.
The train crew was able to radio ahead to track maintenance personnel who were working at the Port of Goderich; those workers were able to line switches to route the train to a clear track that ended within the facility.
Rolling downhill on a grade ranging from 1.5% to 2.78%, the train reached a speed of 27 mph during about 8,500 feet of uncontrolled movement over a period of 2½ minute before derailing at the end of the track in the port facility; the train ultimately came to a halt about 345 feet past the end of track and just short of Goderich Harbor. The train struck an unoccupied truck loaded with grain, destroying the tractor and trailer; struck a pickup truck with two occupants who were trapped when the truck was pushed against a fence; and destroyed a wooden shed.
As a result of the accident, the railway issued a rule prohibiting engineers operating in Goderich Yard from exiting the cab for anything other than engineer-related functions. Transport Canada issued two ministerial orders, one requiring safety measures to ensure no further accidents are caused by accidental brake release, and one addressing parameters design and performance parameters for locomotive roll-away protection, as well as requirements for its use.
