So how could a train with over 70 full tankers of petroleum disengage from its locomotives while parked on a hill above a populated community? Here's how.
http://www.usatoday.com/...
The air brakes on the runaway oil train that devastated a Quebec town early Saturday had been disabled by firefighters who were called to extinguish a blaze aboard one of the locomotives 90 minutes before the disaster, the head of the railway said Monday.
And where have we heard this type of callous response before??
He told Reuters that firefighters had shut down the locomotive while they battled the fire, which was apparently caused by a broken oil or fuel line. But the train's crew had left the engine idling to keep the air brakes pressurized so the train wouldn't roll, said Ed Burkhardt, chairman of Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway.
Lambert said the local railway dispatcher was contacted to report the engine fire had been put out. "We told them what we did and how we did it," he said.
"There was no discussion of the brakes at that time," he added. "We were there for the train fire. As for the inspection of the train after the fact, that was up to them."
And for those who say pipelines are the answer:
http://www.usatoday.com/...
Underground pipeline spills an estimated 25,000 of gasoline on Crow Reservation in Montana
http://ow.ly/...