General railway discussions

[lenaitch]

That's CN's only route to the port of Thunder Bay and the Fall grain harvest in the prairies is just getting underway.

 

[Northern Light]

I’m really curious what happened. Bridges usually don’t collapse, especially without carrying any loads…

From here:

Railway bridge collapses near Fort Frances

A pile of twisted metal lies at one end of a bridge that connects the CN network to the Port of Thunder Bay

www.nwonewswatch.com

This:

^^^^

Not a complete answer, but perhaps a clue........

Another pic:

Source: https://www.fox21online.com/content...29-3412409745726460-6104086313984956613-n.jpg

Pic courtesy Rainy Lake Property Owners Association

 

[lenaitch]

From here:

Railway bridge collapses near Fort Frances

A pile of twisted metal lies at one end of a bridge that connects the CN network to the Port of Thunder Bay

www.nwonewswatch.com

This:

View attachment 588424

^^^^

Not a complete answer, but perhaps a clue........

Another pic:

View attachment 588425

Source: https://www.fox21online.com/content...29-3412409745726460-6104086313984956613-n.jpg

Pic courtesy Rainy Lake Property Owners Association

There appears to be a camera on the pole to the right so hopefully they will have some images. Pure speculation but it appears to me that the counterweight support collapsed and when the bridge deck slammed down it bend its back.

The ties on the nearside look pretty random and not well ballasted.

 

[Fritter]

I know it is better business to have the railways abandon underused subdivisions and not just keep them for a "what if" scenario, however when the "what if" happens an alternative route looks very business savy. Good luck to CN and the grain farmers.

 

[micheal_can]

From here:

Railway bridge collapses near Fort Frances

A pile of twisted metal lies at one end of a bridge that connects the CN network to the Port of Thunder Bay

www.nwonewswatch.com

This:

View attachment 588424

^^^^

Not a complete answer, but perhaps a clue........

Another pic:

View attachment 588425

Source: https://www.fox21online.com/content...29-3412409745726460-6104086313984956613-n.jpg

Pic courtesy Rainy Lake Property Owners Association

I hope Transport Canada uses this as a way to update the maintenance standards of all rail lines.Imagine if that was when a train was crossing? Even though it likely would have been grain or other things like that, it still could have caused an environmental disaster.

I know it is better business to have the railways abandon underused subdivisions and not just keep them for a "what if" scenario, however when the "what if" happens an alternative route looks very business savy. Good luck to CN and the grain farmers.

The last decade has been showing the 2 main rail operators that an abandoned line might have been better to keep. The question is whether for these one off situations whether it would have actually been worth keeping. Only the bean counters really know.

 

[Allandale25]

 

[crs1026]

I hope Transport Canada uses this as a way to update the maintenance standards of all rail lines.Imagine if that was when a train was crossing? Even though it likely would have been grain or other things like that, it still could have caused an environmental disaster.

There are a lot of yet-to-be-proven assumptions being made alleging that the bridge (and by extension, the whole line) was under-maintained. We should wait for the official report to see whether this was the case.

This was, however, a pretty old bridge. One obvious question would be, how many equally old railway bridges are there in the country and how similar would their risk of failure be. I would bet the investigators will consider that question.

The last decade has been showing the 2 main rail operators that an abandoned line might have been better to keep. The question is whether for these one off situations whether it would have actually been worth keeping. Only the bean counters really know.

How is this relevant here? There are in fact two rail lines between Winnipeg and Thunder Bay. Detours on CP are quite likely.

- Paul

 

[micheal_can]

There are a lot of yet-to-be-proven assumptions being made alleging that the bridge (and by extension, the whole line) was under-maintained. We should wait for the official report to see whether this was the case.

This was, however, a pretty old bridge. One obvious question would be, how many equally old railway bridges are there in the country and how similar would their risk of failure be. I would bet the investigators will consider that question.

Maintenance also includes inspections. Maybe this will have them change the frequency of those inspections.

How is this relevant here? There are in fact two rail lines between Winnipeg and Thunder Bay. Detours on CP are quite likely.

- Paul

When the FN blockades happened,and CN rerouted over the ONR into Northern Quebec, CP did not also do that. Hopefully CP will allow CN to detour, but that remains to be seen.