8 June 2009
Broken Axle, Damaged Train Tracks Suspected Cause of Oshawa Derailment
Looking east from the Park Road bridge on
6 Jun 2009.
Oshawa Ontario - The federal Transportation Safety
Board is getting closer to finding the cause of Friday's train derailment in Oshawa.
Don Mustard, the investigator in charge, said a broken axle on the train, which was en route to Toronto from Smith Falls, may be to
blame, along with some damage on the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks approaching the point of derailment.
"We're now trying to ascertain the details of why it failed, how it failed, and what processes are in place," Mr. Mustard
said. "We need to determine at what location the axle began to fail."
Twenty-seven train cars were involved in the derailment, becoming entangled under the Park Road bridge.
"About eight cars are still remaining," Mike LoVecchio, spokesperson for CP, said Monday.
"Those will be broken up and shipped by rail or dump truck to our main yard in Toronto."
People stopped along the bridge Monday to look at the work being done below, but Jason Gibson didn't need a bird's eye view to see the
destruction.
Several train cars ripped through the Oshawa resident's back yard, leaving behind quite a large mess; both his fence and shed were
ruined.
"My son was playing right over there 20 minutes before the train did come," Mr. Gibson said, pointing to the end of his
yard, to a treehouse his seven-year-old son loves to spend time in.
"We were lucky. I don't think he'll be going to play out there anytime soon. He's scared."
He said he hasn't heard from anyone from CP about when his yard will get cleaned up but said he hoped he wouldn't have to do it.
Mr. LoVecchio said CP will hand-deliver letters Tuesday to residents who had to leave their homes over the weekend.
"We've got fences to rebuild, yards to repair, and a community we want to rebuild a relationship with," he said.
"Once the debris is gone around the tracks, we'll get to it right away. The residents are very important to us." The
Transportation Safety Board conducted a field investigation at the derailment site on Friday but might not know a definite cause for
quite awhile.
"Most investigations take about a year or two to complete," Mr. Mustard said.
"It is a very extended process."
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