Sherbrooke Quebec - A former train inspector with Montreal Maine & Atlantic (MMA) railway said he never checked to see if the train's previous engineer had noted any defects with the locomotive the morning before the 2013 rail disaster which killed 47 people.
 
Yves Gendreau, 42, told a Sherbrooke courtroom Wednesday he remembers watching the convoy leave the station at Farnham, Quebec, for Lake Megantic after visually inspecting the train's locomotives on 5 Jul 2013.
 
Gendreau said he also did a separate inspection of the tank cars with an inspector from Transport Canada (TC) the day before the derailment and said he didn't notice any abnormalities.
 
Gendreau, testifying with a poised demeanour for a second day Wednesday, told Superior Court Justice Gaetan Dumas and the jury that he couldn't remember many of the events leading up to the disaster with clarity, often answering questions with, "I can't say with certainty."
 
Lack of Experience
 
The judge asked Gendreau about the document used by train conductors to write down any problems they notice on the locomotive while operating it.
 
"Form 5001-a, does that ring a bell?" asked Dumas.
 
"Yes," replied Gendreau.
 
"When you do your inspection, do you check to see if there is one on the locomotives?" pursued Dumas.
 
"At that time in 2013, it was not something I did, due to a lack of experience, or lack of training," replied Gendreau.
 
Gendreau told the court he boarded the locomotive to make sure the forms used for writing down defects with the locomotive were on the train, but he didn't check to see if anything was written on them.
 
Under cross-examination by Demaitre's lawyer, Gaetan Bourassa, Gendreau told the court he didn't have much experience in 2013 and only started inspecting trains by himself a few weeks before the derailment.
 
Alison Brunette.