Toronto Ontario - Derek Ackford, a salesman with Canadian National Railway, is seated at a glossy wooden table talking on video about how to take business away from rival Canadian Pacific Railway by submitting a bid to move the freight of supermarket giant Loblaws.
 
Mr. Ackford is framed by a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking CN's snow-covered rail yard near Toronto as he offers a glimpse into the ultra-competitive world of moving freight in the North American rail industry, where gains are made at a competitor's expense.
 
"All that business, if we can take it, we're capturing that from CP, which is gold. If we can do it, absolutely huge. It's going to us instead of them. That's the job here," Mr. Ackford says, in one of four video profiles of CN salesmen shot about four years ago and posted on the web site Vimeo.
 
"It's all CP freight, so it's perfect if we can steal this," Mr. Ackford says.
 
Last year Mr. Ackford quit CN and became a salesman for rival CP.
 
This year, another CN account manager, Greg Shnerer, did the same.
 
Both men now find themselves at the centre of a legal fight between the railways that's making its way through Ontario Superior Court.
 
Documents filed in court outline the fierce competition between the companies and raise questions about how far they will go to gain market share.
 
The lawsuit filed by CN alleges CP and Mr. Ackford encouraged Mr. Shnerer to make off with confidential information on CN's freight rates and customer contracts in the company's intermodal container shipping division earlier this year, shortly before Mr. Shnerer quit and took a job at CP.
 
Mr. Ackford is not named as a defendant.
 
There is no suggestion his comments on the video were improper, nor are they the subject of any legal action.
 
CN's lawsuit, which names Calgary-based CP and Mr. Shnerer as defendants, is seeking $2 million in damages and the return of any improper profits.
 
CP says it will defend itself against CN's allegations and argues that the client information is no longer available to CP employees, or was already available from customers.
 
Mr. Ackford declined to comment.
 
Mr. Shnerer did not respond to an interview request.
 
The two sides are due back in a Toronto courtroom this week, as CN argues for a court order preventing CP from soliciting the business of CN's customers.
 
It also wants the appointment of a monitor who will keep tabs on CP's actions.
 
CN alleges the removal of the information by both former employees is "unlawful" and violates confidentiality agreements they signed.
 
"In the past, CP would have to make their best guess on how to respond to customer feedback and whether to adjust their rates.
 
Now, CP knows the exact rates offered by CN," CN says in court filings.
 
"Not only is this harmful to CN, but the ability of clients to leverage competition between the railways, has been significantly reduced, if not entirely eliminated."
 
In the video, shot long before the lawsuit surfaced, Mr. Ackford takes pride in his drive to succeed.
 
"I'm a pretty competitive person," Mr. Ackford says in the video, which also included footage of him playing industrial league hockey, driving his sports car to CN's office north of Toronto, and talking about his days as a golf instructor.
 
"Playing hockey, I played junior, and then the golf pro thing. I take it wherever I go. You always want to be the best at what you do," he says.
 
A CN spokesman would not comment on the video, which was made in conjunction with a CN sales conference in Florida.
 
Shortly after CN was asked about the video, it was taken down.
 
At CP, Mr. Ackford became managing director of domestic intermodal sales, overseeing a staff of 23 sales people, who are the company's main contacts with customers.
 
Mr. Shnerer became director of regional sales and new business.
 
Since filing the lawsuit in August, CN said its cross-examinations of Mr. Ackford revealed that he, too, downloaded confidential lists of CN customers and contracts before quitting in 2014.
 
"When you were leaving and you gave your manager your laptop and cellphone, you didn't tell him you had downloaded CN contracts and other information, you weren't being honest with him, were you?" Mr. Ackford was asked by a CN lawyer in a cross-examination, according to court filings.
 
"He never asked me," Mr. Ackford replied.
 
"You hid it from him? You made a decision not to tell him?" the lawyer said.
 
"That's correct," Mr. Ackford said.
 
"You made a decision not to tell him because you knew that the manager would not appreciate that, right?"
 
"He probably would not like that," Mr. Ackford said.
 
CP said that both Mr. Ackford and Mr. Shnerer have been suspended from their jobs but remain CP employees.
 
Vice-president of intermodal sales Jacqueline Coyle and Timothy Marsh, vice-president of sales, have been reassigned to undisclosed positions within the company, CP said.
 
Eric Atkins.