The very locomotive involved in the disaster
Just finished watching a National Geographic documentry on cable (Crash Scene Investigation) about the Hinton Train Collision in Canada in 1986, just 2 months before I was born. Very scary to think in our “modern” times with all our technology these catatrophic mistakes still happen.
The Hinton train collision was a railway accident that occurred on February 8, 1986. Twenty-three people were killed in a collision between a Canadian National Railway freight train and a VIA Rail passenger train. It was the most lethal Canadian rail disaster since the Dugald accident of 1947.
Just like the documentary, the Wikipedia article on the disaster is eye opening. TrainWeb also has information regarding the individual locomotives involved.
There are events which can shatter the foundations of your life. Shatter the foundations of your life, through no fault of your own. But life goes on. There is tomorrow, and you can recover.
- Survivor
Post to del.icio.us
16 Comments
I am currently pulling a presentation together regarding Occupational Health and Safety, and have chosen the Hilton Disaster as my example. I am looking for follow-up information after the inquiry, in particular information regarding the policies and safety procedures implemented after the inquest. I would appreciate any help or direction you could offer.
Thanks very much,
Linda Hudson-Taylor
G’day Linda,
Thanks for the comment on my blog regarding the Hinton train disaster. I can’t say I’m much of an expert on the tragedy, I really just got most of my knowledge on it when I watched a National Geographic television programme about it.
What I do remember the programme coming back to over and over again is that the disaster was not caused by any technical faults; the signals operating at the time were working like clockwork (pun intended), the switches were set in the right positions, the locomotives were operating normally; the problem was entirely human error.
I guess in terms of Occupational Health and Safety, the primary reason for the disaster from what I can remember from the programme was that Canadian National really neglected their drivers needs for sufficent and regular sleep. Quite often the poor drivers would get less than 3 hours of sleep a night, and because the schedules were never the same their bodies were never given enough time to adjust. As a result, over time the constant physical abuse caused them to make shoddy decisions and inevitably fall asleep at the wheel. It can’t be over emphasised that the drivers were pushed beyond their natural limits.
Since the disaster CN inplemented more regular schedules and set up rest stops with proper bedding, but of course it was already too late for the people who died. It’s a chilling reminder of what can happen though when the health of drivers are neglected for the sake of keeping impossible schedules. In a way the same thing is happening in the Trucking industry and to a lesser extent the Aviation industry as well. Very scary.
The programme I saw was “Crash Scene Investigations” Season 1, Episode 2: “Hinton train collision”. I think you can buy the DVDs at the NatGeo website if you needed a solid reference to add.
Sorry I can’t be much more help than that. Hope your presentation goes great :).
Cheers
Ruben
Hi Ruben
I was looking around the internet for sites that had something to do with the Hinton train crash, and came across this. My husband is Jamie Heyd, who is one of the passengers/survivors. He is in the documentary
and we live in Ontario, Canada. Just stopped here to say “hi”. Write back if you wish any more info on what happened than was shown on the documentary.
Regards, Islay Heyd
I was looking for the Dvd for this show but i could not find it at the national geo site any other place i could get it?
The TV show will play again on Wednesday, July 18th according to this website
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/ET/popup/200707101300.html
Looking for information on Hinton, as my family and I will be passing there in a couple of days. FYI - the photo of the locomotive that you have, stating it is the very same unit CANNOT be right. CP Rail was NOT involved in the crash,nor do they travel on CN track (except in very rare circumstances).
@Steve Thanks for the heads up. ^^
@Rene Haha, thanks for the correction! I found that image on a site (Wikipedia I think) that said that locomotive was the one involved. I’ll remove the comment below it. What you get when you’ve never lived in North America I guess!
I saw this program for the first time last evening and was riveted. What a horrible tragedy. I wonder what happened to the survivor, Smith, whose testimony contradicted the investigatory findings. Did he continue in his job? Was he sanctioned for failure to follow proper procedure? I wonder how his mental state is today and if he can ever get over his own heartache.
In America, many people (perhaps all) would have sued the railway CN. Do they sue in Canada too? There clearly was negligence on the part of the CN management for lack of quality control mechanisms and for failure to adequately oversee routine policies and safety procedures.
My heart goes out to all of the people involved, to those killed and to those who survived. How much suffering can many of these survivors possibly continue to endure?
Today I told my housemates and my coworkers about this tragedy. I highly recommend this program for its larger lessons that are still very relevant for many industries.
how can i know more about train collision which was held in1986 in canada.
Hi again Ruben
I was just reading some of the posts on here regarding the Hinton train crash, and there are people who have posted questions about where they can get information about different aspects of the crash and outcome. If anyone wishes my help, my husband (Jamie Heyd) was a passenger on one of the trains. He was called to testify at the Inquiry, and because of that, we were sent a copy of the Official Inquiry.I might be able to help with information.
Regards, Islay Heyd
There’s a book out about this crash…you guys might want to check out
http://www.heartofgoldpublishing.com
VERY interesting.
It has taken over 10 years to research my book, but the book, BLINK, The Hinton Train Collision is now for sale on my website. It took reading 56 volumes of inguiry, every newspaper article, magazine article, technical and supportive data from the national archives of Canada, and especially the collected memories of those interviwed.
Even finding forensic evidence on a University of Florida Website. The result is, not only information about the third worst rail disaster in Canada, but the layers of causes far exceeds any investigative/comprehensive work done by the inquiry, and my research identifies, in all probability, what caused the crash. A quest that the inquiry fell short.
The photo showing CP Rail locomotive 1422 IS the exact engine involved in the Hinton collision. It was also previously numbered CP 4066. It was sold to VIA Rail Canada in 1978 or 1979 and became VIA 6566, the number it carried on the day of the accident.
I am a long time resident of Hinton, and I remember the train disaster well. At the time, I lived about 3 blocks from the railway line, and the sound of the passing trains was a regular part of my day. I heard the Via train travel through town that morning. It was a long time after before I could hear the sound of trains again without thinking about all those who died, not long after they passed my home.
I’m very proud of the way my community responded to the disaster. We’re a small town, but I think our emergency personnel handled themselves well and did the best they could. I hope and pray they won’t be tested in such a way again.
my mom was in that train crash and survived. she lost all of her hair, and fractured her back. they told her she would never grow hair again, she would never be able to walk again, of have babies. well she has a beautiful head of hair, she walks just fine, and has me, along with 2 other brothers. she is the strongest women i have ever met, and i am extremely proud of her. I love you mom. i am so happy that you’re still with us.
Not sure if anyone else has posted this information, but History Television is airing an episode of Disasters Of The Century recounting the events of the Hinton train crash. It will be shown Tuesday, Nov 4th at 7am and again Sunday, Nov 9th at 6:30am (eastern time)
Post a Comment