CP NEWS

CP Safety: A Call to Action

CP experienced three critical incidents over 10 days last month. All three were a direct result of human error.

  Toronto -235-21 (light engines) travelling west on the North track of the North Toronto subdivision failed to stop at si8nal 33-2 colliding with the tail end 400 feet of train 118-18 who was crossing over from the North Track to the south track at Signal 33-2 - resulting in a personal injury and several cars derailing. Locomotive Engineer on train 235-21 failed to identify and Stop at the approach signal and be governed accordingly. His previous signal was clear. The Conductor on train 235-21 recognized the Clear to Stop signal but failed to acknowledge this with Locomotive Engineer and ensure the train was under control and would come to a controlled stop.

Applicable Rules

Rule Book for T&E Employees;

ltem 6.5 Fixed Signal Recognition and Compliance

Rule 411 Clear to Stop

Rule 439 Stop

Excellent video by Railfan Max  of the derailment https://youtu.be/niAbLY0x-30

Winnipeg - ncLS assignment attempted a coupling at approximately 7 mph, the cars failed to couple resulting in the stationary cars striking the side of a departing train (113{1) derailing a double stacked intermodal car. The RcLs operator controlling the movement was operating at a speed which did not allow for a proper coupling.

Applicable Rules

Rule Book for T&E Employees;

item 2.2 - While On Duty

item 12.5 - Coupling To Equipment

item 12.6 - Shoving Equipment - paragraph (a), (i):

Calgary - Train 303-646 was following train 113-3L into Alyth yard. Crew on Train 303 accepted a route signal (green for P1). crew on Train 303 failed to stop short of the tail end of train 113 striking the tail end car of train 1-13 at approximately 22 mph derailing 2 locomotives and several other cars.

Applicable Rules

Rule Book for T&E Employees;

ltem 9.1 A (i)other Than Non-signaled Siding In crc

Safety Book . T-O Job Briefing

The CP Derailment News as reported by the Media:

CP train derails in southeast Calgary,

A CP Intermodal train came off the tracks on Ogden Road near 50th Avenue S.E. on August 4th. Human error was to blame with no injuries and no hazardous materials were released.   At approximately 9:25 a.m. a single westbound train came into contact with a stopped westbound train," said Martin Cej, vice president of public affairs and communications with Canadian Pacific Railway. "There were no injuries, no public safety concerns, no hazardous materials involved." Two engines and two train cars jumped off the rails, Cej explained. Fire crews responded to the call on Saturday morning, but CP is now in charge of the scene. "Our preliminary investigation -the investigation is ongoing -but preliminary indications are that this was human error," said Cej. "There were no signaling malfunctions, there were no equipment malfunctions, so the investigation is going to focus on that." The tipped train cars were carrying vehicles, including a Ford 150 pickup truck that was heavily damaged and lying on the grass near the tracks. Cej said there were no estimates on how long it would take to remove the damaged train cars and fix the track, which was also damaged. (CBC news)  

 A second Canadian Pacific Railway train derailed near Howland Avenue north of Dupont Street near Toronto August 21st, early in the morning. CP said the incident occurred around 5:20 a.m. on Sunday, when a freight train with two locomotives rear ended another stopped CP freight train. Toronto Fire spokesperson Capt. Michael Westwood says one of the trains had mixed cargo including alcoholic beverages and one of the train's engines leaked diesel but it has been contained. Police said no one was injured. CP said there were no hazardous good involved in the incident or spilled, but would not comment if there were hazardous goods on board the trains.  CP's Martin Cej says there was a small diesel leak after the collision but it was quickly contained and there is no environmental risk from the incident. Cej says the collision was the result of human error. Bartlett Avenue was closed off from Dupont Street up to Geary Avenue for the investigation. Canadian Pacific Railway brought in their hazmat team on the scene. Anyone with information is being asked to contact police.  http://tinyurl.com/jspv6ka

The Full TSB CP Nipigon Sub Derailment Report:

The CP derailment that occurred on January 13th, 2015 on the Nipigon Sub:    http://tinyurl.com/jgsfu4r

CP Executive Branch Changes:

Canadian Pacific announced on Sept 8, 2016 that Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Mark Erceg has resigned, effective immediately, to join a U.S. company. Nadeem Velani has been appointed interim Vice President and CFO. Erceg will be returning to the U.S. as CFO at a U.S.- based NYSE-listed company where his responsibilities will include Finance and Information Systems. Velani joined CP in March 2013 and most recently served as Vice President Investor Relations. Prior to CP, Velani spent 15 years at CN,. where he worked in a variety of positions in Financial Planning, Sales and Marketing and Investor Relations. "While this was a difficult decision for me to make, I am truly proud of the work we have done in my tenure at CP," said Erceg. "Leaving at this time to pursue this exciting new opportunity is the right decision ,and I know CP, under the leadership of Hunter Harrison and Keith Creel, is well-positioned for continued success." "Mark was a big part of CP's senior leadership team and will be missed," said CP CEO E. Hunter Harrison. "We wish him and his family well in their future endeavors and look forward to working closely with Nadeem as he assumes the role of CFO on an in interim basis.

CP calls for on-board recording technology legislation

Canadian Pacific officials are urging the Canadian Government to act on legislation that would implement on-board locomotive video and voice recorders (LVVR).  The Class I has long been a supporter of the need to implement the recording devices in Canada. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB), which earlier this week released the proceedings from its Safety Summit held this spring, has recommended that railroads install the devices to improve safety. The federal government has not passed legislation to require them, however.

CP executives believe the devices can aide in incident investigation but also have been proven to change in-cab behavior to prevent accidents, CP officials said in a press release. CP uses the LVVR technology in 15 of its locomotives in the United States. The technology also is used successfully by other U.S. railroads, with studies showing a 40 percent reduction in collisions per million miles traveled, according to CP.

"I attended the summit and was heartened to see so many thoughtful people from government and industry in one place to discuss something we are passionate about at CP -safety," said CP President and Chief Operating Officer Keith Creel. "LVVR was again discussed at length as an important, proactive means to improve safety and I urge Minister Garneau and his staff to heed the advice of experts and move forward with this meaningful change."

In addition to attending the summit, Creel met with Transport Minister Marc Garneau in early June. Currently, on-board recordings are privileged and can be used only for post-occurrence investigations by the TSB. Canadian law would have to be changed in order for railroads to use the technology as an accident prevention tactic. 

However, union leaders representing locomotive engineers and conductors in Canada have expressed concern about the potential for railroads using the LVVR technology to monitor their employees if the recordings are made available to people other than TSB investigators.

Schreiber derailed CP locomotive found 100 years later!

The final resting place of a freight train that derailed more than 100 years ago near Schreiber, Ont., has been discovered.  Tom Crossmon, a Minnesota-based underwater recovery expert, found CPR 694 on the bottom of Lake Superior on July 22. The train derailed on June 9, 1910, near Mink Harbour, when it hit a boulder on the track, Crossman said. It then dropped 20 meters to Lake Superior, and descended another 60 metres to the bottom of the lake. 

"I think all of us on the boat were pretty blown away," he said of the discovery. "To think that we were the first people in 106 years to see something that hasn't been seen. It's pretty impressive, that feeling."  Three men from Schreiber were killed in the wreck.  One of the bodies was never recovered.  Crossmon said he used a remotely operated vehicle -or ROV -fitted with a video camera, to locate the wrecked locomotive.  "We weren't able to be successful with sonar," said Crossmon."But we used the ROV and were able to find it using the video."  C rossmon said they were able to pinpoint where the locomotive was resting with the help of information provided by a London, Ont., diver named Terry Irvine. Irvine located two of the train's boxcars in 2014 and gave Crossmon the GPS co-ordinates to that initial find. Crossmon said the locomotive was found close by, tucked into some boulders.  It's too damaged to be raised, but some items may be removed, depending on permission from government, he said. The museum in Schreiber has expressed interest in the locomotive's whistle and bell, Crossmon said, but as of yet, neither of those items have been located.  (CBC)

Goodbye Bill Eckman

CP announced in Early September changes in its Board of Directors as Bill Ackman resigned from the company with immediate effect. The company has appointed Jill Denham and William R. Fatt as new directors. The resignation of Bill Ackman comes after Pershing Square Management LP, the hedge fund managed by him, sold its entire stake in Canadian Pacific in August.  Growth under Ackman's Leadership Bill Ackman had joined Canadian Pacific in 2012 at a time when the company was not performing well. In fact, the company was deemed by many as the worst performing North American Class 1 railroad then during the period. Ackman was instrumental in appointing new board members as well as setting up new management to bring about the company's transformation. Since 2012, the company has generated over $14 billion in shareholder value and has seen an impressive performance of its share price which beat the S&P/TSX Composite by over 100% through year-end 2015. The company is now regarded as one of the best performing railroads in the industry.

Background of the two New CP Board Members

Jill Denham has been associated with the financial services industry since 1983. Denham has held several leadership positions in the industry in the past, including the position of Vice Chair Retail Markets at CIBC, prior to which she was the Managing Director Head of Commercial Banking and E-Commerce at the bank. At present, she serves as the Chair of the Board at Morneau Sheppell and at Munich Reinsurance Canada along with being a board member at National Bank of Canada and Kinaxis Inc.

William R. Fatt held the position of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of FRHI Hotels and Resorts from 1998 up till Jul 2016. FRHI was created from the merger of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and Raffles Hotels & Resorts in 2006. Fatt was also the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Canadian Pacific Ltd prior to the CEO position .Canadian Pacific Ltd. is the parent company of Canadian Pacific Hotels which was Fairmont's predecessor and Canadian Pacific Railways Co. At present, he is a board member of the Jim Pattison Group and the Bank of Nova Scotia. Prior to this, he served as the board member of companies such as Cadillac Fairview Corp., EnCana Corp., SunLife Financial Inc. and Enbridge Inc.  The company expects the experience and expertise of the new board members to be beneficial for its future performance. 

CP PHOTOS

On September 4th, Dennis Weber caught CP train 484 with CP 8918 and CP 8573 passing by picturesque Bangor, WI at 08:40 AM, hauling hoppers, racks and forwarding a Loram Under-Cutter on the tail end.

On September 4th, Denis clicked CP train 484 again with CP 8919 and CP 8573 at River Junction (La Crescent. MN with a Chicago bound Manifest. 

Also on September 4th a CP-NS transfer from Windsor to Melvindale, MI,  had CP 5028, CP 6221, and CP 5046 on the (NS) ex-Wabash line at Forman Ave in Detroit, MI.  They called themselves #241 but it was actually T-27. (Kenneth Borg)  

Kenneth also caught CP #242 eastbound at 15th St. in Detroit, MI on July 29, 2016, with UP C40-8W 9444 which was sent to the Ontario Southland Railway's Salford Shop for modification work.

Owen Laukkanen photographed CP 8952 heading eastbound though Savona, BC, on August 21st. 

On September 1st, CP 3085, CP 2261, and CP 3117 do the London pick-up in Zorra, Ontario.  (Walter Pfefferle). 

The same day Walter shot CP 9618 leaving the east switch at Nissouri with CEFX 1019 waiting their turn to depart Nissouri, Ontario.

CEFX 1019 is shown now waiting all alone with their train stretched out and filling the entire length of Nissouri siding, waiting for track to clear ahead.