CN 308 derailment update

As I mentioned, 54 cars of CN 308 derailed near St. Andre Thursday afternoon.

Location
Ron Pelletier reports "the accident occurred at Bellefleur station mile 189 on the Napadogan Sub, which is in the Municpality of St André." He reports the old highway 2, paralleling the track, was closed although the Trans-Canada Highway was not.

Mile 189 is almost midway between Grand Falls and St. Leonard (See June 8, 1980 CN timetable).

CBC
CBC news has an update on the derailment. About 100 people were evacuated briefly but are now back home. The news story has an aerial photo of the wreckage - it looks substantial. It looks like a number of boxcars and autoracks are on their sides or upside down.

The CBC also have a video interview with Sgt. Derek Strong of the RCMP on their web site. There are a few shots of the derailment from the ground in the video. The sergeant said CN would be spending all day today building temporary track.

CN
CN has a statement on their web site. They say 55 cars derailed near St. Leonard.

Detours
Wendell Lemon reports that CN 305 is leaving Moncton and detouring over NBEC/CFMG tracks with CN 2575 and three other engines, "with 9580 feet including 12 dangerous commodity cars." He also reports that CN 308 is or was in Campbellton en route east.