There was a derailment in downtown Winnipeg late this afternoon, around 4:40 PM. According to CN's Twitter account "At ~4:40pm local time, 9 cars on westbound CN freight train derailed upright on CN main line in downtown Winnipeg. No leaks or injuries. Loaded cars contained sand; 2 derailed tank cars empty. CN crews on site, working to restore service. The cause is under investigation."
The cars in the above photo appear to be derailed. Notice how the car second from right is not connected. I noted sparks flying as crews were apparently cutting the couplers to separate them.
There was plenty of equipment and personnel in the nearby parking lot. That's the Fort Garry Hotel in the background, and you can see the dome of the VIA station above the truck cab.
There were personnel walking the train. Here I saw two people on the William Stephenson Way overpass. The end of the train is just off the right side of the photo.
Thank goodness they didn't fall off the overpasses!
I hadn't read my news this afternoon so I was totally unaware. I had headed up to the north end of Winnipeg after supper to get some video tapes converted to digital, and on my way home I noted the sparks flying from the stopped train and investigated.
Apparently CN believes the track will be clear late this evening. It's fortunate the cars were all upright and it doesn't appear that they traveled very far after derailing.
Global has helicopter video! The north track looks pretty torn up.
News reports:
Update: The CN Communications Twitter account responded to my inquiry and told me that one track was opened by midnight Wednesday night. The track is reported clear as of Friday night.
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