What's next for MMA?

I agree. If a tanker truck crashes on the interstate and blows up houses and kills people do we ban tankers from the highway?

CN9634 wrote:I'll place a bet that you will see oil trains again. Just a hunch Any takers?

No bet! I'd bet that you won't see oil trains in either the US or Canada with one-man crews ever again though, even well into the future.

It looks like there is a parallel railroad about two miles/3 km or so north of the MM&A, what I believe to be the Quebec Central. Maybe the MM&A nod to building a Megantic bypass wasn't far off, if they'd be able to build a connection from the hamlet of Nantes to the QC line. (And, might la Belle Province or le Gouvernement du Canada kick in enough money to bridge Riviere Chaudiere and sneak around the northern side of Frontenac?)

It may not be all that simple. The former Quebec Central line (Tring Subdivision between Megantic and Tring Jct) was abandoned and the rails lifted decades ago. Any alternate route, whether using the old right of way or otherwise, would basically have to be constructed from scratch.

"I'll place a bet that you will see oil trains again. Just a hunch Any takers?"

What's the wager?

Ken V wrote:It may not be all that simple. The former Quebec Central line (Tring Subdivision between Megantic and Tring Jct) was abandoned and the rails lifted decades ago. Any alternate route, whether using the old right of way or otherwise, would basically have to be constructed from scratch.

Oh... Google Maps fooled me into thinking there were still rails on the right-of-way, along with the mention on the English wiki article and article en Français that the line had been in full operation until 2006. Looking more closely at satellite imagery, there really isn't much except an ATV trail through the woods that ends at an awkward highway intersection.

Well, shoot. Unless the MMA folks have something up their sleeve that I don't know about, a bypass looks unlikely at best.

tahawus84 wrote:I agree. If a tanker truck crashes on the interstate and blows up houses and kills people do we ban tankers from the highway?

People should take a step back and consider again that 42 people were killed and 5 are still missing.

Oil trains will not be running though the center of Lac Megantic any time soon. In the end someone is probably going to have to build a bypass route that does not take trains through the center of this particular town.

Who ever "wins" MM+A at the courthouse steps will have a massive PR problem to deal with,with the Town of Lac-Megantic and the
customers affected by this wreck.
It will most likely Transport Canada(Canadian Goverment) footing the bill on the bypass around the town.

tahawus84 wrote:If a tanker truck crashes on the interstate and blows up houses and kills people do we ban tankers from the highway?

Of course not. They weren't killed by a train crash.

How much of MMA is still operating?

Recent posts seemed to indicate that the portion in Maine more or less isolated by the derailment/cleanup/crime scene in Lac Megantic to the west of them are effectively shut down.

This recent photo http://photos.nerail.org/s/?p=210664" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; looks like it is still interchanging in Vermont presumaby traffic originating west of Lac Megantic.

Just wondering if they have any revenue coming in...

Sorry for the facetiousness, but my reaction to the photo immediately linked by Mr. Conn was 'We take Visa and MasterCard, but not American Express'

Now more to the point; it is my belief that interchanged railroad traffic will continue to be handled over the MM&A/MM&AC - 'Train 1267' included. What likely will change is a successor operator will be strongly advised to refrain from tying down trains anywhere in the proximity of Lac Megantic and may even be prohibited from doing so, save an emergency.

The crew consist will be mandated at not less than Engineer and Conductor.

Rulebooks governing train operations in North America will be revised with delineated rules regarding tying down trains.

There certainly is sentiment to removing the remnants of a tragedy. Cases in point; the Chicago mass murderer John
Wayne Gacy's house was torn down; so was the house in Cleveland where three young women were held captive. The Sandy Hook (Newtown) school is also being torn down. The present trackage through Lac Megantic could easily be rerouted, albeit the cost of such will be publicly funded.

Finally, the cost of insurance for any crude carrier - pipelines included - is only going up - WAAAY up. This will make Bakken and Canadian crude less competitive on the world market

"I'll place a bet that you will see oil trains again. Just a hunch Any takers?"

Again, what's the wager?

"100 businesses hope to be back in operation by the end of the year as part of a plan that includes... a temporary rail line. 'The municipality, with the Ministry of Transport will build this temporary link and consider constructing a permanent railway line, but we have to continue the study about this issue,' said Premier Pauline Marois....Marois says no dangerous materials will be transported on the temporary line. Meanwhile the mayor of Lac-Megantic, Colette Roy-Laroche, said at this point she does not know when decontamination of the Red Zone, the most-damaged area in town, will even begin. It appears that area will remain off-limits to the public at least until next summer."

http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/province-spe ... -1.1428327" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

mr. norman- oil pricing is what the market will bear. last look i had the bakken barrel was $62, transportation $14. when we see $100+ the price has nothing to do with costs nor source simply market testing. i suspect few actually pay the brent sweet crude posting price. north dakota crude will always be competitive. the impetus on transportation will continue. rail transportation will continue to grow. i remain stunned that mma would be so penny wise. it's the golden goose. ken patrick

Can anyone cite a precedent either in Canada or the US for a Government forcing a reroute of Haz Mat loads for any reason other than national security? The closest thing I can recall would be Washington DC or Baltimore in which Security concerns were the driving force behind the proposed reroute, however those are different circumstances than in Lac Megantic. While public sentiment may not approve I'm not sure how they can restrict any traffic regardless or lading as long as all appropriate insurance and certifications are in order.

I would think public outrage and political pressure could prevent any oil trains from running through Lac Megantic, whatever the legal status of the railroad traffic. Witness how the NIMBYs stopped the ethanol trains to Revere before they even started, and
the horror of this accident is far, far more compelling.

I thought the NIMBYS got the state to refuse to give Global the required permits to build the facility, but the state never said Pan Am couldn't run its trains along the route. Not sure how the laws are up in Canada, but it would be tough to stop any kind of traffic from moving in the states, unless of course if the line was condemned due to bad track or other safety issues. As bad as the accident was, commodities like LPG and Chlorine have traditionally been more dangerous than Oil, so would the town want to stop the transport of those 2 commodities as well?