A CP Rail car in Hamilton, Ont. on Oct. 20, 2014. The Transportation Safety Board is investigating to determine the circumstances of the derailment of a CP train Thursday in Montreal.Peter Power/The Globe and Mail
Tampering is the possible cause of the derailment of an empty Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. train that struck a house in Montreal on Thursday morning.
The handbrakes on five rail cars had been released before the 26 cars began rolling down the slight grade, travelling more than 150 metres at slow speed and crashing through two safety devices, said Guy Laporte, an investigator with the Transportation Safety Board. Five of the 30-tonne cars left the tracks and one struck a home adjacent to the railway.
"Because of the removal of the brakes – we don't know when – the cars began to roll [Thursday] morning," Mr. Laporte said.
"Results of the preliminary investigation indicate that the rail cars may have been tampered with, resulting in the movement of the cars," said Martin Cej, a CP spokesman.
Sergeant Laurent Gingras of the Montreal Police Service said it is too early in the investigation to confirm tampering is suspected. He confirmed there were no CP employees near the scene when the train began to move at about 10 a.m.
"That's a hypothesis. But it's really just a hypothesis at this point. We have nothing to say that's the case," Sgt. Gingras said by phone.
"CP police is working with the Montreal Police Service and the Transportation Safety Board on the investigation," said Mr. Cej. "Among the things they are looking at is the possibility the cars have been tampered with."
The empty rail cars had been parked on the siding near CP's Hochelaga yard for 10 months, and were not attached to a locomotive, Mr. Cej said.
The mechanical handbrakes that secure a rail car are controlled by a single lever at one end of the car, and are easily released, said Phil Reid, vice-president of Power Rail Training and Consulting, a Vancouver-based consultancy that trains railway operators around the world.
It takes a lot of physical strength to muster the 80- to 100-foot pounds of torque to turn the single wheel that sets the brakes on each car, but much less to release it.
"There's nothing to it. You just pull up a little lever," said Mr. Reid, a former locomotive engineer at Canadian National Railway Co. "A six-year-old kid could do it."
The home's occupant was treated at the scene for shock, and there were no other injuries, Sgt. Gingras said. He would not say if police have any witnesses or suspects.
Eric Atkins