Original subtitles

an enormous freight train is out of

control tearing through the Canadian

Rockies the crew does nothing to slow

the Train's terrifying speed Jack are

you there charging the other way a

passenger train with more than a 100

people on

board front end Jack come in

oh my

God mayday mayday we're doing 90 M an

hour out of

control take a life jacket where's the

crcard don't let

go it's one of the most spectac spacular

train rides in the

world every year thousands of people

take the slow and easy way through

Canada's Rocky Mountains avoiding

traffic they take the train and leave

the driving to somebody

[Music]

else in late winter 1986 a gentle trip

through the Rockies will end

tragically it was like a mini atom bomb

and all of a sudden it ignited

w I'm going to help you I can hear the

women screaming you know

um just save her

[Music]

baby an investigation makes shocking

discoveries about the Canadian railroad

industry at that time I didn't think

that anything was wrong

wrong February the 8th 1986 spectacular

Northern Lights dance across the sky

over Edson Alberta in western

[Music]

[Applause]

Canada driving freight trains has been a

lifelong dream for 48-year-old Canadian

national Railways engineer Jack

Hudson but after 16 years on the job he

knows all too well that it can be a

groeling

career because Canadian freight trains

travel such vast distances up to 12

local Crews may be used in the course of

one CrossCountry Journey Hudson Works a

mountainous stretch of track through

Alberta running between his hometown of

Jasper and Edson to the east

like many train men Hudson Works a

regular beat driving over the same

stretch of track then turning around

again with another train day after

day at around 11:00 p.m. last night

Hudson got off the freight train from

Jasper

and spent the night here in the company

bunk house at

Edson now he's up again after just 3 and

1/ half hours of sleep ready to return

to

Jasper at the station he's joined by his

Breakman like Hudson 25-year-old Mark

Edwards lives in Jasper and like Hudson

he hasn't slept very much

did you get some rest Not much got to

touch the flu could use a full night's

sleep Hudson and Edwards will ride up

front in the first engine Hudson drives

the train while Edwards keeps an eye on

the brakes and pitches in if Hudson

needs any

help known to his fellow railman as

Smitty 33-year-old Wayne Smith is

Hudson's conductor he's the last of the

three-man crew in charge of the freight

train this morning as many

Smith rides in the Caboose the last car

in the train he acts as an extra set of

eyes making sure the men in the front

end know what's going on behind

them the three men are longtime

employees of Canadian national or CN

rail and all of them have been up and

down this length of track countless

times

before the train they're riding today is

enormous

CN train 413 is just under 2 km long the

cars are filled with a collection of

grain metal pipes and chemicals it tips

the scales at more than 11 million

kilos as the freight rolls into Edson it

slows to a crawl but doesn't stop

getting it started again would take time

and the crew wants their trip to begin

as soon as

possible Hudson and Edwards take the

train on the Fly ing it as it rolls

slowly

along according to CN rail's code of

conduct this is illegal but it's

something Crews do

routinely with the Caboose still nearly

2 km away Smith stands by the track to

inspect the cargo as it crawls by he

makes sure there's nothing obviously

wrong with the freight or the cars

carrying it all set Jack

clear signal leaving

Edson clear signal leaving

Edson another part of Smith's job is to

stay in touch with the front end of the

train he's supposed to make sure they're

alert throughout the

[Music]

journey now with the Caboose pulling

alongside the platform Smith climbs

aboard

[Music]

okay he's got the brakes off you're good

to go see you

later at 6:40 a.m. Hudson pushes the

throttle the freight train picks up

speed as its 8,000 horsepower diesel

engines open up the CN freight train

Begins the Long Hall West to Jasper the

men are going

home dispatcher to 413 good morning

dispatcher good morning Jack but Hudson

isn't sure exactly how long his train is

or precisely what he's carrying at

Medicine Lodge here I haven't had a

chance yet oh that's uh you got pretty

well All Grain cars eh yeah I think so

yeah it should be the right L then okay

okay

thanks as 413 Roars West a via passenger

train speeds East on the same track

via rails supercontinental passenger

train number four is cruising toward

Edmonton

Alberta more than a 100 passengers are

enjoying the spectacular scenery as it

cruises through the rugged Canadian

Rockies 36-year-old Jamie hait is a car

assembly operator he's headed home to

Ontario after a twoe visit to his family

in Vancouver it's a very very small

community that you're you're you're

close proximity with a lot of people

very very suddenly and and so there's a

lot of people we got to meet and got got

to interact with I remember there was a

couple of ladies that we that we met

over dinner one was was was very very

pregnant while some passengers are still

sleeping ha goes into the day coach to

do some reading before breakfast it's

the fourth car in the train I remember

this uh this lady and she had a a little

boy with her about 3 years old or

whatever he was quite an awe the little

child was quite an awe of a

scenery so I sat down on it and I lifted

the shade a little bit so I could get

some of the daylight coming in and I

started to read a pocket

[Music]

novel several cars behind hate is 61

one-year-old assistant conductor Herbert

timy an old hand on the Canadian

passenger line he's been riding this

piece of track for 7 years I had to be

the assistant conductor and look after

the passengers on that

train next

stop

Hinton the passenger train is pulling

into Hinton the freight train is just

about to reach hawin station 20 km

East here the fail line briefly splits

into two so trains can pass each other

413 will take the upper track while the

passenger train passes below

it as Hudson approaches the split in the

tracks traffic signal lights tell him to

slow

[Music]

down Smitty you've got an approach

limited signal at Harwin next station

Dale Hurst

over head in to 413 approach limited

hard uin next station Dale Hurst

out these are the last words these men

will ever

[Music]

exchange the dispatcher in Edmonton sets

a switch and 413 is forced onto the

upper

track

the Via passenger train arrives at

Hinton station at 8:20 a.m. on board

64-year-old Martin peton settles down to

breakfast in the downstairs Lounge of

the Dome car he's feeling rested after a

good night's

sleep a former World War II fighter

pilot pedison has a lot of experience

with locomotives over the course of the

war he blew up 36 enemy trains in

France

the night before pedison swapped War

stories with another veteran he met on

board 61 year-old Kenneth cattle is a

former Royal Marine it was February I

was going to

Edmonton to look for another

job like pedison cuttle also fought

Behind Enemy Lines in World War II cutle

and pedison are survivors uh let's go

upstairs to the dorm car have a look

around see what's happening the train

was pretty comfortable you know not many

people on board I said let's go up to

the Dome car because it was just coming

light and we see lots of things which

you might not get another chance to see

we were in the foothills of the Rocky

Mountains there are now 115 people on

board but the train will never make it

to Edmonton and the passengers and crew

enjoying the early morning trip will

soon be fighting for their

lives

it's a clear Sunny morning on board a

passenger train in western Canada

breakfast is being served as the train

rolls East through the Canadian

Rockies just 15 km away an 11 million

kilo freight train CN 413 rumbles down

the track towards

it with diesel engines still pounding at

Full Throttle it's pulling 113 rail cars

of grain and hazardous material

from the outside everything looks normal

but what's going on inside the lead

engine of 4113 is about to become one of

the greatest mysteries in Canadian

railroad

history freight trains and passenger

trains often travel on the same track

for short sections the track splits so

trains heading in opposite directions

can pass safely today 413 is on the

upper

Branch signals tell the freight train to

slow then stop completely the signals

will only turn green again once the

passenger train has passed safely by

below then the freight train can rejoin

the main

[Music]

line but 413 isn't slowing down it's now

heading downhill and it charges through

the warning lights if it doesn't stop

soon it will return to the main line at

full speed straight into the path of the

passenger

train unaware of the bizarre behavior of

413 the passenger train continues

East Martin pedon gets his

breakfast

hi up ahead the freighter Thunders

through the last set of light signals

ignoring three red lights that command

it to stop

it slams back onto the main line it's

traveling 95 km an hour and weighs more

than 11 million kilos and still it

doesn't slow

down Herbert timy sits to

relax Ken cutle has a clear view of the

Railway ahead i' gotten uh conversation

with an English guy and he had his back

to the front and I was looking over his

shoulder forward the way the train was

going there was a flickering light in

the

distance and not knowing the track

layout I

thought oh there must be another line

and if it's another train it's going to

go past us you

know

just I was reading the pocket novel one

of the girls from the party or

group happened to just walk past

[Music]

[Music]

me oh my

God oh my

God

and then

boom the trains Collide like two

charging Rams at a combined speed of

nearly 200

[Music]

kmph passengers are rocked by one

Collision after another as 70 Freight

cars pile into the

wreckage like an incoming wave great

rain cars long pipes 3T in diameter 30

ft in length you name it and these were

flying through the air like

toys thrown from the tracks by the force

of the Collision One freight car flies

through the air smashing to a stop on

the via train the whole world seemed to

explode it was like a mini atom

bomb it was a big mushroom of black

smoke

[Music]

then everything was

dark they could no longer breathe

because everything was filled with

smoke oh I'm going to

die and the third thing that happened

was I just resigned myself to

that

I've been working about 37 years and uh

on the Railroad and I never never seen

anything so

bad the wave of metal Grain cars stopped

just where the Dome car was if it had

gone another 30 ft it would have covered

us as

well in the same car one deck below

Martin pedon struggled to escape but he

can barely see what's happening in front

of him the window beside him shattered

during impact filling his eyes with

broken

glass almost 2 km behind the engine the

Caboose of train 413 finally lurches to

a

stop conductor Wayne Smith sees a ball

of fire glowing in the distance but he

has no idea how bad the situation is

front end

413 I think we're in the bush or we're

derailed there is a big explosion up

here and we have chemicals on the train

so stay away from it stay away from the

dangerous

goods but all Smith gets in reply is an

ominous

silence passengers continue to struggle

to escape the mangled wreck of their

train as the smoke thickens I was

trained while in the Marines to

survive and to act spontaneously there

was a window at the back of the Dome car

and it was all cracked and I just jumped

up on the seat smashed my head through

the glass

roof and shouted come on let's get

out CLE and others jump from the

car and I lo back and all of a sudden it

ignited

W Down Below in the lounge car Martin

Pon also manages to

escape but others aren't so lucky many

are still trapped in the burning cars

including passenger Jamie hate through

for the coach had been crunched down me

I'd lost my glasses I couldn't see I

couldn't breathe and here it was the

porter that had been behind the snack

bar had opened up this this exit way and

he had bed out through it and I took off

out behind it

[Applause]

too step out him he was in shock hey

snap out of it hey buddy and pull it

together here you know there's people in

here and we got to do something about it

but half blind without his glasses hate

goes back inside trying to help others

out of the

wreck 413 here dispatcher back in the

Caboose Smith is talking to the freight

train's dispatcher some 285 km away in

Edmonton everything in the air we better

get a doctor out here and some herb timy

the assistant conductor on the passenger

train can hear the conversation on his

radio and breaks in Co all over the

ditch and get an

ambulance and there's a whole bunch of

cars on fire you get that dispatcher we

need the fire department here very badly

some coaches are trapped with passengers

inside they're

burning I don't think the engineers live

through this one it's a real

mess okay that's right on the switch at

Dale Hurst eh okay yes I'm going to walk

up there and see if I can be of any

assistance what was the signal at D

Hurst when your head and called it

pardon me what was that signal on that

signal at Dale

Hurst well well I was calling him for

the signal at ders quite a few times but

uh I I kept calling him and there was no

answer well it should have been read on

the panel well he must have ran it then

dispatcher because I could not get a

hold of him I tried and I tried

okay I'll all

right back at the head of the passenger

train Jamie hay tries to save who he

can are you

okay I'm going to help

you haate can hear the screams of men

and women trapped in the flames and I

can hear the

women I had dinner with the night before

screaming you know um

[Music]

Tove her

baby Pate was not able to save the

mother and her child They're Out Of

Reach under

deis that was uh that was

difficult people who were trapped and

couldn't get out

screaming screaming like you've never

heard

[Applause]

one guy knew that his wife was trapped

and he went back in and died with

her another woman in the carriage under

where we were had most of a leg

cutter James ha courageously decides to

go back

inside the fire is a scorching 660 de

but hate tries to save one more life but

there was a there was a chop right in

front of me

there and it was the chop I had had

dinner with the night

before and all of a sudden the Flames

came and consumed

[Music]

them he just just sat up and rubbed his

head

and cuz there's nothing more we could do

it for him

anybody in front of me and that coach

was

dead for whatever the reasons it wasn't

my time to go then for whatever the

reasons Wayne Smith is devastated he

can't reach his two friends at the front

of the freight train and he can't

understand what happened to cause such

an enormous

disaster in western Canada a freight

train has smashed headon into a

passenger train carrying more than a 100

people in the minutes after the

Collision survivors are dragging

themselves from the burning wreckage

While others are still trapped

inside one of the

girls that had been in the car in the

morning and I looked at her and I said

I'm sarry to tell you

you're he had no choice but to tell a

what happened to her friend in the

train you're

uh uh your friend was in the car

here she died trapped in the burning

debris I felt like the worst person in

the world cuz I had to tell her if I

could have taken back that one second in

time to not tell her you

[Music]

know

[Music]

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable

Mark Lenell is one of the first to

arrive on the scene I was T there was a

train derailment not a train crash I

mean there's a double

whammy the RCMP officer came he could

hardly speak his mouth dropped open and

he said I can't believe what I'm

witnessing it's a horrifying scene

pictures taken shortly after the crash

show utter

Devastation I mean I was just

flasting I just couldn't believe it and

instant that's quite the thing to

[Music]

see the Collision is 18 km from the town

of H Hinton it takes emergency crews

some 45 minutes to get there I was in

the Marines in England for 14 years I'd

seen a lot of a lot

of disasters man-made disasters

terrorist bombs and I thought I'd seen

it all there is a lot of blunt FL trauma

of course flying glass

Burns and then I

saw what appeared to be two bodies in

the restaurant car hugging each other so

we found out later that was a man and

wife and this was one heck of a

shock as Lenell is escorting survivors

away from the site he sees a lone man

with a radio coming down the track how's

the uh how's the front end doing uh

what's your name it's Smith is about to

learn that his colleagues aboard his

train are dead like what happened like

did they make contact with we're still

under investigation and there's not a

lot I can tell you right now okay so

they still might be I mean I'm really

sorry he' be distraught and shaken and

his train is wrecked and all these

people

[Music]

dead

The Hinton train disaster is the worst

Railway accident to strike Canada in 35

years more than $30 million in property

are destroyed 23 people are dead and 71

others are severely

[Music]

injured

Wayne Smith is the only surviving crew

member of the CN train the only man who

may be able to explain how an 11 million

kilo freighter plowed head first into an

oncoming passenger

train what he knows could be critical to

unraveling the cause of the

disaster 2 days after the Collision the

Alberta Government establishes an

official Commission of

inquiry and The Honorable Mr Justice

Renee P fo leads the

investigation judge fo is a Justice of

the Alberta Court of Appeal it was uh

reasonably simple I mean what caused the

accident uh but it turned out to be a

lot more complicated than that because

uh there were no easy answers as to what

caused the

accident Freight and passenger trains

routinely use the same tracks without

incident what was different this time

over the next 11 months foise calls on

150 Witnesses and Specialists to help

him find out agree with you I think what

has most surprised me is the the complex

procedures the equipment U the overall

complexity that uh that we have to look

at in running a railroad and what goes

on in running a railroad while conductor

Smith recovers from the accident foisey

gets to work he begins by studying the

signals that should have told the

freight train to

stop if they weren't working the crew on

413 may not have thought they needed to

slow

down

GN did a uh very in-depth test on the

signal system and it was determined that

um it was performing U properly we went

further we uh hired our own independent

experts to test the

system the switches which operate the

signal lights were frozen in position

after the accident electrical engineer

Eugene couch was hired to read them

perhaps a mechanical fault in the system

had turned them green telling the

freight train to speed

through a fault does not give a positive

green light to any any situation so if

if there was a fault in any controls

part of the system it would have forced

everything to go to Red which meant the

passenger train would have stopped and

would have forced the freight train to

stop if a mechanical problem wasn't the

cause there was a more chilling

possibility perhaps someone set the fr

train lights to Green on purpose causing

the two trains to collide couch

dismissed that idea too to do that would

mean that somebody would have to

actually go there and really maliciously

you know change things and there was no

sign of any tampering on on any

mechanisms basically our conclusion we

felt that the system was sound and was

safe fo believes the lights were red but

the freight train ignored them perhaps

another mechanical fault was behind the

crash well I was calling him for the

signal of D question in his statement

after the crash conductor Wayne Smith

told Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Officers that something was wrong with

his radio that morning because I could

not get a hold of him I tried and I

tried maybe the front of the train was

having mechanical problems but they

weren't able to get in contact with

Smith Joseph abar examines the portable

radios the crew

used the first test was with the radio

that was on the train that was in the

accident since that hinted the radio

performed to

specification but even if the radios

themselves were working there could be

another problem many CN employees claim

there are places along the tracks where

radio communication is impossible

so-called dead spots and it's not a dead

spot that's there 365 days out of the

year the possibility was also examined

and dismissed sometimes you can't some

radios are stronger some are

weaker the second test done as far as

communication ation between the

locomotive and the Caboose was done with

the same type of radio as was used at

the time the accident took

place field test with that type of radio

for had satisfactory performers the

evidence was uh pretty clear and we

concluded that that there were no dead

spots one other possible explanation is

examined natural phenomena like the

Northern Lights can also affect radio

performance um got to measure a medicine

L Northern Lights can build up very high

currents and Communications lines

anything even hooked up to a radio could

pick it up my determination of it was

that uh they were not a

factor if the signals were red and the

radios were working why had the train

crashed explain to me how fo examines an

ingenious pie piece of technology the

HotBox

detector sitting beside the track

hotboxes monitor the temperature of a

train's wheels and axles they also

record the speed of trains as they Roar

by when fo and his advisers examine the

HotBox data they make a telling

Discovery when the front of the freight

train passed the HotBox detector just

after Harwin it was traveling a little

over 60 km an hour

but by the time the Caboose passed it

the train was going more than 74 km an

hour despite the signals telling it to

slow down the train was speeding

up for the last 5 miles we're able to

determine that the uh freight train was

going uh at least 59 M an hour perhaps

as high as 60 or 61 there were no break

applications before the crash as

well the crew let the train travel too

fast they did not heed signals to stop

and they never applied the brakes it all

points to a train that was out of

control why there were no Brak

applications is difficult to

understand oh my

god with mechanical problems ruled out

fo begins to examine the crew of the

freight train perhaps there's something

about engineer Jack Hudson who was in

charge of the train that could explain

what happened that

day as foise begins sifting through

Hudson's medical records and

interviewing his family he makes a

disturbing

[Music]

Discovery a train Collision in western

Canada has killed 23 people another 71

are

injured the man leading the inquiry into

the disaster has ruled out mechanical

problems judge Renee foise now takes a

closer look at Jack Hudson the 16-year

veteran who was driving the freight

train when fo and the commission review

Hudson's medical files they're shocked

by what they discover Mr Hudson was a

was a man who who was sick he was an

alcoholic he had um high blood pressure

which was a problematic he had

diabetes he had a pancreatic attack uh

the summer before this accident he had

had to wear a colostomy for a number of

months foise wonders if this long list

of illnesses could somehow have led to

the train crash the engineer Jack Hudson

uh had been killed outright in the crash

and had severe injuries so we couldn't

determine whether there'd been a

catastrophic medical event whether he'd

had a heart attack for example or a

stroke which had incapacitated him but

we were able to do toxicology and there

was no alcohol or drugs present he did

have a lot of health problems and he had

some problems at home uh that these

problems at home appeared to be on the

menend and uh that he was not the kind

of man who if he was going to commit

suicide would take uh 23 people with him

and injure another 70 and some of them

very very seriously so we discounted

that possibility of a

suicide if it wasn't suicide if Hudson

did have a stroke or heart attack at the

controls why didn't his Breakman Mark

Edwards take any action

investigators come up with one plausible

answer did you get some rest Not much

got a touch the flu could use a full

night's

[Music]

sleep perhaps Edwards had been asleep on

the

job Dr Allison's Smiley is an expert on

sleep and

fatigue Jack Hudson he had had at the

very most before he went on duty that

day 3 and 1 half hours of sleep and that

is if he slept from the last moment

somebody saw him till the moment

somebody next saw him again 3 and 1 half

hours braan said he had a touch of the

flu and he'd had 5 hours sleep the night

before Wayne Smith uh similarly had had

uh insufficient sleep about 5 hours

before the

Collision as the freight train passed

the signals telling it to stop the

entire enire crew may have been fast

asleep you could work at any time of the

day so one day you might start at 4:00

in the morning uh the next day you start

uh at 2: in the afternoon their hours

were so erratic they were continually in

a jet lag State because their physiology

was never sort of fully adjusted to uh

any particular working

hours when it comes to staying alert

train Engineers face many challenges in

including long rides up and down the

same stretch of track the tracks going

by one after the other it's a very

soporific situation to work in and easy

to see how somebody no matter how

motivated could fall

asleep at the time trains were equipped

with safety devices that would

automatically stop a train if the engine

man died or fell asleep the so-called

Dead Man's

pedal basically the engineer is supposed

to keep his foot on the pedal and while

he's his foot is on the pedal the train

won't stop if that pedal isn't

depressed uh then it will after a number

of seconds give a warning which is uh

quite Audible and if nothing happens

then it will stop the train but fo

discovers that for many train men

disabling the Dead Man's pedal is

standard practice one of the excuses

that was given by the the engineers is

that to go long distances having to keep

your foot on that pedal was very

uncomfortable and uh so that they would

sometimes uh put something on the pedal

a lunge box or something heavy enough to

keep it depressed so that they could

stretch their legs unfortunately uh what

was happening this pedal was being

depressed for long long periods of

time but even even if Edwards and Hudson

had fallen asleep at the front of the

train and the dead man's pedal was

rigged conductor Wayne Smith at the back

could still have prevented the

disaster almost two months into the Foy

inquiry Smith takes the stand doctors

had kept him from testifying earlier

saying he was too traumatized by the

accident now for the first time

investigators will hear Smith

reconstruct events on board his train in

the moments leading up to the disaster I

was sitting looking out the back back of

the train from my desk when we uh passed

mboard

169 that's the

uh that's the landmark that I used to

initiate a call to the engineer to ask

for the display at the Dale Hurst

approach

signal head end to 413 what indication

do you have at the Dale Hurst approach

signal 1703

over the front end of the train is

supposed to respond letting Smith know

that they've seen the signal lights

telling them to slow down head of 413

can you hear me

over I I probably called him three or

four times I uh I didn't get a response

on my gray radio there was uh there was

something wrong with it what's the

indication at signal 1703

over it's a surprising piece of

testimony fo already knows the radios

were working

fine

when Smith is asked how fast he thought

the train was going before the Collision

fo gets another

surprise I felt the front end give a

light break application on the Caboose

uh coming around the curve I felt we

were doing a track speed of about 50 mph

or less but according to the HotBox

detectors the train was traveling almost

16 km an hour over track speed and there

was never any application of the

brakes I went to my red radio

and I tried to get a hold of them on

it Jack how's the Dale Hurst approach

signal

1703 I was calling him on channel one

three or four times and there was no

answer so I tried to get a hold of them

on different

channels but once again Smith's

testimony doesn't add up fo has heard

from other train men who were monitoring

their radios in the area that day no one

heard Smith call

Smith says he was still trying to

contact Hudson when the end of the train

raced past signals telling it to slow

down Jack as an experienced trainman

Smith knows that the next set of lights

will likely be a triple red telling the

train to

stop he was getting no answer and the

train wasn't slowing down an emergency

Brak cord was in Easy reach but Smith

never pulled

it Jack are you there with Hudson

mysteriously silent Smith says he does

nothing but continue to call the front

end front end Jack come in why in the

circumstances that you've described did

you not pull the brake I I felt the

engineer had the train under

control I felt he in fact was doing what

was necessary to control the train at

that

point I never felt at any point in time

that I should pull the emergency

break at that time I didn't think that

anything was wrong that's the point I

make Mr Smith that when there's a

problem with the radio you've been

trained over the years to observe the

signals and it would have been the last

thing I would have done he didn't pull

the brake he didn't pull the air because

he felt that it hadn't reached that

point U basically that was his evidence

and I had a lot of difficulty with that

because uh if if it uh if that point

hadn't been reached when was it going to

be reached if

Smith's contradictory testimony is

complete judge fo is now ready to close

his case and lay the blame on those

responsible for the

[Music]

disaster the inquiry into one of the

deadliest train crashes in Canada is

complete 23 people were killed when a

freight train crashed headon into a

passenger train near Hinton Alberta

Chief investigator Renee fo has explored

every angle from technical malfunction

to human error he's now ready to deliver

his report on what went wrong that

day in his 205 page report fo Parcels

out the blame naming all the key

offenders fo writes that the trains

engineer Jack Hudson failed to observe

and Obey light signals commanding him to

stop his train before it entered the

single track

back if Hudson was unable to do his job

Breakman Mark Edwards failed to

intervene he also ignored the light

signals and didn't break the train

before it entered the single

track conductor Wayne Smith was guilty

too he had failed to follow operating

rules and pull the emergency break when

he couldn't contact the two men at the

front of the

train in a statement to police he had

even suggested that he thought thought

they were sleeping said that my head end

was

asleep do you recall making that

responser yes I

do with so many contradictions in his

testimony fo rules that the conductor's

evidence is unreliable I wasn't sure

what I what what had happened and

um I went to my back desk I jumped on

from the Cupa and uh ran

for it seemed like we were just just

keep going there was no immediate

stopping the Caboose kept

sliding instead Foy emphasizes that

Smith like Edwards and Hudson was

dangerously tired that morning I just

wanted to get home actually at the

[Music]

time but the crew aren't the only ones

Foy blames for the

accident according to the Foy report

Jack Hudson May well have had a stroke

or heart attack before the Collision but

CN management had known about Hudson's

medical record for years he managed to

accumulate I think it was 40 or 50

demerits and at 60 you're

fired but after he got to that

level uh there were some other

infractions which weren't

recorded foise also calls attention to

the rules that were routinely ignored

such as rigging the Dead Man's pedal and

taking the train on the

Fly the conclusion we came to is that

there was a lot to be desired on the

part of

Cen um and that yes there was certainly

some

laxness uh and some complacency when it

came to these areas uh I'll get a

measure at Medicine Lodge here I haven't

had a chance yet oh that's uh you got

pretty well all grein cars eh yeah I

think so there is a lesson to be learned

here it's that when you have

rules you obey the rules and you in

Force the rules uh if it becomes too

much of a fraternity in of a buddy buddy

system it gets

lack and problems occur and this tragedy

was one of

them Foy demands that CN improve its

safety equipment recommending that all

trains be equipped with reset safety

control

technology these systems are much more

complicated than a dead man's pedal if

constant attention is not paid to the

train a alarm sound and the train

eventually shuts

down it's equipment which has proved

valuable several times since the

disaster there was a study done uh with

Cen 10 years after this accident they

found something like 90% of the train

Engineers saying that they had been

woken by the alerting device at least

once in response to fo's report CN rail

creates one of the most sophisticated

fatigue countermeasures program programs

in the world train men are no longer on

call 7 days a week 24 hours a day

napping is no longer FR upon rest houses

have been created and improved and

locomotive cabs made more

[Music]

comfortable for the victims of the

Hinton disaster of 1986 changes to

Canadian railroading come too late I

still remember the people that were

killed in the accident and good friends

I had on the

Railroad and that's

really it just father me it's now it's

uh 20 years

nearly and I'm still going

strong very lucky I don't equate it to

luck no no that too much of a tragedy to

think about luck too much there's too

much hurt that happened inside of me it

took me quite a while to rebuild my my

sanity again I got over it fairly

quickly and got on with a life there may

be lots of other people who weren't as

lucky you can be going along in life and

then something come along and just kind

of destroy your very Foundation or

shatter your very

foundation and through no fault of your

own but life has a habit of doing that

but the other thing I can share with him

is that you can recover from it there is

a

tomorrow