Trains moving again on CP Rail line betwen Nelson and Castlegar after crews clear derailment near Fortis BC Corra Linn power plant
By Nelson Daily Staff
The trains are moving again on the Canadian Pacific Railway Kootenay Valley line between Nelson and Castlegar.
Crews worked tirelessly for three days to clear and repair the line following Tuesday’s derailment near the Fortis BC Corra Linn Dam next to the Kootenay River that saw all four locomotives and eight concentrator cars leave the track.
“The line was re-opened late last (Thursday) night after final mandatory inspections were completed,” CP Rail spokesperson Ed Greenberg told The Nelson Daily.
Thursday, professional derailment crews from Idaho re-railed the four locomotives before moving the engines to a siding west of the accident.
After the remaining concentrator cars were moved to the side of the line, CP Rail crews went to work installing new line and dropping ballast onto the track.
Machines followed to move the ballast and re-align the track early Friday morning.
CP Rail staff then inspected the line before the first train move product to Teck Cominco in Trail at approximately 9 a.m. Friday.
The derailment near the Fortis BC Corra Linn power plant was the second time in less than a week the CP Rail line was closed.
The train was rounding a corner near the Fortis BC plant when the crew noticed the train was leaving its rails. The engineer immediately dynamited the train brakes, which cause all four locomotives and eight concentrator cars to derail.
A witness close to the derailment said he heard loud noise as the train rounded corner.
Greenberg said the accident remains under investigation.
“No cause to report at this time,” Greenberg added.
The CP Rail line between Nelson and Creston re-opened Sunday afternoon (April 1) following a train derailment Friday that closed the track and sent an excavator into the West Arm of Kootenay Lake.
Greenberg said the excavator sits in three to four feet of water and is not leaking.
CP Rail hopes to remove the piece of equipment sometime this week.
The Kootenay Valley line is a major artery that provides materials and supplies to Teck Cominco in Trail and Castlegar’s Zellstoff Celgar Pulp.
editor@thenelsondaily.com
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