TSB Canada Case Study
Transportation Safety Board Of Canada (TSB), Made Use Of Romell Inc. Smart Shoe™ Technology For The Investigation And Analysis Of The Lac-Mégantic Catastrophic Train Derailment Accident
“The Lac-Mégantic rail disaster occurred in the town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, Canada, on July 6, 2013, at approximately 01:15 EDT when an unattended 73-car Montreal, Maine, and Atlantic Railway (MMA) freight train carrying Bakken Formation crude oil rolled down a 1.2% grade from Nantes and derailed downtown, resulting in the explosion and fire of multiple tank cars. Forty-seven people were killed. More than thirty buildings in Lac-Mégantic’s town center, roughly half of the downtown area, were destroyed, and all but three of the thirty-nine remaining buildings had to be demolished due to petroleum contamination of the townsite. Initial newspaper reports described a 1 km (0.6-mile) blast radius. The Safety Board identified multiple causes for the accident, principally leaving a train unattended on a main line, failure to set enough handbrakes, and lack of a backup safety mechanism.” *** Wikipedia
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada’s (TSB) Railway Investigation forensic experts used the SMART-SHOE™ technology and devices to precisely determine the brake force values of various cars involved in this accident
“(…) Table B1 gives the brake force values (in pounds) measured during brake force tests conducted on cars BCOL 730875 and HS 3205 using the specialized SMART SHOE device, model R-143-WH, factory calibrated in accordance with Association of American Railroads standard S-4024, Brake Shoe Force Measurement Devices – Performance Specification. (…)”
