Lac-Mgantic train engineer's emergency calls released

CBC Radio-Canada has obtainedaudio recordings of communications that took place on the night of theLac-Mgantictrain disaster, which killed 47 people and destroyed the downtown core of the small Quebec town last year.

The recordingsare of conversations between the train engineer, Tom Harding, and a dispatcher at the offices ofMontreal, Maineand Atlantic Railway,the operators of the train, which was carrying72 tanker cars full of crude oil when it derailed and exploded.

The recordings were obtained through Harding's lawyer, Tom Walsh. Theycontainall seven calls that Harding madebetween 11:04 p.m. ET on July 5 and 3:53 a.m. ET on July 6 in the order in which they appear in the transcript below.

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The transcript is an editedversion of one provided to CBC by The Globe and Mail.

First conversation

11:04 p.m.

Length: 46 seconds

Harding calling RJ

RJ: CCF Farnham, bonjour.

TH: Track release on the fuel.

RJ: Yup, go ahead, Tom.

TH: 5017 east of west, W-E-S-T siding switch, uh, uhm, Nantes right now.

RJ: West siding switch dead. Alright. 5-0-1-7. 50-17 east E-A-S-T is cleared the west W-E-S-T, siding switch Nantes. 23-04, 2-3-0-4, is that correct, Tom?

TH: 2-3-0-4 west Nantes is correct. Tom Harding. Can you call me up a taxi, RJ?

RJ: Yeah. Right Away.

TH: Ill call you from down below.

RJ: OK, thank you. RTC out.

TH: Tom out.

Second conversation

11:38 p.m.

Length: 58 seconds

Harding calling RJ

RJ: CCF Farnham.

TH: Yeah, RJ, me here.

RJ: Yes, yes, you.

TH: Im off the clock at 45.

RJ: 23:45 off?

TH: Yes. 23:45.

RJ: OK. You know that youre supposed to send your ticket?

TH: Where?

RJ: Here.

TH: No, I didnt.

RJ: When youre through?

TH: Oh, I didnt know that. When when did that start?

RJ: Uh, I think it started yesterday, I dont know, something like that

TH: Oh

RJ: So tomorrow when you start to work

TH: Send it in.

RJ: send it in

TH: OK.

RJ: 23:45 off. Eight and two? Six and two?

TH: Six and two.

RJ: Six and two.

TH: Yeah.

RJ: Alright.

TH: OK, RJ

RJ: OK

TH: Bye bye.

RJ: Bye bye.

Third conversation

11:59 p.m.

Duration: 2 min.. 45 sec.

RJ calling Harding at the Auberge hotel

Clerk: LAuberge, bonsoir.

RJ: Oui, bonsoir, chemins de fer MMA. Mon, mon ptit Canadien il est-tu dans ton coin?

Clerk: Uhhh ben normalement il vient me le dire quand quil arrive pis l, jai pas eu de nouvelle.

RJ: OK. Uh, lui y serait dans la cinq ou dans 15? Dans cinq, je pense, ah?

Clerk: Uh, ben on a 2 chambres, la cinq ou la 15 l. Il y en a deux qui rentrent?

RJ: Ben il y en a juste un qui rentre. Il y a juste Tom qui rentre.

Clerk: Ah, mais je le sais pas dans laquelle quil va.

RJ: Tu las pas vu? Essai-moi la cinq si vous plait

Clerk: La cinq? OK.

RJ: Merci.

Beep, beep phone rings

TH: Hello.

RJ: Hi, Tom

TH: Yes, RJ.

RJ: Sorry to bother you.

TH: No problem.

RJ: Hey, did you kill the units before leaving?

TH: Yes, four of em.

RJ: Which one did you keep running?

TH: 5017.

RJ: The leader?

TH: Yes.

RJ: OK, apparently it startit went on fire.

TH: It went on fire?

RJ: Yeah.

TH: Oh, really?

RJ: Yeah.

TH: OK [laughs]. I had problems with that. I reported it to Dave. Have you talked to Dave?

RJ: No.

TH: OK. I told Dave that I worked it hard coming up there and she was smoking pretty good when I left her.

RJ: OK.

TH: Now, now youre telling me she caught on fire?

RJ: Yeah, she caught on fire.

TH: OK. Is somebody up there to take care of it or...?

RJ: Yeah, well, the firemen and firefighters were there.

TH: Yes?

RJ: And apparently its dead now

TH: Oh.

RJ: And the the the fire is, is all gone. Its extinguished.

TH: OK.

RJ: and thats all I know about it.

TH: Do I need to go up there and start

RJ: No, no, no, no. Jean Noel Busque is, he went there to check if theres any damage and hes gonna call me back.

TH: OK, call me back, RJ.

RJ: No, go to bed.

TH: Theres nothing to do, eh?

RJ: Beh, theres nothing to do, we wont start up an engine now for tomorrow morning. Hes gonna start them up. The American is gonna start them up. Thats all.

TH: OK. So she caught on fire, then.

RJ: Yeah, apparently she caught on fire.

TH: Eh ben

RJ: It might be a minor fire, mind you.

TH: Yeah, yeah.

RJ: It could be something in one of the traction motors, something like that.

TH: Aw.

RJ: But you killed the four units, you kept only the 5017 running?

TH: That was the only one that was running is 5017.

RJ: Yeah, and it caught on fire. OK.

TH: And she caught on fire. Ah ben.

RJ: Alright.

TH: OK, RJ.

RJ: OK, bye.

TH: Bye.

Fourth conversation

1:47 a.m.

Duration: 3 min. 40 sec.

Harding calling RJ

RJ: CCF Farnham.

TH: Hey, RJ. Tom here. Listen, emergency. The town of Mgantics on fire. Do we have tankers in the yard anywhere?

RJ: Tankers?

TH: Tankers, any kind of tankers, of any kind?

RJ: No, whats the problem? Is it with us?

TH: Everything is on fire: from the church all the way down to the Metro, from the river all the way to the railway tracks. From what I can see, RJ, the box cars have all burnt in the yard -- the ties, everything. Whatever is in the yard, rolling stock, is now gone -- completely.

RJ: Uh, is it, is it the train that roll..run down?

TH: No. I have all of the police here around me cause they know I work for the railway. We got a loaded train up at Nantes, its OK. We got an empty fuel train up at Vachon, its OK.

RJ: OK.

TH: Flames, RJ, are 200 feet high. Its incredible, you cant believe it here. From the river right to the station

RJ: What the f*** happened?

TH: I dont know. I dont know, but everything, everything. I woke up 20 minutes ago. Evacuate, evacuate, right away.

RJ: OK.

TH: Its incredible, Its incredible.

RJ: OK.

TH: We got no tankers in the yard anywhere, right?

RJ: Tankers? No. I dont think so, no.

TH: OK. Thats what I told them and theyre telling me yes, thats whats burning in the yard is, is propane and gas, and I go its impossible...

RJ: Oh, OK, wait, wait, wait, wait, Ill see if I have something.

TH: OK. [pause] I cant find the American, by the way, here. They evacuated everybody so fast, there. They evacuated so fast I havent found the American guy, but everybody is out of the Auberge. Im at the Esso gas station, 24-hour there I cannot get any closer than that.

RJ: Tom, theres only the, the, the oil, the tank there for the, for the machinery, so the

TH: OK, no, thats long gone

RJ: Its long gone, so theres nothing there.

TH: OK, that means its got to be the natural-gas pipeline that has been

RJ: OK so, so its not us.

TH: Its not us, RJ, but talk to whoever you need to talk to, RJ its, its incredible.

RJ: OK.

TH: Its incredible here.

RJ: Alright, OK.

TH: Theres no way to get a hold of me by the way. I had to borrow a phone from a citizen to be able to talk with you, OK?

RJ: Alright.

TH: The only guy thats missing is the American, I dont know who the American guy is, I havent found him anywhere.

RJ: OK, give me a second, Ill tell you right now.

TH: OK.

RJ: Samson.

TH: Samson? OK, Mark Samson, OK. Here, I got the cop here right next to me, OK?

RJ: OK.

TH: Just hold the line, RJ, OK?

RJ: OK.

TH: Aucune tanker ferroviaire (No railway tanker)

TH: speaking to police officer: (inaudible)

RJ: Aucun dangereux. Theres no dangerous.

TH: 100 gallons de fuel pour la petite machinerie, mais part de a

Unknown: (inaudible)

TH: (inaudible) a se peux-tu que a soit la propane en haut, chez Bestar?

Unknown: En haut de?

TH: En haut de Bestar. Il, y a une compagnie Bestar en haut

Unknown: Non (inaudible)

TH: Oui, OK.

Unknown: non, non

TH: Ok, il y a aucun wagon ferroviaire.

Unknown: Non?

TH: Il y a rien, rien, rien de ferroviaire ici.

Unknown: (inaudible)

TH: Je comprends pas propane ou natural gas, ou quelque chose?

Unknown: (inaudible)

TH: (inaudible) RJ, am I done with you?

RJ: Thgere is no, no dangerous at all in the yard.

TH: No, no dangerous commodities of any kind?

RJ: No dangerous commodities of any kind.

TH: OK, RJ, thank you. If you need to get a hold of somebody

RJ: Yeah, I got

TH: you phone the police up here, OK?

RJ: OK.

TH: OK. Thank you, RJ.

RJ: Alright, OK, bye.

TH: Bye.

Fifth conversation

3:29 a.m.

Duration: 5 min. 47 sec.

Harding calling RJ

RJ: CCF Farnham.

TH: Has it calmed down at your end, RJ?

RJ: No.

TH: F--k. OK. So what are you gonna do with me? You know theres no trains by for a couple of days theyve got to rebuild the tracks, eh?

RJ: Yeah.

TH: Yeah. The couple of the box cars have burnt at the west end of the yard and all of his ties are gone - the ties hes got there. Nasty fire. Now theyve got a couple of pelles mechaniques and dump trucks; theyre trying to put out the fire thats stopping them from working, which is the natural gas line behind the Jean Coutu.

RJ: Oh, yeah?

TH: Yeah, thats uh, thats the problem right now. They cant, they cant do anything anywhere until they get that put out, so theyve got dump trucks and pelles mechaniques, and the pelles mechaniques were up on the tracks. It has to be all inspected tomorrow there.

RJ: Bon uh...

TH: They go up the embankment between the station and the bridge over the river.

RJ: OK, but its worse than that, my friend.

TH: Why?

RJ: Its uh, its your train that rolled down.

TH: No!

RJ: Yes, sir.

TH: No, RJ.

RJ: Yes, sir.

TH: Holy f--k. F--k!

RJ: Yes, sir. Thats what I got. It was confirmed at 2:30.

TH: At 2:30, now, the fuel train rolled down here?

RJ: Yeah.

TH: Oh, tabarnac de tabarnac! And it was secure, RJ, when I left.

RJ: Yeah.

TH: She was f--kingsecure. F--k!

RJ: Thats what, thats what I got as a news.

TH: And when did you get the news? Few minutes ago?

RJ: At 2:25, to be correct.

TH: Oh, Jesus Christ.

RJ: Since then, the phone is, it just stopped ringing for a couple of minutes there.

TH: Just now?

RJ: Yeah. Since midnight its been ringing like hell.

TH: Oh, f--k. So that means holy f--k.

RJ: Yeah.

TH: How in the f--kdid that thing f--kingroll down, RJ?

RJ: I dont know. How many brakes did you put on?

TH: The units, the V.B., and the first car. Seven brakes.

RJ: Well, uh, I dont know what will happen. The best I can tell you is that Daniel Aub is on his way to get there

TH: OK, well whats, what you want to do with me, RJ? Youre not gonna lleave me out in the cold here.

RJ: I dont know. As soon as I got some news, I just asked Jean, Jean Demaitre, he called me a couple of minutes ago. I just told him that youre stuck there and youre gonna be with Samson there. So I said what are you gonna do with those guys? He saidIdont knowIll come back to you on that.

TH: F--k. Im at a payphone here, RJ, I got no way to talk to anybody anywhere.

RJ: Um

TH: Oh, Jesus Christ

RJ: You got the 1-800 number here, OK.

TH: The what number?

RJ: The 866.

TH: 866?

RJ: To call me, to call me.

TH: Yeah well thats what I did

RJ: Yeah, yeah.

TH: Holy f--k.

RJ: Yeah, yeah, thats the news that I got.

TH: That the f--kingfuel train rolled down, it was a question of... anyways. Son of a bitch. Was there any railway people that went up there to put the fire out on that (inaudible)?

RJ: Jean-Nol Busque went there.

TH: And everything was secure when he was there? Everything was fine? Everything was

RJ: Everything was fine, yeah.

TH: And then it rolled down, what, two hours later? Three hours later?

RJ: Well, uh, fire was out at midnight, and I got a call at 1:30 that there was a fire in downtown.

TH: (pause) Theres no way to talk to me, RJ, Ive got my radio on channel 20 right now Uh, f--k. Dan Aub is on his way, can he come to me?

RJ: I dont know if hes gonna be able to. Apparently the city is cut in two. From what I heard from Jean-Nol Busque, there.

TH: Yes?

RJ: He finally made it to Nantes

TH: Yes?

RJ: to confirm me that the train was not there anymore.

TH: And here the police, they confirmed to me, RJ, when I talked to you at the very, very beginning they confirmed that the train was up there. What did it hit? I dont understand, RJ, if it rolled down...

RJ: Apparently, it rolled down.

TH: OK, and where did it stop?

RJ: Can it be at the curve, at the crossing there?

TH: What? It derailed at the curve, thats what happened?

RJ: Can it be? I dont know.

TH: Yes, its possible, RJ, its possible, but its uh

RJ: Thats what I think. It would be the only thing that would when it hit that f--kingcurve there it must have derailed. Im not sure.

TH: F--k!

RJ: Thats, thats the only you know what? Im down here, hey, and I get the infos that I

TH: what people are telling you.

RJ: Yeah, thats it.

TH: And Im going by what the people are telling me here, too.

RJ: Yeah, thats it.

TH: Because they, they told me it was tankers that were blowing up here, at this end here.

RJ: So as soon as I have some news

TH: Call me on channel 20. Im standing next to the phone here, Im out in the f--kingfreezing cold.

RJ: OK, as soon as I get some news there, Im going to give you a yell. But you cannot go back to the Auberge?

TH: No, i cant. I got half of my stuff still at the Auberge. I cant. Theres no way. No way I can go anywhere, I cant do anything anywhere.

RJ: OK.

TH: When you get a hold of Jean Demaitre, Id like to speak with Jean.

RJ: Yeah.

TH: OK?

RJ: Alright.

TH: Ok. Thank you. Bye.

RJ: Bye bye.

Sixth conversation

3:53 a.m.

Duration: 1 min. 5 sec.

Harding calling RJ

RJ: CCF Farnham

TH: Its me again, RJ.

RJ: Yes?

TH: Did you get a hold of Dan?

RJ: Yep.

TH: And hes on his way?

RJ: Yeah, hes on his way. Hes trying very hard to get to you.

TH: OK. And did, did he have a look at anything over there? How many cars are burning?

RJ: No, he cant see. He cant get around there. (pause) Yeah, he cant get around there. They wont let him go by.

TH: OK. Theres not much we can do, eh?

RJ: No, thats the best I can tell you right now.

TH: Thats OK, RJ, thank you.

RJ: So Ill Thats it, hes gonna try to get to you and from there I think were gonna try to get you home as fast as we can

TH: Oh, here, I just saw Dan go by

RJ: OK.

TH: thats not Dan, but its the Highrail.

RJ:

TH: Its the American, I think, hey?

RJ: It must be Dan.

TH: OK, Im gonna go. Its a white truck. Im gonna go see if its him.

RJ: OK, bye.

Final transcribed conversation

[July 5, sometimebetween 11:05 p.m. and 11:45 p.m.]

Harding talking to a U.S. rail traffic controller

RTC: Dispatchers office.

TH: Yeah, Glen, Tom here. Im up here at Nantes. Shut down fourof the fiveunits, got the hand brakes applied. Do you have any questions for me?

RTC: No, no. Im all set Tom, tied down at Nantes, just get me a yell when youre off time.

TH: OK, I just thought Id mention to you there, Glen, uh, the 5017, I worked her pretty damn hard coming up here. Shes smoking excessively now. I know its going to settle down once she cools down and stuff like that. I dont know how good its going be on the eastbound now. When I left Farnham, I had engine hunting [sic] on it, I got it to settle down when I started using the seventh notch only, and it pulled real nice, and this last little pull here from the bottom of the hill at 26, down at Scotstown, all the way up to here, she worked pretty damn hard. Once I got stopped here, I only noticed when I got stopped here, that she was smoking excessively both black for a minute or so, and then shed go white for a little bit, and then go back to black again.

RTC: Well you probably cleaned her out, Tom. This is Dave.

TH: Oh, this is Dave. OK, yeah. Could be I cleaned her out ... Ive been here, you know, for 10 minutes. The smoke has cleared. Well, I should say theres less smoke coming out of it right now. Its still changing colour back and forth, black and white, black and white, a little bit there, but, maybe if she sits here for another hour or so, she will cool right down.

RTC: Well, thats all we can do, Tom. Well check it in the morning and see what she says and see what she comes up with. Diagnose her then, I guess. Over.

TH: OK, I understand. I understand. What time is the eastbound engineer ready to go tomorrow?

RTC: 7:30, over.

TH: 7:30, OK. Well, were pretty much..pretty darn close. I should be like a half hour behind him, then.

RTC: Yeah OK. Yep. Just uh, you let RJ know...Talk to RJ or how he wants to do it. Over.

TH: OK, Dave. Ill check back with you a little later.

RTC: MMA Northern Maine out.

TH: Tom Harding out.