‘Lucky it was just potash:’ Craven mayor details derailment

Scott Montgomery was playing cards with his family Tuesday night when he heard a noise he’ll never forget.

The mayor of Craven heard the screech of a train derailment, located close to his home and just south of the community of around 250.

“We just heard this awful screeching sound and I looked out the window and saw the train cars piled up, so I called 911 right away,” he said Wednesday morning.

Montgomery, who’s also a member of the local volunteer fire department, was dispatched to the scene. He said he was the first to make it there, but got help from the Lumsden Fire Department.

He was on one side of the derailment while the fire department worked from the other side.

According to the mayor, at least eight cars were derailed from his vantage point. The derailment closed access to the community, with some in Craven telling him it took 50 minutes to travel from Lumsden to Craven on Tuesday night.

The derailment was reported just after 10 p.m. Tuesday.

“We weren’t sure what happened — if there was a vehicle involved or anything like that. I stayed later on and just kind of directed traffic to keep vehicles from going inside and that proved to be quite a mess,” Montgomery explained.

With the temperatures sitting near -38 C with a wind chill value around -44 C at the time of the derailment, Montgomery said it created challenges.

“That wasn’t fun,” he said.

He said the highway was still closed Wednesday around 10:30 a.m., with work still being done on the derailment site. It reopened for a short time earlier Wednesday morning.

In a statement to 650 CKOM and 980 CJME Wednesday morning, Canadian Pacific (CP) Rail said one of its trains was involved in the derailment and confirmed it was carrying potash. No injuries were reported due to the incident.

In talking with CP Rail, Montgomery said they are working to move cars out of the way, piling up the potash, repairing any necessary line issues and bringing in rock.

There is no definitive timeline on the reopening of the highway, he was told by CP.

“There might be a great big pile of potash left here. But then they’ll come in later on and do remediation,” Montgomery explained.

The mayor said CP has also offered Craven an emergency response plan due to the derailment.

Montgomery said he works in the oil and gas industry and knows the dangers a situation like this poses.

“(We’re) just lucky it was just potash,” he said. “When I first heard that screeching sound, I told the wife, ‘Pause the show.’ … I was just happy to see it was Canpotex cars, not black tanker cars. Who knows what they’d be hauling? It could be anything from propane to butane to any sort of different flammable liquids.”

Community thankful for outcome

People in Craven were thankful that the derailment didn’t cost anyone their life.

“I’m just so thankful nobody was hurt,” said Karen Herman. “The fact that it’s potash, it’s fine. It will clean up and I’m really impressed that they got as much done as they have.

“Mostly it’s just grain and potash that goes through here.”

The fact it was potash travelling through the community brought a sigh of relief for Cindy Hackman, who works very close to where the train went off the tracks.

“If it had been oil or something, I would have been more concerned,” she said. “Thankfully it’s just thought potash.”

Kevin Bacon also works in the community. He says he was not surprised when he heard of what occurred.

“It happens,” Bacon said. “When there are all these trains rolling through this town, it was bound to happen eventually.”

— With files from 980 CJME’s Logan Stein