(Canwest News Service circulated the following on June 17.)
WINDSOR, Ont. — A CP Rail train heading through the tunnel from Detroit suffered significant damage when the tops of containers on 24 cars slammed into the tunnel’s roof.
The incident happened shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday when the train entered the tunnel, said a CP spokesman.
The “intermodal” cars are essentially rolling platforms on which containers are stacked, he said. They contained a wide variety of manufactured goods, he said, adding the railway had no damage estimate.
Asked why officials didn’t realize the containers were too high, the official replied: “That’s what’s being investigated.”
He said the crew were unaware of what was happening until they emerged on the Windsor side. “The locomotive engineer, he wouldn’t necessarily have seen or heard anything,” he said.
The tunnel is tall enough to accommodate double-stack rail cars, he said.