It was a largely unremarkable event, so much so that unless you happened to be near the Canadian National line last Tuesday (June 6) evening, you probably never noticed it.

Right around 5 p.m. two empty grain cars left the track near the level crossing on Hazel Avenue, halting a westbound freight train for several hours as railway employees removed the damaged cars.

According to CN spokesman Jim Feeny, the rear wheels on one car and the front set of wheels on the subsequent carriage detached from the bulk of the car, causing the affected cars to pitch off the rails.

“The cause remains under investigation,” Feeny said. “The only part of the cars affected were the two sets of wheels.”

After the cars were removed, they were repaired in the CN yard just a few hundred metres away. It wasn’t a complicated procedure, said Feeny.

“The only repair that occurred was to re-attach wheels and then the cars were sent on their way.”

An incident of this nature is quite uncommon, but not unheard of, Feeny reported. There were no immediate indications that the incident was caused by a fault in the track or in the train equipment, Feeny said, but added that CN will examine all possibilities in their investigation of the derailment.

“We look at every component, our employees, the rail equipment, the track,” he said.

CN has seen a number of high-profile derailment incidents tarnish its public image in the recent past, including the spillage of crude oil into Lake Wabamun last spring, a dumping incident on the Cheakamus River in B.C. and a smaller accident east of Hinton where a car full of sodium hydroxide left the track. In response, CN has reviewed its safety procedures and continues to evaluate causes and responses to all incidents, including the seemingly insignificant such as the derailment in Jasper.

“Any kind of derailment is treated very seriously,” Feeny said.

In this particular case, CN did not inform the Municipality of Jasper or Parks Canada of the derailment, since it involved two empty grain cars.

“This was dealt with internally because it really didn’t affect the public,” Feeny said. “If it had been a dangerous substance in the cars, there would have been protocols to follow, based on Transport Canada requirements.”

Among those protocols is a requirement to inform the Municipality, specifically the Jasper Fire Department, which would have then activated Jasper’s emergency response plan. Depending on the severity of the incident, the plan provides for an evacuation and information plan to ensure the safety of the community.