Train Wreck and Explosion in Quebec

[DougD]

Kudos to WCSH and WLBZ for their excellent four-minute NewsCenter coverage of last night's major train disaster in Lac Megantic, QC, just over the Maine border. The Rangeley fire chief, who was on the scene, provided a very thorough and articulate report, augmented by video that I presume was provided by the CBC, from which the two stations occasionally draw actualities.

I have often complained over the years, with great irritation, about the lack of attention given to Canadian news by the media in Maine. This was a stand-out example of how to do it right. :-*

Prayers and thoughts go to our good neighbors in Megantic.

 

[rjoc]

I agree, WLBZ/WCSH coverage was very good; WABI TV5 had some coverage, but no live reports from the scene. For those of us on TimeWarner Cable we got more coverage via CBMT CBC-Montreal, with live on-scene reports during the CBC Montreal News at 6PM.

BTW Lac Megantic is less than 10 miles north of the Maine/Quebec Border at Coburn Gore...have travelled by there many times on way to/from Montreal.. It's a very nice area.

 

[DougD]

I can't, for the life of me, understand why every cable system north of the Mason-Dixon Line doesn't carry the CBC, or why Dish Network and Direct TV don't offer it. Canada is our northern neighbor, for heaven's sake, and most Americans don't have a clue about Canadian culture or what happens up there.

I used to live in Bingham, north of Skowhegan, within 60 miles of the border. The local cable system up there, which is atrocious, has been approached several times over the years about the possibility of carrying the CBC from either Montreal or Saint John. The reply: "Who'd watch it?" (They don't even carry C-SPAN or NECN, for the same reason.)
???

 

[Gadon]

The CBC does have a smartphone ap, which has been a great source of info on this tragic train accident.

 

[Tom Wells]

I met a woman at work in Woodsville NH, whose back yard WAS the international border.
When her kids went outside the backyard to recover a frisbee or whatever, the border patrol agents showed up
30 minutes later to see what the heck was going on. Seems there was a laser line or something that got triggered.

 

[KeyTimes950]

I can't, for the life of me, understand why every cable system north of the Mason-Dixon Line doesn't carry the CBC, or why Dish Network and Direct TV don't offer it. Canada is our northern neighbor, for heaven's sake, and most Americans don't have a clue about Canadian culture or what happens up there.

Interesting question. I'm 150 miles south of the Canadian border where I live. I wouldn't mind having CBC as an option but I think it would be hard to persuade Comcast or any other cable provider to add it. Doesn't CBC also have a 24/7 news channel? I seem to recall Newsworld was out there. That might be a better fit as an optional channel.

 

[Gadon]

The CBC could be considered a trendsetter in pulling the plug on their powerful English and French clear channel AM signals over the past 10 to 15 years in the northeast and moving them to the FM band. The strong daytime coverage and huge night time coverage areas meant nothing as opposed to having a crisp sounding FM signal in their main cities of license. Thoughts and prayers to the people of Lac-Megantic.

 

[landtuna]

I'm south of the Mason-Dixon Line (and well west as well) but I would love to get the CBC if for no other reason than the NHL and the sideshows that go with it (Hotstove, Coaches Corner etc.). We do get some games down here in the desert but we get none of the background info that make following the teams and players interesting.

Back in the days of big ugly dishes (C and Ku band) it was not possible to get the Anik birds down here either because Canada kept the footprint too far north. Dunno why.

 

[Tom Wells]

It seems one locomotive was left on so as to provide pressure to the air brakes.
When fire crews extiguished the fire on that engine and shut it down, the train began rolling.
It seems criminal that:

1. Law did not require a train left untended to have manually set mechanical brakes.
2. No person was required to stay with a train of oil tankers..

It also seems highly negligent that fire crews have not enough sense to set manual brake wheels on train cars.
Manual brake wheels are provided to prevent exactly this type of disaster.
Economic considerations has led us to this.

There is a criminal investigation underway regarding the use of a general type tank car, not
designed especially for oil shipment. This is very odd, when the above common-sense items were
not even in practice, or required by law.

There is a parallel situation in the huge western power outage where no humans were present to disconnect an
overloaded branch circuit in power distribution. and the internet-operated controls did not respond.

A few more humans employed here and there could prevent many such tragedies.
Cost analysis, however, shows that we would ALL rather suffer such a tragic death for the sake of cheapness.
Or, at least that has all been decided for us by governments who accept the reassurances of corporations who
place profit above safety.

 

[newsbot]

Credit where credit is due to WMTW, which had a live reporter (Paul Merrill) in Lac-Mégantic. WCSH did a good job on the Franklin County mutual aid angle, but relied on CBC reports for happenings north of the border.

As for the lack of Canadian news on TV, the shift away from carriage of Bangor stations on Canadian cable systems probably has a lot to do with it.

 

[rjoc]

Credit where credit is due to WMTW, which had a live reporter (Paul Merrill) in Lac-Mégantic. WCSH did a good job on the Franklin County mutual aid angle, but relied on CBC reports for happenings north of the border.

As for the lack of Canadian news on TV, the shift away from carriage of Bangor stations on Canadian cable systems probably has a lot to do with it.

And the major reason that the Bangor channels aren't carried anymore on Cable, in New Brunswick, at least, is the fact that the Calais UHF translators for WLBZ/W57AQ and WABI/W61AO are no longer on the air. WVII never had a translator in Calais. As I understand it, they used to be picked up over the air in Saint Stephen, then microwaved to Rogers Cable in Saint John and distributed around the province..(That's what I was told a few years ago by a friend who worked for CBC in Fredericton)
One exception is Maine Public Broadcasting WMED Calais still broadcasts as a repeater of the MPBN Network. They are still carried over most New Brunswick systems. WMEM Presque isle also gets out over Northern New Brunswick systems.

 

[newsbot]

My understanding is that the shift away from Bangor TV stations on Canadian cable happened BEFORE the translators were turned off, not after. When out-of-town affiliates became available via satellite as opposed to microwave relay, Bangor TV's days on Canadian cable were numbered.

 

[special ed]

Briefly in the 80's, one of those translators carried different commercials for Canada. But not for long.

MPBN was taken off in favor of WGBH for a while, but got back on about a year ago.

 

[kc1ih]

I believe the reason CBC and other Canadian networks are not seen on US cable and satellite systems has to do with copyrights. That is, CBC, CTV, etc., are buying Canadian rights to certain material which they then don't have the right to broadcast back to the US.

 

[Studio20]

ESPN and the NHL Network routinely air TSN (co owned by ESPN and Bell Canada) for CFL and NHL games, but not the commercials.

However, if you buy the Center Ice package, you get the CBC/TSN and Sportsnet feeds including commercials, which I dare say are a refreshing change from the dimwitted spots here i. The Staes.