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Here is a well detailed article on train securement with substantial information and insight provided by an ex-MM&A engineer, James Goodrich.  It also includes some comments about a one-person crew:  <a href="http://www.montrealgazette.com/M%C3%A9gantic+clear+rules+train+hand+brakes/8679004/story.html">http://www.montrealgazette.com/M%C3%A9gantic+clear+rules+train+hand+brakes/8679004/story.html</a> All of the following is from the article: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It’s unclear if the fact that he was the only MMA employee on the train contributed to the accident. MMA is one of only two railways in Canada using one-person crews. For one person “to do the job right, requires a lot of extra effort,” said Paul-André Larose, a former Canadian National transportation engineer. “There’s a tendency to cut corners — you get away with it today, and tomorrow you cut a few more corners and, eventually, tragedy strikes.” Cutting corners could involve not setting enough hand brakes or not tightening them as securely as possible. Larose said there can also be peer pressure to not set too many hand brakes because that creates more work for the replacement crew that will have to prepare the train for departure later. “The most critical question is what was (Harding’s) on-duty time when he arrived at Nantes,” Goodrich [ex-MM&A engineer] said. “How much time did he have left to work, what was he legally able to do?” Under strict Transport Canada rules, a railway employee’s single tour of duty cannot exceed 12 hours. “What if he didn’t have time, what if he was being told: ‘You’re dead under hours of service — get in the cab and go to the hotel,’ ” Goodrich added. In such a case, MMA should have known and sent a relief crew to complete any remaining tasks, he said. A veteran locomotive engineer who works for a major Canadian railway who spoke on condition of not being identified wonders if MMA “put (Harding) in a situation where he couldn’t perform his job properly. “After 12 hours, we’re not allowed to touch the equipment,” the engineer said. “If (Harding) gets there and he’s got 20 minutes to tie down his train, maybe he cut corners.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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