Canadian Pacific Railway
December 2nd, 1997: a westbound grain train
begins to derail in the Upper Spiral Train Tunnel in Yoho National Park. Nineteen
loaded grain cars are left behind. Minutes down the track, another 49 railcars
derail, smash together and spew grain along the toe of Mt. Stephen, four kilometres
east of Field, British Columbia. The engine and a few railcars manage to stay
on track, eventually coming to rest by the small mountain town.
Grain train derailment near Kicking Horse Pass,
1997
© Parks Canada/Hal Morrison/YNP
Slide Collection |
When the dust settled, an estimated 6,900 tonnes of grain suddenly posed
a major hazard to wildlife: this artificial food source would quickly attract
resident elk onto the tracks where they would be struck by trains. Even with
diligent clean-up efforts, it would take months to totally eliminate this
wildlife attractant. And spring would bring new challenges with the arrival
of hungry bears just out of hibernation.
A fence and a little electricity
An electric fence was elected as the best means to deter hungry elk. Through
good liaison with Canadian Pacific Railway, funding was secured to hire a
park warden for on-site monitoring throughout the clean up period and the
upcoming bear season. For the remainder of the winter, a temporary electric
fence worked well to deter elk while CP Rail undertook repair work and set
about cleaning up the spill.
By mid-May, a sturdier, bear-proof electric fence was also in place to keep
bears out of the spill site. The goal was to prevent bears from accessing
any of this artificial food source and to keep them off the tracks where they
would be struck by a train. Despite 95% of the grain being cleaned up, the
four hectare site still held sufficient grain to attract bears.
Between May 16th and November 14th, 1998, the spill site was patrolled daily,
totalling 500 hours of monitoring. Minor adjustments and repairs to the fence
were made as required, while bears that managed to breach the electric fencing
were quickly dealt with.
The “leaping bear” working his way over
a temporary electric fence
© Parks
Canada/Hal Morrison |
One such persistent bear, was a black bear known as "the leaping bear".
Intelligent and opportunistic, bears constantly test their surroundings. This
bear sized up the situation and realized that by climbing an adjacent poplar
tree, it could shimmy out on a branch above the electric fence, and leap into
the spill site to enjoy pockets of rotting grain; an incredibly rich food
source for a bear. The remedy was to promptly chase the bear out and then
limb the tree and wrap its trunk with electric wire to eliminate this entry
point.
Season's tally
During the season, no grizzly bears were confirmed in the vicinity. Good fortune
for both bears and the CP workers cleaning up the site. And no bears were
struck on the railway in proximity to the spill site, but there were two mortalities
of note. A black bear was killed along the railway tracks about a kilometre
from the fenced site, and in early November, another black bear was killed
on the tracks about 12 kilometres west of the spill site. Though no direct
link can be drawn, this bear was known to have visited the site several months
previous to its demise.
Generally, it was felt that the electric fencing proved effective in preventing
bears from accessing the spilled grain. The random passage of bears in the
vicinity can be viewed as both normal and induced. Induced because in addition
to rare - but dramatic - spills of the type described here, there exists a
much more insidious threat along the tracks which puts bears at risk: we call
it "trickling".
Grain leaked from a railcar on tracks
© Parks Canada/Hal Morrison |
Chronic grain spillage
As grain trains rattle along their journey from prairie grain elevators to
ship grain terminals, ill-fitting hopper doors on the grain cars allow grain
kernels to trickle out along the tracks, like a trail of crumbs.
Searching for solutions
Since 1998, progress has been made with this chronic “trickling”
problem. In December 1998, CP Rail commissioned a vacuum truck to work stretches
of the tracks where trickled grain attracts wildlife.
Canadian Pacific Railway grain vacuum truck
© Parks Canada/Hal Morrison |
However, grain kernels that become rain soaked or trickle down into the track
ballast of rock, are not picked up by the vacuum force and are still sufficient
to attract bears who can sniff them out and also have the power to dig them
out, unlike elk. Though not a complete solution, the vacuum truck is a step
forward. The goal is to prevent grain from trickling out of leaking rail cars
onto the tracks in the first place.
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