Derailment risk spurs calls to pull hundreds of Hamilton-made railcars off the tracks

A U.S. rail company under fire for high-profile derailments says it has found an urgent safety issue" with loose wheels on train cars made by National Steel Car in Hamilton - spurring an industry-wide advisory to pull them off the tracks.

National Steel Car said in a statement it is co-operating with an investigation into a recent U.S. derailment that included locally manufactured railcars. But the bayfront manufacturer also noted no conclusions have been reached at this time as to any cause" in the early March incident.

Norfolk Southern Railway made international headlines in February after 38 train cars carrying hazardous material derailed in East Palestine, Ohio spurring a toxic chemical scare and multiple investigations.

The company is now facing probes into two later derailments, including 28 train cars that went off the rails in Springfield, Ohio earlier this month. No one was injured and no hazardous material was involved in the March derailment. A cause has yet to be determined by U.S. National Transportation Safety Board investigators.

But Norfolk Southern issued a release about an urgent safety issue" Thursday, announcing that while cleaning up the more recent Springfield derailment, the company determined that a specific model and series of railcars had loose wheels, which could cause a derailment."

The railroad company has not said any Hamilton-made rail cars with wheel problems were involved in the higher-profile derailment in February.

In response to the railroad's discovery, the Association of American Railroads issued a North America-wide advisory that same day, urging members to pull a particular type of rail car with wheel sets that were mounted by National Steel Car" off the tracks for inspection and removal from service, because they are at an increased risk of an out of gage derailment."

Transport Canada has also directed Canadian railroad companies to take immediate action" to inspect and remove any railcars identified in the U.S. advisory, said a spokesperson by email. The federal agency is also asking companies to report if any of the affected cars are operating on Canadian railways.

Transport Canada continues to monitor the situation and will not hesitate to take additional measures if required to ensure safe railway operations," said spokesperson Hicham Ayoun.

Jessica Kahanek, a spokesperson for the American industry group, said by email about 675 potentially affected rail cars made by the Hamilton manufacturer between last August and March of this year have been identified as in use by different railroads.

She called the alleged wheel issue an uncommon defect" that could create horizontal movement in the car as it travels down the track and potentially lead to derailment."

In a statement in response to Spectator questions, National Steel Car said it is co-operating fully" with the railroad association and Norfolk Southern as the railroad company tries to get to the bottom of the derailment. The manufacturer said it has provided requested records related to wheels on two railcars of concern" that were in the train that derailed in March.

Norfolk Southern did not respond directly to most Spectator questions.

But in its public release, the railroad said that after finding examples of problem wheels during the derailment probe, it contacted U.S. rail regulatory authorities and began inspecting other cars from the manufacturer.

Upon identifying additional cases of unusual wheel movement, we acted swiftly," said the railroad in the release, indicating it would remove this specific model and series (of railcar) from service" until all cars can be fully inspected.

National Steel Car, which itself has been under increased scrutiny over three workplace deaths within two years of the pandemic, noted no conclusions" have been reached regarding the cause of the March derailment.

We await the findings of the NTSB investigation and will continue to co-operate fully."

Matthew Van Dongen is a transportation and environment reporter at The Spectator. mvandongen@thespec.com