CPKC HazMat Days training film

The Brief

Put a 2-day multi-agency training program on the record

CPKC runs a hazardous materials emergency response program alongside its freight operations, deploying certified Hazardous Materials & Emergency Response Officers to train first responders in communities along its rail corridors. HazMat Days is where that program comes to Calgary.

Geminesse Johnson at CPKC brought us in to cover the event at the Ogden Campus on 23 and 24 April 2026. The brief asked for a permanent visual record of the training in action, and a library of photo and video assets that CPKC communications and community relations could keep drawing on through 2026 and beyond.

The event runs under TRANSCAER, the Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response program, with partners from across Alberta and western Canada. Responders come from fire departments, emergency services, municipal agencies and the contractor community.

The audience set the tone. This footage goes to stakeholders, media and the public on a public safety subject, so the brief asked for a cinematic grade that still reads as credible to a safety-conscious audience. No scripted testimonials.

On Site

5 sessions, a tank car, trailers of live hardware

The training runs on purpose-built equipment. CCPX 911 is a DOT 111 general service tank car converted for first responder training, and it anchors the site. Responders climb the ladder, work the fittings on top, and read the car's markings the way they would at an incident.

Alongside it sits a fleet of transfer trailers fitted with the valves, fittings and appliances found on live rail cars. 1 officer on camera calls them a mobile HazMat workshop on wheels. Crews work capping kits and appliances on hardware that matches what is rolling through their own communities.

5 separate sessions ran across the 2 days, covering rail safety fundamentals, railcar and road trailer construction, firefighting assets, emergency equipment and locomotive operations. Sessions ran into the evening, so the coverage did too.

We shot ground and air. Ground coverage stayed on the hands-on work: instructors alongside responders, gear in use, bunker coats and HazMat suits queued at the car. Aerial passes over the Ogden Campus gave the hero edit its scale and establishing shots.

Rail-adjacent work sets its own terms. Crew certifications current, CPKC site orientation completed before any on-site work, and drone operations flown under Transport Canada RPAS rules with approvals filed in advance.

Deliverables

2 minutes of what the officers and responders said

The film runs 2:00. It opens on the event and gives the rest of its length to the people running it and attending it. Officers explain why CPKC opens its assets to the communities its trains move through. Responders explain what working the hardware does for their confidence on a real call.

No scripted testimonials, per the brief. The structure follows the interviews, cut against b-roll of the training: responders queued at CCPX 911, work inside the transfer trailers, crews in turnout gear at the car, aerials over the campus.

Alongside the film: a sequence of colour-graded b-roll clips, drone video and stills of the campus and the training, and a library of edited photos sized for media releases, social, internal communications and stakeholder materials.