Am I the only one.....

Trains Magazine General Discussion
21

Wow - don’t know about the modern day ones, but that is a lot of information to carry around in your (what do they carry now - grips, gym bags, backpacks?) Are the timetables the same size as many years ago?

And back to my original questions - is it a familiarity of territory that tells you when NOT to whistle?

22

SJ, employee timetables are supposed to be guarded with our lives, especially in this day of increased security. I got one for somebody once, and there has been nothing but trouble since.

But, nothing says I can’t “read” a little bit to you–oh, yes–something about divulging information. Well, let me just describe it.

Each subdivision is shown in a table of its own. I know you’re a little familiar with UP’s Geneva Subdivision, since you rode it from Elburn to Chicago, and watched it roll in Rochelle and DeKalb.

So we have a page which lists all of the stations and control points, in order, including the code numbers ("Circ-7"s, for example), connected with each station, its milepost, and the distance between it and the adjacent station. It also shows which rules cover operation in a given territory (mostly CTC and ATC for this line) and how many main tracks there are. If there were sidings at any of the stations on the line, it would give their length in feet (the Geneva Sub has only one siding–in Nelson).

After this table, there are sections referring to special instructions for each subdivision:

1: Main track authority: basically states where CTC is in effect, and, where it isn’t, the direction of the current of traffic on each track for multiple main lines.

2: Maximum speed table: Looks a lot more complicated than it is. In most places on this sub, trains can go 70. But the devil is in the details.

3: Other speed restrictions: more details in which the devil can hide.

4: Main track designations: There may be more tracks in a given area than there are main tracks; this just tells you how many tracks are main tracks.

5: Milepost equations: In the event that mileposts are missing due to line relocations, or the numbers start over at a junction, or things like that. On the Geneva Sub, there is nothing like t

23

Thank you BC! That is a lot of information in something that isn’t too big.

I will print this off and take it home to study it as per usual. Also need some time to decide my next big question!

SJ

24

Depends…many moons ago we had a forum member (Misery…opps I ment Missouri) who had such a morbid agenda and went on and on ad nauseum about how RRs were out to kill everyone in the US at all RR crossings, gated or ungated, it didnt matter, it was all the RRs fault. He got to be sooooooo annoying and in soooo many fights that eventually he got booted clean off the forum.

I personally try to differentiate between an accident, a clearly circumstantial event, like faulty gates, bad visuall approaches, things that clearly define the crossing meet as accidental or unavoidable, Thing happen and I clearly understand that some accidents are unavoidable and that they are tragic.

However, where I draw the line is when its very clear that the victim, intentionally placed
themselves in harms way or do something patently stupid, often blatently, and get themselves killed. I often will find I have little or no sympathy for the idiot. I have feelings for the families left behind, but here have been incidents where the victim basicly covered themselves with honey and jumped into a Grizzly bear cage saying “you cant catch me, Smokey!”

Examples:
Joggers & walkers on the clearly marked mainline tracks with thier iPods on at full blast?
Fishing off bridges on the clearly marked mainline tracks.
Intentionally driving around lowered crossing gates and flashing lights.
Intentionally crawling under train cars.
Intentionally climbing onto train cars.
Intentionally placing yourself in a dangerous location in order to ‘tag’ or place graffiti
All of the above have had multiple incedents leading to the demise of the person or persons who did knowingly engage in the above activity.

I think pa