My wife just made a roundtrip on the Texas Eagle from Marshall, TX to Chicago. Crews are changed at Marshall (one crew runs between there and Little Rock and another between Marshall and Ft. Worth) so I had a chance to chat with them while waiting for both the north and southbound trains. I hadn’t realized it before and was surprised to learn that the train ran with a one man engine crew. I had previously assumed there were two men in the engine cab as there are on freight trains. Is this true of all Amtrak trains, just a single engineer, and when did the change from two man engine crews take place?
It seems to me there are safety issues with just a single engineman. No one to confirm signal indications and train orders, no one to take over and operate in the event the engineman becomes ill (or even if he has a sudden irrestible “call of nature”), no one to extinguish a fire or check on any abnormal engine conditions, etc. I’d be interested to hear what others think about this situation.
The seven car Eagle which used to have two locomotives now runs with just a single engine. This explains what happened on the previous occasion about a year ago when my wife and I were to take the train to Chicago. We were waiting in the station when we got word that a traction motor had burned out and busses would be substituted for the rest of the run. Fortunately for us this happened before the train reached Marshall where we were waiting to board it. We were given the options of riding a bus the 900 miles to Chicago, rebooking to take the train the next day or receiving a refund for our tickets. The bus trip was definitely out and taking the train the following day would cause us to miss the event that we were going to Chicago to attend. So we opted to take the refund, returned home, got up about 4:00 the next morning and drove non-stop to Chicago.
Amtrak has had labor agreements in place since about 1996 that on trains where an engine crew scheduled timetable runtime is six hours or less, only one engineman is called to work the job. This is why on so many crew districts, engrs & condrs have different runs.Trains from May 2006 has a map that shows all the Amtrk crew districts, home terminals and away-from-home terminals listed. A drawback to one person in the cab is that when say a trk warrant or form A needs to be copied, the train must stop as the person operating the controls of a moving eng may not copy such instructions.
Thats why they employ a Conductor so he can walk upto the engine and deliver the track warrant to the engineer, its his job to copy paperwork, either by phone or by radio.
That rear door on the P42 is not just for decoration.
The short La Junta-Dodge City pool runs w/a single engineman. I was riding that section couple wks ago when just no more than two minutes after pulling out of Garden City, the train stopped so the hoghead could copy a warrant. The only way you’re going to get the condr to the cab is if he is taking coffee to his lone hoghead so he can stay awake.
I see it all the time there is usualy one one person in the engine while the conductors are in the cars, if its a long run they will have two engineers in the head end
If the conductor is up in the cab, then who’s in the back taking care of the passengers? It’s a catch-22. All the carriers providing passernger service want the conductor to do everything. They emphasize that he/she should take care of the customer and railroad at the same time. And, to make it harder, they give him a handheld radio with limited range. Only in management’s little fantasy world does it all make sense.
The conductors job is not to stay in cab, but it is his job to take trainorders or warrants or coffee and deliver them to the cab, either personaly or by using assistant conductor.
Personally I love being in cab by myself, anyone riding up there with me is a distraction.
Cause either you talk or he/she snoring, The benefit of having a second set of eyes are neglectable, cause you never know if the other person is looking or just blindly staring.
I can see why you like being by yourself. Saying an extra man in the cab is only sleeping or not paying attention? Maybe if you think you are man enough for the entire train you should copy your own warrants and get your own coffee. I hope for the sake of your passengers you never zone out or fall sleep.
That, is the most irresponsible, asinine, pompous, and unprofessional comment I have ever heard from a railroader. How dare you Jaap? An attitude like that will end up creating an unsafe environment for the general public, fellow workers, and eventually kill someone.
Perhaps it reflects upon the caliber of personnel in your area? I don’t know. If I get a conductor like that, I set him out, end of conversation. No way I put up with that kind of crap.
Plus I treat those who do a good job with respect. My UTU brothers have job to do, and most of them do it, despite the adverse conditions of weather and rest cycles. I am more than willing to open my pocketbook for lunch for them, or at least a hot coffee. They deserve every bit of it.
Without them, our operations would be far less safe, there is absolutely no question in my mind.
Long Long Time ago in a faraway land, (actually Chattanooga), this Engineer had what was referred to back then as a freedom rider., before the train got out of the yard, the Engineer called Yardmaster, said that Freedom rider had gone to “Sleep”, and asked Yardmaster, should I “Wake Him Up”, or should I “Cover him up”, True Story…[|)]
and deliver them to the cab, either personaly or by using assistant conductor.