I know practically nothing about railroads, so please suffer a stupid question:
Lets say I’m an engineer. I arrive at a place like Chicago- how do I navigate that maze of tracks to get where I have to go?
If you are a qualified engineer on those tracks you have been over them before and know your way. You must pass a test on physical characteristics of the tracks you operate over to be qualified as an engineer over that trackage. This includes separate qualification for foreighn railroads if you operate on their track.
LC
Actually the switches are lined for you by others and you just go where they take you. You are, however, supposed to know the way so you are doing so you can take proper action if a mistake is made.
Fuzzy,
Although a train may go from Los Angeles to Chicago, the crew changes at many spots along the way. (This makes it entirely different than a truck that may make the same trip with the same driver.)
So basically, the engineer who pulls into Chicago with the train from LA possibly has spent his entire career within a couple hundred miles of Chicago (and very well may live there), so he probably knows it like the back of his hand. (And like others have said, he is required to have been qualified on that territory.)
Judd
To remain qualified on a certain territory you must operate over it at least once ever six months. If it has been longer than six months, you need a pilot to guide you.
At Clinton, Iowa I’ve heard the Proviso based crews talking about where their train is going in Chicago. Not all Chicago bound trains go to the same yard. I forget, may not even know, all the yards, some UP some not, that they can deliver to. Say there is one train that goes to one off-line yard a day. It’s possible for someone not to get that train for months on end, while another person gets it often. In a case like that, some one from Chicago may not be familiar with the specific route. Assuming they don’t get relieved and have time to deliver, they would get a pilot.
Jeff
There was an infamous incident in Sydney when the Indian Pacific, operated by Australian National at that time, had been diverted via the Southern line (think a diversion of 400 miles) and was routed into Sydney via the “East Hils Line”. To cross back to the normal route, the train had to cross via a tunnel under eight tracks at Redfern, the first station out from Sydney Terminal, which this crew had never done.
Now the really bad news was that the signalman wasn’t expecting a diverted express train (two 3000HP cab units and fourteen cars) and set the route up for a suburban electric train to go to Bondi Junction. This involved diverting the train to the right and through a tunnel, rather than to the left and through a tunnel. Remember that the train crew didn’t know this route, but they had been told about a tunnel, so they entered the tunnel and reached their approximate destination, but in an underground station about fifty feet below the platform they were aiming for and suitable for only six of their fourteen cars. By this time, the crew were aware that something was wrong, but their radios didn’t work in the underground section. Management had the train stopped at Martin Place, the first place with crossovers, cancelled the extensive underground service and replaced it with buses for the day while the train was broken up and brought out. I assume it was several hours late departing Sydney by the time they got it back out. This was the equivalent of an Amtrak train finding its way into the Chicago Subway!
You can’t rely on the interlockings being set correctly!
Peter
Firstly, [#welcome] to the forums [:)][:D].
Secondly, from what I understand, in the old days of railroads (say, 1930’s), only a few trips were all that were required for qualification. On unsignaled lines, and lines without “speed signaling,” the engineer needs to be familiar with the route to know the maximum speed he can safely go through a switch at.
Welcome to the forums,
Daniel Parks
Hey! Thanks everybody! I’ve often looked down the tracks at grade crossings to see switches going left and right and everywhere else and thought “Man o’ man, better them than me.” So it turns out it’s almost a group effort…
For some reason, I couldn’t find this thread yesterday, I thought maybe I was asking for a little too much information (terrorism and all) and it was pulled. So I asked if it was all right to ask! Now I better try to find THAT thread so I can explain myself!
Thank God I was in the locomotive mechanical department because you lost me Mark. Never the less is was a great discription.
Once you are a qualified engineer learming new territory goes quicker than you might think. When I first became an
On the former B&O portion of CSX, the signal indication governs the speed and the speed of the turnout or crossover is not listed in the timetable unless otherwise provided for. For example, medium clear would permit you to thirty MPH through the turnout or crossover, as medium approach would limit you to thirty, also requiring you to be prepared to stop at the next signal. As slow approach, or slow approach slow would require you to proceed at slow speed approaching the next signal prepared to stop or the next signal proceeding at slow speed. That’s the way it is on the portion of CSX I’ve been operating on for, well, a good many years now.
I’m a bit confused. From what I have read, mostly in Railroad Signaling by Brian Soloman, (speed signaling is predominantly on pages 87-89), speed signaling could dictate the speed through a limited speed turnout (45 mph) by displaying an aspect such as limited clear (red over flashing green, red over flashing green over red, dwarf flashing green, or dwarf flashing green over red); through a medium speed turnout (30 mph) by displaying medium clear (red over green, red over green over red, or dwarf green over flashing red); or through a slow speed turnout (15 mph) by slow clear (red over red over green, dwarf green over red, or dwarf green).
I am confused however, because, according to the definitions of these aspects, they say to proceed at normal speed after clearing all interlocking or spring switches at their dictated speed. However, it would seem to me that this would not include normal crossover switches. All of these aspects and definitions, by the way, are from the seventh edition of the Northeast Operating Rules Advisory Committee’s (NORAC’s) Color Light Interlocking & ABS Signals, on pages 111-112 of the book.
I am hoping someone can clarify this for me–I am very confused. I am not looking to start an argument, and I appologize if I am in error here.
Sincerely,
Daniel Parks
The highest diverg
Dear Mr. Hemphill,
Thank you very much for clearing that up for me. However, I still have some questions.
Looking at a signal aspect chart in the Altamont Press Timetable (California-15th edition), I noticed that UP (which I am pretty sure operates under GCOR) has an aspect (Diverging Clear Limited) which would dictate speed through a turnout:
Diverging Clear Limited is defined as, “Proceed on diverging route. Speed through turnout must not exceed 40 MPH.” The aspect is red over flashing green or red over flashing green over red. Am I mistaken in believing this to be speed signaling?
Secondly, the chart mentions a “Plate C.” It is defined as “Plate C: Passenger Trains; when next signal displays an aspect more favorable than Diverging Approach or Approach, the requirement to proceed prepared to stop at second signal no longer applies.” At the same time, however, I often see “Exceeds plate C” stenciled on freight cars. Are these two related, or just coincidence?
Sincerely, confusedly, and gratefully,
Daniel Parks
Peter - that’s an absorbing account! [:)] When did this drama happen? It can’t have been that long ago because the East Hills line was only relatively recently (10 years ago??) extended to connect through to the Sydney-Melbourne main line (I think near Glenfield station)?
I hope Quentin sees your post - h