Does anyone know how train crews measure the car counts on the radio?
Heartland Flyer 1001
If you mean calling distances to a hitch, etc, I believe the “standard” is 50’, but everybody’s 50’ is a little different.
When dealing with groups of longer cars (such as TOFC flats), I’ve heard crews use “long”, as in “three long to the bumper.”
Since all we use are passenger cars, our car counts are 85’. Once we get below half a car, it’s usually feet.
As long as everyone is speaking the same language, all is good.
When I ride Amtrak, downstairs , the conductor looks out the vestibule of the coach saying the count with 3 cars amtrak, 2 more, one more, half a car , followed by a that 'il do over. Some times they will refur to 1 more long one or 1 more superliner. After loading they say Highball Amtrak!
When you have coaches, you call it in coaches, cars in cars, autoracks in “racks” etc.
Depends on who you are working with…
If the crew are regulars on the same job, and have been on that job for a while, they all know what the other person is doing, and how that person is going to act, and react.
Once your down under a five car count, regardless of whether its coaches, auto racks, or standard hoppers, the engineer is no longer listening to the actual distance your giving him, he is listening to your tone and cadence.
He can tell by the tone of your voice what you need him to do, how close you really are.
Car counts are a subjective thing…my 10 car count might really be 11, or 9 cars, where my helper routinely gives short car counts…but he rarely makes a hard joint, because our engineer hears what is required in my helpers tone and cadence.
We had a student, who I was desperately trying to teach this too…the guy kept getting hung up on giving exact, completely accurate car counts, and kept the same flat, monotone voice through out his movement, which led to quite a few really hard couples…finally, in an attempt to convince him that the distance was pretty meaningless below five car lengths, I got him on the point with me…and gave our engineer a car count that included things like…“Give me six more marshmallows, about a hug or two, need a lollipop or two, half a foot ball…” The whole time I was using the same tone and cadence that I always use, replacing the car counts with nonsense.
And we made a perfect joint/coupling, all because my engineer was paying no attention to what I was saying, but concentrated on how I was saying it.
As long as you are consistent every single time, after a while the movement becomes automatic…your engineer will stop if he doesn’t hear you at the time or using the tone he is expecting.
If you think that’s nuts, take your scanner or a hand held, and go watch a yard crew work…we make 40, sometimes 50 couplings a day, and I bet if you listen, you
Midnight at La Junta Yard
Low monkeys on the totem pole switching empty hoppers in the yard on graveyard shift:
"Ten cars … Five cars … THREE CARS …$^#%#@!!!" … KA-BOOM!!!
Roadmaster wakes up 7 blocks away uptown…hides under covers … prays the phone doesn’t ring…
STOP, means stop now, STOP STOP STOP, means plug it, 100 cars means clear track keep shoving I’ll talk to you in a few minutes. Although sometimes you get the clear track bring em on back, and you shove and shove and ok whats going on.
Trust is all you have when you are shoving and trusting what the guy on the gorund and the guy in the cab are doing is essential. Nothing worse than a few hard joints trust goes away and everything grinds to a halt. Shoving with someone riding has to be the most stressful part of the job. You have a lot of responsibilty to the guy riding to not knock him off with slack and stopping the train where he needs you to stop. Stopping late and having your conductor ride the car into a joint will definetly lose you some serious points with him, and it will get around that you are out of control.
Learning car counts from different people as an engineer can be rough at first, some see cars as cadillacs others as volkswagens. Working a set yard shift or local with the same people will get you intune with each other and a very fluid operation, having extraboard guys with a crew and everything slows down till the enigineer gets comfortable. Its hard to shove fast when you dont know exactly what car counts they are giving as in long or short.
It can get bad when as an engineer you make a rough joint, you as the engineer try to change how fast you shove, your conductor is scared that you are shoving fast and making rough joints you both compensate for what the other is doing and now your stopping too early.
That is so true MC, standing in the yard office and hear the KABOOM, and the RCO blaring the horn becasue its in emergency! I remember being told after a rough joint, well kid I think they are welded together now!
[quote user=“edblysard”]
Depends on who you are working with…
If the crew are regulars on the same job, and have been on that job for a while, they all know what the other person is doing, and how that person is going to act, and react.
Once your down under a five car count, regardless of whether its coaches, auto racks, or standard hoppers, the engineer is no longer listening to the actual distance your giving him, he is listening to your tone and cadence.
He can tell by the tone of your voice what you need him to do, how close you really are.
Car counts are a subjective thing…my 10 car count might really be 11, or 9 cars, where my helper routinely gives short car counts…but he rarely makes a hard joint, because our engineer hears what is required in my helpers tone and cadence.
We had a student, who I was desperately trying to teach this too…the guy kept getting hung up on giving exact, completely accurate car counts, and kept the same flat, monotone voice through out his movement, which led to quite a few really hard couples…finally, in an attempt to convince him that the distance was pretty meaningless below five car lengths, I got him on the point with me…and gave our engineer a car count that included things like…“Give me six more marshmallows, about a hug or two, need a lollipop or two, half a foot ball…” The whole time I was using the same tone and cadence that I always use, replacing the car counts with nonsense.
And we made a perfect joint/coupling, all because my engineer was paying no attention to what I was saying, but concentrated on how I was saying it.
As long as you are consistent every single time, after a while the movement becomes automatic…your engineer will stop if he doesn’t hear you at the time or using the tone he is expecting.
If you think that’s nuts, take your scanner or a hand held, and go watch a yard crew work…we make 40, sometimes 50 couplings a day, and