In the 1950’s and 1960’s, railroad locomotive crews in the USA could only travel a certain distance before they had to change crews. I think this distance was about 120 miles, set in the early days of locomotive operation when an eight hour run was about 120 miles. That rule eventually became embedded in union labor agreements.
I would like to learn what the exact rule and limitation was, when and how it originated, and when it was superseded by federal (FRA?) regulations. Also, if the old rule applied to all US railroads, or just certain ones?
If anyone can provide more authoratative information and a reference, it would be appreciated. Thanks.
The rate of pay was based on a 100 mile day, some pools were longer and some were shorter than 100 miles, but the rate of pay was based on that. There were no regulations limiting freight pools to about 120 miles and there’ve been freight pools that have been much longer than that for many years, one east of the Mississippi that comes to mind is the Decatur-Peru, IN, freight pool that was established by the Wabash Railway sometime around 1928, ending two short pools that stopped at Tilton, IL (Danville). Another long Wabash pool was the one that ran from Moberly, MO, to Decatur, IL, which I believe may have been established around 1959.
I think the shorter pools were a result of the distance a steam locomotive could go before servicing, keeping in mind that most runs required more water and even coal enroute. With the advent of bigger power, bigger tenders and water tanks, distances became easier to cover and with the diesels, the servicing stops were eliminated.
Today’s mileage rates for a basic day are based on a 130 mile day.
Like he said, there was never any 120-mile limit (or any other one that I’ve ever heard of). The 16-hour law started at some point, but aside from that …
Are you talking about passenger, or just freight? I’d guess 200-mile passenger crew runs were fairly common, and supposedly the UP/LA&SL ran 300+ miles-- for a while, anyway.