Take your trailing leg off of the engine steps or car stirrup, and cross it over behind your leading leg. Bend your leading leg to lower your body, and prepare to step onto the ground with your trailing leg. When your trailing foot impacts the ground, the force will tend to rotate your body away from the equipment. As it does so, let the rotation disengage your leading foot from the engine steps or car stirrup, while at the same time, let go of the engine railing or car ladder rung with your leading hand. As this rotation on your trailing leg continues, bring your leading foot down to the ground to take the next step, and let go of the engine railing or car ladder rung with your trailing hand."
This was the way I was taught on both the CNW and BN, I wouldn’t want to try the Method 1 described.
I enjoyed getting on and off moving equipment (except at night when trying to board a locomotive run by a hot-shot engineer in a pitch black yard; I wouldn’t get on, the engine went by, engineer eventually stopped). It’s like riding a bicycle, once you learn you never forget how (although after 15 or so years I would need some practice before getting on or off at 10
He realized they wouldn’t stop in time, and threw them into full dynos (actually throttle) while he hopped off and attempted to grab the switch before they ran through.
CN’s GOI still has a whole section about entraining and detraining moving equipment. They permit it up to 4mph.
On the negative side, CN is probably the only railroad that will discipline an employee for stopping a movement to get on or off - delay to assignment.
No, we have rather archaic work-rest rules compared to the US HOS rules.Our rest clauses are negotiated between the union and the company and varies through different collective agreements. For example an employee working under the BC Rail agreement can take unlimited rest after a shift/trip, whereas a CN employee on the mainline can only take 14 hrs after a yard shift, 24 after a road trip, or 48 hrs after making 1075 miles.
The work-rest rules allow for 8 hrs rest after working 12 hrs.
And in single sub service you can book up to 8 hours rest after 10.
Also, in Canada you can work two back to back road tours ( go off duty and immediately go back on duty … as long as the first one is not over 10 hours) for a total continous operational time of 18 hours. Working 18 hours straight is a looooong time.
In yard service you can do two back to back 8 hour shifts for a total of 16 hours continous.
You are also allowed 16 hours continuous in work train service.
Now, this CSX runaway is starting to sound plausible.
In his book, “CALL THE BIG HOOK,” author Sam Dougherty details the problem of engineers falsely believing they are in dynamic brake mode and mistakenly applying power with the throttle while thinking they are increasing field strength for dynamic braking. Dougherty says this was a common mistake that he had observed engineers making on several occasions. And on several other occasions, this mistake caused wrecks. He goes on to describe the details of one such wreck on the D&RGW near Crater, CO, on 12/25/68, where the engineer mistakenly applied power, causing the train to runaway on a downgrade.
Our museum railroad allows getting on and off of moving trains and pretty much everyone does it. I think it’s a dangerous practice on that railroad. They give no training at all on the proper way to get on and off of a moving trains, the members that operate the trains don’t do it for a full time job, some are only there a time or two a month if that so they tend to be a little rusty when they first start working anyway, and the majority of the members are probably 60 plus (some well past that age) so they aren’t in the best of shape to be doing it anyway. Also we don’t do much switching and usually run 3 - 4 car trains so the small amount of time it saves isn’t worth the risks involved with doing it with an untrained inexperienced crew.
This isn’t an issue that’s confined just to railroads.
The other day a ‘traditional’ garbage truck crossed the street in front of me and as soon as it got to the other side, the 2 fellows hanging on the back- “runners” is what they’re called locally - dropped off while it was still rolling slowly to a stop, and then threw the stuff from a few cans in. I didn;t stay to watch, but I know from seeing them before that mounting up while the truck is rolling by is also common, particularly after it has turned around, etc. On the other hand, few people ride a garbage truck for a significant portion of their lives, so there may be less risk of long-term joint damage and injuries, etc.
But I wonder if there are any other industries besides railroading and garbage that may involve so much boarding and dismounting of moving equipment as part of their daily operations. Any nominations ?
The major roads, many of the msaller roads don’t really seem to care (as evident in this thread).
And I’ve yet to hear of someone being fired for getting on or off moving equipment. Disciplined? Yes. But you can’t do much without being disciplined anymore…
OK, I get it now - likewise, I use “square root of 5” as a numerical equivalent of “Whatever . . .” or "Who knows ? . . . " in conversation. Interesting that we would both select Sq Rt expressions . . . [:-^] - PDN.
