Half switched

Part of the problem of new T&E employees - they have yet to figure out what makes railroad sense and what doesn’t, or more precisely, common sense is a very uncommon commodity.

Murphy, that sign might not be a bad idea. Some industries have them, usually those that do have a bit more complicated layout then your lumber yard. I know in our yard office, and I suspect this isn’t unique to our location, there are spotting instructions for various places. Some are just hand written, some a bit more professionally done and both usually have maps. A bit more detailed than our Zone/Track/Spot books. The thing is the crewmembers need to know they exist and where they are kept. Sometimes they lie forgotten in a drawer of some filing cabinet.

I think it was Henry who said something about it being unusual that the trainmaster wasn’t there to help. Not really. A TM (or MTO to us) might brief the crew before they leave the yard, but most likely won’t tag along. I actually could see where an official, especially a new, junior one, may have led to your predicament. Carl mentioned about the crew may have been short on time. They also could have been close to going on overtime. Some of our terminals have local instructions against overtime without a manager’s approval. I could see some manager (not necessarily a clueless newbie either) saying, “just shove it in the clear and get going.”

One last thought. Maybe they don’t want your business and are trying to discourage you from using them.[:-,]

Jeff

In regards to the switching instructions, I would think BNSF has something similar to the ZTS system. Wouldn’t numbering the spots and telling the railroad to spot one car at Spot A, two cars at Spots A and B, etc. solve the problem?

Did you ever find out why the car was spotted where it was spotted?

Is there a fence around the property and a gate across the track ? ( [:-,] Or is your lumberyard still open 24 x 7 to anyone who’d needs a few boards at midnight ? [swg] ) Was the gate open when the 1st crew was dropping the car ? Is it secured by a piece of chain with both your and a railroad lock interlaced together, so that either one can open it when needed ? Is there a sign at the gate to call so-and-so to get it opened ? is there a phone, intercom, buzzer, bell, or flashing light there to make that easier for the crew ?

All of which is to say that you’d be surprised how often a local switch crew’s day is messed up by lack of coordination on this little detail, and “Nobody’s home”. (A few years ago, Trains had an issue on local freights, and one of the articles related the story how exactly this happened to a crew on an NS switch run from Reading, PA to Hershey and back, as I recall.) A new crew or one short on time won’t know how to or be inclined to hunt down the proper person to rectify the problem, either. (I’ll let Ed, jeff, and zugmann fill in their own stories of this happening.)

Otherwise, was the siding further in obstructed or apparently having its clearances ‘fouled’ by something - a truck being loaded or unloaded, a car, a piece of your lumberyard’s equipment, or even a stack or pallet of lumber on or near the tracks ? Again, the crew make have taken the attitude of “We don’t have time to wait around, and they [you] will move it when they want the load bad enough”, etc.

Finally, maybe the ‘newness’ of it all and without a well-established or obvious routine or location, the uncertainty of exactly where the car was wanted to be spotted led to this. Again, with the crew possibly short on time, they weren’t going to wait around or investigate themselves. Perhaps the seemingly

My thought about the trainmaster was that if it were a green crew, the TM would be more involved either by riding along or having them call in at each location. And even if it were a green crew, if it came to a situation they had questions about, they’d call the TM and get straight what had to be done. Somebody didn’t take the initiative to see that the day went right…

Post script:

BNSF picked up the empty car about 5:00 Friday, so conceivably everything worked out just fine. Our yard forman said the regular switch crew had no explanation, just a few comments about the irregular(?) crew. Something along the lines of “Oh, those silly gooses! They must have had their vision obscured by the whereabouts of their heads while pushing the car in.” [:-^]

That kind of junk will get you wrote up where I work. But with the carriers rushing newbies through their training it’s no wonder why things dont get done right the first time. I see it all the time here.

Customers pay big bucks to have their cars spotted right, I’d be pissed too.

Perhaps they were in a hurry to get some fiber.

Eric: It’s called the CLIC system (Holdover from ATSF, Car Location Identity Control ), very similar to ZTS, replete with switchman’s flip books, et al…and spot locations identified. Still sounds like the relief conductor didn’t meet expectations.

Assuming that the trainmaster knows where the car needs to be spotted is a big assumption, indeed.

Extra board crews sometimes take a stab at it and hope they got it right, this might be what happened here. OTOH, if there is an obvious spot location, then I’ve no answer for that. As with other fields, some try harder than others to do it right.

Most likely scenario…

Caller - Joe Blow you are called for the Bad Lands Local between A & Q
Joe Blow - I am not qualified on the local work between A & Q
Caller - Your qualified on the line of road between A & Q aren’t you?
Joe Blow - Yes.
Caller - If you refuse the call I’ll have to report you for being insubordinate!
Joe Blow - I’ll take the call.

December is prime vacation time for Transportation officers - Trainmaster most likely on vacation, person covering for the Trainmaster is no more qualified on the local work than Joe Blow is.

Filling jobs is about getting warm bodies on the job - FULL qualifications are a desirable option bu not a absolute requirement.