New Federal Rule Aims to Reduce Human Error As Cause of Train Accidents

Trains Magazine General Discussion
21

I believe what you are seeing from the FRA is political posturing, and job justification.
We already have rules that address lining back main line switches in dark territory…the conductor must inform both the engineer and dispatcher he has done so, and if possible, the engineer or the brakeman must visually see the switch lined correctly and or get verbal confirmation it is lined correctly.

Shoving rules changed last year, in yards, you can only shove half the distance or number of cars a yard track can hold without point protection, any more than half, and someone from your crew has to be either riding the point, or in a position where he has continuous visual contact with the point the entire move.
For my railroad, we added in a rule where, if you are shoving an industry, regardless of how many cars your holding on to, a crew member will be riding the point the entire shove…one car or one hundred, makes no difference.
The GCOR addendum states a crew member has to have visual contact the entire shove, but we decided to play it even safer than that.

As for addressing crew fatigue, don’t hold your breath.

Ed

22

in my 10 years at the UP i can count 4 fatigue studys. lots of money spend and nothing, remember if it coast money they will not do it!!!

23

On the one hand, I am envious of railroaders of today, because technology has made most every railroad operating job easier. Nice, quiet, high-powered, air-conditioned cabs, working radios, etc. On a personal level, they have cell phones, pagers, and computers to help them manage their lives while working on call.

On the other hand, I pity today’s railroaders, for it seems they have so much BS to deal with every day. College-educated idiots posing as “Officials”, that don’t know a knuckle from a drawbar, coming out into the field armed with their degrees telling the real railroaders how to “do” their jobs. Feds watching over your shoulder. Overworked dispatchers, maintainers, engineers, conductors, and car department employees combining to create a working environment that lends itself to friction and a lack of cooperation.

With all these new rules I hear about, I wonder how we managed to get over the road years ago. Oh, yes. Now I remember. We had fun, the officials left us alone, we were encouraged to think for ourselves, we took pride in our work, and we respected our fellow rails.

Of course we still disliked management, but they knew to not mess with us, for they knew we could screw them into the ground if we decided to follow every rule to the letter.

In today’s job-tight economy, railroad employment seems to be a latch-ditch job for some; something to pay the bills while looking for a different job, one that allows a person to have an actual life away from the railroad. I would guess that the working conditions have kept many potentially good railroaders from ever applying, and if they do apply, they do not stay long.

The working conditions are the reason I quit railroading after 20 years. Although I miss being an engineer (I still think it is one of the coolest jobs), I sure as heck do not miss the on call 24x7, the constant fatigue, or the lack of family life. And those letters featured in the Railway Age refered to above furthe