I’ve seen several OCS trains go by and seen even more photos and videos of them. Something I’ve noticed is that it seems as if all the window shades are usually drawn closed, you don’t see anyone looking out the windows. And on the rear there is usually the car with the panoramic window and you usually see three or four people sitting there all of them looking at their smartphones, not the passing scenery or the railroad. So, what is the point, what is the use of running these trains? Who is on board?
Can we presume OCS = Office Car Special?
It’s not going to be Officer Candidate School…
OCS are rarely occupied on ALL legs of their journeys.
They are used for Senior Management to review the company’s property - both from a rail operation point of view as well as from a industrial development point of view.
Industrial development trips regularly have senior officials from the company that the carrier is attempting to entice into locating a facility on the carriers property.
With Senior officials of every company the railroads deal with having severe time pressures on their presence - all the officials will normally FLY to a location, board the train, inspect the target area and then return to a location where these individuals can catch flights as necessary to continue with their business duties.
Many times OCS are operated to locations for specific events - both CSX & NS operate OCS to Louisville for the Kentucky Derby. I suspect the equipment moves to and from Louisville in a deadhead status and is used at Louisville as a base of operations for entertaining both present and prospective customers and government officials.
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That does seem to make sense. As you say, the people who would probably be on the train are captains of industry and such. For me, I would rather skip the plane ride and stay on the train! But these people probably are catching a private flight.
In the early 1990’s I was Asst. Chief Dispatcher on CSX’s Atlanta Division. At that point in time they had rerouted all through merchandise trains off the so called ‘Bow Line’ that ran between Montgomery, AL and Waycross, GA and put those trains on the busier Lineville Sub from Parkwood, AL (outside Birmingham) and Manchester, GA and the Fitzgerald Sub from Manchester to Waycross.
On a Friday an OCS was ‘scheduled’ to depart Birmingham at 6 AM operate to Manchester at about 12 Noon, operate to Waycross at about 6 PM and then on to Jacksonville at about 8 PM.
The first leg was accomplished without incident, however, when the OCS turned the corner at Manchester it had to get in line and follow 5 other freight trains South from Manchester - there was no place to get the OCS around any of the 5 as each siding was full with Northbound’s watching the ‘parade’. Freight trains tend to have ‘issues’ - activating a defect detector, an undesired emergency application of the train brakes, an engine failure all the normal ‘stuff’. With multiple recrews the OCS as the tail end of the parade got to Waycross about 6 AM Saturday - only 12 hours ‘late’. According to the Terminal Trainmaster at Waycross, the inhabitants of the OCS got off the train like rat leaving a sinking ship and they all took alternative transportation on to Jacksonville.
Monday morning a revision to Schedules and Classification was published and two manifest trains in each direction were restored to daily operation on the Bow Line. The only time I personally saw a ‘benefit’ coming from the operation of a OCS. Any line segment can be overloaded with traffic.
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