I have to disagree slightly with the statement that “There is no such thing as relief crews.” In a large metropolitan area, such as NYC, Philly, Baltimore, etc. a relief crew would be a 2-man crew (engineer/brakeman) who takes engines to the shop for service. Perhaps it has brake problems; maybe it is due for its service, which is done at the main engine housing.
HOWEVER: the relief crew cannot go beyond the Yard Limits board (either direction.)
The relief crew picks up the engine(s) at “point a” and transports them to the local engine house. After which, they may also take another engine(s) back to the yard where it obtained the unit(s) it picked up earlier – IF it didn’t take replacement units to the yard on the way to pick up the one requiring service.
The relief crew can also be used to transport the engine(s) from a train whose crew reached the limit of Hours of Service Law while in the yard, and before taking engine(s) to shop.
Hope this clarifies how the term “relief crew” differs from “dog catchers,” or “outlaw relief” for trains which are caught on the line of road (main) due to a crewmember’s time (hours of service) expiring.
IF a Yard Crew is Qualified can they go out and rescure a train? On the BNSF out here they ususally use the Local 452 or a Yard Crew.
I heard once of a BNSF job going dead on the main only about two miles from home. The relief crew called was a local that just returned into town. Those guys got a timeslip for performing work outside their scope of duties.
Ibelieve what you are describing is called a hosteler. They move the engines within the yard but do not leave it.