do you guys (or girls) ever get an engineer or conductor that you hate or dont like immensly and what can you do about it. because youre stuck on a train you really cant get off and say “screw this im not working with them” how do you deal with these problems?
Welcome to the real world. If you get stuck with someone you can’t stand - you still have a job to do. Usually in thse situations - it is all business in the cab. But I really haven’t found anyone I can’t work with… maybe I’m jsut easy to get along with…
well i mean that in like say a factory job you can ask to work somewhere else but in a loco cab you really cant
Umm… sorry, but I worked in a warehouse too… can’t choose your coworkers unless you’re the boss.
Even on a railroad staffed by volunteers we get folks we’d maybe rather not work with. But we have passengers to haul, so we take everything into consideration and forge on.
i have only layed off once to get out of working with someone… but if you dont work you dont get payed so you suck it up and do the job…as zug said… if you end up getting paired up with someone you dont find desireable to work with… the conversation is at a minium in the cab… and most of it is just work related communication… the down side is that it makes a trip seem to take even longer becouse im sure most people can tell you that when you work with someone you get alone with and like to work with…the conversations and goofing around can make the trip seem to go faster and injoyable…
csx engineer
On the UP, there is an option that if you absolutely cannot work with this person then you can refuse the call. Doing this is not only damn near impossible to accomplish to get CMS to do it, and I believe they have to talk to the corridor manager to approve this layoff. But CMS puts a big “RC” next to your name. And before you can “mark-up” for work, you have to meet with your assigned manager and explain yourself.
Trust me, there is a couple of people where I work, that I cannot not stand. It is much easier to pay attention to the boards to see whom you are lined up with. And if you do not like it, lay off sick…
Oh man Tree68! That brings-back a memory! When I volunteered on the Boone & Scenic Valley, the head honcho on the line was a real loud mouth. I don’t know what his official job title was (he wasn’t a volunteer - one of the few paid employees). The station master was a real nice guy as were many of the volunteers and paid staff, but this guy I think was basically the foreman in-charge of “road operations”. He loved to shoot-off at the mouth and make threats. He wasn’t always around but he was there most of the time.
Once, someone had moved the viewing stand for the steam engine too close to the edge of the platform, and he threw a fit, yelling so many of the passengers could hear him, “IF I CATCH WHO DID THAT - I’LL BREAK HIS KNUCKLES!”. He didn’t say it directly to me and I didn’t move the stand so I said nothing at first, but he lipped-off to me later about not having a coupler lined-up right. I looked at him (we were both over 300 lbs. at the time) and asked if he was gonna break my knuckles? He said he might, and I said he wouldn’t, and it ended with that.
The next day, in plain view for the station master and several volunteers to see, he jumped between two of the heavyweight cars to grab a brake hose just as they were shoving-in to couple-up, and darn-near got hit. Then, that same day, also in view of the station master and us newbies, he violated another rule and jumped-around behind a car as it was being shoved onto the engine shop spur and almost got hit. He gave the hand signal to begin the shove and then made his move and just barely missed getting knocked-over.
He got his backside reamed for his rule-breaking by the station master and we all loved seeing him get it, and he also got reprimanded for his knuckle-breaking threat later that week when one of the passengers complained. He was a lot nicer after tha
I generally will work with anyone its just part of the being human. There was only one time in last 10 years where I refused to work an engineer. and nothing was said to me by any of the managers becuse of my overall work record. I feel that I can get along with anyone and like every thing else in life you take the good with the bad Larry
Was it Mort? That was his nickname, not his real name.
I know a lot of conductors have said they would refuse to work with him because they didn’t consider him the epitome of safety. I worked with him as a conductor a couple of times and didn’t have any problems. I think he was one of those who went to the CN.
Jeff
I know Larry will work with me because once in a while I bring him something.[:D]
YES !!!
There’s one guy on my RR( conductor) I won’t work with. If he shows up,I book off sick on the spot. As we speak,he’s serving 30 days for putting an engineer thru a stop signal.
I have never had to mark off to avoid working with someone else, however I have been required to break up to fist fights between engineers and conductors while I was a brakeman and we did have an engineer who threatened to kill more than one trainman on the job. Fortunately, before I had to work with him he was involved in an off duty incident resulting in his relocation to the state prison system for a long stay. In that case, the TM was aware of the problem and was generally able to work around the situation.
LC
I agree with the other guys, Short of quitting or calling in sick, you are stuck. The only way else to change the situation is to prove to your bosses that when you work together you are both unproductive and unsafe. I was building theater sets while I was in college, and was paired with this guy, I spent more time explaining the project to this guy than getting things done. I asked to be paired with someone else, and was told no. The person in charge finally watched us work and realized that I was more efficent by myself than paird with this guy.
It seems as if this guy is letting the politics on the railroad get to him [:O] I have learned that it isn’t worth getting all bent out of shape over because, if you continue to get excited or angry 24/7 you will end up going into Cardiac Arrest or something…I guess that is why so many dispatchers end up in the hospital. [soapbox]
I personally haven’t had the problem of working with anyone I don’t like, mainly because I don’t dislike anyone. I take working with different people as a learning experience…which better prepares me for my railroad career goals.
I will say that if you had to work with some one you didn’t like just suck it up and concentrate on your job. You don’t have to say a word to that other person about anything casual or personal just focus on your job. Don’t let someone else jepordize your job or career or bring you down. LIFE’S TOO SHORT!!!
Thanks for the analysis. No politics about it, just survival. As far as the fist fights went, I wasn’t involved except to be unlucky enough as to work with the four people involved ( 2 different crews, different days) and managed to get through both days and get our work done after the incidents. As to the former engineer currently serving a le
LC, I believe you’ve written about that fellow before and it appears that he had far larger problems than who he might be working with, to say nothing of who he was working for. We used to have a conductor who made mountains out of molehills, was always fighting (verbally) over something with someone, if not the company, then his fellow employees. He’s no longer an employee and he’s not missed very much, I don’t believe. He was later run off a shortline for much the same reasons
Sometimes, you have to work with those you don’t want to, it’s the nature of the job. You tell yourself, “It’s only one trip, it’s only one trip”. You hope.
X-
You are correct, I think I have written about him before and he did have larger issues and we are all better off for not having him on the railroad any more. I agree that getting through a trip can be an exercise of the force of one’s will. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone I couldn’t work with on the railroad although one can never say never…
LC
I thought sick time was for when you were sick…no wonder I have so much on the books…silly me!
Does being sick of work count?
One person crews would solve all of these people relations problems…and if you’re by yourself and still can’t stand who you’re working with then you’ve got bigger problems…[:D]