I know that railroad form B’s are used to protect MOW workers, but how dose MOW get a form b authorization? How come trains blow their horn when passing through a form b? When do most trains radio the foreman of the track gang before they get to the red “flag”? Please let me know thank you.
They get the track authority from the dispatcher, i personally call the foreman as early as 5 miles depending on signal indication and train speed, we blow the horns because in the GCOR rule 5.8.2, im not sure which exact signal nmber it is but it says you must blow the horn in a succession of short blows when men and equipment are on or near the tracks.
FRA Roadway Worker rules require the horn and bell to be sounded approaching roadway workers, 49 CFR 214.399. That’s presumably reflected in the cited GCOR rule (since train crews aren’t expected to carry around copies of the Code of Federal Regulations). To my knowledge, most reailroads require the standard grade crossing seqquence to be used for this purpose, but that’s not actulallly required in the FRA rule.
A Form “B” request is planned-for in advance and is usually submitted to the DS and Chief DS at least the day before it is desired. There had best be good reason for a last minute Form “B” request.
The foreman in charge of the Form “B” does NOT have to answer a train until he is good and ready to(and sure the track is passable with everybody in the clear). With a Form “B”, he owns that section of railroad until it expires. Trains want to keep moving, so they are calling well in advance. Conversely, a pak-set (handheld) and some portable radios do not have the wattage to talk to a train from far away. Often a train cannot hear the reply from the weaker radio.
The bell & whistle requirement shows up in 49CFR214.339 (SubPart C - Roadway Worker Protection), No pattern is prescribed. That goes back to the individual railroad’s adopted rulesets (GCOR,NORAC, etc. like described above)