During a recent trip home, my Dad was recounting Mt. Olive’s great train wreck, where in the early 1950s a Pennsy train was traveling on the Wabash main and a broken axle really made a mess of things.
One of my Dad’s favorite things about the wreck was the fact that the Wabash Banner Blue detoured on the IC from Litchfield, IL–which is one town north of Mt. Olive–to St. Louis. Both the Wabash and IC ran from Litchfield, IL to St. Louis, MO.
Anyway, how does that work as far as engineers? Does it require an IC engineer to sit in with the Wabash train and take the helm? If so, how did they get the engineer to that spot on such short notice back in those days?
The engineers and conductors can fill in the gaps and correct the errors. A detouring train would require a pilot from the host railroad. The pilot would probably be an engineer or conductor who would know the line in question and pass information to the engineer from the detouring road who is actually operating the train.
Depends on the lenght of the detour. RR A detours over RR B. If the detour is short, a crew from B will pilot A’s crew over the line. If the detour is longer, B may simply crew A’s train will it’s own crews. There’s also the possiblity A crews could be qualified over B’s lines, and won’t need pilots.
If a crew from RR A is qualified to operate on the detour over RR B, how long is that qualification good for? Is it a once in a lifetime thing, or, like an instrument rating in aviation, does it require a recuring requalification…or at least, an occasional trip over the line to stay qualified?
What does it take for an otherwise qualified engineer to qualify on a specific section…is it a matter of 1 or 2 trips, or 1 or 2 months?
If crew “A” is not qualified on railroad “B”, then railroad “B” is supposed to furnish at minimum a pilot who is a qualified engineer over the territory to be operated upon. He is to instruct engineer “A” on the physical characteristics and rules of railroad “B”. Some roads want the pilot to run the train, others do not.
In order for crew “A” to be qualified to operate on railroad “B” they must make the number of trips required by railroad “B”, plus possibly take a operating rules exam. The number of qualifying trips on railroad “B” could be as few as three or as many as several weeks.
How long the qualification then lasts is again up to railroad “B” or other governing laws, could be 30 days (in New Jersey IIRC) to two years. If engineer “A”'s qualification lapses, he (she) may have to make only one trip over railroad “B” to requalify. The policy of railroad “B” governs.
Thanks for all of the information. What I am still confused about is how they–especially in 1950–ferry a pilot to the passenger train on such short notice.
Did the detour start near one of the ends of the crew district or was it smack dab in the middle? Also, weren’t crew districts closer to 100 miles long in the 50’s?
Out in western Iowa the UP has detoured over the CN/IC between Arion and Council Bluffs due to track work on the UP. When we do this, we are supplied UP pilots who have been qualified over that section of track. The last few times, the pilots have been a mix of engineers and company officers. After a few trips, you can be deemed qualified and go without a pilot.
On the Iowa Interstate RR a separate UP pool board of qualified UP people is established because the detours there are from one UP terminal to another. Lately if there has only been one or two trains a day, IAIS crews have been used instead of UP crews.
How have they qualified UP pilots/crews in the past over these other lines? They get a ride in a hi-rail truck over the territory.
Over here, you normally get 10 round trips to qualify. Engineer’s quals are good for 1 year, and conductors are considered QFL (qualified for life). If you fail the qualifying test, you get 5 more trips. If you’re out of qualification, you’re generally allow 2 or 3 familiarization trips.
I can remember instances, where we established regular pilot jobs. The pilot would get on at one end of the detour, off at the other, on to another train, and back to the start. The crew would make as many trips as the could during their tour. Then the next set of pilots would come on duty and repeat the process.
On pilots, there are rules that the carriers have to go by. If the engr needs a pilot, then it has to be another engr acting as pilot. If condr needs one, then a pilot condr is called. Pilots have to be of the same craft for the crewman they are training–engr for engr, condr for condr.