I almost forgot about this... I was at Kirkwood Station (ex-MOPAC) the other week watching trains while my g/f was taking her praxis test. Anyway, you hear the trains thru here long before you see them, even though it is a whistle-free zone. An old GP comes around the corner going EB, against the flow of traffic none-the less and guess what??? No crew in the first unit! The crew was running long hood forward in the second unit... Anyone ever run into this? You 1:1 guys ever do this? It had to be a local, only had a dozen mixed type cars behind it. Was the crew just too lazy to swap ends? Could there be a reason for this? I took photos, but it was film and I havent gotten them digitized yet. P.S. This being my 360th post, does that mean I have come full circle???
I haven't double checked my rule book yet, but I think as long as the number boards, headlight and ditch lights were working, I don't see too much of a problem. Personally, I wouldn't want to do it for any long distance but ,as a "fer instance", when working a switch engine in a yard(like Eola)we normally ran from the 2nd unit when working East yard and from the lead(or east unit)in West yard,this assuming you have a double MU'ed long end to long end. This was mostly to have the hogger and the switchmen on the same side of the leads CT
Hey, You MUST also have a person in the fireman's seat,to call signals.That person MUST be qualified in signals & the area being run.This is unnessasery if the engine is equipped with dual control stands.
Hey, My 1st post on this topic deal with the crew in the lead unit( I just read the question again & saw "from the 2nd unit".mg: ). There has to be someone in the lead unit"for eyes" & to operate the headlight,bell & horn.In case of emergency,they can "dump the train".Also,when operating from other than the lead unit,Max.speed is 30 mph.
Ok, I KNOW there wasnt anyone on the fireman side of the lead unit, and I KNOW there was someone on the Engineers side of the second unit (he waved to me)...so i'm making an assumption here... First unit had all its lights on (i think, will have to go check the pics). I have caught a unit running long hood first after switching an industry, no head light, and one ditch lights burnt out!!! I couldnt believe it!
Sounds like they're too lazy to change operating ends or get a new address on a track warrant....:embarassed:
Sounds to me like a blatant FRA violation. The track warrant can address a trailing unit as long as that is the unit with it's numberboards lit. I've run into that on regionals in Ohio quite a bit.
You may have answered your own question. Locals routinely make switching moves. Changing ends every time you back up and pull forward is a pain. If you know you're going to go back and forth a few times, why bother changing ends each time? Wait till the work in this area is done. As for rules violation, or people watching the point, and etc... that's not standard. That'll vary from road to road based on the rulebook in force. I wouldn't jump to any conclusions on that one without a UP rulebook sitting in front of me.
After looking at Google Earth, unless I missed something, I dont see any online industry between Kirkwood and Pacific on either side of the tracks! I wander where these guys had been and where they were headed. There is a spur that serves two industries just east of Kirkwood in Rock Hill.
