Storytime with Charlie

Story Time...

Copy,Read,and Repeat Track Warrants exactly as they are given to you.

When the BNSF trained their new conductors at the N.A.R.S. in Overland Park,KS., in addition to textbook material, the students were shown numerous videos relating to the
conductor/trainman crafts. Some were interesting,some extremely boring,many repetitious and some frightening. The last category is the one I am going to address.
It was how inattention and lax work habits can contribute to disaster. This concerns a
head-on train collision in "dark" territory somewhere out west(Montana or Wyoming-CRS).
Both crews were killed, there was one survivor, a hobo who was hitching a ride on one of the cars. The two trains collided at a closing speed of about 38mph IIRC.
The dispatcher, a female, wound up in the "looney-bin" for a while. No info on what happened to the hobo.
The instructor played the audio tape of the radio transmissions between the one crew
copying the Track Warrant it included the call to the train from the DS, the DS giving the correct limits of the Track Warrant, the crew repeating the WRONG limits of authority and the DS giving the OK ,time and initials. The instructor then showed a movie of the aftermath. At least one loco was standing 90degrees in the air. There was still a great deal of flame from the burning diesel fuel, there were freight cars in huge heaps. The film also included a brief interrogation of the 'bo. He was so dazed(or possibly
stoned)that he couldn't speak coherently.
the facts...
The dispatcher gave the correct limits of authority(let us say from point A to point F).
The crew repeated the limits as being from point A to point H.
The dispatcher OK's those wrong limits on the repeat and gives her initial and the time.
The two trains collide killing both crews. There were several curves so neither train could see the other until too late.

I dont remember what was determined as the exact cause but I will tell you this.
The crew copying the Track Warrant normally operated the train between point A and point H. What I believe happened is that the copying conductor, to save some time,pre-wrote his Track Warrant to show the limits for the entire trip.The train most likely was given those limits 90% of the time anyway, HOWEVER, this is against the rules,to pre-write anything on the track warrant. The dispatcher, who was probably stressed out or busy with her other divisions or sub-divisions didn't pay close attention to the repeat and
she gave it an OK. Since the copying conductor probably used a handset to copy and repeat the Track Warrant, the engineer would not have heard the conversation over the
radio or even overheard what the conductor was saying, or just wasn't paying attention to the radio(which is NOT unusual)the locos were SD-40s and they are pretty noisy machines,especially under load!

PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU ARE DOING!

CT

 

Charlie, that is very sad, but not rare. In my career we were told that communications was when each party understood exactly what the other party was saying, otherwise it was just meaningless chatter.:tb-sad:

 

Thanks Charlie we can all take something from this even if we don't drive a train.
Years ago I worked in the farm service industry a old timer told me if I found my self not afraid of anhydrous ammonia some day that would be good day to quit.

 

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Got a story about that too!!!!(Anhydrous ammonia)

Charlie

 

Charlie,
I have been seeing more then normal amount of auto racks going mosty west. Is it a time of year thing or cars and trucks going out west?

P.S. kind of nice to see somthing other then stacks on the Old C and I

 

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Could be any number of things, lots of the 2009 models being shipped in time for Christmas.
Could also have something to do with assembly plants being closed by the BIG 3 and this
means more shipping from the plants remaining open. Cant say for sure since the railroad
never shared their business and marketing strategies with the rank & file. Where I worked,
I always saw a lot of auto racks, but then the auto transloading facility we switched out was closed and relocated to Lemont IL. By that time however I was working solely in commuter train(METRA)service and didn't pay all that much attention to the freight end.
I was happy not being a yard grunt. I made more money in passenger service anyway!

Charlie

 

This is for Pablo from the BNSF Railroad board...

Dunno if I've told this one before,and I don't wanna read the whole boad again. If you've
read this one already,just ignore it.

Know the rules....

I was sitting in a loco cab one day in Ciceo,IL yard(CRS if I was waiting to pull or working a switch engine)but I had the radio tuned into the road channel. There was a
pool freight on a departure track getting ready to pull. The train was a transfer from the
BRC in Clearing Yard earlier that afternoon. The yardmaster radioed the crew that they would be getting a signal momentarily to enter the main track. The crew said that was OK but when would they get an air test. The YM told them the train was air tested ,that it had come from the BRC in Clearing. The engineer said that was fine, but where is the air slip? He had NO paperwork or proof that the train had been airtested and had certifiably working brakes. The YM said there were no carmen available for an air test.By this time the Trainmaster got into the conversation and was telling the crew they should accept his word and go! The engineer said that the conductor would walk a set and release,indeed the conductor got into the conversation and stated that he was on the ground and would begin walking a set and release and test the FRED. The TM said that the train had been brought in by another crew and that the power had remained connected to the train and it was in compliance with airbrake rules. The engineer said that was fine,but where was the proof, he even went on to say that if a member of the crew that brought the train in was still on the property, he would take their word for it.
Now the conductor chimes in to the hogger to set the air and that he would start walking. The Trainmaster then caves in and tells them that he will order the carmen to
retest his train and issue an air slip.
Engineer ............1
Railroad..............0
There were a few"way to go"s and some hoorays coming over the radio since the whole
durn sub was listening to this conversation. LOL
BTW, the engineer was right!!!!!! NEVER,NEVER,NEVER take a train on a main line unless you are certain the train has been proven to have operating brakes and other safety devices.

Charlie

 

Thanks for the entertaining story, Charlie! I guess the moral is to always listen to the rules before even your superiors. Working weekends at a RR museum is definately preparing me well for that job. With VERY old equipment that fails alot, it gets you used to thinking on your feet, improvising, and getting things moving quickly while adhering to the highest level of safety possible (Certainly wouldn't be good for the place to have something happen to a 3 year old).

 

"Friendly" Skies

Charlie and Flash - sounds like that makes 3 of us. PDX, USAF, EXO, BOI, BIL, ANC, EUG, TPE, HDQ, many TDYs and good ol' PBGC in 2001. Thirty-five years with no N days - that and $1.50 got me coffee on my last day. Built a house next to the Siskiyou Line, and try not to fly (family emergencies only). Flash - Bruce Magneson in SAT? Good to hear I'm not the only UA train chaser!

Scott

Oh yeah - the boss: wife Inflight SFOTW and DENCO.

 

All of my time was in CHI with some TDYs in DEN in the late 60s/early 70s to do schedule
change info for CHIRR. Had beaucoup experience in various public contact disciplines, that became my ace in the hole when I left the airline. In addition to working with the public I was also in a "facility manager" temp assignment for an extended period, I co-ordinated the
installation of the Collins computerized telephone switching system in the "old" CHIRR building. I also was responsible for the maintenance/cleaning/capital equipment control of the building. I liked that job the best. It was only when the economy went "south" and the company started cancelling all the projects in the hopper that I lost that job to "downsizing"or "rightsizing" or just plain elimination, whatever you want to call it. Not long after I got "set back", the company did away with the engineering department.What a blood bath that was, you were probably with the company at that time. That(my "set back") was one of the justifications I used as my criteria to leave the company. The best career move I ever made is a two part scenario. 1/ I left the airline(under duress-long story!) 2/ I eventually went railroading.
Dont regret it for one minute. I maintain contact with my friends from my airline days. They
have a group support network to help maintain their sanity and self-worth. All of them gave the company the "best years of their lives", one of them even gave the company his
@**hole!. He was in DEN,by himself,doing the CHIRR schedule change. He had an emergency hemorrhoidectomy with no post-op recovery. He came out of the anasthetic,got dressed and went back to work!!!!! That is the kind of employees the company treated like dirt! Now all they have is a bunch of keyboard monkeys who are only capable of following the screen prompts. They are losing their jobs too, seems like the good
people in India are cheaper keyboard monkeys.
I dont fly much either! Last time was in 1999. Worst trip we(wife & I) ever had.
We have had only fantastic experiences on AMTRAK(to both coasts & on the NE Corridor).
And we travel 1st Class. No more stand-by crap!

Charlie

 

Charlie
I have enjoyed reading your stories. They full of details that allow you see what's happening, snowflakes, switches being thrown, and all, in your minds eye. Please keep them comming.
Thanks
Ron

 

Thanks hemi I thought I was the only one who always has to ask for english. :shade:

 

Whoops - sorry!

Yesterday, a couple posts identified that 2 fellow TBers had careers with the same airline I worked for. I wanted to acknowledge that, but not violate - too badly - the fact that we're a train forum. I replied with a short post that listed codes for the locations I'd worked. I figured that non-airline readers would be bored and move on to the next post - back to trains. Wrong! Clearly, I should have used a Private Message instead of a general posting, short though it was. I apologize and will stay on track in the future.

To answer the question, acronyms are:
PDX-Portland, USAF-US Air Force, EXO-Executive Offices, BOI-Boise, BIL-Billings, ANC-Anchorage, EUG-Eugene, TPE-Taipei Formosa, HDQ-Headquarters, TDYs-temporary duty assignments, SFOTW-San Francisco Trans World Airlines, DENCO-Denver Continental Airlines.

Again, sorry! Oh - there's no truth to a TB friend's suggestion that I posted the alphabet soup out of frustration and revenge for my not speaking DCC!

Scott

 

CHIRR = Chicago ReseRvations
DEN = Denver (City code as opposed to airport code)
SAT = SAn AnTonio

to Ron(SWITCHMAN),
You're welcome. Every so often someone will say or ask something that will trigger a memory.

Charlie

 

Just want to take a moment to wish all a very Happy,Healthy and Prosperous New Year to all on this board and to their families and friends.

I want to share a New Years memory with you. My apologies if you have seen this before.

When I was a small child,in the late 1940s,most of our holidays were spent at my grandmothers house. She lived several miles to the east of us in the West Englewood neighborhood. My grandmother,a widow, lived with my 2 bachelor uncles and my mom's
sister and her husband & children. It was a large house, a 2flat brick building,so there was
plenty of room. I remember spending New Years Eves there. If we,that is me,my sisters and cousins,were able to stay awake until midnight, my grandmother would give us old pots
and wooden spoons and allow us to go out on the front porch and make noise.
What was significant was what else was making noise! There was a PRR roundhouse about
a mile west of my grandmothers place. I understand that it was the former "Panhandle" line. if we traveled to Gramma's on 59th st, we would go right past it and I could see the
locos waiting on the ready tracks,underneath smoke jacks,waiting for assignments.
At midnight, the hostlers and roundhouse crews would blow the whistles on the locomotives and they could be heard at my grandmothers place. What a sound!!!
My grandmother,the "Panhandle" roundhouse,and the yard and, sadly,the steam locos are long,long gone now. There is still railroad activity, the CSX owns all the property now(previously the B & O main line was the westernmost 2 tracks)and it is now an intermodal yard. Not quite the gritty,noisy glamour that it used to be,nor as spiritually satisfying as it was to a small railfan child years ago.

Charlie

 

Thanks :smile: