Hello to all,let me introduce myself,my name is Bill Pierce,u/n SD40E2,I am 58,from Baltimore,MD.I have been around trains since age 3, modelling since 1981.I currently work for Norfolk Southern as a conductor/rco operator,but the railroad i model,and is my all-time favorite,is Seaboard Coast Line.I model SCL in N,& HO.I am happy to be joining this great forum,and hope to share info as well as just talk trains!I look forward to great discussions and hope to be a positive member.
Hi Bill, Welcome to the TrainBoard, glad to have you on board. I understand "conductor", but what is an "rco operator"?
Welcome Bill, hope to be able to learn from you along the way. I'd have to admit a little soft spot for NS based on the Wabash/N&W link to ART!
YEAH,that's true hytec, i get to run locomotives by remote control,we have certain yard/local jobs that we use remote engines on.they are all GP38-2'S,except for a GP40-2/SLUG set that the slug has remote capability.I can also mu them to larger road engines,on heavier consists,(10,000 ton ore trains,for example).it can get interesting,especially when you are a one-man job,i do all an engineer does,like starting/inspecting/mu'ing engines,and running these trains alone.remotes can't use d/b,so stopping a heavy train can be exciting on a grade!
I imagine it would, especially because I understand that you are on the ground, not in the remotely controlled locomotive. Of course that might be a good situation if the train gets away from you, though not for those further down line...ouch!
On the contrary hytec, i had worked on a job recently that is one-man.I will take anywhere from two to up to 70 cars approx.6.5 miles down a branch to interchange with a steelmill shortline.I also have two customers to switch enroute.this branch is not level,as you climb out of our main yard,and it is a sawtooth route all the way.usual power is two gp38-2's,but in the case of any ore trains for the blast furnace,the power is one remote unit and two road engines,usually D940CW'S(NS terminology).the remote must be in isolate due to only 12 powered axles allowed on the branch.this job goes on duty at 11:59pm, so it is all overnite.So for that job i am engineer,conductor and brakeman(ns calls utility) all in one.track speed limit is 10mph.If i go upgrade at any speed under 7mph, i can stall with a heavy train but,i have to watch speed, because at top of first hill,i start down grade at mp1.4 and train will bunch and start pushing past 10mph.i am allowed to 11mph.but unless i apply air at the right moment,it could get away quickly.the remote has an alerter so that helps, but it is "seat of the pants".I have had moments where i had to bring trains to a stop to keep control of them.coming back with 7-8000 ton slab trains is not fun either,i do make sure i use a marker"fred" in both directions,on those days i actually make it back! i can monitor air to the rear from my lead unit,so if i go into emergency,i can see if air recovers on the rear,if not, i have a nice walk in the middle of the night!
Thanks for a good explanation. I was under the impression that rco was used only within yards. I didn't realize it also was allowed "over the road". OK, so it's just a Branch, but it still is beyond the Yard Limit for 6.5 miles.
We actually had 3 jobs that leave the yard with remotes,the one i was describing,hb06,was recently cut off, due to the steel mill (sparrow's point),closing.service to the two customers on the sparrow's point branch is now covered by h14, which is an eng/conductor job.two others still leave the yard,hb02(daylight) and hb44 to dundalk marine terminal(midnight).remotes are used on all three shifting jobs.note;no remotes are allowed on amtrak,which borders our yard,but remote-equipped engines CAN go out on amtrak as normal engines,all are equipped with cab signals except for ns 5232 & ns 5246,both of which are unrebuilt,ex-southern hi-hoods,with no cab signals.they can only trail on amtrak,not lead.
