That is basically the way we ran the "dinky" locos. Watch the passengers board,when they're all boarded, watch for the highball to be passed, rip out on the throttle, slip between throttle 7 & 8 to maintain 70mph, when you were coming into the next stop, take a full service reduction on the auto,(they had blended brakes,auto & dynamic)make sure you were about 40mph when you hit the end of the platform, work your automatic to release or re-apply as necessary, make sure you don't "piss away" the brakes, keep watching for your "spot", if you judged right, at about 1 or 2 mph you can release the auto and slowly ease on the "jammer" and paint the train to a stop. Some of the older locos were so "loose" that you could keep about a 10lb reduction on the independent and put the throttle in notch 1 so that when you got the highball, you could knock off the jammer,the loco was already loaded and took right off. All the tricks of the trade!!! Charlie
Fireball, as a trainman I used to tell our students to forget all the BS they got from those yard monkeys at Cicero & Eola that "you won't like working suburban". 95% of those guys weren't competent enough or energetic enough to work suburban service. We always got students on our job since it was such a worker and it gave a student the best example of collecting tickets and fares. The job stopped at every stop so the student would get to know the layout and the landmarks. It was also a "must do" job for engineer trainees as well. Passenger service pays more than yard service and even more than some of the road switchers. And "Fireball" you know as well as I do that in the summertime, the "scenery" is excellent! Lotsa S.Y.T.s ride the trains!!! The work is clean, relatively quiet, the trains are air-conditioned in warm weather. The only time you are outside is when you are on the platforms at the stops or when you arrive at the end terminal and/or yard the train. One of the "drawbacks" if you consider it that, is the "respite" or split rest which can make for a long day BUT ... a lot of guys(trainmen & engineers)had 2nd jobs. My conductor did,he worked as a runner or clerk at a commodity exchange. A couple of "old heads" were assistant traders in certain exchanges. Most guys would go home and do whatever during their respite. My job had a 5 hr respite. In good weather I would go home,eat breakfast,take a short nap and then head back to work. Because I yarded the train in the A.M.,the other brakeman would bring the train back to the depot, all I needed to do was show up about 1/2 hour before departure. I also mentioned that our job caught a lot of emergency "flagging" jobs so we got an extra "basic day" pay for being the flagman in addition to our regular pay. When I was finally set up as an engineer, it actually amounted to a loss in wages for me since that commuter job was a good payer for trainmen. Charlie
I almost went up as a trainman my first year on the BN. But just like to run fast. Rumor is Metra wants to come out on the J ( Why anyone wasnt to go from the NW Burbs to Gary is far beyond my paygrade) so I amhopping we get to run them ala BNSF and UP! Now that would make me a happy lil engineer.Zipping through at 70 ish( supposedly we will get freight up to 60 on former J lines IDK HOW but they seem to think we will) Got to run my Model T's today! Nothing like an old EMD engine chanting away.Sounded like a rod was knocking on that old IC one.
==================================================================== I can't remember what METRA is going to call the route, but the intent is to connect with all the other lines without having to go all the way into Chicago. Charlie
The starlines?Cant recall. They think Gary Airport will be a big thing once done. So maybe thats what they are hoping for. Hop on a Metra at Gary Air and then zip to Joliet,or other connections to get to Chicago. But why not just take the Shore?I can see them coming in from the burbs for Gary only for the airport.Not many reasons to go to Gary,unless you work there or are a Micheal Jackson fan.
Charlie: Is seniority held system wide or just in the area you are qualified? In other words, if you move to a different part of the system, do you take seniority with you? Are seniority rules based on the company or the union representing you? I worked for the airlines and seniority was system wide. Sorry if we have covered this. Also, I remember seniority or just the contract rules could be very complex.
for the most part,anyone hired 1995 and later has systemwide seniority. There are certain districts that have local agreements(some former NP divisions)governing seniority. Seniority is company for vacations. Union(craft) seniority governs the boards. I had sorta middle of the road seniority on the conductors roster but I was just about the bottom of the engineers board when I retired. I was with United Airlines for just over 25years. Smartest move I made was getting out of the airline business and eventually into railroading. I dont regret it for one minute! Charlie
One thing about BNSf seniority is engineers stay n their "districts"I couldnt work outside of the C&S unless I got approval to transfer my seniority. Thats like pulling teeth! Over here on the CN we can transfer only if its a true hardship.Other than that I am a J guy till I die lol.
I've been listening to the local railroad folks on my new scanner lately, and it brought to mind another question... How well do the different groups get along? Dispatchers, train crews, hostlers, maintenance, etc.? Any good stories about interactions there? Rivalries? Trouble? Pranks? I was particularly wondering about the dispatchers and train crews. Do they see each other as partners on a team, or is there us/them friction stuff going on there? Has it changed any as the RR's consolidate the dispatching operations more and more? I imagine it's harder to be "teammates" with somebody four states away than it is to the guy in the tower at one end of your run?
Contrary to what I may write or what anyone may have heard, most railroaders, while some may be close friends, most tolerate other groups since everyone has work to do and safety is an issue. Regardless of what you may feel about someone or some group, you dont want to harm them or see them harmed. You dont have to be friends with other persons,you only need to work with them. Another reason for "getting along" with,say,dispatchers or yardmasters or other management types is the danger of being insubordinate. You get fancy with a dispatcher and I guarantee that you will have a letter inviting you to a little "tea party" very soon after you tie up. Think of dispatchers as owning the railroad. They give you authority to run your train on it. They have THE FINAL SAY as to when,where or if you will turn a wheel. I worked with an engineer who had some issues with a track foreman. It had gotten to the point that when we had a "Form B", it was a real struggle for this hogger to get permission thru his "Form B". Playing games with a freight train is one thing, but this was on a commuter train, and for all their many faults,METRA doesn't take kindly to their trains being delayed by anyone or anything! But on the other hand, I was conductor on a train that almost took out an inattentive flagman on a track gang near Savanna IL. We were about a boxcar length away from him when he looked up and dived out of the way. By that time we had "spiked" the brakes and the rest of his crew was yelling at him over the radio. I made up a bit of a story to cover-up for this guy since I didn't want to get him fired although he certainly deserved that, plus the track foreman was a good head and he sorta figgered out what happened and the hogger had a chat with the foreman a few days later and explained the situation. My point is that you don't wanna be making enemies with other people or crafts.They have their own turf to defend. I have worked with hoggers and conductors that I absolutely despised, however a paycheck is a paycheck and I don't have to live with the idiot. There aren't a lot of pranks played on the property, it is just too dangerous to fool around, Yeah, there will be bantering and goofing off in the yard office or register room, but that is pretty normal. For some guys,it's part of their M.O. to rag on another person or persons, if they didn't then you know something is wrong. You can read a post early on in this thread how I "got even" with a yardmaster at Eola, but actually what I was doing was following the rules to the letter and pursuing the safest course. When I was a real newbie, an old head hogger told me, "You're not here to make friends, only money." I let that be my guideline. It works pretty well. Charlie
Thanks, Charlie. I'm not at all surprised, but it's good to hear firsthand that folks take their jobs and safety seriously. Stuff gets played up and distorted a lot in the media and TV and movies, and it makes one wonder, but that's often all us "outsiders" get to see. As I mentioned, I've been listening on the scanner, and it sounds generally like everyone is working together to get the job done. Reminds me very much of radio comms between the cockpit and tower at the airport. Calm, cool, casual but at the same time deadly serious because everyone knows the rules are written in blood. I also like hearing that the old heads are looking out for the rookies and teaching them the ropes (occasionally with "tough love") instead of leaving them to fend for themselves or worse. Again, Hollywood... So... any stories?
Hollywood has made millions romanticizing the rails and railroaders. There is a mystique to railroading,to be sure! The reality is a dichotomy. The reality is long hours on a freight train,fight to stay awake and not let "white line fever" take over. It is working 12 hour shifts in a dark,smelly,close quartered rail yard in the dead of winter with the thermometer trying climb up to zero degrees and with few breaks to stop and warm up. It is working a commuter train in the heat of summer and catching a thunderstorm and having your crisp,clean uniform get soaking wet while you are on the platform at the stations. It means never being away from your phone,cell phone or pager because you have to answer when the crew desk calls. It means listening to your spouse or S.O.P. pleading with you to stay home due to the blizzard outside and having to ignore their plea. It means missing your childs first step,or word, maybe their first home run or their Webelos graduation. It means long, lonely hours in a hotel room at your away from home terminal watching TV programs you dont care to watch but that is all their cable has. It means having to grab and eat whatever food you can obtain from wherever you can get it at 3AM cuz you are hungry and emptied your lunch box hours ago! It means having some trainmaster hiding in the weeds with binoculars watching your every move,trying to catch you doing something wrong or a yardmaster handing you a thick stack of switch lists and watching him grin as he tells you "there's more where that came from". It means sitting in a siding or a lead for hours on end waiting for a light to change to anything else beside red. That's not my idea of "romance" but it is something a lot of people have done for a lot of years before I did. You do it, you have to! The railroad is a business and you are the one who must perform the duties required to operate that business. That business operates 24/7/365. If you can't handle that, be a plumber or carpenter or work in a box factory. It's all that simple, the devil is in the details. Charlie
As a little kid, I remember looking up into the cab and seeing the engineer and thinking what a great job to have control over such a massive piece of machinery. At the time I had no idea about all the rest of the things that went with the job.
There is a thrill to operating those machines. It is like any other industrial jobs working with machinery. A machine like a locomotive can harm or kill you if mishandled. As a human, you are that machine's master. Operate it as you have been trained and be aware of any sounds,smells,sights or movements that are abnormal for that machine. If it is broken before you use it, don't use it! A locomotive with a broken or misshapen or missing part is very likely an FRA violation. You put a red tag on it and refuse to use it. For all their authority a trainmaster or other official CANNOT make you violate FRA rules. If you do violate on the order of an official, both of you will be heavily fined and risk losing your job. At any rate,feeling those thousands of horses rev up and move that mile long intermodal train is a real catharsis. Pegging the lever in throttle 8 and watch the speedometer hover around 70mph on a commuter train. Some guys, myself included,get real satisfaction painting that commuter train to a stop right on the proper mark. On a less glamorous note, getting a bunch of freight cars switched to their proper tracks and making up a train or two for departure in six hours or less and getting an early quit is another mark of success. Working a local freight(road switcher)and being able to spot all different types of freight cars at the proper places of the customers place of business and when they want them is another mark of a successful railroader. Again its the old axiom you have heard before..."find a job you love,and you'll never work a day in your life"! Charlie
I LOVE running engines. I dont think I would ever want to do anything else now.Does the job suck? On certain days yes.But as charlie says we take great pride in our skills and find little things that give us some kind of pleasure.Like on our line coming out of Griffith indiana 25 mph permanent speed restriction you can hit 45 for roughly 7 miles. I will do it and right about 5th ave in Gary I start getting them togther to get back to 25. If done right you hit 25 right at mp 43 and it makes you look like a expert! I LOVE that.New guys however look a lil ashen still lol. As for horseplay? The most I have done is cut the top out of a water bottle to make it a squirt gun.Spraying your buddy on the next loco over on a hot day ( or for more sadistic people on a cold day) was about as far as it went.One crew would raid CSX engines for torpedoes ( yes they still had them onboard up till about 07)one night they lined about 20 up along the lead by the trimmer in Galesburg. and proceeded to run their engine over all fo them making the poor yard master about lose control of his bodily functions!Same crew duct tapped a couple to a knuckle and then tried dropping it from the table in the lunch room.Again scaring a yardmaster half to death ( plus take a few chips out of the floor) You gotta be a lil off your rocker to do this job. The hours are long,the days run togther,you cant plan a thing.But You find out who you can work well with. I have been blessed to be able to get along with almost everyone. I get compliments from guys on how I am so laid back and that they like working with me cause I make the day fun.New guys like that i dont ream them,I explain what they did wrong and tell them a "Heres a dumb move I made " story.You dont have to get along with everyone,but it helps.We dont like the WC crews taking over on our money trains right outside of Joliet. Its BS in my mind and they act all stuck up and actually can be rather rude.So I crank the heat up before getting off now. I flipped on the strip heaters the other day on low as a subtle stick in their eye.Oh yeah i was about 110 so was it mean? Yeah it was and I guess I should feel bad but I dont really. We are supposed to support our union brothers ( I love my buddies from the IC and the Trunk) But them cheeseheads irk me a lil bit.The only reason they cry about getting on sooner is so they can run about 25 over the sub and ot make it to fondie intime to switch the train. As far as the DS running the railroad anymore....On our line our DS ( RTC whatever) is actually over in Homewood Illinois along with our crew callers. From the last info I heard though they are all moving over to KYD. So I will actually be able to go up and talk to my favorite ds.Now adays however the trainmasters ( at least here) are starting to run the show.Hey you run this train first! causing a back up or delay of immense proportions. Same with a yardmaster being told to make up a different train causing delays to the one he was making up.Its a pain.But as the old heads say,jsut do what your told they will fill your pockets with gold! Its pretty true.Stay cool out there. Hopefully a road train is in my future today!
In reply to Fireball's comment on the WC crews, we saw that happening with our jobs during the failed CN/BNSF merger. A lot of guys on this side of 54-40 were seeing their jobs going to Canadians since the jobs were good payers, however the process wasn't reciprocal. It was pretty much a ruse to dodge union contracts and gov't regulations since the owning company would be Canadian. Fortunately the gov't AND the Brotherhoods recognized the scam and Uncle Sam put the kibosh on it. Now Warren owns the BNSF as his own personal trainset and I doubt very much that he wants to share it with anyone else. Charlie
Well Charlie guess who is good friends with Mr Buffet? None other than Mr Gates. Guess who is now planning his own purchase of a "full scale model railroad"? You betcha! We will work just like windows I bet lol.Right now he is the largest stockholder I am thinking in about a year or less he will actually make the move to full owner like Warren did.So we ask the question will Warren and Bill merge? Or will they just be like good old tycoons and try to run everyone else out of business? Think about it, why merge a line if your best friend owns it?Saves a ton of headaches really. The bad thing about the WC guys is they hate us J guys. I dont know why really. I just have had some heated trackside discussions with them.I usually dont have that problem as I get along with everyone .....well except my two ex wives,dont get along with them at all
I can't understand why the would dislike you. We always had good rapport with the "J". As you are aware,there is an interchange with the BNSF at Eola IL. On 3rd shift West Yard at Eola, "pulling the 'J' " was usually the last move of the night. The "J" would send a carman with a diesel operated air compressor to the east end of East Yard , Eola to pump up air into the interchange(usually coal trains)we had for them. He could pump up air, do an air test and leave an air slip for the pickup crew so they could tie on & go. He would come to our yard office sometimes for conversation and coffee.
