r/railroading

I had a conductor recently that just bitched and complained. He has about 20 years on the job. He started off complaining about waiting on the train and getting the mid dp fueled. We left our starting point and he could not stay off the radio. Every time we got color he would ring the dispatcher asking why we were stopping. He did this about 7-10 times thru the trip. We had some com losses on the etd. Train is 16000 ft long and 19000 tons. It went out and came back in and out several times thru the curves and hills. He rings the dispatcher up for that and tells him we need the roving carman to come out and help us replace the etd. It took an hour to replace that. After that we got held up 2 more times and proceeds to call the dispatcher each time demanding to know why we are stopping. He finally spits out this dispatcher is terrible and doesn’t do his job. The territory is trip planner ran. He then finally goes off on me. He informs me he hates the way I run. He absolutely hates it when we get color and I pretty much shut it down and go into pacing mode to prepare to stop trying not block crossings. This problem for him seems to happen at the bottom of a hill where we lose our momentum. He then bitches about myself and another coworker on how much we blow the horn and he cannot stand stand it for the 160 something crossing when we blow right at the whistle board or before or we blow too long for a crossing. Granted he may be right!!

Any way my only thought was I sure will be glad when 2030 gets here and he maybe gone. But in the mean time I sure wish he would lean his chair back like the rest of them put his hat down or sunglasses, feet on the desk an wake up when we get wherever it is we are going.

Any big benefits going from BNSF or any freight railroad to Amtrak?

I was offered a Motor Equipment Operator position with Amtrak. I currently work Intermodal with big orange. It would be a pay cut but I hear working for commuter is better than freight. Pretty much same benefits. I'm just curious if anyone can tell me more about the position and what a typical day is like working as a Motor Equipment Operator for Amtrak.

I tried asking in the weekly hiring thread for the past couple of weeks but I got no response.

Edit: Just looking for more of a general outlook of going from freight to commuter.

I got to thinking about the differences between rule books, specifically when it comes to dimming the headlight.

I started my career working under GCOR, which doesn't permit dimming the headlight while meeting/passing trains other than at night (and in the yard, etc.)

I then worked under NORAC and qualified on CSX and NS rules, where dimming the headlight for all meets is not only permitted, but required (except for crossings, of course.) If that wasn't enough, I seem to recall that CN USOR goes (or went) one step further and permits the dimming of the headlight while traveling adjacent to a highway/roadway.

Thus, GCOR seems to be the exception rather than the rule (pun somewhat intended) when it comes to headlight rules. Surprisingly, this hasn't really been discussed or brought up anywhere I could find; I'm just wondering why the difference (one guy I worked with out west answered with a simple: "It's one more thing for the TM/RFE to fail people on".)

Curious to see what people think.

When I worked at UP (train dispatcher), I remember seeing sunscreen wipes in the yard offices, probably in the vending machines. Can someone tell me what brand those were, and if they worked? I want to make up a bunch of care packages for the local homeless community, and was looking to compare costs of something like this vs buying bottles, which would last longer per person but I couldn't buy as many.

Hi! I bought Georgia boots for my husband a few years back. He is a conductor for a passenger train, but also works the yard. They have now seen better days. Does anyone have suggestions on boot that are safe for work around electricity but will also hold up to typical railroading shenanigans AND have to be black. The pair before last was retired due to a huge metal chunk imbedding in the sole. He works the NE corridor, so they deal with electric and diesel trains. Thank you so much for any direction.

Maybe need some management types to chime in. No bullshit, no joking, what are the REAL reasons behind the "hire to fire" mentality that seeps through this industry? No way it looks good on the books to constantly have a million people in training. I'm not talking about employees that rub management the wrong way or those that have been injured. Just regular non issue employees. I know low level management is under pressure for write ups, but how is "hire to fire" good for the margins?