One person crews

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

To: "NW Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> 
Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2005 19:49:51 -0300 
From: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Subject: Re: One person crews

A one-person crew would handle a knuckle or air hose
the same way a two-person, or a three-person crew
would...call for Mechanical Department assistance. 
Light unit consists have been operating engineer only
on N&W for years.  By the way, do you think an Amtrak
crew could change a knuckle or even know how to use an
air hose wrench?  If your answer is yes, go back to
sleep, you're having a very pleasant dream!

Don Corbin


During my first supervisory job many (many) years; an
older Engineer gave  me this piece of wisdom:  Never
confuse a bean counter's conclusions with reality.

Jerome Crosson


April 29, 2005

Thanks, Don and Jerome.  As far as train crews no
longer fixing their own air hoses and knuckles, that's
a revelation.  So, if there's a hot journal, train
crews don't set out the car on a siding, recouple, and
move on?

While I was on the Decatur Division in 1975, more than
once the "Fast Fords" train of auto-parts boxcars
would go into emergency while passing through
Springfield, Illinois. The long, cushioned drawbars of
the oversized boxcars had brackets to secure the air
hoses, but on occasion the air hoses would hang low,
scrape a road crossing, and uncouple.  The brakeman
--or a trainmaster in a car that happened to be in
close range-- would go back to re-lace the two hoses
and get the train going, which by that time had
blocked several road crossings longer than ten
minutes.

Good morning,


Dr. Frank R. Scheer, Curator
Railway Mail Service Library, Inc.
f_scheer at yahoo.com
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