When I hired out on the P&LE railroad in 1966, I often went "up top" to pass signals. We had to...we were handling 60+ car cuts with three men on the ground and no radios. Things were different then, however. There were walkways on top, and they extended a little beyond the end of the car. Going from car-to-car was just a BIG step, but certainly not like this photo.
Going up top is illegal now. There are no walkways on top, and the side/end ladders don't go all the way to the top anyway. Hand brakes have been moved down to where almost all of them can be operated from the ground.
Aw, heck Jim, that ain't old. I'm so old I can remember when in the days when there were no automatic gates at RR crossings, they were manned by humans..almost always an ex brakie who had been crippled or maimed while on duty.
Ed
Posts: 5386 | Location: Western Maryland | Registered:: April 10, 2002
Just saw this on TV and it brings back memories of how railroading used to be. A Mailboat passes by a dock and without stopping a girl jumps off, delivers/picks up the mail and hops back on the moving boat. Way to go girl! She can be my brakeman/conductor any day!!!
Posts: 3289 | Location: Roanoke, VA USA | Registered:: July 05, 2000
Originally posted by Ed Mullan: Aw, heck Jim, that ain't old. I'm so old I can remember when in the days when there were no automatic gates at RR crossings, they were manned by humans..almost always an ex brakie who had been crippled or maimed while on duty.
Ed
Now that you mention it...the crossing in Bristol TN-Va where I grew up (which at the time was a junction between the Southern and the N&W) had that style of gates. Unlike todays automated ones, those four gates covered all the roads on both sides of the tracks, and the sidewalks as well. The operator seemed to delight in trapping the unwary automobile inside them, and after embarassment had been administered, he would open one gate and let the malfactor out.
I used to watch the B&O (and later, Chessie System) do rolling crew changes at New Castle, PA all the time. The engineer would have the train speed down to about 4-5 mph and just drifting with the throttle in idle or perhaps Run 1. The on-duty Engineer who was getting off the engine would do so a car length or so before reaching the spot where the relieving engineer was waiting to board. The relieving engineer would throw his grip up onto the front step of the locomotive, then wait for the rear step to get to him and swing aboard. The conductors did the same thing on the opposite side of the train. In the caboose era, the guys on the rear end did it, too. The engineer would know how many cars he had and have a landmark to know when the caboose passed the yard office. He would not increase speed until he knew the rear end guys were on board. It was no big deal and they did it dozens of times every day. No one got hurt because they were used to doing this kind of activity.
With today's focus (phobia?) on "safety" combined with the relative inexperience of today's crews, every member of BOTH crews would be relieved of their duties if they tried this.
We used to make non-stop crew changes also. One fellow had a habit of releasing the brakes and opening up the throttle then dropping off before I got on. So one afternoon at Gillette, WY I was getting train #75 back to Sheridan. I was standing on the depot platform as the train approached. The engineer got it down to about 5mph then I heard the 4 SD45s rev up to about #6 and he came out the cab door and dropped off the lead unit about 50 feet from me. He said "She's all yours, Al". I quickly put my grip down on the platform and shouted that I had forgotten my jacket (I hadn't) and I ran back inside the depot. Through the depot windows I watched ol' Jim scrambling to catch the 3rd unit of the train to get back on board and shut her down. I had to walk about 500 feet to eventually board the stopped train but it was worth it. He never tried that stunt again. At least not with me.
Non-stop crew changes only worked on the BN for the decade or so after they removed all of the dead-man pedals and before they installed Alertors.
When I hired out we still went on top of cars to pass hand signals. None of the concrete ballast deck bridges had walkways so if the train stopped on one and had to be walked the only way to get across the bridge was to climb up to the car roofs and cross the bridge on the roofs. All through-truss type bridges and overpasses had tell-tales on each approach.
I believe Sayre, NY on the LV was another flying crew change spot. Didn't an engineer have to be at the throttle at all times? I would have thought the relief man would at least enter the cab before the other guy left.
Getting off the original topic, on railfanning road trips back in the 60's, my buddy and I devised a method of flying crew changes - in my '58 Station Wagon! The driver would move to the right, steering with his left hand, then the relief man would slide in over the seat back. All at 60 MPH!
It doesn't work with bucket seats!
KL
OLDGUYFROMNJ
Posts: 167 | Location: New Jersey, the Garden State - growing more shopping malls to the acre! We stand behind Miss Liberty! | Registered:: January 11, 2006
I would have thought the relief man would at least enter the cab before the other guy left.
Well he certainly was not suppose to open the throttle and get off before the relief got on. The way we normally did a non-stop crew change was the inbound engineer would get the train down to about 5-8mph, have the brakes released and the throttle in 1 to 3 depending upon the grade at the station. Just enough to keep it moving at 5-8 mph. Then he would go out the back cab door to the rear steps of the lead unit. When the relief engineer boarded the front steps the inbound engineer would drop off of the rear steps. The relief engineer would jack open the throttle and pull the caboose up to the depot where he would again slow to 5-8 mph for the rear-end crew to swap. Sometimes we would have the crew van haul the rear-end crew to a convenient crossing about a train length away from the depot and swap both ends at once.
When I was making non-stop crew changes it was always with GP, SD type units, or U-boats. I don't see how you could do it with F units? I suppose you could if you used a backpack for your grip but backpack style grips weren't around when F units were.
I'm not convinced the photo is genuine. The scale seems way off and there is a bit of a cut-out rim around the guy. Here in Branchline Land, I routinely see guys simply stepping from the top of one grain hopper to another. I don't see any of them having to leap like that. They just take a big step.
Kent in SD
"We're a thousand wheels of freight train, Hear the diesel engines' power!" We're the UNION PACIFIC Doing 90 miles per hour!"
Posts: 826 | Location: SD | Registered:: October 24, 2003
Of a flying crew change at Brunswick MD, on the old Beano... fwiw, this place is a shell of what it once was. No more roundhouse, no more engine servicing, no more west yard (in the shot)....
When men were men and sheep were scared? Some career railroaders I've recently brought this up to they'd refuse to do this. Guess they've been working for CSX for too long... hahaha, yeah...the railroad is a "sterile" environment.
-Jeffrey
Posts: 418 | Location: Gaithersburg-MD | Registered:: December 18, 2003
When men were men and sheep were scared? Some career railroaders I've recently brought this up to they'd refuse to do this. Guess they've been working for CSX for too long... hahaha, yeah...the railroad is a "sterile" environment.
I've seen this done a large number of times, but only with full tonnage trains on a heavy grade,. You stop & you're probably there. I guess the brake test also goes down the drain.
Notice the guy getting on the caboose with a large grip with some difficulty? I would have chosen the rear steps, If you fall the caboose is not going to run over you.
If a brake test would have been required under FRA rules, then the train would have been stopped and inspected by carmen.
quote:
Notice the guy getting on the caboose with a large grip with some difficulty?
I noticed that he had difficulty too. The reason is because he caught on with the wrong hand. His grip should have been in his left hand and been the first thing to swing aboard. I'm surprised that he stayed on!
quote:
I would have chosen the rear steps, If you fall the caboose is not going to run over you.
Well, that's the way the RR wanted it done. The thing is, if you missed, you are waving bye-bye to the train. However, it was much easier to catch the front steps of the cab if done the correct way and not like that maroon in the video.
Posts: 3289 | Location: Roanoke, VA USA | Registered:: July 05, 2000
As a Kid switching cars was done at rather high speeds in my crew. A.J. and I would laff and rank on each other for bailing at just 10mph to man a switch for a set-off. Though I had a weak ankle that liked to "turn" when just walking I was lucky to never have an injury in those days.
Soon big roads are going to operate like a bus. Just one guy up in the engine. The FRA is close to giving the OK if they have not done so already. I had a few fabulous years subbing vacationers on 6 man crews and later 5 man crew jobs. Hand signaling was no problem with enough manpower.
I would not last a day today in a real train crew. I am content to watch from the sidelines and allow Motorola to assist me in training new Guys from the safety of my truck...
Hey I have a Railroad to Run... Operating the NYC, CSX, PRR, and NYNH & H RR Daily ! Where Trains run Often Located in Billville USA.
Posts: 4316 | Location: Central New England | Registered:: July 06, 2006
