oltmannd BaltACD One fallacy of Local Train's operations is who is in charge of the work they are supposed to be performing. On the Main tracks the Train Dispatcher is the first line supervisor and arbitor of track occupancy time (the local Trainmaster my be ultimately responsible for the work getting performed - but he is not responsible for Main Track operations). Despite being the 'suprvisor' the Train Dispatcher must be informed by the Local Freight's Conductor of what specific work locations and estimated time to occupy the Main track at those work locations and then work the needs of the Local in with the overall priority requirement of all trains on his territory. Management does not like seeing priority trains being delayed by a Local for any reason unless Senior Management has made a specific local service a priority. During periods of trains actually operating in or near their scheduled windows - the operation of the Locals will be in defined lulls in the overall operation of a territory. One day a Local may only have a hours worth of Main track time needed for their work; another day they may need 5 or 6 hours of Main track time over 50 or 60 miles of territory - the Train Dispatcher never knows until he has a conversation with the Local Freight's Conductor. With opeations as they exist today with a heavy volume of 'unscheduled' trains being operated on many territories, many of the windows that Locals have been scheduled into are not really viable windows any longer. Throw in MofW needing track time for their actions and inspections and the windows shrink even further. A good description of how locals are, and have been, handled on an ad-hoc basis day in and day out. The day is coming when RRs will have enough information to plan the operation of locals with a lot more precision than this. The cars for delivery don't just "beam down" onto the serving yard just before the local goes on duty. Similarly, the originating loads and empties didn't just "beam down" onto the industry tracks.
BaltACD One fallacy of Local Train's operations is who is in charge of the work they are supposed to be performing. On the Main tracks the Train Dispatcher is the first line supervisor and arbitor of track occupancy time (the local Trainmaster my be ultimately responsible for the work getting performed - but he is not responsible for Main Track operations). Despite being the 'suprvisor' the Train Dispatcher must be informed by the Local Freight's Conductor of what specific work locations and estimated time to occupy the Main track at those work locations and then work the needs of the Local in with the overall priority requirement of all trains on his territory. Management does not like seeing priority trains being delayed by a Local for any reason unless Senior Management has made a specific local service a priority. During periods of trains actually operating in or near their scheduled windows - the operation of the Locals will be in defined lulls in the overall operation of a territory. One day a Local may only have a hours worth of Main track time needed for their work; another day they may need 5 or 6 hours of Main track time over 50 or 60 miles of territory - the Train Dispatcher never knows until he has a conversation with the Local Freight's Conductor. With opeations as they exist today with a heavy volume of 'unscheduled' trains being operated on many territories, many of the windows that Locals have been scheduled into are not really viable windows any longer. Throw in MofW needing track time for their actions and inspections and the windows shrink even further.
A good description of how locals are, and have been, handled on an ad-hoc basis day in and day out.
The day is coming when RRs will have enough information to plan the operation of locals with a lot more precision than this. The cars for delivery don't just "beam down" onto the serving yard just before the local goes on duty. Similarly, the originating loads and empties didn't just "beam down" onto the industry tracks.
Conversely - while the cars don't beam down - their order and the switching required to get them lined up by the local doing the work is one of the great imponderables. The local could get his train switched in 1 hour or 7 hours - times unknown to the Train Dispatcher. With the changes to work rules over the past 40 years - Locals are not 'guaranteed' to have their train built in station standing order when they come on duty - in most cases they have to switch together their own train at outlying locations or have all the cars in their train, but in nowhere near station standing order when they come on duty at a major terminal. Switching and the amount of time required for it is and will always continue to be the great unknown in the operation of locals.
At industries it is the rare industry that operates on everything on my tracks is empty so pull it and place my loads in place of the emptys that have been pulled. More likely there are loads, part loads and empties intersperced and they will be switched as the industry specifies with new cars from the local's train taking the place of the cars that are pulled. This can be a very involved and time consuming procedure.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACD With the changes to work rules over the past 40 years - Locals are not 'guaranteed' to have their train built in station standing order when they come on duty - in most cases they have to switch together their own train at outlying locations or have all the cars in their train, but in nowhere near station standing order when they come on duty at a major terminal. Switching and the amount of time required for it is and will always continue to be the great unknown in the operation of locals. At industries it is the rare industry that operates on everything on my tracks is empty so pull it and place my loads in place of the emptys that have been pulled. More likely there are loads, part loads and empties intersperced and they will be switched as the industry specifies with new cars from the local's train taking the place of the cars that are pulled. This can be a very involved and time consuming procedure.
With the changes to work rules over the past 40 years - Locals are not 'guaranteed' to have their train built in station standing order when they come on duty - in most cases they have to switch together their own train at outlying locations or have all the cars in their train, but in nowhere near station standing order when they come on duty at a major terminal. Switching and the amount of time required for it is and will always continue to be the great unknown in the operation of locals.
That is exactly right. In the latter years when I could work a local regularly, we spent a lot of wasted time taking our train about twenty miles to a place where we could line it up, which simplified the work for the rest of the day. Also, I throw this out and will probably get criticized for it but today's skill set isn't what it was. There are very few old conductors left who've spent decades doing this and today's crowd, when they get onto it and learn local work, become engineers. It's hard to sit on an engine and give a lot of guidance. It's a considerably different world from the way it was. In fairness, I'm sure it was always thus, that the previous generation didn't think the next generation would ever make it but I still believe that when you've only a few years, for the most part, of being a train service employee before becoming an engineer, removing the knowledge of what the old timers learned over a lifetime, it changes a lot of how the work gets done.
Nothing to worry about. That's how you run skeleton railroad. Stocks way up. Do more with way less.
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simmerdown Nothing to worry about. That's how you run skeleton railroad. Stocks way up. Do more with way less.
That's the beauty of it, I don't have to worry about it.
ValleyXAlso, I throw this out and will probably get criticized for it but today's skill set isn't what it was. There are very few old conductors left who've spent decades doing this and today's crowd, when they get onto it and learn local work, become engineers.
No criticism from here. Not only does the mandatory engineer service take away good conductors, there are very few brakeman spots left. I was one of the last of the true brakemen where I worked. That's how I learned to shift cars and industries. Giving these new conductors a few days qualifying on the job (babies teaching babies) just isn't the same as working with a 30 year old head.
But it's all right. We have a little card in our wallet that says we're certified. It's all on us now.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
Slight change of topic (back to the original)....NS is pretty much back to normal in the Porter, In area, or at least it seems so from casual observation. Amtrak 29 was by at 856am and 49 at 941am. Not so many trains being tied up.
Ed
I just drove by the construction work (Friday Dec 12th) at the new connection between BNSF and CSX in Smithboro, IL. I saw new signal houses, communications towers, new mainline turnouts, grading for the connecting track in the NE quadrant, signage that the road crossing will be closed as of Dec 15. Contract construction crews were on site and I assume carloads of ballast were east of the diamond on the CSX.
The connection track has not been built and is not in service. The contractor has staged equipment and supplies so one would assume the track construction will start soon.
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