tree68He was assigned to do some work, I believe for a demonstration of some sort, at GM's Tech Center in Warren. As he told the story, when his crew went to plug something into an outlet, they were informed that it was a union function, so they'd need the appropriate craft to do the task...
I have to say the Tech Center was pretty cool and that was the first I saw a 3D printer in operation back in 1993-94. Used to print parts for concept cars long before the technology was generally known to the public.
jeffhergert I only threw in the coal train example to show that UP doesn't just pick up business the BNSF doesn't want. You're rationale sounds like a "sour grapes" attitude, "Well, we (BNSF) didn't want that business anyway." I'm not sure I buy that. Jeff
I only threw in the coal train example to show that UP doesn't just pick up business the BNSF doesn't want. You're rationale sounds like a "sour grapes" attitude, "Well, we (BNSF) didn't want that business anyway." I'm not sure I buy that.
Jeff
I agree UP doesn't just pick up business BNSF doesn't want. Rationally I wouldn't say it's sour grapes. I'll put a few things into perspective.
SWIFT was never a priority for BNSF. That priority went to JBH, Schneider, and other who's contracts came with much higher volume commitments, better graduated rate increases, etc.. SWIFT IM's major lane is the I-5 Corridor from Southern California to Portland, OR. BNSF plays second fiddle to UP in this lane. Even though both have slow transit times compared to OTR due to terrain, etc.. The UP routing is faster, and enjoys less mileage between the two C1's. BNSF recognizes this. Nor has BNSF shown any interest in expanding current IM serivce in this lane.
SWIFT traffic in routes BNSF dominates-LA-CHI, CHI-SEA-PTL is much lower in volume compared to JBH, Schneider, etc. BNSF didn't put up a fight to retain the contract. They gave the terms as is. More of a take it or leave it situation. SWIFT went to UP for a few reasons; Traffic is growing in the Texas-West Coast market, as well UP's better I-5 corridor, and Texas routes to the West Coast. SWIFT wants to grow it's IM traffic and sees UP as a way to do this. However they will be competing for capacity with HUB Group UP's prime IM contract. UP has also stated it will not create any new train starts. It will increase train length even further.
When I said pruning it's IM network I looked at a few things. One was not renewing the HMM contract last year which UP now handles. Now they're letting the SWIFT contract expire. Freight has alot of dynamics. Reviewing whether a contract is worth keeping based on a multitude of factors can lead to decisions such as we no longer want to, or can serivce it.
jeffhergertI can't argue about the working conditions, especially with the PSR mindset that all the worker bees need to work all the time. But when it comes to pay, there aren't many places that still pay as good as the class ones. Even some of the regionals and short lines pay good.
Maybe around where you live, but here, it isn't that hard, esp with conductors. And with the step rate BS, it's even worse. But even the pay isn't worth half the aggravation anymore.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
CMStPnP The age limits for recruiting for the military is so you can put in enough time to earn a decent pension before you retire vs being put out on the street at 55 or 60 with a tiny pension payment that you can't live on. Presume the railroads do it for the same reason. Also the physical demands of the job favor the younger age groups vs the older age groups. The Army toyed with higher enlistment ages during the post 2003 wars. I think the first time enlistment age rose from 35 max to 45 max. They ran into medical issues with those in their 40's with hairline bone fractures from a sudden increase in activity from a former sedentary life. Also hip and lower back medical issues as well from backpack weights, older muscle groups and joints not as accepting of abuse. I think the Military is back at max age of 35 or 30 now, forget which but they have abandoned over 40 for a first time enlistment as not realistic.
The age limits for recruiting for the military is so you can put in enough time to earn a decent pension before you retire vs being put out on the street at 55 or 60 with a tiny pension payment that you can't live on. Presume the railroads do it for the same reason. Also the physical demands of the job favor the younger age groups vs the older age groups. The Army toyed with higher enlistment ages during the post 2003 wars. I think the first time enlistment age rose from 35 max to 45 max. They ran into medical issues with those in their 40's with hairline bone fractures from a sudden increase in activity from a former sedentary life. Also hip and lower back medical issues as well from backpack weights, older muscle groups and joints not as accepting of abuse. I think the Military is back at max age of 35 or 30 now, forget which but they have abandoned over 40 for a first time enlistment as not realistic.
The railroads USED to have an age limit. I recently worked with a guy who's 68 and hired out about 5 or 6 years ago. I know there were others who've hired out post 60. None had previous railroad experience. Most are gone, victims of past slow downs and furloughs.
Railroad Retirement may have had something to do with it, the time needed to become vested has been shortened, but it may have been more of a physical thing. Before the late 1960s/early 1970s you couldn't hire out if you needed to wear eye glasses at any age. If your eye sight deteriorated that you needed them once you were working , that was OK.
Some union contracts called for mandatory retirement on the last day of your birth month when you turned 70.
It seems like people aren't aging the same. More people are more fit longer then in years past. The job still has it's physical demands, but some have changed. I think the biggest for us, and not all railroads allow it, is only being able to get on or off moving equipment at 4 mph or less. It used to be allowed, expected, at much higher speeds. That has a lot of impact on the body. Which is why it was not allowed for some time.
UP to add line capacity in key areas. Link here.
SD60MAC9500 UP to add line capacity in key areas. Link here.
It mentions lengthening sidings on the Golden State Route. I know they have been working on extending some of the sidings already. I forget what the new lengths are supposed to be.
The Rock Island on their portion between Herington KS and Tucumcari NM, extended sidings in the late 1960s. (Topeka to Herington was double track, Kansas City to Topeka was over UP double track. SP/SSW took up the former RI double track, replaced with CTC and sidings.) The siding program of the 60s resulted in a 9000 ft siding about every 17 or so miles.
Until about 10 or 12 years ago, 9000 ft was a big train. Even on double tracked lines. Not anymore.
jeffhergert SD60MAC9500 UP to add line capacity in key areas. Link here. It mentions lengthening sidings on the Golden State Route. I know they have been working on extending some of the sidings already. I forget what the new lengths are supposed to be. The Rock Island on their portion between Herington KS and Tucumcari NM, extended sidings in the late 1960s. (Topeka to Herington was double track, Kansas City to Topeka was over UP double track. SP/SSW took up the former RI double track, replaced with CTC and sidings.) The siding program of the 60s resulted in a 9000 ft siding about every 17 or so miles. Until about 10 or 12 years ago, 9000 ft was a big train. Even on double tracked lines. Not anymore. Jeff
I think I read 18,000'-20,000' somewhere can't remember at the moment.
I drove from the Black Hills in SD to the Twin Cities on July 10. The route from I-90 at Worthington MN to the Twin Cities parallels the UP former Omaha Road all the way. Just south of Brewster MN there was a northbound unit grain train in the siding (with a Ferromex SD70ACe in the 3-unit power consist) waiting for a meet with an approaching southbound manifest.
The southbound manifest had a decent cut of 10 wells of Kenny Rocker's double-stacked Minneapolis intermodal just behind the power.
It is the first time I have seen doublestacks on the Omaha Road.
They do a sort of directional traffic with some trains going to the Twin Cities. The MNPSS usually goes east across Iowa on the exCNW then heads north on the exRI. The MSSNP usually comes south on the exOmaha/CNW route to California Jct then heads west.
There's a manifest that originates in Council Bluffs that seems to be routed via Boone/Mason City for awhile, then goes via Sioux City IA/St. James MN.
We signed an interdivisional agreement a few years ago that would allow a Boone crew to run through Mason City to South St. Paul. They could then be ran back south via either route, to Mason City/Boone or to Sioux City. If they tied up at Sioux City they would have to be deadheaded on home to Boone. They ran one Boone crew to S.St.Paul, with a pilot crew north of Mason City. They have ran a few S.St.Paul crews to Des Moines or Boone, then I believe they deadheaded them back north. Outside of those tests, it hasn't been put into effect because most trains couldn't make it over both crew districts within 12 hours. So no one's really qualified to actually do it without pilots.
https://www.klamathfallsnews.org/news/union-pacific-tracks-heavily-damaged-in-lava-fire Track will be out of service tentatively until September. I imagine UP will detour over BNSF.
Also... UP derailment in Brewster, MN
https://www.dglobe.com/news/7107716-Multiple-cars-derail-on-Union-Pacific-line-near-Brewster
Reputation carries weight... Looks like UP forgot that part..
https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-Union-Pacific-RVW39662273.htm
Well here it is! UP's new "pop up" IM ramp in Colton is up and running. This ramp is essentially a conversion of a former LOUP logistics transload. This facility is only going to handle roughly 40K lifts per annum to start. With the eventual goal of over a million down the road. If UP can grow this market BNSF will finally have competition in the arena.
UP has launched a new app for TEY personnel called Digicrew. The app allows features such as; manifest, equimpemnt location, etc.. Jeff and other UP TEY. Have you used this app yet? Do you feel it will make your job easier or more stressful?
More info here
Right now it's conductors that have the most applications that are available. All engineers can do now is access rule books, time tables and bulletins, etc. We can also look up van status.
Conductors can do all the things on the Zebra (the maker of the phone/computer) that they can do on the company computer terminals. (Engineers have that access, but we aren't the ones to update lists, etc.)
Eventually, it's going to replace the yard office terminals. We'll be able to tie up jobs, do any engine inspection reporting, etc. on the device. Something they think will be better and save costs.
For me, it's a worthless piece of ... . One engineer was gushing on how he no longer needed to carry a paper time table. If he needed to look something up he just got out his Zebra. I was going to try to go that route because my shoulder bag is getting too heavy. I've got all our crap set up on my device, but it's a lot easier and quicker to grab the hard copies to look something up than to use the device. Not to mention so much easier to read, even with the zoom feature. So I still carry all the hard copies in my bag.
The only good thing is access to the rule books and special instructions. They are completely updated when a change comes out. The time table is not. Any changes made by general order don't appear on the time table itself. You still have to check general order changes and then reference the time table.
We're allowed to access the device at the controls of a moving engine to access rules, time tables, etc. Until it becomes easier and quicker to use, I think it's unsafe to do so.
It's just more weight in my bag for right now.
There are times and places for electronic devices. BUT, that is not everywhere all the time. In many cases, trying to find something on a electronic device is a never ending rabbit hole wasting both time and effort.
I'll be waiting for the FRA to ban even company supplied electronic devices when they become the primary cause for some catastrophic accident they investigate.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACDIn many cases, trying to find something on a electronic device is a never ending rabbit hole wasting both time and effort.
Takes about 3 seconds to find something in ours. Just type whatever in the search bar and the results all pop out to read. *shrugs*
zugmann BaltACD In many cases, trying to find something on a electronic device is a never ending rabbit hole wasting both time and effort. Takes about 3 seconds to find something in ours. Just type whatever in the search bar and the results all pop out to read. *shrugs*
BaltACD In many cases, trying to find something on a electronic device is a never ending rabbit hole wasting both time and effort.
Just about everything the Zebra can and will be able to do, can currently be done on the employee's website when on a company computer terminal. It would've been much easier to just have the device open up that site than develope this new app "stuff." Although, readability would still be a problem. But on the website you can look at iindividual subdivision page(s), you don't have to scroll through the entire timetable.
And the web site has a search box. No search function on the Zebra.
Most major airlines have issued flight crew iPads, etc, and all the charts, rulebooks, are on there. It saves carrying the big briefcase around and having to update pages every month or so.
WHen changes are made to rules, timetable, or whatever, is there some indication that they have changed and when they changed.
Electroliner 1935WHen changes are made to rules, timetable, or whatever, is there some indication that they have changed and when they changed.
The primary obstacle to having all things 'auto updated' is that not all things get updated under every circumstance.
Rules can be modified by Time Table Special Instructions which can be modified by General Bulletin Orders (or what each carrier calls them) which can be modified by Train Messages.
A TTSI can be in effect on one Subdivision but not on another. Bulletin Orders can be in effect for specific subdivisions but not on others.
Getting all applicable rules/instructions together and into the MIND of the employees operating on any particular territory - in time so that they do the correct thing as specified in the multiple levels of instruction.
Electroliner 1935 WHen changes are made to rules, timetable, or whatever, is there some indication that they have changed and when they changed.
This is why we attend regular rules classes.
When NORAC 11th Edition came out, there was someone who reviewed all the changes and summarized them. It was not an official document, but was helpful.
As Balt points out, interim changes can take many forms. Oftimes they'll work through the various levels of publications (bulletin orders, division notices, general orders, etc, depending on the RR) before a new edition of the rules is finally published.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
For us, you start out with the rule books. We have three. General Code of Operating Rules, Air Brake and Train Handling Rules, and Safety Rules. MOW and dispatchers also have rules that pertain to them.
There is also an Instructions for Handling Hazardous Materials book.
System Special Instructions, along with containing operating instructions, can be used to modify or replace rules and instructions from the rule books.
System General Orders modify the SSI, including rule changes and additions.
We have time tables issued for operating areas. They don't necessarily correspond to service unit/division boundries. (I carry three. Iowa, Council Bluffs, and Kansas City Area ETTs. If I was on the extra board, I would also need a Chicago and Twin Cities Area ETTs. Even though on some I would operate less than a couple of miles on one subdivision.)
Each subdivision has it's own general order. I maintain copies for each subdivision I do, or possibly might operate on. Some of that "might" could be just turning power on a wye at the junction point.
Then there are Superintendent's bulletins. It has combined bulletins that used to be issued by the superintendent and those issued by local managers. They have different bulletins for different topics, but even so, some site specific bulletins are 15 or more pages long. With only one or two paragraphs within those 15 pages actually pertaining to what I need to know.
Of them all, only the Superintendent bulletins aren't required to be physically carried. I only carry a few of them, ones those that I might need to reference more often.
That's why I thought giving the electronic version a try. Until it became obvious it was easier and quicker to use the hard copy versions of most items.
Last of all are track bulletins. They can modify all of the above.
Notification for changes in rules, SSI and general orders (system and subdivision) and bulletins are easily observed on the employee's website. Even the Zebra device easily shows that an update/change as been made.
UP's new MoW toy for spraying weeds. Looks pretty fancy.
SD60MAC9500UP's new MoW toy for spraying weeds. Looks pretty fancy.
And therein it creates the question - is the spray train a Train and moved about with T&E personnel or is it a piece of MofW equipment and operated by MofW personnel on 'track car' authorities?
Anyone know what the cars in the center of the train are for? The ones that look like they have a walking platform going down the center on top. Are they just box-shaped tanks that contain the weed killer, or something else?
I would opine that they have a very long wheelbase for straight tanks. There are doors in the ends, leaving the possibility of a number of smaller tanks inside those carbodies.
Perhaps the walkways are to allow personnel to travel the length of the train without being exposed to the chemicals therein...
BaltACD And therein it creates the question - is the spray train a Train and moved about with T&E personnel or is it a piece of MofW equipment and operated by MofW personnel on 'track car' authorities?
It's run with MOW personnel. Even though the power unit is a locomotive in all respects except name and maybe appearance.
When it's operated the first out engineer, extra board or pool depending on which board normally protects work trains, has been instructed by our union to put in a time claim for a runaround.
jeffhergert BaltACD And therein it creates the question - is the spray train a Train and moved about with T&E personnel or is it a piece of MofW equipment and operated by MofW personnel on 'track car' authorities? It's run with MOW personnel. Even though the power unit is a locomotive in all respects except name and maybe appearance. When it's operated the first out engineer, extra board or pool depending on which board normally protects work trains, has been instructed by our union to put in a time claim for a runaround. Jeff
So it does not run on Signal Indication or Track Warrants for trains - just MofW track occupancy authorities the same as the Track Inspector and his hi-rail pick-up truck.
BaltACD jeffhergert BaltACD And therein it creates the question - is the spray train a Train and moved about with T&E personnel or is it a piece of MofW equipment and operated by MofW personnel on 'track car' authorities? It's run with MOW personnel. Even though the power unit is a locomotive in all respects except name and maybe appearance. When it's operated the first out engineer, extra board or pool depending on which board normally protects work trains, has been instructed by our union to put in a time claim for a runaround. Jeff So it does not run on Signal Indication or Track Warrants for trains - just MofW track occupancy authorities the same as the Track Inspector and his hi-rail pick-up truck.
AFAIK, it operates as a piece of MOW equipment. A BIG piece of equipment.
Be careful if you google "UP Weed Train" at work :D
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