comforts of home

[cabforward]

are cab amenities available on most road units? (icebox, microwave, toilet, a/c).. must they always available when the engine is in use? in road service, is it understood (between labor & mgmt.) that these appliances must work, if the cab is is so equipped?

if a unit with amenities is used in yard or short-haul work, is the crew entitled to use them? if a road switcher is used in yard work, and a crew is expecting to be busy, would they be able to use these features instead of taking a lunch break at a location where they might go w/o these items?

are there features available besides the ones listed above? emd & ge offer cabs with noise suppression.. are these amenities normally on long-haul units?

are personal devices ever allowed? (radio, cd player, etc.) i dont reckon so, but i have to ask..

[Anonymous]

Most states require a locomotive to be equipped with some kind of toilet facility, i.e. dry, chemical, vacuum. Fridges can be a ice chest or an actual fridge. My experience is that CSX had them and at NS we used coolers. When you pick up your engines from the pad you get ice and water and other supplies. The toilet is the only thing that is supposed to operate out of the terminal. We liked to use the facilities in the second unit if we had one. As for isolated cabs they are nice and most engines have better sound deadning now. You are allowed to remove your hearing protection in these units. Most of the time older units are used in the yards, and most of the time the window is open so hearing protection is a must.

As for meals in the yards you get a break and come to a crew room to eat. You either walk or bused there. On the road or locals you bring the dinner with you or wait until you get done. Some engines have micros or hot plates and the prime mover makes a handy stove too.

You are not allowed to listen to music while on duty or read the paper, only the rule books. If you get caught it is grounds for dismissal. Believe me it is boring to sit out in the middle of nowhere for hours doing nothing. The guys that do it are not paid enough. But when you hire in you are told we pay you to do a lot or to do nothing.

[Anonymous]

On my RR, no radios, cell phones (yeah right, I have been told by the DS that my radio was breakin' up to call him on a cell...sure richard) etc. No operable fridge/icebox, conductors desk or lamp means a code for me to claim. No head and I B/O the loco. In the yard if we aren't put to lunch in 5:40 we get paid a late lunch code..6.5 miles. We have fridges, poopers, and most of the time A/C on road units except on those old BN ovens. I know that the Canucks have microwaves and hot plates, we have the diesel engine (prime mover) to cook on. Believe me, I am pretty creative on where and what I can stuff on an engine to heat/cook it.

[Mookie]

Ironken: I am so proud of myself. I read that whole item and understood every word of it! And I have only been around rr, never worked for one!

Jen

[cabforward]

i am you following part way, not all of it..

what is a code? a grievance?
do you put food on the engine and use it like an oven? is there a danger of fumes ruining the taste, or leaving toxins in the food? i figure b/o is bad order..

is it o.k. to leave your seat while moving to get a snack or wash your hands?

i reckon distraction from a personal radio is serious when moving.. i just cant see the harm in listening while sitting for umpteen hours in a cab during downtime.. what about personal reading?

[dknelson]

I remember a night of railfanning here in Milwaukee, cannot recall if it was Milwaukee Road or after the Soo Line take-over. Near the yard at Burnham St Bridge it was a boring night in the yard so the yardmaster left the radio open for a few minutes near a radio playing Country & Western music. A rules violation? Oh probably -- maybe even an FCC violation. My friend and I enjoyed it too. Later that night a switcher that had been idling for the evening had to move a large cut of cars. The engineer gunned it and flames shot out of the exhaust stack. We also saw sparks where the wheels were slipping. All in all a splendid night of railfanning.
Dave Nelson

[Anonymous]

Sir, I can not under stand how anyone can eat in some of those cabs. I have seen some of them and they are filthy. If the Unions are any good can't they get the company to provide at least a table and chair to eat off of? I certainly hope they provide a place to wash your hands. Also, my understanding is that the conductor is in charge of the train. He must have to keep up a neat appearance. Is he required to wear a dress shirt, pants and a tie? If so does the company provide a pair of cover-all's?
TIM A

[cabforward]

not having rr. exp., my feeling is that cabs & heads ought to be cleaned by a janitorial crew.. the conductor's crew does not fuel the engine, check its oil or any other consumable.. they just make sure it's ready to run.. about attire, this is not a pass. train.. crewmen dress in what is necessary for the job.. cond., brakemen, etc. dress for the weather.. engineers dress for staying in the cab, with something handy in case they leave in an emergency.. about hygiene for dinner, i guess the crew could pop for 409, windex, etc. to clean in case company comes.. myself, two paper towels on a flat surface is all i need for eating from.. plastic utensils come in sealed cellophane, food (tv dinners, sandwiches, twinkies, etc.) are sealed when purchased.. i do wonder if fried chicken and ribs are o.k. for cab dining.. the grease and b-b-q sauce must be real messy and make using controls questionable..

[BRAKIE]

Talking about eating a cab,may I ask where do you think the engineer,fireman and headbrakeman ate durning the steam era? Now as far as needing use the "head" you did one on the coal and the other well,you see those brushes over there? Unless you wanted to walk the lenght of the train(which maybe 60-75 or more cars back) to use the restroom in the caboose.

When I worked on the PRR it did not bother us to eat in the cab or if the train was short in the caboose of course this would apply to a local and not a road freight.Same applied when I worked on the C&O under the Chessie banner.Now some guys carried hand wipes to wa***heir hands before eating..Surprisingly none of us died or became sick..

As far as BBQ Chicken and ribs you would be surprise of the lunches some guys carried.I have seen engineers and fireman heat up their lunch in the engine department by placing their lunch on the motor-still wrapped in aluminum foil of course.I have seen guys warm up can food the same way..Mirco wave?? What was that?

As far as engineers dressing for the cab they may have coveralls on to.Of those I am speaking of the older locomotive like the yard SWitchers and road switchers like the GP7/9 RS1/2/3 ect.
Just because a locomotive had a heater it is no sign of a warm cab.A common thing we carried was duck tape to seal the doors to keep the cold out and the heat in.

[Mookie]

Back in the 50's, a couple of fried minced ham sandwiches or fried egg sandwiches were put in a grip, made a trip of about 100 miles, completely unrefrigerated for about 2 days time. Some came back home, went into the refrigerator and were eaten by a small child as a lunch in the next day or so. Best sandwiches I ever ate!

Overalls were starched and ironed and worn with a casual shirt, an old tie and a starched cap (at least at our house) and the company didn't provide the uniform. Later, it was casual pants and shirts, tie optional, still not provided. I think the tie was more to make them feel a little dressier even in a dirty place like a cab.

Jen

[cabforward]

excuse me for saying this, but you sound somewhat bothered by my or others' comments herein.. if my opening was not clear, i was inquiring of current practices of crewmen on local and long-haul runs..

obviously, "things " were tougher way-back-when.. was there ever anything that wasn't? if we could travel back in time, we might talk with the first man who ever used the wheel.. i have no doubt that, if we talked with the first man ever to use the wheel to improve his life's work, another man would walk up and say, 'you got one of them new wheels, eh? well, kids today have it easy.. listen, i had to make do with square wheels for more years than i care to count.. it wasn't easy hauling our goods with square wheels, but we did it, and we were happy to have them square jobs, at that.."

was there ever a generation that didn't have it tougher than a later one? was there ever a generation that didn't feel obligated to let the younger one know how hard it was to walk 5 miles to school, in the snow?

i don't login here to play "can you top this?" with anyone..im posting here to find out about life on the r.r.. the small details of which is beyond my experience.. i dont begrudge anyone their interests, im just trying to find out more about what interests me.. you asked at the start where did i think the crew ate who ran a steam locomotive? actually, i couldn't care less.. my focus has always been on diesels, but if you want to post 500 words on life in a steam loco cab, be my guest!!

[Mookie]

ouch...

[Anonymous]

The rules today say that the clothing a employees wears must cover the torso and shoulders and pants that go down to the boot. So no tank tops, I wear a t-shirt, flannel, jeans and good boots. Ties are not allowed because they might get caught on something. Pocket watches are not advised due to the chain. Boots can be steel toes or not.
As for what I ate, cold cuts and cheese with bread made a nice traveler. Make as many as you want. If you have sidewall heaters you could heat up soup or stew.
The job of cleaning the cab goes to the service crew. But if you pick up a dead train then it was up to the crew. People can be very disgusting. My motto is like the campers, leave only documents for the train. Take all the stuff you brought and throw it away.
I like to know how it was back then you can learn a lot about the job from the old heads.

[Anonymous]

Our cabs are not all that filthy, the DSF usually dumps the trash, sweeps and services the head regularly. In the summer the head can get a little stinch to it, but, not overwhelming. We do have chairs (the seats in the cabs) and a conductor's desk or engineer's control stand to eat off of (engineers on the non comfort cabs are kinda screwed). To wash hands they provide crew packs that contain waterless hand cleaner, moist towlettes, paper towels, butt gasket (for the toilet) and T.P. If it weren't for the unions we wouldn't get that much, you can bet on that! As far as passenger service, I cannot speak on what dress is req'd or furnished. In freight svce. you are responsible for all clothing except for PPE. Boots are 85% paid for by the company. This all is on the BNSF, I cannot speak for other roads.
Ken

[Anonymous]

Well, Jen. You got a better handle on it than some of the other new hires that I have worked with. I'm pretty new myself, but, sheesh, a few of these guys take the cake.

[Anonymous]

Cab, a code is what we use on our time tickets to get paid for different items or penalties that have been negotiated in our contract. I usually put my food on a cooling water tank (EMD, GEs are harder to find a suitable place to heat food, for me anyway). Hasn't poisoned me yet, hehehe. If it is dirty, I wont put it there. Or if there is any fluids present, I will not put it there. Remember it is in Tupperware. No sink to wash hands, but you can get up and around. If you have a poor engineer, I recommend holding on to something to keep yourself upright in case of some run in. All that we are technically allowed to read is our rulebook. No electronics or personal reading. And I adhere to these rules solidly......yeah right.

[BRAKIE]

I think you misunderstood my intentions...I was just bringing railroad history into this discussion for those that may wonder what it was like back in the days-that was not so long ago the early 80s BWC.I though we was talking about how much better todays railroaders have compared to not so long ago and not the invention of the wheel..Perhaps you shouldn't be so touchy on these matters? After it is a open forum.

As far as todays locomotives hey I wish we had 'em when I worked on the railroad.A a/c cab would have been nice on a hot summer day.

[Anonymous]

Thank-you for the info sir. I will admit the units that I looked into were assigned to local work and not long haul road units. They tend to be older and worn out adding to the assumtion of there unkept manner. They at least provide you with sanitary kits which is better then nothing. I am a little shocked about no table or chair. With the crews being respocible for millions of dollars worth of equipment. This small comfort would be minor to the budget.
Thanks again
TIM ARGUBRIGHT

[Mookie]

Michael - the only old head I know and ever knew was my Dad. He worked steam, diesel and passenger. He shoveled many tons of coal and even did hostling. He would come home after a hostling job (steam) and the only thing white on him was under his glasses.

I always look at the job as romantic and something I would have loved, but truth be known it was dirty, hard work and dangerous if you made a slip. They switched cars by lantern and rode in some pretty filthy cabs. But I also remember that some of those sandwiches that went many miles before they were eaten were also shared with some of the hobos that were always around the trains. And the stories he would tell of the animals he would see from the cab in the wide open spaces and even in the yards.

And the one conductor that would always make supper in the caboose for the crew. He would get mad when they would jerk the train and spill his soup, but he still fed them all.

Jen