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Gentlemen; As a third generation railroader as well as a former train dispatcher, chief train dsipatcher and rules man, I am greatly concerned at the attempts of the railroads to push one man train crews. The railroads are truly violating the very first rule in their timetables and rule bookers which is "SAFETY FIRST!" As it stands right now the situation is extremely dangerous with the two man crew. Fatigue is very much in the forefront of the problems that the railroads have. They do not have enough crews to allow proper rest of these crews. I have seen engineers get so sleepy that the conductor has to slide over and run the locomotives and train. The engineers and conductors are having to resort to drugs and alcohol to keep themselves going which further compounds the problems. This problems also exists with some of the new hires as they are placed in service with relatively little experience. Schools are nice but on the road real life experience is the best teacher. Just as I had to learn by being a telegrapher first, learning train orders, interlockings and signals, I had to prove I had a thorough knowledge of these as well as the ability to handle responsibility before the company offered the promotion to train dispatcher, the same should be true with engineers and conductors. The railroads' reliance on mechanical objects such as hotbox detectors, dragging equipment detectors and the infamous FRED are going to create the perfect cocktail for a MAJOR DISASTER, if one man crews are implemented. If implemented and a train gets away while the engineer is off checking some problem, and something happens to controls or mechanical operations, the consequences could be devastating. Heaven forbid if the one man gets himself injured or killed. With the vast amounts of money the railroads and their insurance companies pay out each year for accidents and damages, they have paid enough to put the head brakemen, rear brakeman and cabooses back on, which in turn would cut down on the accident rate of rear end collisions. Then the railroads will want to remote control the train with the one man. Can anyone say " Playing Model Railroad." It won't work and it is not safe! The problem is the railroads are not being run by railroaders, but businessmen whose only concern is the bottom line and dividends paid to the stock holders with little concern for the public safety or their employees safety. I welcome any responses. NYCDISP1968
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