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[quote user="n012944"][quote user="futuremodal"] It will be interesting to follow-up on this particular incident.  Wonder what the total damage will be?  Will it be more than the cost of having a rear end crew member? [/quote] My guess would be yes the cost will be more for repairs than having paid for a rear end crew.  However, what about the thousand or so trains that ran on that day, and every other day, that do not have issues?  Don't you think that the cost of one incident is less that staffing every train?  I would think so.  Also FM you still have not gave me an answer on my question, where are the rear end crews going to be housed?  Are they supposed to ride on top of the coal car?  Again not every train has dp, so where will they ride?[/quote] 1.  Don't need "crews", just a crewmember to be the eyes and ears back there, at the very least.  Hey, you gotta cut labor somewhere, right LC?[;)] 2.  If no DPU, how about an actual engine without remote control?  Most long trains use more than one engine, why not stick one in back to push.  And why put up with the the hassles of remote control operation if you don't need to?  Just put one of the crew members in the pusher to operate it.  Even sticking someone in the mid-train helper is better than nought.  Distributed power doesn't have to be remote control, it can be manned power.  Heck, it beats having a supervisor having to drive a hi-rail behind each train as some area railroads have had to do during the fire season.  Now that is not productive labor! But you're right - if no rear engine, no rear crew member. 3.  Head end crews usually have their eyes focussed ahead of the consist, they are not looking back too often as a rule.  Rear end crews will always be looking forward at the consist, thus they are in better position to spot problems within the consist than the head end crew. 4.  At night you might not see a car gone askew, but you might be able to see the sparks from a broken wheel and such.  A good pair of binoculars can get you detail a good 3/4 of a mile during the day, and at least some detail of lighted events at night.  Night vision goggles might come in handy, too.  Again, better to increase the chances of spotting a problem early rather than waiting until the the train goes in the ditch or goes into emergency somewhere out in the middle of Murphyland.
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