Railroad safety in winter weather

[dekemd]

Because of the recent ice storm in North Carolina, I got to thinking about what safety procedures railroad crews follow in winter weather. I know they use switch heaters to thaw out switches, but what about cut levers, coupler knuckles, brakes, and other equipment? How do they go about climbing on engines and cars covered in ice, sleet, and snow?

Derrick

[Anonymous]

Very carefully, that's for sure. I'm not a RR employee but that I know :-)

If you think it's dangerous now, think about how it was before they had
Westinghouse air-brakes, and the brakemen had to climb on top of
the cars, in all kinds of weather, while the train was in motion, to turn
the hand-brakes in order to get the train slowed sufficiently so it could
stop. They had to walk across the roofs of the cars. It was common
to consider a brakeman who'd LIVED more than two years on the job
as pretty darn lucky.

[jchnhtfd]

and part of the problem is you get really clumsy in the cold -- not only do you have bulky clothing on (which catches on things and pushes you away from whatever you are trying to climb on) but you have to use gloves if it's at all cold, and so on... and you just plain get clumsy. As ghigland says... very carefully.

[wabash1]

We have slip on cleats for ice and snow when walking and mostly due to slack action all ice and snow are off the cut leavers and knuckles. side ladders when i was a conductor and it was icy i would stand on the ground and release and apply the brakes. rule violation yes. but they saw it my way. i can stand here and do it safe from the ground or climb up and release the brakes and take a chance on falling. which means a injury. they would turn thier heads.

[coalminer3]

In our business, like the rr, the big concern is with the general category called "slips, trips, and falls." That covers a multitude of situations ranging from a simple slip to a truly E-ticket ride from the top of a structure, vehicle, or railcar. In addition to clumsy clothes and gloves, there is also the fatigue factor which seems to be increased because of the cold. IMHO, the worst part of all of it is the wind - far more than the temperature. You can do a lot in well-below zero temps with no wind, but try it at about 10 degrees with a 20+ MPH wind...those who have been there understand.

work safe