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"Don't get comfortable."

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Posted by GraniteRailroader on Saturday, August 2, 2008 9:50 AM

 wabash1 wrote:
there ha sbeen times your so tired that you stand up to run so you wont fall asleep i have also been waken up by the alerter. sometimes it happens.

I hate those *** alerters. I usually put a piece of duct tape over the red light so that it's not "blinding bright" and a piece over the vent where the speaker is so that you still hear it but it's not gonna scare the **** outta ya if you're being inattentive. 

 



A fun prank that I pull on my engineer/conductors if they won't let me sleep, but expect to sleep all the time no matter what...(Applies to when i'm conducting, or when I'm behind the stand)

 

Going down the tracks, blow the whistle and start screaming "OH MY GOD WATCHOUT". They wake up real fast , look around, and are generally cofused.

Alls fair in love and war, and well, working for the railroad aint love.

 

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Posted by coborn35 on Friday, August 1, 2008 9:46 PM

 Ted Marshall wrote:
I can't understand why the rules would be any different for railroaders. In just about any other profession that I'm aware of where you're on somebody elses dime, sleeping on the job would be grounds for diciplinary action up to and including immediate termination.

Railroading IS a different beast than any other profession.

Did you just come across wrong or are you really that big of a goodie two shoes?

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Posted by csxengineer98 on Friday, August 1, 2008 4:55 PM

 wabash1 wrote:
there ha sbeen times your so tired that you stand up to run so you wont fall asleep i have also been waken up by the alerter. sometimes it happens.
amen to that.. i have gone as far as splashing cold water on my face too...that trip sucked... not so much that i was so tired.. but that guy i was working with was a conductor that had is card and refused to run for me.. have a few choice words but cant use them here for that guy......

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Posted by wabash1 on Saturday, July 19, 2008 11:32 PM
there ha sbeen times your so tired that you stand up to run so you wont fall asleep i have also been waken up by the alerter. sometimes it happens.
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Posted by Andrew Falconer on Saturday, July 19, 2008 7:09 PM

At least you get power naps to balance out the long days of waiting.

I would hope that only half the crew is napping at any given time.

Andrew

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Posted by CSXrules4eva on Saturday, July 19, 2008 6:18 PM
On the CSX the operating rules allow train crews to nap. However, you can only do this for 15 mins while stopped on the main or in a siding waiting on a signal or permission to proceed by the dispatcher. I believe after 15 mins the person who is sleeping must wake up and allow the other person to take a nap if he/she wants to.  Well...in the real "railroad" world that doesn't happen. Generally if your train is stopped for an you will see both of you will end up falling asleep esp if your in one of those wisper cabs on the wide body locomotives. Sometimes while you are moving you will find it hard to stay awake esp while to train rocks you to sleep. lol
LORD HELP US ALL TO BE ORIGINAL AND NOT CRISPY!!! please? Sarah J.M. Warner conductor CSX
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Posted by JoeKoh on Saturday, July 19, 2008 12:57 PM

matt and I have come up on a train stopped and the crew was so tired they thought we were a crew van coming to get them.It does happen.

stay safe

Joe

Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").

 

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Posted by wabash1 on Friday, July 18, 2008 10:41 PM

 Ted Marshall wrote:
I can't understand why the rules would be any different for railroaders. In just about any other profession that I'm aware of where you're on somebody elses dime, sleeping on the job would be grounds for diciplinary action up to and including immediate termination.

On the NS it is terms for dismissal that is why in most cases that the engineer sleeps when stopped and the conductor while moving. but i have had conductors go to sleep while im sleeping i will wake up and find them sleeping so i will stay up. I also wont trust them ever again. and trust means alot on the railroad. there several that dont want to work with me because i dont trust them and I wont cut them any slack its by the letter of the book while others i dont care what they do and wont question them because i trust them they have proven themselves.

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Posted by csxengineer98 on Friday, July 18, 2008 7:46 PM

 Ted Marshall wrote:
I can't understand why the rules would be any different for railroaders. In just about any other profession that I'm aware of where you're on somebody elses dime, sleeping on the job would be grounds for diciplinary action up to and including immediate termination.
it is becouse they are... csx is one of the carriers that alows a 45 min power nap for 1 crewman at a time in the cab WHILE STOPPED.... i can speak from personal experice that even a 15 min resting of my eyes has made a world of differnce in my altert level when tired..

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, July 18, 2008 7:02 PM

 Ted Marshall wrote:
I can't understand why the rules would be any different for railroaders. In just about any other profession that I'm aware of where you're on somebody elses dime, sleeping on the job would be grounds for diciplinary action up to and including immediate termination.
Rules on some Class I's permit one crewman to sleep for no more than 45 minutes when advised by the Train Dispatcher that the train will be stationary for an extended period of time.  What the rules permit and what reality delivers can be two different things.

Mandating that crewmen remain awake and alert when there is nothing to do but watch the scenery (and at night there is very little of that) was found to increase the incidence of crewmen falling asleep while the train was in motion, thus the rule change to permit cat napping.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Ted Marshall on Friday, July 18, 2008 6:49 PM
I can't understand why the rules would be any different for railroaders. In just about any other profession that I'm aware of where you're on somebody elses dime, sleeping on the job would be grounds for diciplinary action up to and including immediate termination.
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Posted by csxengineer98 on Friday, July 18, 2008 6:29 PM
 Soo 6604 wrote:

Now what would happen if your sitting in a siding waiting for a fleet movement and the Dispatcher tells you to "get comfortable, you'll be there for a few hours", after seeing the first couple of trains, the conductor dozes off, then the engineer dozes off, the last of the trains that you are meeting are gone, got the green to procede and you both are sleeping.

The questions are: if your both are in a deep slumber, you get the green and no movement on the dispatchers board......what happens? Im sure the dispatcher will try and get a hold of you, but you dont hear it. How often does this happen (that both crew members are sleeping)?

I've heard on the CN this happens with their "Burn and Turn", not both crew members sleeping but the conductor gettting their ZZZZ's running and the Engineer getting theirs on long waiting meets. My friends been working 80 hours a week, couple of 70-72 hours thrown in, for the last 4 months, and he says whenever he gets the chance, he dozes off when theyre on the move, but he dismounts to give the rolling roll-by on meets. At this time, he lets the Engineer get his ZZZZ's if they choose to.

sleeping in the cab of an engin mostly is just power naps... like i said befor..there is no real way to get nice and comfortable to get into a nice deep sleep no matter how tired you are..you can make yourself just comfy enought to grab 20 or 30 min power nap at best befor your body says its time to try and find a differnt possition..so you wake up and move around alittle to try and find another poistion to grab a few more Zs...

also you keep the radio loud..so you can hear the dispatcher yelling at you.. and as zug said..leave the window open or slighty open to hear passing trains...

if the crew should be lucky enought to get themselfs into a deep sleep and dont hear the trains or the dispatcher yelling at them.. they can have a passing train stop and wake them up..it has happend once around here..not to me..but i knew a crew that was so dead tired that when they stopped they slept for almost 2 hours waiting on passing trains..well the DS tried to yell at them on the radio..and no responce.. this went on for about an hour..finaly the DS told a train that was getting near there location to stop and wake up the crew... well needless to say the DS wasnt happy and when the crew got ahold of the DS he has a few words for the crew...

csx engineer 

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Posted by sanvtoman on Friday, July 18, 2008 2:22 PM
Back in the 80s when we had more towers it was known that on 3rd trick you could get at least a couple hours sleep at night. Not straight sleep an hour here an hour there. And if you worked a holiday you got 20 hours pay and very few trains. Holiday as defined as Xmas or Thanksgiving. 
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Posted by andrewjonathon on Friday, July 18, 2008 2:07 PM
I can't imagine you can really get into a deep sleep sitting upright on a train can you? I used to have a long bus commute (1 hr +). We "slept" or may the proper term is slumbered on the bus. At a sub-concious level we continued to be vaguely aware of what was going on. It was rare anyone missed a stop. I would imagine sleeping in the cab would be similar wouldn't it?
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Posted by andrewjonathon on Friday, July 18, 2008 2:00 PM
 wabash1 wrote:
... besides i dont want to hear the same stuff over and over and over, thats why i come here......



LOL. That is funny and SO true.
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Posted by zugmann on Friday, July 18, 2008 10:59 AM
Good rule of thumb is to always crack open the window.  Then you'll hear the passing train. 

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any

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Posted by Soo 6604 on Friday, July 18, 2008 9:40 AM

Now what would happen if your sitting in a siding waiting for a fleet movement and the Dispatcher tells you to "get comfortable, you'll be there for a few hours", after seeing the first couple of trains, the conductor dozes off, then the engineer dozes off, the last of the trains that you are meeting are gone, got the green to procede and you both are sleeping.

The questions are: if your both are in a deep slumber, you get the green and no movement on the dispatchers board......what happens? Im sure the dispatcher will try and get a hold of you, but you dont hear it. How often does this happen (that both crew members are sleeping)?

I've heard on the CN this happens with their "Burn and Turn", not both crew members sleeping but the conductor gettting their ZZZZ's running and the Engineer getting theirs on long waiting meets. My friends been working 80 hours a week, couple of 70-72 hours thrown in, for the last 4 months, and he says whenever he gets the chance, he dozes off when theyre on the move, but he dismounts to give the rolling roll-by on meets. At this time, he lets the Engineer get his ZZZZ's if they choose to.

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Posted by csxengineer98 on Friday, July 18, 2008 9:22 AM

i keep my conductors awake when i run..becouse i look at it like this.. they are part of the crew and if i cant sleep while running then they cant sleep while im working....they can call the signals over the radio and talking keeps me awake when im tired.. also if you keep them awake when you do stop.. they are tired now too and will sleep so they arent keeping you up while your trying to sleep...

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Posted by wabash1 on Friday, July 18, 2008 9:03 AM
 csxengineer98 wrote:

i never said that it was possable to get comfortable but when your dead on your butt tired.. anytime you stop you grab a few Zs regardless if your confortable or not...

csx engineer 

You mean to tell me they let you sleep ???? heck when i stop and try and nap the conductor wont shut up, but let me start moving and he is asleep again..... I can hear it now why dont you just wake him up if he wont let you sleep..... well its like this, He is silent and not bothering me sleeping  and besides i dont want to hear the same stuff over and over and over, thats why i come here......

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Posted by csxengineer98 on Thursday, July 17, 2008 11:38 PM

i never said that it was possable to get comfortable but when your dead on your butt tired.. anytime you stop you grab a few Zs regardless if your confortable or not...

csx engineer 

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Posted by Andrew Falconer on Thursday, July 17, 2008 10:57 PM

Wow!

If the engineers and conductors have to comfortably wait so often on the CSX, are they all well rested when they finish their time?

Andrew

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Posted by csxengineer98 on Thursday, July 17, 2008 10:10 PM

to the contrary.. we get confortable every chance we get and i have been told a few times by the dispatcher get confortable..your going be there a while...

csx engineer 

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"Don't get comfortable."
Posted by Andrew Falconer on Thursday, July 17, 2008 5:37 PM

Is the message "Don't get comfortable." common on the railroads?

Considering that railroaders have to pay attention to everything, it would seem that there is no time to get comfortable. 

 

Have any of the real railroaders found themselves saying "Don't get comfortable."?

 

Andrew Falconer

Andrew

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