Conductor Training

[Anonymous]

Jordan,

Many good folks with good advice here and they all want to see you do well. Not much for me to add except:

-- Don't try to (or feel you have to) impress anyone! When the B.S. sessions start, best strategy is to keep your ears open and mouth shut.

-- It's okay to be a railfan. No reason you should ever feel the need to apologize for liking your job. BUT.... you MUST (and I mean absolutely MUST) be able to seperate work from play. Your co-workers have to be able to count on you keeping your head "cut-in" on what's going on and not be staring at the clean set of SD70MAC's three tracks over. Your safety and theirs depends on it. Forgive me if I appear to be lecturing you like a third grader, but I have seen this be the downfall of others.

-- Job insurance is a good thing. None of us intend to screw up, yet it happens. Rare is the railroader who goes an entire career without ever being held out of service.

-- Enjoy every day out there and always remember how lucky you are: many people in this world have to spend every day of their working lives in a job they hate...and you're not one of them!

Best of luck,
HJK (5 years with Amtrak)

[Anonymous]

Thanks fellas, I have to say that the North Local crew I have been working with this week are great. We have been nailing out every detail of the day. Most of the North Local consists of switching out grain elevators north of Danville. They tell me how many cars can be held in each track, etc. We often do switching before we come out of the yard because cars are mixed up, or we simply move cars in a more convenient order so we don't have to do it on the road. I like working locals because it has a perfect blend of road and yard, and the days go fast. Plus its fun watching the forman and engineer fire insults at each other all day. I have to say I love my job.

[Rodney Beck]

Ed and csx you both hit the nail on the head it takes team work and makes the work go smother when all the members of the team are on the same page. Rodney conductor BNSF

[csxengineer98]

QUOTE: Originally posted by edblysard

Nathan,
CSX has it...
Bet he has a favorite conductor and brakeman he works with on a regular basis.
Also bet that, before he goes out to look his motors over, all of them have sat down, gone over what they have get done, decided who is doing what, where and when, and how fast they want to work.
Also count on all of them listening to each others ideas, and being comfortable enough with each other, and trusting each other enough, that if things change half way through the day, they can all adapt to the change.

It really boils down to trusting each other enough to listen to one another.

The longer you do this for a living, the better you will be at picking out the guys who are cut in, and you will find they all have the ability to listen to each other, with out pulling rank.

I tell every new guy that comes to work on my job that my title of foreman only means that when things get screwed up, I have to take the heat, it dosnt mean I know everything.

I also tell them if they have a idea they think might work out better, lets hear it, because some of them do come up with better plans than mine.

It works better when everybody is working off the same page.

One day, you will be teaching a new guy, remember to tell him that, if he dosnt know what to do, ask.

And remember when you were the new guy, and how the guys you really learned from treated you.

Ed

you got that righ Ed.... i have a job breifing with my crew befor we start work...we go over our orders...the train profile... talk to the yard master to find out where or train is at..and how we are going to get to it...(what tracks throught the yard to get to the train with the power, ext.)....what tracks have to be doubled..if we have to double anything... thats just befor we even pull out on the main track to begin the trip... and anytime anything comes up that we didnt discuse in the first job briefing...we talk agin..befor the conductor hits the balist...
a crew that knows what they are doing..and had good comunication befor the work even starts will work alot better together... its the crewman that just grabe thier bag..and paperwork and run out the door and do things on the fly are the ones i cant stand... i like to know what moves we are making..how we are going to make them... helps me handle the train better knowing what we are going to do.......
csx engineer

[edblysard]

Nathan,
CSX has it...
Bet he has a favorite conductor and brakeman he works with on a regular basis.
Also bet that, before he goes out to look his motors over, all of them have sat down, gone over what they have get done, decided who is doing what, where and when, and how fast they want to work.
Also count on all of them listening to each others ideas, and being comfortable enough with each other, and trusting each other enough, that if things change half way through the day, they can all adapt to the change.

It really boils down to trusting each other enough to listen to one another.

The longer you do this for a living, the better you will be at picking out the guys who are cut in, and you will find they all have the ability to listen to each other, with out pulling rank.

I tell every new guy that comes to work on my job that my title of foreman only means that when things get screwed up, I have to take the heat, it dosnt mean I know everything.

I also tell them if they have a idea they think might work out better, lets hear it, because some of them do come up with better plans than mine.

It works better when everybody is working off the same page.

One day, you will be teaching a new guy, remember to tell him that, if he dosnt know what to do, ask.

And remember when you were the new guy, and how the guys you really learned from treated you.

Ed

[csxengineer98]

QUOTE: Originally posted by n_stephenson

Antonio, I'm also very happy that Ed, CSX, and others are so happy to help me! I'm glad that many of those I work with realize that the better trained I am the easier I'll be to work with. It would be nice to pull a train into one of the Chicago Yards not scratching my head wondering what I'm supposed to do. So, everyone thanks so much for your tips, stories, and opinions I welcome all with open arms! [:D][bow][bow][bow]

dont worry if you dont ever get it...lol..... thier are some people i work with that have 30 years..and they still dont get it..lol....
csx engineer

[Anonymous]

Antonio, I'm also very happy that Ed, CSX, and others are so happy to help me! I'm glad that many of those I work with realize that the better trained I am the easier I'll be to work with. It would be nice to pull a train into one of the Chicago Yards not scratching my head wondering what I'm supposed to do. So, everyone thanks so much for your tips, stories, and opinions I welcome all with open arms! [:D][bow][bow][bow]

[AntonioFP45]

N_Stephenson,

Sounds like you were working with a good crew! Hope your experiences will be positive and enjoyable. It's good to see that the guys posting on this thread really care and want to see you succeed!

[hogger42]

[.



Hey,but at least I haven't put anything on the ground![angel]

Man, you don't want to say things like that.........


hogger

[Anonymous]

A lesson for us newbies... I learned firsthand to always make sure you stretch your coupling, the HARD WAY of course! [:I] It looked to me like both pins bropped, but..........When I told the engineer to pull ahead the train came in two and the whole train went into emergency. Luckily I was standing right there and I was able to correct the situation, I know it can become rather tiresome for the engineer when you blow the air out of the train; thankfully everyone just laughed at me and i learned a good lesson.

EVERY GOOD COUPLING DESERVES A STRETCH

Hey,but at least I haven't put anything on the ground![angel]

[edblysard]

We baldhead knuckles all the time, then kick em on down the lead, most often on the ones where the pin wont stay up.
Wouldnt shove the drawbar over, though, you can tear up the end sill that way.
Me, I am just too old to run, holding up a cut lever.
Ed

[csxengineer98]

QUOTE: Originally posted by n_stephenson

oh, right [:I] I forget that big brother is watching. I try to keep things real general, but I guess I have myself pretty well identified, so they would know where to go.... [banghead] Hey big brother, these are just stories I heard through the grapvine, yeah that's it! [swg]

yea...you never know when big brother might be up to something... thats why i dont post any information that would be considered "censitive" such as train movements and things like that.. the info i post is things that anyone can if they realy took the time could find out on thier own...such as rules...and how things are done... and i try and keep my location as veage as possable.... and if i do tell a story...it normaly took place a while ago... i dont post anything that might have happend in the not to far past.......
csx engineer

[Anonymous]

oh, right [:I] I forget that big brother is watching. I try to keep things real general, but I guess I have myself pretty well identified, so they would know where to go.... [banghead] Hey big brother, these are just stories I heard through the grapvine, yeah that's it! [swg]

[csxengineer98]

QUOTE: Originally posted by n_stephenson

Thanks for the tips, CSX and Ed. If anything I've been playing it safe I usually end up a little short of a coupling and have to give the engineer another set of trucks, but it's better than slamming them together. Oh well, I have time to become comfortable. Speaking of bypassed knuckles, I saw one of the most crazy things. One of the yard jobs I was on, we were kicking cars into the yard from the lead and we let two go towards 1 track. Well, they stopped almost right away, so we knew there was a hand brake on one of the cars. My conductor walks up and takes the handbrake off, then instead of coupling again he just pushes the whole drawbar over. Then he gets the engine moving again and just shoves them in like that! I was a little taken back by that move, and I would definitely call it the king of "don't do as I do" moves.[}:)]

not to tell you what to post..but keep in mind that rail road officals sometimes monitor sights like this... so watch what you post... telling a story about doing something that shouldnt have been done..could end up getting someone in trouble if the "wrong person" reads this... just some food for thought....
keep the wheels on steel
csx engineer

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the tips, CSX and Ed. If anything I've been playing it safe I usually end up a little short of a coupling and have to give the engineer another set of trucks, but it's better than slamming them together. Oh well, I have time to become comfortable. Speaking of bypassed knuckles, I saw one of the most crazy things. One of the yard jobs I was on, we were kicking cars into the yard from the lead and we let two go towards 1 track. Well, they stopped almost right away, so we knew there was a hand brake on one of the cars. My conductor walks up and takes the handbrake off, then instead of coupling again he just pushes the whole drawbar over. Then he gets the engine moving again and just shoves them in like that! I was a little taken back by that move, and I would definitely call it the king of "don't do as I do" moves.[}:)]

[edblysard]

Nathan,
Work on your car count....we were taught a 50 covered hopper as a standard car length.

Keep it consistant, even if your a little long or short.
After a while, you will find you work with the same engineer on the same job regular.
The hogger will get used to your counts, and understand that "30 cars" really means "I have no idea, they are way down there".

I have worked with the same engineer for a long time, and when we get down to three cars or so, he no longer listens to the count I give him, he listens to the tone of my voice, and the cadence, "three cars, two, one left, half a car, set of trucks, that will do", the rythym is what he hears, not the words, and because I say it the same, every single time, it works great....
if I skip part of it, or the rythym changes, he stops.
Saved a lot of bypassed knuckles on autoracks and flatcars because of that.

Ed

[csxengineer98]

very true...give good car counts......and keep in touch with the engineer.... when your shoving back say 50 cars...make sure you tell him 25 more when it gets to about 25 cars to the hitch or stop... under rail road rules... if we dont hear from a conductor in half the lenght of the move...we are supost to stop... and then half of the 25..and so on..untill the hitch is made.....and always after a hitch..make sure you strech it..... nothing will make your day longer then a hitch that wasnt made..and you think it was... you may see the pin fall....but the chance of a mechanical problem with the locking system on the cupler is always thier...makeing a 40 car double..and not strech...only to come in 2 after you start to pull will means you have to walk back the 40 cars agin..and do it all over agin...
csx engineer

[Anonymous]

yeah, speaking of car counts, I've seen some interesting ones. My latest trainer gave some of the shortest car counts I've ever seen. What he called 2 cars was actually about half of one car!!! I thought for sure we were in for a bang, but the engineer must have known better. I asked the engineer, and he confirmed that he had indeed grown acustomed to the conductors strange car counts. The hardest part of car counts I have is when you're looking down a track and you really have no idea how many cars there are. So I've been told to say 30 cars just as an estimate and take it from there.

[Anonymous]

One thing i also learned when i was a conductor, and now realize it being an engineer is be consistent with your car counts. Dont go from short cars to long cars all in the same movement. I had one conductor, he was so bad at car counts, i think we knocked all the rust off every car we made a hitch on.

[ValleyX]

I say buy the job insurance and you want to buy BRCF or LECMPA, don't buy anything from the UTU, in fact, don't even join the UTU! Wabash1 makes a good pint about how to stay out of trouble, if things are going bad, you just might want to use that big red handle on the engineer and it may keep you out of trouble and it may be that you didn't know when to use it and it was a matter of waiting too long.

I've seen guys I never thought would have any problems get into trouble, it was like one day their entire world went south and things happened. The best laid plans don't always work out. I went for years without job insurance but bought it when I started getting more personal responsiblities and saw that a job loss or suspension could conceivably cost me more than what I could save.

We had a crew that was out of service for about three months because of a signal malfunction. It's true that they eventually got back and it's true that the company paid them for time lost but they didn't know how it was going to come out at the time, they had done everything correctly but still were out of service for an entire summer.

Other than that, learn the rulebook, don't let someone talk you into making shortcuts, don't learn the shortcuts so that they become the way you do things instead of the proper way, don't be a know-it-all, and above postings are correct, all engineers may have had essentially the same training, although the older ones may not have, but not all engineers are equal. You might find a few that you wouldn't trust to mow your lawn, after you get to know them.

[csxengineer98]

the railroads realy frown on it..but it happens...

[Anonymous]

That's the strangest thing I've ever heard.

I never would have guessed that conductors would be allowed to fall asleep while on shift.

I suppose I can see how it would get tough if all you are doing is sitting there dead tired, nice rocking of the train to put you to sleep.

Still, I never would have thought it.

[csxengineer98]

QUOTE: Originally posted by n_stephenson

Thanks CSX, also, stay awake! I've trained with some conductors that sleep the entire trip, I've noticed that is one of the best ways to tick off an engineer, I don't know about you, but I like to know what is going around me, and if trouble happens there will be two sets of eyes instead of one.

that is one thing that pisses me off...when a conductor comes out to work with me..and makes a bed as soon as he gets on the locomotive... its one thing if we have had a long day..and we are both tired... if nothing is going on... like no highballs to get... or no problems come up... if the conductor is figting to stay wake...ill tell him to take a nape..i got it under controll...being the engineer... i have things to keep me awake...just running the train is enough in most cases to keep me up untill we get over the road... but i have had a few days where i got called out dead on my ***...and ran most of the trip standing up ....running with the window open with it only 10 degrees outside..and splashing cold water on my face...... but i try to come out rested..its hard sometimes.. but i do my best... and i expect the conductor to do the same.. we are a team on that train for that tour of duty..... and when you make a bed as soon as you go on duty...we engineers will talk about you to other engineers... engineers know who is good and who are the dead wood when it comes to conductors....just as the conductors know who the good and bad engineers are by talking to thier co workers...
one thing you will find out also... all your co workers will know eveything about you and your style..even if you never worked with someone befor..they have a good idea what your all about befor you show up to the yard office...rail roaders are like a bunch of women...we talk about eveyone and eveything... if you screw up...eveyone will know about it befor you mark off duty that day... and if you dont want a secret spred over the system...DONT OPEN YOUR MOUTH... rail roaders love gosup too... so if your going to bad mouth someone.... make sure you find out who his friends are...becouse it will get back to him....some food for thought...
csx engineer

[Rodney Beck]

Also do not be afrade to ask for help from the hogger they will understand and work with you and besides they will have a little more respect for the young conductor for asking for help. Rodney Beck conductor BNSF

[Anonymous]

Yes always stay awake and Don't fall alseep in class but Doggy has in Scinence class while she's given boring lectures.

DOGGY
GO CUBS

[Rodney Beck]

That is a major plus is staying awake besides how else are you going to learn the territory both in the dark and the day time. In my opinion learning in the dark is the best. Remember study, study, and study somemore. Rodney beck conductor BNSF

[Anonymous]

Thanks CSX, also, stay awake! I've trained with some conductors that sleep the entire trip, I've noticed that is one of the best ways to tick off an engineer, I don't know about you, but I like to know what is going around me, and if trouble happens there will be two sets of eyes instead of one.

[csxengineer98]

a good way to get on an engineers good side...
buy him a coffiee...or what ever his choice of caffien is...
csx engineer

[Anonymous]

The most important thing that school does for you is get you aquainted with the rules. Many of my training conductors have told me that going by the rules can make you more money because going by the "book" often takes more time. There are a few conductors in my terminal that have implemented the use of rules into their job and have turned into a science. They usually end up getting overtime every time they work because they do everything by the book. However, you have to be careful because if you slow up your train too much you start getting managment looking at you, and that leads to trouble. But, just like everything else in life, moderation is the key. Don't take advantage of a good thing because it can come back to haunt you. Anywho, I have one more month of training, then I'll be marked up taking trains into the railroad maze of chicago. I know I'll be nervous on my first train up because I'll actually have to do it all myself, but you can usually rely on your engineer for help, so be good to your engineer!!!