working hours

[Dutchrailnut]

Yes a crew can operate trains for 12 hours, but a workday may be as long as 16 hours if a legitamate 4 hour rest period is included.
so on Commuter railroads a engineer and conductor may operate 6 hours in morning, get released for 4 hours from duty and continou for another 6 hours before outlawing.

[zapp]

I like that;drive till we fall asleep!
Hell I've done that!
And I've operated the locomotive till I've fallen asleep. It scares the crap ut of you when yoou look up and can't see a signal!!
We operated the engines we don't "drive" them.

[tree68]

Crew on a US locomotive is generally an engineer (driver) and a conductor, who also serves as jack of all trades (clerk, switchman, pin puller, brakeman, etc). The two don't usually interchange jobs (although you may hear of instances where they do, and the conductor could possibly also be a qualified engineer who is working as a conductor). The engineer runs the train and the conductor does the other stuff. On a local job, the engineer gets the easier of the two jobs, since he/she stays in the cab while the conductor is running around on the ground. For a through freight the conductor has the easier job - doing his paperwork and assisting the engineer with spotting signals, etc. The engineer has the challenge of keeping his train intact and rolling at an appropriate speed, with all that that entails.

Since the two generally come on duty at the same time, relief has to be in the form of another crew. This can be planned, as at a regular crew change point, or necessary, the result of delays causing the crew to run out of their 12 hours, or "die on the law".

[wabash1]

there is no limit to how long a engineer can drive. he can drive til he falls asleep and kills himself if he wants to.

[jrw249]

The max an engineer , conductor, etc . can work is 12 hours. Doesn't matter what railroad because this is a federal law.

[Anonymous]

I was just wondering, how many hours can an engineer in US drive before someone has to take over? What are the regulations about that for companies like BNSF, UP etc.

Also, as far as I know, in US always two engineers working in the locomotive? Is there a rule about how long can a team work (by switching shifts all the time) before they have to be replaced by another team of engineers?