Yeah love the railfan that hates the worker, anyway. We blow 3 short and then one long through the crossings in Ft Collins.You have to or the people throw stuff at you.We have been shot at in Longmont,Boulderites throw stuff at you. Maybe thats why I like running form Wellington Norht. No one throwing stuff at you cause all there is are a few houses and a ton of antelopes.
Blowing for a short crossing? a blast a pause a blast a pause Just have to time it close so the last blast is as your going over the crossing.
When I do normal grade crosings I count 5 bell rings beetween the horn to know when to blow again.Every engineer has his marks for when to set air and when to go into dynamics or throttle, now we have to know where and when to start blowing so the RFE and FRA cant come after us.
Nothing like hitting the dynamics setting air actuating and having to say " that is correct all by MP whatever" while clearing up a track warrant and STILL blowing for a crossing. lol So if I screw up and blow for only 19 and 3/8 seconds my apologies. No reeason to fire me over that but if I am an employee on a level S I can be more pliable. HA I was looking when I found this job has been my motto. But if the railbuff community is going to start turning us in I will stick my tounge out in any pic you take of me so nyahhh lol.
Yes we are on time but this is yesterdays train
I currently live in Cavour, South Dakota and VERY occasionally a train will go through without blowing AT ALL. Most of the time it's in the middle of the night, but the town's only crossing is on a 55 MPH paved county road. If you're heading south the view to the right is lousy because of the elevator. If you're heading north the view to the right is lousy because of a grove of trees. Even in broad daylight in summer with the windows down, I still stop for this crossing. There are no signals at this crossing, just crossbucks. If the PRB coal line is built by CP through here, it is one of many crossings that should at least get signals. On the welded rail stretch between Wolsey and Pierre there are signals and gates at most crossings in the little towns (little as in less than 300 people.) There's about 4 crossings in Miller and at least two have gates and they blow long and hard through there. So I have no doubt the Cavour crossing will at least get signals, but I would feel better if everybody honked at that crossing. There are blowing a mile east and west, but they don't want to wake up the town. The whole town is within 3 blocks of the tracks, and depending on wind, you hear the trains anyway.
Reality TV is to reality, what Professional Wrestling is to Professional Brain Surgery.
Hi Route_rock,
Doubtful that you would have to worry about the railfan community. Sometimes "abrasive" comments are posted on forums but in reading some of those comments, consider that sometimes the persons may have jumped the gun and not really thought out what he was trying to express. (Been guilty of that).
Except for the few brainless knotheads that make it hard on everyone, you'll find that most railfans regard railroaders highly and respect them and the hazards of the jobs that they perform. Please don't forget that railfans have been known to look out for railroader's safety as well.
On this vid clip, it was a railfan that called in that there was a fire on the rear unit. He called not to get the crew in trouble, but to help avoid a disaster.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQAGWo3PbZk
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
What ever happend to the good ol' days of useing the proper way of blowing this type of Train horn:----------,----------,o,--------------------. Allan.
Improper whistle signals is an operating failure . Rule compliance includes whistle signals and if an engineer is caught he will likely be given an efficiency failure.
How many idiots out there actually know what the signal is for a whistle crossing? People on this forum may know, but, John & Susie Q. Public don't! Nor, do they care. All they want to do is beat the train! In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter one bit if a proper whistle signal is blown or one big long WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, if someone has his mind set on crossing the tracks right in front of a train, live or die, that's exactly what they're going to do.
And despite all of our scientific and technological space age know-how, we still have yet to develop a horn with powerful enough sound waves that it will blow the vehicle right from the path of the train.
Gotta love a railbuff getting a hard-on at the possibility of a railroader losing his job
And one more thing before I climb down from the cab! I've got quite a few steam recordings and I'm just thankful that each and every cotton pickin', Whip-poor-wil tooting engineer had his own way of blowing the whistle!!! It's a darn shame that you poor rotten railfans have to be subjected to the impersonal blaaaaaaattt of a horn switch! I really am sorry for you.
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Hey ther Antinito!! NAh bro I was just being a smart aleck!I have plenty of Railfan buddies!! I love when they call in stuff cause would rather remain upright than in the ditch!
I think what irked me was the About d@mned time comment is all. Like I posted towards the end, somedays I am a bit busy so I shorten one of the longs up or I blow it too long. It happens we all have rotten days.
I have a lot of Fans there in Ft Collins and in Westminster if any of you are reading this I am the bald engineer with the goatee that waves) I love seeing these people out there.They wave and yell hi.There is one boy there I dont know if hes a owns kid or what, but you can tell he has some isue. He is out there at 530 in the morning filming us go by! He has an engineer hat and is always got a big smile and a wave for us.These are the people I like to see. Not the ones glaring at me or throwing things at me.
I agree Jim. I love the old units I get to run on occasion with the old pull lever that went to a valve so you could play with it. When I run the Heisler I get people coming up all the time calling me a musician lol. If only the new ES44's could play a tune sigh
Years ago when I was living in Flatonia, there was one guy who would just blow the horn without letting off all the way through town. Seemed like it was always about 2 AM.
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I was just outside having a cigarette at work and could hear a couple freight trains off in the distance blowing for a crossings two long one short one long, I hear this alot at work when i work nights mostly BNSF at the Aucutt Rd/Webster St crossing there off Lake Street (31) going into Aurora and at the Prairie St crossing off of Orchard where the tracks go west to Sugar Grove
What about Metra? I was up at the Clarendon Hills station near my house with my sisters kid yesterday for a half hour or so watching trains and we saw 3 locals and 2 express trains and the express trains were the only ones blowing there horns but it was only a couple short toots and that I think was only because a local has just let stopped a minute before and the platforms were crowded, I even overheard a few people on the platform complaining that the express was going to fast and should have given better warning and "laid on there horn"
Oh yeah we also saw an cute female engineer on one of the metra trains, she gave us a quick toot and waved as they pulled into the station
Also I didnt know what "Shave and a haircut" was till I read it here and googled it and its actually quite funny because thats how I honk my car horn at my friends & family and also how I knock on doors LOL! Anyway yeah we have heard a few amtrak trains honk at us like that when we wave
Thats the only time we are going to blow the whistle in that area MR ash. When a local is blocking the view of the crossing. A lot of people on the platforms or an emergency. Last crossing we blow for is at Eola. Then its just the bell al the way in.
We are still curious how they pulled off getting a quiet zone in an area with NO crossing gates or extra protection.Oh well.
Mr. BNSF_RAILFAN,Just to show you that you can't fix "STUPID", watch this!http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/seminole/orl-bk-car-slams-into-train-061108,0,6996433.story
Note the reflective tape on the cars and the flashing lights on the gate crossing.I rest my case!
BigJim wrote: Mr. BNSF_RAILFAN,Just to show you that you can't fix "STUPID", watch this!http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/seminole/orl-bk-car-slams-into-train-061108,0,6996433.storyNote the reflective tape on the cars and the flashing lights on the gate crossing.I rest my case!
driver didnt have his headlights on so they never would have seen the reflective tape and it wasnt an active persuit there wernt any police car's hot on there tail just the helicopter from a distance with Night Vision and with 5 guys in the truck theres no way nobody in that truck didnt see the flashing lights... news report said area was dark and you can see in the video they didnt try to swerve untill what looked like the last second just before impact...
IMO if they saw anything it was just the flashing lights so to them the crossing looked clear and they probly thought they could lose the cops if they beat the train... oops
Mr_Ash wrote:...with 5 guys in the truck
Four guys (all with police records) and a teenaged girl. Odds are they were all looking back to see if the cops were behind them.....
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
tree68 wrote: Mr_Ash wrote:...with 5 guys in the truck Four guys (all with police records) and a teenaged girl. Odds are they were all looking back to see if the cops were behind them.....
Sorry, i havent watched any new footage or reports since it first happened and the PD was saying 5 guys then...
I think would have been impossable for them to never see the flashing lights, they couldnt have turned onto that street and driven all the way to the crossing with everyone in the car never looking forward to busy looking for phantom police cars
I mean think about it... Driver turns the corner and all they see is the flashing crossing lights no train "gotta beat the train they will never catch us then!" they probly thought they were home free
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