One time I had to deal with a broken jammer handle. It was one of the nice L-shaped ones, but the top horizontal part had broken off. So here I am trying to deal with this vertical jammer handle, at a derailment site. After that I pretty much carry one with me.
Mike WSOR engineer | HO scale since 1988 | Visit our club www.WCGandyDancers.com
Carried a spare reverser for years but I've never carried brake handles, don't see the need with the pinned ones we've had all this time. Very rarely do you ever find one that will actually come off.
Some of the old boys would carry chromed brake handles, their own personal set. Never saw one that anyone had actually gotten engraved, though.
WSOR 3801If you can arrange it, carry a spare independent brake handle. (All our engines have 26 air) The plastic ones don't weigh much. Spare automatic handle wouldn't be bad either. A small pry bar to adjust brakes helps, too, when assigned to outlying terminals. I already have the duct tape, zip ties and spare reverser handle. Found a yellow one, so I remember to take it back if I need to use it.
If you can arrange it, carry a spare independent brake handle. (All our engines have 26 air) The plastic ones don't weigh much. Spare automatic handle wouldn't be bad either. A small pry bar to adjust brakes helps, too, when assigned to outlying terminals. I already have the duct tape, zip ties and spare reverser handle. Found a yellow one, so I remember to take it back if I need to use it.
Funny you should mention that...even though all our handles are pinned in place, I still have a set of brake handles in my grip. The new guys always ask what they are.
Nick
Take a Ride on the Reading with the: Reading Company Technical & Historical Society http://www.readingrailroad.org/
Keep your brakes warm. Especially in the winter. Snow brakes are no brakes.
I'll wear the Carhartt over 2 or 3 layers. Helps when it's below zero out. I also have some of the lock de-icer they sell in gas stations. It works pretty well. Much easier on the lock than torching it with a fusee.
Yard switching is similar to playing chess, with big pieces. A strategic cut can save a number of moves down the line. I'll help a new guy out for a while, but if he keeps making bonehead moves, I won't say much, just let him do whatever. They can only work us for 12 hours.
A "Duck" gets wet when it's raining.
An Engineer shouldn't ,but sometimes unfortunately does
Collin ,operator of the " Eastern Kentucky & Ohio R.R."
nbrodarIt's also amazing to watch some of the guys sharpshoot for off days. You'd mark up on a job knowing you'd get bumped, in order to string together three, four, five, or possibly more days off, and not get charged for them.
Corrections officers (AKA prison guards) around here are famous for their swaps - they have to carry calendars to keep them straight. There is always a market - folks who want a lot of time off in the summer are more than willing to trade with folks who want a lot of time off during hunting season, f'rinstance.
HoS rules that out on the railroad, of course.
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...
nbrodar [snip] Speaking of callers, I can always tell how desperate they are for a body by the message they leave. If they REALLY REALLY REALLY need someone, they call me Nick or Mr. Brodar. If not...it's just dead air. [snip] Nick
Exactly that - both aspects, too - was the subject of the following article/ essay by former PRR/ PC/ ConRail engineer and Road Foreman of Engines (I believe) John Crosby - 'Al' was the caller:
You win, Al Trains, April 1977 page 30 an award for acting ( CR, CREW, "CROSBY, JOHN R.", DISPATCHER, ENGINEER, TRN )
- Paul North.
Valley,
Yeah, sharpshooting is definitely more difficult now then in the past. Many of today's systems have guards in place to limit the practice...such as there has to be an hour difference in the off duty times to change your standing order.
But it's still possible if you can figure out the rules. It's still possible to make nice with the callers, especially if you have assigned callers at the mega crew management center. Speaking of callers, I can always tell how desperate they are for a body by the message they leave. If they REALLY REALLY REALLY need someone, they call me Nick or Mr. Brodar. If not...it's just dead air.
It's also amazing to watch some of the guys sharpshoot for off days. You'd mark up on a job knowing you'd get bumped, in order to string together three, four, five, or possibly more days off, and not get charged for them.
I knew a couple of older master sharpshooters who played the game by cultivating favor with various yardmasters and callers in the terminal. And maybe a few dispatchers, too.
I've often wondered what a couple of the sharpshooter would have done with today's wide availabilty of information via computer of what is coming and what might run first. On the other hand, they wouldn't have the callers located locally, as today's mega-systems have centralized call offices and being best buddies with the caller seemed to be a key ingredient for any good sharpshooter of the past.
rrboomer [snips] Sharpshooting is using anything at your disposal to position yourself (or your crew) to catch a choice/primo assignment on the next call. You can also sharpshoot to try to force someone on the board ahead of you to catch a miserable job so you don't. You need to know the Agreement, the train lineup, the tendencies of others on the same board/pool, be able to do a creative tie up/arrival/markup, etc. It's not an exact science in that others also may find the ways to be more creative and/or the lineup changes, someone marks up or lays off unexpectedly, etc
Sharpshooting is using anything at your disposal to position yourself (or your crew) to catch a choice/primo assignment on the next call. You can also sharpshoot to try to force someone on the board ahead of you to catch a miserable job so you don't. You need to know the Agreement, the train lineup, the tendencies of others on the same board/pool, be able to do a creative tie up/arrival/markup, etc. It's not an exact science in that others also may find the ways to be more creative and/or the lineup changes, someone marks up or lays off unexpectedly, etc
Good brief explanation, without getting bogged down in a lot of detail or with a specific example. In other contexts, 'sharp-shooting' the extra board would be called "gaming the system". What can make it interesting and inexact is that it's interactive - what Crew A does may affect the options that are available to Crew B, and vice-versa. Kind of like a real-time chess game with live people and really big pieces. The economics and operations research type of professors and experts use 'game theory' to figure out the options and probabilities and likely outcomes for this kind of challenge in everything from oil pricing to nuclear warfare . . . But I'd put my money on an old-head crewman with about 25 years seniority on the same district to beat any of them at his game . . .
And thanks to zugman and rrboomer for the answers to my question about what "Always leave the engine in the clear" means.
Always leave the the engine in the clear:
Won't have to ruin the coffee break/beans to move it.
No body can shove a track from the other end in the side of it, thus avoiding lots of paperwork.
If it's in the clear and it gets hit someone else does the paperwork.
Chris:
Paul_D_North_Jr rrboomer [snip] Always leave the engine in the clear. [snip] Please excuse my ignorance here, but - What exactly does this mean ? If anything other than making sure that the engine is far enough into the siding and beyond the 'fouling point' at any switch/ turnout ? Thanks in advance.
rrboomer [snip] Always leave the engine in the clear. [snip]
Always leave the engine in the clear.
[snip]
Please excuse my ignorance here, but -
What exactly does this mean ? If anything other than making sure that the engine is far enough into the siding and beyond the 'fouling point' at any switch/ turnout ? Thanks in advance.
That's all. leave it far enough in a track so it doesn't trade paint with anything...
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
What exactly does this mean ? If anything other than making sure that the engine is far enough into the siding and beyond the 'fouling point' at any switch/ turnout ? And/ or, separated from any standing cars that are not that engine's train by a couple of carlengths ?
Thanks in advance.
Duct tape I understand.Sharpshooting?
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Duct tape is like the Force...it has a light side, a dark side, and holds the universe together.
No sharp shooting is not an exact science, more like a black art. But it's very helpful if you're good at it.
Always have a good alibi.....and a couple of not so good in reserve.
Sharp shooting is not an exact science.
Best advice I received my first night firing:
"If something don't look right, STOP. You can always tell them why you stopped. You can't tell them why you didn't."
You can think of the reverser as a key of sorts also...with it pulled out of the control stand you can not move the locomotive unders its own power,
Duct tape repairs rain gear, selas leaky doors, windows, holes in the floor, and as Mr. Wabash states, tape glad hands together to keep them for braking apart at the wrong time.
kolechovski Why duct tape? For MOW gangs, yeah, even for the engineer to have in the cab, sure, but out switching cars?
Why duct tape? For MOW gangs, yeah, even for the engineer to have in the cab, sure, but out switching cars?
In the cab to seal leaky doors and if the conductor carries it the engineer dont haft to also in the field if your train goes into emergency you take the roll with you and if its just a air hose seperation or leaky air hose coupling its been used to make sure that they wont seperate again until pin is pulled
I'm not a railroader, so I have to ask. What is a "reverser?"
It's the handle on the control stand that controls which direction the locomotive will move. While not exactly the same thing, it's analogous to the shift lever on a car with an automatic transmission.
Here's an illustration.
Nick,
I'm not a railroader, so I have to ask. What is a "reverser?" By the way, I thought a lot on your list can be transferred to other professions.
Thanks,
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
nbrodarBigJimAs for "Carhartt", I have a nice looking heavy Carhartt jacket with a hood. But, that is all it is, nice looking. Coldest darn jacket I've ever bought. Have to wear a fleece vest underneath to keep warm. Never again. You just got the wrong one! You need the Arctic coat (the expensive one), made for real workin' men. Not that other (cheap) coat for people who just want to look like they're working. Nick
BigJimAs for "Carhartt", I have a nice looking heavy Carhartt jacket with a hood. But, that is all it is, nice looking. Coldest darn jacket I've ever bought. Have to wear a fleece vest underneath to keep warm. Never again.
As for "Carhartt", I have a nice looking heavy Carhartt jacket with a hood. But, that is all it is, nice looking. Coldest darn jacket I've ever bought. Have to wear a fleece vest underneath to keep warm. Never again.
You just got the wrong one! You need the Arctic coat (the expensive one), made for real workin' men. Not that other (cheap) coat for people who just want to look like they're working.
zugmann These old farts love to sit around and complain about how the newer RRers don't know anything, but you just know when they were new, they were also accused of not knowing their butt from a hole in the ground.
These old farts love to sit around and complain about how the newer RRers don't know anything, but you just know when they were new, they were also accused of not knowing their butt from a hole in the ground.
Some things never change.
More like,"They don't make 'em like they used to!"
.
wabash1 Murphy Siding wabash1 a new conductor will make a engineer lots of money OK. I've taken some time to think this through. ' Turns out, I'm not that smart. How will a new conductor make an engineer lost of money? A new conductor wont do the smart short cuts or do things that save time everything they do takes twice as long and they wont listen to suggestions. Now some New conductors are very smart but most haft to do things the hard way til they learn.and the some never learn There was one guy who tried to suggest that the ole head conductors can make both money, well some know how to do the work and how to drag the time out for pay but the others are the ones who never learn. I was not trying to start anything with the conductors, most know what im talking about, some can switch a yard and have fun doing it, take 300 cars and switch them out in about 3-4 hours and be done for the day, others can only switch 1 car at a time, and take 10 hrs to go 150 cars. and a few can only do the napping right. And in fairness there is engineers who cant get across the road with out screwing trains up and some cant switch and some scare you to know your going to meet them,
Murphy Siding wabash1 a new conductor will make a engineer lots of money OK. I've taken some time to think this through. ' Turns out, I'm not that smart. How will a new conductor make an engineer lost of money?
wabash1 a new conductor will make a engineer lots of money
a new conductor will make a engineer lots of money
A new conductor wont do the smart short cuts or do things that save time everything they do takes twice as long and they wont listen to suggestions. Now some New conductors are very smart but most haft to do things the hard way til they learn.and the some never learn
There was one guy who tried to suggest that the ole head conductors can make both money, well some know how to do the work and how to drag the time out for pay but the others are the ones who never learn.
I was not trying to start anything with the conductors, most know what im talking about, some can switch a yard and have fun doing it, take 300 cars and switch them out in about 3-4 hours and be done for the day, others can only switch 1 car at a time, and take 10 hrs to go 150 cars. and a few can only do the napping right. And in fairness there is engineers who cant get across the road with out screwing trains up and some cant switch and some scare you to know your going to meet them,
okay this was from trains magazine years back.The conductor had a trainee on the DT&I at campbells soup in napoleon.it was freezing rain.The rods,grab irons and switches were lined with ice.So how did the old head get around so well? He wore golf shoes to work.gave him extra traction.Just a story i enjoyed reading.
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").
I always ask if they want to run for the quit, or shoot for the hogs.
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