Team Engineers

[arbfbe]

Well, sure, the railroad companies are all for it. They virtually eliminate dogcatching of crews. As soon as a crew gets their 12 hours in the relief crew walks up from the dorm car and takes over. What a good deal for the beancounters and trainmasters.

Look at the lifestyle the crews face. Away from home for 30 days at a time just like the steamship companies. But each day is the same 12 hours on and then 12 hours off every day for 30 days. Sleep interrupted by the slack action of the train, the noise of meeting trains. Forget something, sorry, no chance to pick some up along the way. Your train gets parked for a couple of days for staging, there you sit perhaps out in the sticks somewhere. How many days worth of food can you carry? What kind of off duty activities can you find to do that will not bother the other member of the crew if they decide to sleep while you are up? Family time? Get a good cell phone plan with lots of minutes and hope you have a tower when you want to catch up. What about laundry? Washer and dryer on board? Sure must be hard to go back and forth through your home town for 30 days and be unable to get off to see the family. So you need to lay off for a day for an emergency, how do you get back home from Timbuktoo and what about all the wages lost for that one day you really need?

Talk about a bad lifestyle getting worse. No thanks.

Alan

[ValleyX]

Why did this topic get dredged up again? Imagine the safety issues when the team conductor and engineer are at each others' throat after spending a constant 24 hours each and every day with each other in the cab and on the coach.

[csxengineer98]

i dont know..some people just dont know when to leave sleeping dogs lie i guess....
csx engineer

[Justicar]

Did anyone mention how it would be so boring during your off-time that you'd end up committing ritualistic suicide to end the suffering? After about 16-20 hours in a hotel room I've watched all the tv and talked on the phone all that I care do to. What sorts of activities are available? There isn't any place to even take a walk. At least at the hotel I can talk to the staff or other guests down in the lobby or walk into town, do some shopping, go to a restaurant or a bar....take a walk or a run or workout. The amount of money I'd have to be paid to endure all that would even add to the whole idea not being "cost effective".

[ValleyX]

And here it is, Team Engineers.  Bringing it back to the top of the list.