Are yardmasters confined to the rail yards, or do they go out on the road from time to time? What are their hours like? Do their hours tend to be more normal than those of a road crew?
Yardmasters are responsable for what goes on within the limits of their yard. Their responsability ends at the limits of their yard. Yardmasters typically work an 8 hour shift.
Mac McCulloch
Definition and job descriptions can be found in any book of rules of the operating department and may vary from railroad to railroad and division to division. In general the yardmaster is in charge of the marshalling, taking apart and putting together trains, assignment of crews, cars, equipment, locomotives and all train movements within the limits of his yard. He may be the sole authority of his yard or may work under the direction of a trainmaster; he may be General Yardmaster over all yardmasters in a given yard and thus all yard movements and programs. He may have assistants working with him. Usually yardmasters, like operators, agents, and clerks, work an 8 hour trick which may or may not coincide with the tricks of the crews and dispatchers and may also overlap each other to assure a smooth changeover. He would not be out on the road, so to speak, unless he was also a yardmaster at another yard during his trick (Conrail would give a yardmaster at one location authority of yardmaster at another location at the same time operating by fax and phone and radio).
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Might you be confusing "Yard Foreman" with "Yardmaster"? The yardmaster is based in the yard office, while the yard foreman is out in the weather working as part of a switching crew that he is in charge of, much like the conductor on trains.
John
cx500 Might you be confusing "Yard Foreman" with "Yardmaster"? The yardmaster is based in the yard office, while the yard foreman is out in the weather working as part of a switching crew that he is in charge of, much like the conductor on trains. John
Not necessarily. Some small yards have what is called a "Footboard Yardmaster." In addition to doing the work of the Yard Foreman, he does some of the work of a Yardmaster. Such as deciding what tracks through trains will set out cars to or yard their trains on. He will mark his own lists, deciding on what tracks to use in building trains or blocks. When he's all done he will also "pickle" (PICL, Perpetual Inventory and Car Location) the cars in the computer. Basically switching the cars in cyber space that he just did in the real world on the lead.
My home terminal, although a main line yard only has one switch engine assignment left. The Foreman's job is a Footboard Yardmaster's position. We have utility men on duty during the other tricks when the yard engine is off and a switchman's extra board to protect those jobs. All on these boards have to become Footboard Yardmaster qualified to stay on them.
Jeff
CP_RAILFAN Are yardmasters confined to the rail yards, or do they go out on the road from time to time? What are their hours like? Do their hours tend to be more normal than those of a road crew?
Unless a yardmasters duties include lining up signals, which is rare, they are not covered by the hours of service law. So while their are on eight hour shift for the most part, they can get stuck working 16 hours if their relief calls off with no one available to cover the job.
An "expensive model collector"
BNSF yardmaster positions fall into two types: the BN positions are the traditional ydmstr union jobs that typically work eight hr shifts. Former SF are salaried mgmnt positions under the header 'asst trnmstr (ATM). These positions can fill in for a division trnmstr who may be off on vac, business at headquarters in TX, etc. Unlike the BN ydmstrs, ATM positions are required to go in the field and perform op testing on train crews. ATM shifts are normally 12 hrs. ... It is my understanding that former ydmstrs on SP are salaried jobs also under the header Mgr Train Operations (MTO) while other UP ydmstrs are union positions. The UP yardmstrs in Wichita manage the ex Katy yd @ Parsons, KS,. They are now on 12 hr shifts after voting to go to a rotating work cycle. Their screwed up schedule is like a rotating 4-3-3-4 or something like that.
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