When I started railroading 15 years ago, I was taught by the guys, “Keep the wheels turning this is how we earn our money, and never sluff a customer.” About the time Fred Green took over as CEO the mentality changed, “Nobody moves, nobody gets hurt”. This became our new slogan. It was thought that being number one in safety would create business as customers would line up to work with such a “safe” railroad.
Railroading is a business. It's about making money. To me it was obvious that if CN could offer a customer the same product as us at a far less cost, then obviously, the customer will go with CN. It is simple economics. Safety at the railroad is not the customer's concern. It's all about earning money.
I remember one time our employee website boasted that CP earned $300,000 for some safety award that nobody ever heard of before. Really! We earned $300,000 for safety but lost millions in business for safety. Does this make business sense?
I learned many years ago in college a basic marketing principle. It is the law of “diminishing returns”. For example, a farmer puts fertilizer on his field and sees a great improvement in his crops. “Well, this stuff is great”, he thinks. The farmer then puts more and more on his crops. Finally, he puts so much BS on his crops that they start to die. He can't figure it out. How can something so good ultimately be so bad? Easy, there can be too much of a good thing. At CP the old CEO must have been sleeping that day when they taught the law of “diminishing returns”. Our fertilizer was/is safety and we were/are drowning in it.
Enter Hunter Harrison. I and my coworkers at the operating level have the feeling (at least where I work) that we may start to railroad again. For years we have been scoffing at safety meetings about management's new safety initiative and how it will not work. “It will cost too much in productivity.” Finally, somebody sees it our way. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to go back 15 years in safety. That was crazy then. But today is just as crazy in the opposite sense. There must be a balance.
What has Hunter done so far? Here are the rumours that are circulating. I cannot confirm with my own eyes, but I do have a source that is closer to the big picture than I am.
1. Cancelled all assignments in Toronto and Lethbridge, AB. I don't know why but I speculate that either they were two terminals that were more union friendly, or the operating plan was so poor he just decided to wipe the slate clean and start over again.
2. Closed two smaller intermodal yards, one in Toronto and one in Chicago. The Chicago story is interesting. It seems the manager in Chicago had decided that Bensenville was operating at more than capacity. Hunter asked him who decided what capacity is? He said, “I did.” Hunter responded that we are closing this other facility and if it does not work, ok, we will open it again, but if Bensenville can handle all the work, then its your job. Nice. Finally, management will be accountable for their actions. Finally!
3. Closed a shop facility in Ontario that had 12 employees and only 2 trains a day.
4. He is redesigning the operating plan.
5. Getting on and off moving equipment at 4 mph. Finally. Four mph is walking speed. Coming to a full stop to get on and off was not only time wasting but also a waste in fuel. The story here is that when Hunter witnessed this action by a conductor he asked what was going on. One of his senior operating managers said it was a Transport Canada rule. That was a big mistake. That was either a blatant lie or the manager does not know the rules. Either way it can't be good.
6. Increase the speed of inter terminal transfers from 15mph to track speed. I guess the carmen will get a lot busier. Haven't seen it yet but it makes sense.
7. Closed or will close all hump operations in Canada.
This is what I know. I am sure there is a lot more going on that I don't know about.
As predicted we are starting to see the managers flinch.
I don't know how long it will take for these changes to show up on the bottom line, but I bet it will only be 1 or 2 quarters before our bottom line starts to improve.
Overall, in my opinion, I like what I see. However, I do know that the employees affected by his changes are feeling the pressure of an insecure future. I fully expect to feel the pinch myself in the sense that I will be back on the ground pulling pins rather than sitting at the control stand.
At least I will have a job.
See Fred Frailey's blog for other developments. It's hard to take exception to most of Harrison's changes so far.
cptrainman 7. Closed or will close all hump operations in Canada.
Good stuff.
When I saw F. Frailey's blog the other day, and he said WB manifest trains out of Montreal were being humped four times before cars reached Vancouver, I could not believe my eyes. But I can see what happened.
In the absence of strong central leadership, the regional operating bosses developed a fiefdom building and a CYA mentality. More train starts, but not too many, means you must be building business and that makes you look good. But in Toronto's case, not humping all of the cars that come in from Montreal would mean that you would then have trains with a Montreal origination point leaving Toronto. And you know what is going to freeze over before that happens.
Hump operation will still be necessary for normal local activity in and out. There is no way you could flat switch a yard the size of Alyth.
And I'm so glad you brought up the Lethbridge, AB situation. I have been reading about this starting back around last Christmas. Railfans were reporting movement observations, and actual employes were not contradicting their conclusions, but no one would actually say there were problems. CP is trying to cross two major business corridors there where all the lines in and out are old school dark territory. They have got to get some of that new fangled electric signaling (CTC) on those lines, as well as bigger sidings. Failing the arrival of Trudeau hoppers full of thousand dollar bills, the best that can be done there now would be a new operating plan.
Keep the good news coming.
Bruce
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere" CP Rail Public Timetable
"O. S. Irricana"
. . . __ . ______
Take a drive the Alyth. I believe the hump is shut down already. Hunter says if you cannot hump 1500 cars a day, then it is not viable. At best Alyth was humping 1000 a day. If it is not closed yet. It will be soon.
I have spoken personallly with a manager who submitted an operations plan for flat switching Alyth.
Lethbridge, I dont know what is happening. I worked out of there many moons ago and I remember it could be a busy place with trains coming and going in all 4 directions. I guess you have seen 896/897 from coutts. I assume this coal is coming from PRB. It makes its way all the way to Prince Rupert. This train is causing all sorts of headaches down south as there is not a siding large enough for a meet with the coutts turn. Actually, you probably know better than me.
I dont know about the humping of trains 4 times from Montreal to Vancouver but I would not be surprised. The local operating plan leaves me shocked. I have gone to management with my ideas and I don't know why they don't listen. They know where the bottle necks are and I have given them possible solutions but they wont even try it.
I am actually nervous to divulge who I am and where I am. I would not be the first employee facing discipline for having a "not so rosy" opinion of management. However, I have hope for the future.
As the rumours continue, I will share the news.
dakotafred See Fred Frailey's blog for other developments. It's hard to take exception to most of Harrison's changes so far.
Thanks I did. Fred obviously has contact with somebody with a eye on the big picture. My view is obviously down at the switch stand. His points are very interesting and I like what I hear. I am keeping my stock.
cptrainman I have spoken personally with a manager who submitted an operations plan for flat switching Alyth. This train is causing all sorts of headaches down south as there is not a siding large enough for a meet with the Coutts turn.
I have spoken personally with a manager who submitted an operations plan for flat switching Alyth.
This train is causing all sorts of headaches down south as there is not a siding large enough for a meet with the Coutts turn.
The news about Alyth is just one more piece of sad news atop an increasingly large pile. Since PSM has bought its' share, the kinds of news I have been reading goes beyond alarming. I'm not sure of the word I am looking for, but I'm glad Dad isn't around to see it. After reading item after item it becomes so obvious that Fred Green had to be replaced, but even yet I am not sure EHH is the man to do it.
Not to short change his expertise at all, I just don't buy his bull in a china shop routine. And I wish the new CEO was young enough to have a viable ten year run at dealing with these problems.
After I made my last post, I realized your item about the Chicago manager was yet another example of what I was getting about here in Canada. I hadn't realized that the rouge middle management problem had spread down there, as it has only been just over twenty years since the Soo Line was integrated into the CPR. That is an unfortunate bad habit that has caught on too quickly.
I included your mention of the Coutts line because the fellow who was likely the last Agent at Warner, first open station north of Coutts, was the man who introduced my parents to each other. When I look at my 1964 ETT it truly is astounding how little has changed down there compared to the situation that exists now.
Keep the news coming, no matter how distressing it might be.
For us non railroaders, can you explain the rational for closing down hump yards? Is it cheaper/more efficient to flat switch rather than hump?
Thanks,
Ed
It's a throughput vs. cost thing. Up to a certain level of activity it is cheaper to flat switch. And of course if you need to handle a large number of cars, then you can justify the number of extra men needed. But there is a middle ground where it might seem like too much work to be flat switched, but not enough to go to a hump operation. EHH seems to be saying he wants 1500 cars per day to resume operating the hump facility.
If you start handling a large number of cars by flat switching you get into more fuel used by more locomotives, and when you are running more locomotives you need more men, and when you have more men you might run into overtime issues if you don't have a deep spare board. And of course in bad weather flat switching would be more affected than a hump operation would be, because the men can't get around as fast.
EHH is hanging his hat on 1500 cars, but it is the kind of call that can turn around and bite you on the butt if you don't stay on top of all the potential issues. We shall see.
AgentKid, I am confused by your contradictory posts. Is the news out of CP "good" or "distressing" -- and why?
Ok, I understand that at a certain point it is cheaper to flat switch vs hump, but I do not understand the cost structure (and obviously the mechanics involved).
Flat switching involves a crew or two that pushes and shoves cars into hand operated tracks.
Hump involves a crew that pushes and shoves cars over a hill and allows gravity, retarders, and electrical controls to move a car safely and correctly to the correct track.
Once the infrastructure is in place, what costs are involved which makes humping more expensive at a lower threshold? Just trying to figure it out. Terminal operations are very intersting to me, perhaps from my LTL trucking days.
Ed even with a humpyard you normally have a least two crews working, one humping cars filling the bowl, and another working the opposite end triming the bowl and making up outbound trains. Most departing trains consist of more than one block and since normally each track represents one destination it normally pulls four or five tracks to makeup each outbound train. The retards are a significant maintenance expense, particularly if they are the older Beam retarders. You need large air compressors feeding air to operate them, they have friction shoes, like brake pads that need to be replaced periodically and they need adjustment. Then there are all those power switches.
This is all very interesting and certainly indicates that CP could make operational changes in many areas that could lead to improved results.
However, there is a lot of danger in a "Do it my way...NOW!" approach. Just ask the Union Pacific.
Starting with the obvious, a large railroad such as the CP is a very complex interactive system and a change in Toronto can impact operations in Vancover. It is all in the details. Overlook something such as a relatively short passing siding at a critical meet point and trains can start to stack up at some point in the middle of nowhere.
The next big issue is the learning curve. Consider the plan to convert hump yards to flat switching. Even if the yard layout makes the change possible, there is still the need to plan out how the job will be done. After that supervisors and crews need to learn how to put it all to work efficiently. I am sure Ed Blysard, our resident expert on flat switching, can attest to the skills necessary to get the job done right.
Even though not up to Harrison's standards, CP does appear to have some trains running close enough to a schedule so that there is something of a daily pattern to movements. Dispatchers and road and yard managers get geared to these patterns and with experience over time also develope solutions to handling the unexpected. A well planned and highly disciplined operation can actually make the job easier for the people involved, but adopting to the new patterns and dealing with new conditions for the inevitable "unexpected" takes time and experience.
I like to put it this way. It is all well and good to grab the low hanging fruit. Just watch out for the widow maker branch high up in the tree.
"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics
dakotafred AgentKid, I am confused by your contradictory posts. Is the news out of CP "good" or "distressing" -- and why?
The news is indeed distressing, I was meaning to say it was good to see this kind of information. These latest posts have been the most informative of anything I have read anywhere outside of F. Frailey's blog.
cptrainman When I started railroading 15 years ago, I was taught by the guys, “Keep the wheels turning this is how we earn our money, and never sluff a customer.” About the time Fred Green took over as CEO the mentality changed, “Nobody moves, nobody gets hurt”. This became our new slogan. It was thought that being number one in safety would create business as customers would line up to work with such a “safe” railroad. Railroading is a business. It's about making money. To me it was obvious that if CN could offer a customer the same product as us at a far less cost, then obviously, the customer will go with CN. It is simple economics. Safety at the railroad is not the customer's concern. It's all about earning money. I remember one time our employee website boasted that CP earned $300,000 for some safety award that nobody ever heard of before. Really! We earned $300,000 for safety but lost millions in business for safety. Does this make business sense?
Make a few minor changes, including the first part of the name but retaining the second part, to the above part of the original post and it could well describe another major railroad. Except they have made record profits.
Jeff
Union Pacific also had their problems after they bought SP... CP is on the right track now... The company has a good, fairly simple, physical plant. Now they really need to focus on filling the sales hopper. Some have proposed trimming the plant in order to cut costs and to focus on opportunities in the West. However, I believe that would be short sighted as one rarely or never makes gains by doing LESS or by have fewer capabilities. Any line can be made profitable by putting enough business on it...and CP has no lines that lead to nowhere, so that shouldn't be all that difficult to do. It ain't all about cost cutting and operational efficiency...a big part of it is generating new business.
Absolutely correct Ulrich. Fill the *** hoppers. The time is now to increase volumes on railroads at good fair rates. Not $1 over variable costs, but at profitable levels.
However...it is going to take some time to grab that good paying freight. If service has been substandard and or CP really hasnt worked the marketing department in order to find and secure this business, then the shipping public will want to see results before making changes.
The biggest challenge, that I see, is in the oil patch. Volumes are growing pushing capacity to limits. Investment is needed to convert to CTC line, however...how long will that oil remain on the rails? When will it move to pipeline? What a fascinating issue. I would price it to make as much $$$ now and negotiate longer term as needed.
jeaton This is all very interesting and certainly indicates that CP could make operational changes in many areas that could lead to improved results. However, there is a lot of danger in a "Do it my way...NOW!" approach. Just ask the Union Pacific. Starting with the obvious, a large railroad such as the CP is a very complex interactive system and a change in Toronto can impact operations in Vancover. It is all in the details. Overlook something such as a relatively short passing siding at a critical meet point and trains can start to stack up at some point in the middle of nowhere. The next big issue is the learning curve. Consider the plan to convert hump yards to flat switching. Even if the yard layout makes the change possible, there is still the need to plan out how the job will be done. After that supervisors and crews need to learn how to put it all to work efficiently. I am sure Ed Blysard, our resident expert on flat switching, can attest to the skills necessary to get the job done right. Even though not up to Harrison's standards, CP does appear to have some trains running close enough to a schedule so that there is something of a daily pattern to movements. Dispatchers and road and yard managers get geared to these patterns and with experience over time also develope solutions to handling the unexpected. A well planned and highly disciplined operation can actually make the job easier for the people involved, but adopting to the new patterns and dealing with new conditions for the inevitable "unexpected" takes time and experience. I like to put it this way. It is all well and good to grab the low hanging fruit. Just watch out for the widow maker branch high up in the tree.
I had the same thought when I saw the talk here (first I had seen) of closing yards and forcing the cars into other yards. It was the closing of a minor SP yard in Houston and the forcing of its cars into a larger yard that ended up paralyzing UP in the mid-nineties, as a chain reaction of cars and engines not able to be yarded, trains tieing up the main trying to get in, engines not being available for outbound trains, etc. cascaded through the entire western US. Not being on the railroad or in Houston my impression was that UP managers didn't understand the physical limitations in Houston that made the move unwise but rather thought that if they rode the yardmasters and yard crews hard enough that they would make it work. Harrison was a switchman at one time on the Frisco, hopefully he will know better.
Dwight,
They didn't close a yard, what they did was take the chemical plant switching away from Strang yard, trying to make Strang into a SIT and storage yard, and moved the switching to Englewood yard...this created 4 or 5 big trains a day into and out of Englewood just to switch the cars that were already at Strang, and take them back out there to service the petrochemical customers...which is pretty much all Strang does.
Englewood is the home of Tower 87, if it moves east or west across the old SP system, it most likely crosses tower 87, Amtrak included, and Englewood runs at capacity all the time, so the extra burden created a domino effect, trains that should have been switched in the morning didn't get switched till late the next day, which pushed back other work, which pushed back....you get the point.
Add in the horrible screw up of UP assuming their computer car tracking and inventory system would work without a test run, and when they flipped the switch, whole trains disappeared.
The entire inventory of Englewood yard, every track, simply was gone, and no way to get the old SP computer to recall it, so they had to have people actually walk the tracks making written lists just to figure out what they had in the yard and what was out on the system.
Englewood is huge, just look at a map of Houston and the biggest yard in the northeast corner is Englewood.
They didn't know what was headed towards them, what needed to get out of town, what tracks they had available in what yards...all of the information needed was gone.
To compound all of that, they forced retired a lot of older SP management and officers, so they lost a tremendous amount of institutional knowledge about what does, and more importantly, doesn't work in and around the Houston Metroplex.
Omaha had no idea where you could "hide" a train for a day or two, but the old SP yardmasters knew what fit where, and how long it could stay there till it "had" to move.
The total lack of understanding what the physical plant can handle and a useless computer system plugged Englewood, and if Englewood doesn't flow, nothing in Houston moves, it is the hub of the rail network here.
Plus, SP was a "good ol boy" railroad....if you knew the right folks, your cars would show up on the spot every day...the whole arrogant UP attitude rubbed a lot of customers the wrong way at the wrong time, the attitude of "you get your cars when I feel like delivering them" doesn't quite cut it with companies like Shell or Phillips, BP or Exxon, especially when those companies had access to KCS and the BN through the PTRA...we were flooded with new business after that!
For us, it wasn't a great thing,
We had to sit on/store a lot of SP/UP cars because we had nowhere to send them, Englewood refused to take traffic.
So the PTRA yards were pretty plugged, and then Dayton, and Casey....then San Antonio and on and on it went.
For you Midwest folks, imagine it like this...What if Chicago closed down for a week, an entire week.
Completely closed.
What if nothing gets in or out except a few trains that could be built in outlying yards...imagine all of Chicago's rail network closed.
No freight trains, no passenger trains.
That's what the Englewood plug did down here...if it moved east or west through Texas, it stopped and stayed stopped for a long long time..
23 17 46 11
I remember the UP backup when the switchover was activated. Railfanning in Tolono Ill. and there was a IC curfew for railwork and headed over to Sidney where the NS crossed over the UP. NS was busy but there was a UP stacker off in the distance. Sat there all day. Next day the same thing happened on the IC so back over to Sidney again. Same train was sitting there. Got back to Tolono and there was a local fan there fanning also and asked him what was going on with the UP and told him about the stacker in the siding. He said that train had been there for 3 days waiting for Houston to get unclogged for him to head south a little more just to sit. He claimed that there were 15+ trains waiting from Houston just about to Chicago waiting.
http://www.youtube.com/user/pavabo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulvbox
The wrong operating plan applied to the wrong physical plant, managed by people who are not familiar with the reality of the resources they are working with can bring a rail property to gridlock in a relative heartbeat. Once gridlock is attained, unless a working operating plan is developed grid lock will continue.
Arrogant senior management's with prior experience on other properties routinely make these kinds of mistakes - the property they are trying to manage today, doesn't have the properties and resources of the prior property they were familiar with. All railroads must be managed consistent with the physical and business constraints in which they exist.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Ed: Just a note about Houston in the 90's and UP's service.
Truck rates went thru the roof. Brokers were offering $6.00 @ mile to move truckload freight out. BNSF was having there drivers from Ft Worth do round trips everyday to pull freight. (Not legal in those days either).
And a lot of warehouses had so much freight on the floor that they were having problems with the local fire departments.
I do not think that EHH could do that to Canada could he?
Thx IGN
Ed: Best account of Houston I've seen yet, including those by pros like Frailey and Maury Klein; a keeper! Thanks.
Ed:Excellent summary report of what happened. Time after time, the word "arrogant" is used to describe the Union Pacific. In Klein's book the indicated there was a certain degree of arrogance, but also indicated many SP managers used the merger as an opportunity to retire, thus the brain drain.
How is Houston these days? Did things get sorted out?
I have a customer that has a SIT yard outside Chicago. The yard was specifically built in order to store primarily plastic in hopper cars. The customer then receives orders for delivery and transloads from hopper to trailers (pneumatic) and delivers. It is a very successful operation and they are adding 2 more yard tracks. Capacity is around 300 cars and his business is expanding.
Is this type of yard typical in the Houston area? or is this a small operation? Are most of the SIT yards owned by the railroads or private operators?
This seems like an amazing operation in Houston. Chicago has volume, but most of that is based on interchange...there isnt a large volume of carload originated freight anymore.
Although I see a potential for some problems with the transition from old to new top management, I don"t think the CP is at risk of a major meltdown on the order of the SP/UP merger fiasco. Among other things, their data processing system remains in place and they are not faced with integrating another railroad into their existing routes and operations. Also, the CP shouldn't be losing the institutional knowledge that would happen with a massive departure of low to mid level managers.
I think Harrison is smart enough to listen to lower level supervisors and may be able to avoid "unintended consequences" (AKA We didn't think this out too well!). I just don't think he is going to be able to drive down the operating ratio as fast as some seem to expect.
jeaton Also, the CP shouldn't be losing the institutional knowledge that would happen with a massive departure of low to mid level managers. I think Harrison is smart enough to listen to lower level supervisors and may be able to avoid "unintended consequences" (AKA We didn't think this out too well!).
Also, the CP shouldn't be losing the institutional knowledge that would happen with a massive departure of low to mid level managers.
I think Harrison is smart enough to listen to lower level supervisors and may be able to avoid "unintended consequences" (AKA We didn't think this out too well!).
First point, I hope there is a wholesale change of managers at least where I am. In my opinion there are only one or two that are worth their salary. The rest are basically stealing from the comapny by accepting wages. Just yesterday I was watching a Trainmaster and wondering WTF. If he wasn't so lazy, he could have saved the company some overtime wages. We were sitting on straight time while another crew was working at overtime. Just give us a ride to relieve those guys. Let them go home and save the company some overtime. I am tired of making suggestions to Trainmasters. They don't listen, so I give up.
Just fixing the operating plan will improve the OR even without additional customers as we will start to railroad more efficiently. I think the OR will start to go down 3rd quarter this year and will continue to go down as Hunter fixes this mess.
I know of one low level manager personally that has submitted an operating plan. Maybe not to Hunter directly, but at least he is listening to his grass roots employees.
It is interesting how some folks we worried that Hunter would destroy moral and safety like he did at CN. Maybe he will once he starts to hold people accountable for their actions, but remember one thing. CN was a goverment corporation and CP was/is not. Hunter was only the 2nd CEO after Paul Tellier to run CN, so a lot of the old goverment bloat and attitude was still there. I am thinking (hoping) things will change more smoothly at CP.
Ulrich Some have proposed trimming the plant in order to cut costs and to focus on opportunities in the West.
Some have proposed trimming the plant in order to cut costs and to focus on opportunities in the West.
This rumour is going around. It does not make sense. If there are any branches left, maybe there is some opportunity to spin off more short lines. Another rumour is the closing of Thunder Bay. This one is based on the fact Hunter closed Thunder Bay at CN. Then I heard Hunter was selling everthing east of Thunder Bay. I think that rumour came out the 2nd week after he became CEO.
On the positive side, I heard one rumour from Ontairio that Hunter saw a shortline doing switching that we should have been doing and cancelled that short line's contract on the spot. Well, if it was only that easy. However, a rumour like that is good for morale for the operating employees such as myself.
Lots of crazy stuff flying around right now. The points I covered at the start of this thread I thought we pretty solid. That is, "not just a bunch of rumors."
DwightBranch jeaton: This is all very interesting and certainly indicates that CP could make operational changes in many areas that could lead to improved results. However, there is a lot of danger in a "Do it my way...NOW!" approach. Just ask the Union Pacific. Starting with the obvious, a large railroad such as the CP is a very complex interactive system and a change in Toronto can impact operations in Vancover. It is all in the details. Overlook something such as a relatively short passing siding at a critical meet point and trains can start to stack up at some point in the middle of nowhere. The next big issue is the learning curve. Consider the plan to convert hump yards to flat switching. Even if the yard layout makes the change possible, there is still the need to plan out how the job will be done. After that supervisors and crews need to learn how to put it all to work efficiently. I am sure Ed Blysard, our resident expert on flat switching, can attest to the skills necessary to get the job done right. Even though not up to Harrison's standards, CP does appear to have some trains running close enough to a schedule so that there is something of a daily pattern to movements. Dispatchers and road and yard managers get geared to these patterns and with experience over time also develope solutions to handling the unexpected. A well planned and highly disciplined operation can actually make the job easier for the people involved, but adopting to the new patterns and dealing with new conditions for the inevitable "unexpected" takes time and experience. I like to put it this way. It is all well and good to grab the low hanging fruit. Just watch out for the widow maker branch high up in the tree. I had the same thought when I saw the talk here (first I had seen) of closing yards and forcing the cars into other yards. It was the closing of a minor SP yard in Houston and the forcing of its cars into a larger yard that ended up paralyzing UP in the mid-nineties, as a chain reaction of cars and engines not able to be yarded, trains tieing up the main trying to get in, engines not being available for outbound trains, etc. cascaded through the entire western US. Not being on the railroad or in Houston my impression was that UP managers didn't understand the physical limitations in Houston that made the move unwise but rather thought that if they rode the yardmasters and yard crews hard enough that they would make it work. Harrison was a switchman at one time on the Frisco, hopefully he will know better.
jeaton: This is all very interesting and certainly indicates that CP could make operational changes in many areas that could lead to improved results. However, there is a lot of danger in a "Do it my way...NOW!" approach. Just ask the Union Pacific. Starting with the obvious, a large railroad such as the CP is a very complex interactive system and a change in Toronto can impact operations in Vancover. It is all in the details. Overlook something such as a relatively short passing siding at a critical meet point and trains can start to stack up at some point in the middle of nowhere. The next big issue is the learning curve. Consider the plan to convert hump yards to flat switching. Even if the yard layout makes the change possible, there is still the need to plan out how the job will be done. After that supervisors and crews need to learn how to put it all to work efficiently. I am sure Ed Blysard, our resident expert on flat switching, can attest to the skills necessary to get the job done right. Even though not up to Harrison's standards, CP does appear to have some trains running close enough to a schedule so that there is something of a daily pattern to movements. Dispatchers and road and yard managers get geared to these patterns and with experience over time also develope solutions to handling the unexpected. A well planned and highly disciplined operation can actually make the job easier for the people involved, but adopting to the new patterns and dealing with new conditions for the inevitable "unexpected" takes time and experience. I like to put it this way. It is all well and good to grab the low hanging fruit. Just watch out for the widow maker branch high up in the tree.
I hope we can have a similar discussion as the UP/SP merger with CP/KCS one day. Is someone out there with some clout listening. Merge CP/KCS.
cptrainman First point, I hope there is a wholesale change of managers at least where I am. In my opinion there are only one or two that are worth their salary. The rest are basically stealing from the comapny by accepting wages. Just yesterday I was watching a Trainmaster and wondering WTF. If he wasn't so lazy, he could have saved the company some overtime wages. We were sitting on straight time while another crew was working at overtime. Just give us a ride to relieve those guys. Let them go home and save the company some overtime. I am tired of making suggestions to Trainmasters. They don't listen, so I give up.
I don't know what your contract allows, but if I work a train and also used (inaddition to working the original train) to relieve/work another train, I can claim 8 hours straight time in addition to the pay for the train originally worked. I would think you would have that too. Even if you don't, that TM may have thought you did. Working them on overtime may be cheaper than a second day's pay claim.
cptrainman I hope we can have a similar discussion as the UP/SP merger with CP/KCS one day. Is someone out there with some clout listening. Merge CP/KCS.
I honestly don't see KCS/CP happening, neither has deep pockets to modernize their 19th century system, and they can just interchange the old fashioned way much more easily. What I would watch for is UP/CP (just my opinion) though I think the strong Loonie would put old Phil off right now.
There's been talk of UP/CP before. In the meantime, keep your eyes open for a possible extension of UP north of the border in the not too distant future.
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