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One year later (sleep thread)

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Posted by Overmod on Thursday, May 16, 2013 1:30 PM

tree68

I think I figured out what the agenda is here - get rid of night-time trains.  If there were no night trains, sleep cycles would not be disrupted, there would be no night-time noise issues/complaints, and there would always be daylight to work in (night operations, especially switching, are pretty dangerous).

You may think this sounds silly, but the folks in the ivory towers have been known to come up with sillier ideas...

I think the gist of the argument, such as it is, is more in line with "keep nighttime calls reserved for nighttime-compatible workers".  And take whatever steps may be necessary to 'ensure sleep-wake cycle integrity' or whatever (a euphemism for intrusive monitoring to Make Sure The People Are In Bed On Time -- nanny-state at its finest flower.)

I would be interested to see the statistics for SWSD that are derived for continuous shift work (e.g., no rotation).  That would give an average percentage for people who just can't get used to being up at night no matter what, and perhaps a percentage for people who have trouble with dark vs. light cycles.  That will let railroads do sensible reasonable accommodation, and figure out exactly what they can run at night, and adjust their hiring policies and HR procedures accordingly...

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Posted by Randy Stahl on Thursday, May 16, 2013 1:56 PM

tree68

Some researchers once proved, using accepted methods, that dimes cause cancer.   Dimes were implanted into the abdominal cavities of research mice, and apparently enough cancer, or cancerous conditions, resulted that the researchers could make that claim.

Since no one had an agenda to get rid of dimes the exercise ended as little more than a novelty, but research has proved...

tree68

Some researchers once proved, using accepted methods, that dimes cause cancer.   Dimes were implanted into the abdominal cavities of research mice, and apparently enough cancer, or cancerous conditions, resulted that the researchers could make that claim.

Since no one had an agenda to get rid of dimes the exercise ended as little more than a novelty, but research has proved...

I implanted a 12 pack of Miller beer in my abdomen and blanked out.................................

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Thursday, May 16, 2013 3:05 PM

Randy Stahl

I implanted a 12 pack of Miller beer in my abdomen and blanked out.................................

  But,were you wearing *The Hat* ?

     Confucius say:  "The only thing worse than falling asleep at work, is waking up at work". Zzz

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Posted by John WR on Thursday, May 16, 2013 7:18 PM

edblysard
John, here ya go...

Thank you for the report, Ed.  I read the whole thing except for the appendix.  

As you point out, within two minutes before the accident the engineer adjusted the throttle and pressed the reset button so he was awake and alert enough to take those actions.  Never the less, he did also pass a red signal.  A fairly recent physical examination shows he did not have a vision impairment or color blindness.  

The NTSB argues fatigue was a factor in passing the red signal because the engineer and the conductor had risk factors for a sleep related disorder.   However, they do not explain the discrepancy between taking actions that showed the engineer was awake and alert and passing the red signal. I personally am not inclined to comment about the validity of the NTSB's conclusion although I can see why you. with railroad expertise that I do not have,  would question that conclusion.  The only question I would ask you is if you would be able to comment on just why the engineer passed the red signal.  

John

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Posted by zugmann on Thursday, May 16, 2013 7:21 PM

Dead men tell no tales. 

The only people that know what happened are no longer with us.  For anybody or any agency to pretend like they know is just foolishness.

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, May 16, 2013 8:07 PM

John WR

Quote from the NTSB accident report of the Iowa crash:

"Therefore, the NTSB recommends that the FRA establish an ongoing program to monitor, evaluate, report on, and continuously improve fatigue management systems implemented by operating railroads to identify, mitigate, and continuously reduce fatigue-related risks for personnel performing safety-critical tasks, with particular emphasis on biomathematical models of fatigue."

I think, Bucyrus, that this is the sentence you find particularly objectionable.  

John

That is not what I am referring to when I said something to the effect that they were reaching for conclusions without direct proof.  I was referring to this as quoted from the accident report for the Iowa crash:

“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the failure of the crew of the striking train to comply with the signal indication requiring them to operate in accordance with restricted speed requirements and stop short of the standing train because they had fallen asleep due to fatigue resulting from their irregular work schedules and their medical conditions.”

 

Now there is wiggle room in that statement.  They use the term, “probable” as opposed to “definite.”  But then with the term, “probable,” the statement becomes speculation, and I would expect an accident investigation to refrain from speculation.  The NTSB cannot prove the crew was even asleep let alone sleeping due to sleep disorder.  In terms of speculation, I would agree that the reason for passing the red signal was probably that the crew was asleep. 

Now they don’t used the term, “sleep disorder.”  They use the term, “fatigue,” and fatigue can be caused by simply failing to stay in bed long enough the day before.  Fatigue has to be caused by something, so it is fair to speculate that it was caused by insufficient sleep before going on duty. 

But then they go on to speculate that the fatigue was caused by irregular work schedules, and that linkage does make it a sleep disorder such as Shift Work Sleep Disorder by definition, thus taking the speculation on the crew being asleep to speculating that the sleep was caused by a sleep disorder caused by working irregular hours, even though not everyone who works irregular hours contracts a sleep disorder.

This is pure speculation used to advance an agenda under the guise of an objective, fact-based investigation. 

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Posted by John WR on Thursday, May 16, 2013 8:07 PM

zugmann
The only people that know what happened are no longer with us.

That occurred to me, too, Zugmann.  They did live long enough to allow for blood and urine tests to show that neither drugs nor alcohol were involved.  

But, after reading the whole report, I don't think the NTSB is really saying they know what happened.  I think they are saying that given the evidence, particularly the history of obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes, they cannot rule out the possibility of a sleep disorder.  

John

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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, May 16, 2013 8:16 PM

John, note my reposnse above to your question to me last night.

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Posted by John WR on Thursday, May 16, 2013 9:18 PM

Bucyrus
I was referring to this as quoted from the accident report for the Iowa crash:

Yes Bucyrus.  And you go on to quote conclusion 4 to the effect that both the engineer and conductor had "fallen asleep due to fatigue."

As I said above, I have no real expertise here and I don't like to shoot from the hip with a top of the head opinion.  Yet for all of that it is hard for me to understand how, within 2 minutes, the engineer would move the throttle, push the button on the alerter and then "fall asleep" and so would not see and respond to a red signal.   And the NTSB does not explain how just before missing the red signal actions would be taken that would require the engineer to be awake.    

John

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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, May 16, 2013 9:30 PM

When a person is very tired, it is possible to reset the alerter when being half asleep, and for the two minutes or so of alerter silence, a person can be fully asleep. 

If they made alerters so a reset required the engineer to do 20 pushups, then it might do a better job of keeping a person awake.  But you cannot add too much burden to resetting the alerter because it has to be reset so often in order to be effective. 

I have a link somewhere to a collision caused by an engineer sleeping on the alerter.  I will see if I can find it. 

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Posted by edblysard on Thursday, May 16, 2013 10:33 PM

John,

Both blood and urine sample were collected post mortem, neither the engineer nor conductor survived the initial collision, there was no survivable space in the cab.

Bucyrus,

2 minutes before the collision, the engineer reset the alerter, 1 minute 53 seconds before the collision, he performed a throttle setting reduction, two separate actions within 7 seconds….he wasn’t asleep.

As to why they went by a red signal, as Zug pointed out, the only two folks who could tell us are dead, and while I could come up with a few reason, I will pass on speculation, as the NTSB has done enough of that for my taste.

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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, May 16, 2013 11:34 PM

Ed,

I did not mean to suggest that I had concluded that the engineer missed the signal and collided with the leading train because he was asleep.   As you and zugmann, I believe pointed out, he could have simply failed to see the standing train.  Was he authorized to pass the red signal and stay at restricted speed?  If so, the theory of sleeping past the red signal would not be needed to explain passing it.  So that just leaves the standing train as the requirement for action. 

However, having said that, I don’t see how sleep could be ruled out by the timing of the final alerter and throttle resets.  He could have been sleeping between alerter resets, and become accustomed to falling asleep in a very short time after each reset.  If so, he could have reset the alerter; and seven seconds later, reset the throttle; and then slept for the next 1 minute 53 seconds until impact.  All we know for sure is that he was awake during the final alerter reset and final throttle change. 

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Posted by zugmann on Friday, May 17, 2013 6:50 AM

If god forbid something ever happens to me out here, and some agency "concludes" what I was doing right before I met my end, then I would make sure to haunt them for the rest of their lives.

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, May 17, 2013 6:59 AM

Between lighting and physical characteristics of the terrain, trains and signals - one's eyes can play tricks. 

Several years ago my carrier had a rear end collision - train had a approach signal, complied with it - lost track that the next signal which should have displayed a Stop indication with number plate (restricting) was dark, came around a curve and observed a signal displaying Clear - what wasn't seen was the train ahead for whom the Clear signal was actually displayed for.  The train ahead, was all bare table intermodal car - about 9000 feet of them - Overtaking crew totally overlooked the flashing EOT when the observed the Clear signal ahead.

Total man failure and sleep wasn't not involved - just PP railroading.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Friday, May 17, 2013 8:53 AM

zugmann

If god forbid something ever happens to me out here, and some agency "concludes" what I was doing right before I met my end, then I would make sure to haunt them for the rest of their lives.



     You just might have the plot for a movie there- or at least for an episode of the Twilight Zone.

  Would you also be haunting people on railroad forum message boards? Mischief

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Posted by John WR on Friday, May 17, 2013 9:31 AM

edblysard
Both blood and urine sample were collected post mortem, neither the engineer nor conductor survived the initial collision, there was no survivable space in the cab.

Yes they were, Ed.  And both drugs and alcohol were ruled out as related to the accident.  And yes, the cab was crushed in the accident.  

John

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Posted by John WR on Friday, May 17, 2013 9:34 AM

Bucyrus
However, having said that, I don’t see how sleep could be ruled out by the timing of the final alerter and throttle resets.

Bucyrus, I do think the short amount of time between actions requiring the engineer be awake and passing the red signal does needs to be addressed.  And yet the NTSP is silent on the issue.  

John

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Posted by John WR on Friday, May 17, 2013 9:38 AM

zugmann
If god forbid something ever happens to me out here, and some agency "concludes" what I was doing right before I met my end, then I would make sure to haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Zugmann,  Judging by the little picture you post one problem you do not have is being overweight.  I trust when your time comes you will leave us quite peacefully in your own bed in a way that is far to boring for any government agency to inquire into it.  

John

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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 17, 2013 10:20 AM

John WR

Bucyrus
However, having said that, I don’t see how sleep could be ruled out by the timing of the final alerter and throttle resets.

Bucyrus, I do think the short amount of time between actions requiring the engineer be awake and passing the red signal does needs to be addressed.  And yet the NTSP is silent on the issue.  

John

John,

The report addresses these issues on page 1-5.

In reading the report closely, I see that there was no failure of the striking train to comply with signals approaching the struck train.  The only failure of the striking train was the failure to stop short of the struck train which was made visible by its end-of-train device.   

At the time of the last recorded activity of the engineer of the striking train, the struck train was not yet in view of the striking train. 

It was 1 minute 11 seconds from the last recorded activity of the engineer of the striking train to the point where the struck train came into view of the striking train.

Therefore, if the engineer of the striking train collided with the train ahead because he was asleep, he had 1 minute 11 seconds to fall asleep. 

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Posted by jeffhergert on Friday, May 17, 2013 10:31 AM

John WR

Bucyrus
I was referring to this as quoted from the accident report for the Iowa crash:

Yes Bucyrus.  And you go on to quote conclusion 4 to the effect that both the engineer and conductor had "fallen asleep due to fatigue."

As I said above, I have no real expertise here and I don't like to shoot from the hip with a top of the head opinion.  Yet for all of that it is hard for me to understand how, within 2 minutes, the engineer would move the throttle, push the button on the alerter and then "fall asleep" and so would not see and respond to a red signal.   And the NTSB does not explain how just before missing the red signal actions would be taken that would require the engineer to be awake.    

John

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back when I was a conductor, I deadheaded out to our away from home terminal with Engr X, who's now retired.  We deadheaded out in the morning, tying up about noon.  Back then we only got 8 hours rest and they could call us 1 and 30 minutes prior to our 8 hours being up.  That is they could call us after 6 hrs 30 mins to report for duty at the 8 hr mark.  It appeared we would go on our rest and we did.  I never got any sleep, not because I didn't try but because I wasn't tired enough to sleep.  I spent at least 4 hours laying in bed but I never went to sleep.  Engr X, who had a girlfriend out there (he wasn't married, although there are some who wouldn't let that status stop them) and he had spent the day with her.  He didn't try to get any rest.

The first 50 miles or so was through a more populated area, quite a bit of artificial lighting.  It wasn't that late through that area either.  I was tired, but it didn't really hit me until we were out of that area and the time was approaching midnight.  I was worried that I might doze off, no matter hard I tried to stay alert.  As it turns out, I didn't have that problem after all.  For as tired as I was, Engr X was worse.  His lack of sleep hit him about the same time.  He fell asleep a few times while blowing the horn for crossings.  He would start the sequence and I would finish it with the button on the condr's side.  A few times I blew the whole crossing.

We started down the one big hill we have on that end and I hollered over to him that he might want to set some air since we were getting close to the speed limit.  He did but then I noticed an odor, like hot brake shoes.  "You might want to bail them off."  He had set air, but then dozed off before bailing off the independent.  As we approached the bottom, he had dozed off again and I suggested he might want to release them, which he did.  From there on he seemed to be a bit better, like he got his second wind or something.  The middle part of the trip though, is one I won't forget.  So yes, I can see someone under the right circumstances doing something and immediately dozing, zoning or spacing out.   

Jeff
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Posted by John WR on Friday, May 17, 2013 12:08 PM

Bucyrus
The report addresses these issues on page 1-5.

Bucyrus,  

I went back and re-read pages 1 to 5 including the event recorder chart.  I see no explanation of how a person might be awake enough to manipulate the throttle and other equipment and then in somewhat over a minute be so sound asleep as to be totally unaware of his surroundings.  I just don't see where that particular point is addressed.  

John

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Posted by John WR on Friday, May 17, 2013 12:15 PM

jeffhergert
Back when I was a conductor, I deadheaded out to our away from home terminal with Engr X, who's now retired.

Jeff

As a young man I spent a few years working in an operating suite.  At times I had to work the night shift which as 11.pm to 7 am.  I too tended to be less alert than I was when I worked a regular day shift.  

John

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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 17, 2013 1:00 PM

John WR

Bucyrus
The report addresses these issues on page 1-5.

 I see no explanation of how a person might be awake enough to manipulate the throttle and other equipment and then in somewhat over a minute be so sound asleep as to be totally unaware of his surroundings.  I just don't see where that particular point is addressed.  

John

Well that point is not specifically addressed, and it may in fact be the case that the engineer failed to stop for the stopped train ahead for some reason other than falling asleep.  But you seem to question the possibility of being awake and then falling asleep within one minute.  Many people are probably not aware of that possibility because it is not a part of their normal routine.  But I have had vivid experience of this while driving.  Most people call it nodding off.  You fall asleep and wake up a few seconds later with a startle.  You tell yourself not to let it happen again, and in a few moments, you wake again with a startle.  It can happen over and over again.  With luck, you don't hit anything or go off the road during the lapse in consciousness.   

 

 

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Posted by John WR on Friday, May 17, 2013 4:10 PM

Bucyrus
But I have had vivid experience of this while driving.  Most people call it nodding off.  You fall asleep and wake up a few seconds later with a startle.

Well, I'll certainly take your word for it, Bucyrus.  I do not recall it ever happening to me.  

Please bear with me for a short rant.  Both the engineer and the conductor had a constellation of 3 medical problems:  Obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes.  Both were getting medical treatment for the high blood pressure and diabetes and taking prescribed medicine so they most likely thought they were managing their condition as well as they reasonably could.  But I suspect they could have done more and they did not do more because the information and support for changing habits years long were not really available.  And it seems to me that the broader society needs to do more to provide support for people with these problems not because of this accident or because of railroads but simply so our working citizens can have longer and better lives.  

John

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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 17, 2013 4:34 PM

John WR
 Both the engineer and the conductor had a constellation of 3 medical problems:  Obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes.  Both were getting medical treatment for the high blood pressure and diabetes and taking prescribed medicine so they most likely thought they were managing their condition as well as they reasonably could.  But I suspect they could have done more and they did not do more because the information and support for changing habits years long were not really available.  And it seems to me that the broader society needs to do more to provide support for people with these problems not because of this accident or because of railroads but simply so our working citizens can have longer and better lives.  

John

Well if they were being treated for those three problems, why would you assume that information and support for those problems were not available to them?

 

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Posted by John WR on Friday, May 17, 2013 6:55 PM

Bucyrus
Well if they were being treated for those three problems, why would you assume that information and support for those problems were not available to them?

Bucyrus,  

For two reasons.  First, I have high blood pressure and diabetes and I live in the New York Metropolitan Area.  This kind of support is not available to me or at least I have never heard of it being available.  

Second, I spent many years in charge of outreach activities for a large Federal Agency (unrelated to health care) in one local area. I myself got almost no support from my own agency beyond my own manager and ultimately my manager could no longer support my own activities because our staffing levels were so severely cut back.  

The Federal Government does do a lot for certain groups and I do not criticize what it does.  But for ordinary working people who are not impoverished very little is done.  

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Posted by edblysard on Friday, May 17, 2013 8:00 PM

John,

Trust me, both held a engineers license, both worked for a Class 1 railroad, neither was impoverished by any stretch of the imagination and both had excellent insurance

Both had ample support, through their medical caregiver and union.

As the husband of a diabetic, I can vouch for the aftercare our insurance providers offer, including but not limited to support groups, research updates, involvement in all types of activities like health club and gym memberships.

High blood pressure and diabetes are both very common illnesses, both are highly and effectively controlled through medication and alternative treatments,

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Posted by John WR on Friday, May 17, 2013 8:05 PM

I do trust you, Ed.  No one would be happier than I if I were proven wrong on this issue.  However, I am sure that anyone who works for the railroad does have as good medical insurance as you can get in the US.

John

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Posted by zugmann on Saturday, May 18, 2013 5:18 AM

edblysard

John,

Trust me, both held a engineers license, both worked for a Class 1 railroad, neither was impoverished by any stretch of the imagination and both had excellent insurance

Both had ample support, through their medical caregiver and union.

As the husband of a diabetic, I can vouch for the aftercare our insurance providers offer, including but not limited to support groups, research updates, involvement in all types of activities like health club and gym memberships.

High blood pressure and diabetes are both very common illnesses, both are highly and effectively controlled through medication and alternative treatments,

Thsoe support programs are fine for those of us lucky enough to hold yard jobs with regular hours.  For the poor guys on extra lists and unassigned pool jobs - it can be tough.  Only being home a few hours every couple of days doesn't leave much time to do all that healthy stuff as you'd like.  And most of the hotels do not offer great fitness facilities, and back before this mandatory 10 hour rest thing, I was almost always called 6 for 8 on my rest anyhow. And many of the road trips involved nothing more physical than sitting on one's posterior getting up to line a switch or 2, and tying on a handbrake or 3.

Same with eating, even if you try to pack enough healthy food to get you through 2 trips and a hotel stay (hard with all the other crap you need to carry), most of the hotels are only within walking distance of the local puke n' choke restaurants/convenience stores. 

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

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Posted by John WR on Saturday, May 18, 2013 8:20 AM

zugmann
Thsoe support programs are fine for those of us lucky enough to hold yard jobs with regular hours.  For the poor guys on extra lists and unassigned pool jobs - it can be tough.  Only being home a few hours every couple of days doesn't leave much time to do all that healthy stuff as you'd like.  And most of the hotels do not offer great fitness facilities, and back before this mandatory 10 hour rest thing, I was almost always called 6 for 8 on my rest anyhow. And many of the road trips involved nothing more physical than sitting on one's posterior getting up to line a switch or 2, and tying on a handbrake or 3.

Amen Zugman

John

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