Actually, in this day and age in all likelyhood the railroad would be ticketed and fined for blocking a street for an inordinate amount of time.
Kind of odd they stopped the train with the locomotive blocking the crossing. I wonder why they didn't stop just short of it to leave the street open.
I think you were lucky to get the engineer you had--he was probably trying to humor you, though you seemed to know what you were talking about (slack, etc.). If the engineer was discussing the plight on the radio, he obviously recognized, and probably sympathized with, the problem. Nowadays you'd be turned in the moment you set foot on the locomotive.
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
circa 1970 Cleveland, Ohio
Returning from a Cleveland Browns game with my brother we came upon a train blocking the grade crossing. This was on a very narrow city street with little chance for us or anyone else to turn around. We were about 8 or 10 cars from the track and only the locomotive blocked the street. We waited about 25 minutes along with all of the other frustrated drivers. So I told my brother who was driving that "I will be right back". So off I go heading toward the locomotive armed with nothing but my total ignorance of the law and railroad rules. As I climb up toward the cab I can hear the engineer on the radio telling someone that " They are climbing on the train now". So I ask the engineer if he could just move the locomotive 1 car length so the line of traffic can pass. He told me that he could not move the train without permission from his dispatcher. So I asked him (nicely) if I could speak with the dispatcher. He obliged my request so I told the dispatcher that it was a good thing that the Browns had won the game and that the waiting motorists were in a pretty good mood. I explained to the dispatcher that if the engineer would just bunch up the slack on the train that the locomotive would clear the crossing. To my disbelief the dispather instructed the engineer to do just that. After I climed down from the locomotive the engineer sounded his horn and moved the train the 1 car length. I walked back to my brother's car to the cheers of my fellow motorists and Browns fans. I know that this seem like an unlikely tail ( about the Browns winning a game ) but it is true. My question is how much trouble would I be in today if I were 19 again and pulled this stupid stunt in the year 2016 ? - thanks
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