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News Wire: Canada recommends mandatory inward-facing cameras on locomotives

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Posted by Euclid on Saturday, May 27, 2017 11:58 AM

zugmann
 
Euclid
Maybe this inability to know whether an employee’s attitude toward point and call is constructive is a good reason to use inward facing cameras. They would probably reveal whether an employee is conscientious and sincere in using point and call, just as they would reveal whether an engineer is sleeping on the alerter.

 

How do you determine (through a camera) sincerity wtih "... an employee could defeat point and call by performing it without any conscious attention to it. "?

 

Seems you want it both ways. 

 

I'm not a huge fan of "let's just take this practice someone else does, shoehorn it into our operations, and all will be good!".   I know it's hard to believe, but we aren't all the same out here.  EAch of us has our own way of safely doing the job.  Maybe point and call works for some.  Awesome.  But for others - it's a stupid waste of time, and they are fully capable of running a train safely without it.   But when you have managers that never sat in the engine cab before they put on their crisp white shirt, and never laid a hand on a switch handle or throttle, what do you expect?  

 

Just turns into a giant game of Simon Says.

 

Well maybe point and call would provide benefit as a kind of safety net to catch those who are not fully capable of running a train safely without it.  I certainly agree that not every person is the same.  Some people can focus their attention to the task at hand with great precision and reliability. 

I do not know what kind of relationship operators and managers have on Japanese railroads.  But on railroads where the relationship is highly adversarial, I can’t see point and call working.  Either employees will not put the proper effort into it, or management will believe they are not doing so.  So, the system is dead on arrival where the adversarial relationship exists. 

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Posted by Ulrich on Saturday, May 27, 2017 12:00 PM

Going back to 1982 and my ride alongs on CP's Thompson, BC sub , I remember engineer and brakemen calling out signals as they approached. Given the amount of responsibility and the potential for  catastrophic loss due to any misunderstanding, this practice seems like a good idea to me. 

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Posted by Euclid on Saturday, May 27, 2017 12:49 PM

Ulrich
Given the amount of responsibility and the potential for catastrophic loss due to any misunderstanding, this practice seems like a good idea to me.

Which practice; calling signals or point and call as applied in Japan?

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Posted by jeffhergert on Saturday, May 27, 2017 7:02 PM

Ulrich

Going back to 1982 and my ride alongs on CP's Thompson, BC sub , I remember engineer and brakemen calling out signals as they approached. Given the amount of responsibility and the potential for  catastrophic loss due to any misunderstanding, this practice seems like a good idea to me. 

 

Calling signals between crewmembers in the cab has been a rule requirement at least since the 1920s. (The oldest rule book I have with the requirement is a 1923 Ann Arbor rule book.  The few rule books I have that are older don't have it.  Later ones do, most under Rule 34.)

Some railroads require calling some or all signals over the radio.  This cab be good and bad.  Good because it gives you an idea of what's happening ahead of you.  Bad because in some areas where there's already heavy radio traffic someone calling a signal might "walk" over a more important radio transmission.

Jeff 

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Posted by zardoz on Saturday, May 27, 2017 8:40 PM

Ulrich

Going back to 1982 and my ride alongs on CP's Thompson, BC sub , I remember engineer and brakemen calling out signals as they approached. 

 

Every time we had official personages riding on the locomotive, we ALWAYS called signals through the entire trip; afterwords, not so much.
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Posted by zardoz on Saturday, May 27, 2017 8:53 PM

zugmann

 

 
You can keep that hotel and road crap.  I'm happy with my little GPs, industries, and yard.   Oh yeah, and my own bed at night/day. 

I agree completely! However, the subdivision I worked on (Wisconsin, out of Chicago) had very few yard jobs--the Chicago area yard jobs were mostly the responsibility of the Chicago division.
 
The outlying points (Janesville, Harvard, Milwaukee, Butler, Kenosha, Racine) had some yard jobs and a few way-freights, but you needed to be older than dirt seniority-wise to hold those jobs.
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Posted by AgentKid on Saturday, May 27, 2017 10:05 PM

jeffhergert
Calling signals between crewmembers in the cab has been a rule requirement at least since the 1920s. (The oldest rule book I have with the requirement is a 1923 Ann Arbor rule book. The few rule books I have that are older don't have it. Later ones do, most under Rule 34.)

I just checked, and the Uniform Code of Operating Rules dated August 25, 1951, which would be the rule book the CPR operated under, has calling signals as Rule 34.

Thanks for that info Jeff, I did not know that rule was in place back in steam days.

Bruce

 

So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.

"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere"  CP Rail Public Timetable

"O. S. Irricana"

. . . __ . ______

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Posted by jeffhergert on Saturday, May 27, 2017 10:38 PM

zardoz wrote the following post an hour ago:

 

 
zugmann

 

 
zardoz
You can keep that hotel and road crap.  I'm happy with my little GPs, industries, and yard.   Oh yeah, and my own bed at night/day. 
 

 

I agree completely! However, the subdivision I worked on (Wisconsin, out of Chicago) had very few yard jobs--the Chicago area yard jobs were mostly the responsibility of the Chicago division.
 
The outlying points (Janesville, Harvard, Milwaukee, Butler, Kenosha, Racine) had some yard jobs and a few way-freights, but you needed to be older than dirt seniority-wise to hold those jobs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm just the opposite, I'd rather work the road.  The motels don't bother me, sometimes it's easier to sleep there.  Especially during the day. 
 
Why, just this morning they called and asked if I would be willing to work the day yard trick.  The extra board was shot, not unusual for a weekend and they didn't have someone for the regular yard job engineer's day off.  I said no.  (While writing this my phone rang, caller ID said it was them again.  Not being first out or first available I didn't answer it.  A quick check of the boards didn't show anything being ordered so I don't know what they wanted.)
 
Jeff 
 
PS. I had to copy and paste the quote.  For some reason the "Add Quote" feature isn't working for me.  It's there but looks different.  Everything else in the reply portion seems to be available and working.
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Posted by traisessive1 on Thursday, June 1, 2017 2:55 PM

The CROR in Canada has you calling MANY things in the cab. CRO Rule 34.

CN's radio rules in Western Canada. These fall under CRO Rule 578 for the most part. Special Instructions add and take away in certain cases/locations.

On the radio:

- the signal indication and location on approach to a CONTROLLED LOCATION. Usually announced by using the train # for ID. 

Example: CN 315 Clear to Stop to Deer.

- your location (mile you're at), direction of travel, leading engine ID at every mile post ending in a 5 (whole #). If you have any slow orders, foreman, crossing messages etc. in the next 10 miles you announce those as well. 

Example: CN 2305 East, Mile 75, No Restrictions

Example: CN 2305 East, Mile 65, Rule 43 (Slow order) at mile 58.

10000 feet and no dynamics? Today is going to be a good day ... 

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