The form is not an FRA requirement, but something the individual railroads that use them came up with. Ours is only required to be kept by conductors of through freight trains and locals.
Jeff
Thanks, Jeff and Balt.
There were several mentions of the SAF in the NTSB interviews with the Amtrak Cascades crew.
I have to wonder how on a passenger train, when the conductor is back in the train and interacting with passengers, how he could reliably see every signal. That would seem to me to be virtually impossible. Besides the conductor being busy, at night there are bad reflections on the windows from lights inside the car. And aren't block signals usually positioned higher than the top of the windows on a single-level coach, meaning the conductor would have to run to window every mile or so (often from the wrong side of the train, then duck and look up.?
Personally, I think passenger trains should have firemen. Period.
(Of course, I also think half the engines should be steam locomotives, and all freights should have cabooses. And all orders should get hooped up ... )
jeffhergertIt's a log kept by the conductor. Our's is called a Conductor's Report. Our instructions have them log all signals passed that are less than Clear, and I believe the speed at which they were passed. They are also to mark that the signal was called out between crewmembers in the cab. Also logged are defect detectors and messages received, temporary speed restriction flags and delays. It is also used as the Switch Position Awareness Form, noting time switches are used where required. Beyond logging signals, those from other railroads would have to say what other info, if any, their railroad requires. Jeff
Our's is called a Conductor's Report. Our instructions have them log all signals passed that are less than Clear, and I believe the speed at which they were passed. They are also to mark that the signal was called out between crewmembers in the cab. Also logged are defect detectors and messages received, temporary speed restriction flags and delays. It is also used as the Switch Position Awareness Form, noting time switches are used where required.
Beyond logging signals, those from other railroads would have to say what other info, if any, their railroad requires.
CSX requires signals and all the items Jeff identified to be announced by the crew on the Road Radio Channel - no need to remove crewmen's attention to write things down. The only written record is to be the Switch Position Awareness Form and even that gets communicated over the Road Radio Channel when the information is communicated to the Train Dispatcher,
In concert with the Radio Rules, when these things are acknowledged the train must properly identify itself, its direction and the track it is operating on.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
It's a log kept by the conductor.
What is a signal awareness form?
Is that something on which an engineer notes (checks off?) that he saw the signals, and what their aspects were? For every signal on the run?
Or is it an advisory to the engineer, informing him/her what signals they will encounter along the route?
Still in training.
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