For anyone in or around Pottstown PA!

[dharmon]

I'm sure there is more to the story, I don't think a crew (conducter included) would abandon their train. But just as the pilot is the focal point for anything that happens on a plane or the captain on a ship, the engineer, as the driver becomes the focal point here. Right or wrong he is the representative of the RR at that moment. Did the police try to call the number on the crossing sign, we'll probably never know. I think we're (at least I was) pokin' fun at the situation, not an individual. Flight crews are equally rigid about manditory hours, however, when an unforseen instance arises that makes them go over, they can't park the plane...usually. I did not mean to offend REAL train dudes.

[CShaveRR]

First off, I'm not familiar with Pottstown, NS, or any of the principal players in this drama, but there are a couple of things that make one go "Hmmm" here.

First of all, the engineer is getting a bad rap here. There was probably a conductor on board who died at about the same time. Nobody mentions him.

I doubt that they were told to "clear the crossing and wait". More likely, they were told to proceed to a point where a new crew could relieve them, and had to determine on their own where to stop to clear the crossing. A faulty wheel report could cause a miscalculation like that...one car that didn't show on the wheel would have been enough.

And, if I'm not mistaken, there is some edict in place that says the crew has to leave the cab when their time is up. I heard something about that a while back, but not lately. Nobody would just "walk off" with nowhere to go. They would have (and legally should have) had no communication with anyone, so they probably didn't know the crossing was blocked.

So instead of getting all huffy and riled and taking traffic matters into their own hands, shouldn't the locals have called the phone number shown by the crossing? I assume NS does this; the other three big railroads have such a number. A signal maintainer could have raised the gates and/or provided flag protection, with the help of the dispatcher. I'm sure it wouldn't have taken two hours.

I hope this is investigated...someone might get canned over it, but it shouldn't be the crew. I'd be more concerned with prevention of future occurrences.

Carl

[CShaveRR]

First off, I'm not familiar with Pottstown, NS, or any of the principal players in this drama, but there are a couple of things that make one go "Hmmm" here.

First of all, the engineer is getting a bad rap here. There was probably a conductor on board who died at about the same time. Nobody mentions him.

I doubt that they were told to "clear the crossing and wait". More likely, they were told to proceed to a point where a new crew could relieve them, and had to determine on their own where to stop to clear the crossing. A faulty wheel report could cause a miscalculation like that...one car that didn't show on the wheel would have been enough.

And, if I'm not mistaken, there is some edict in place that says the crew has to leave the cab when their time is up. I heard something about that a while back, but not lately. Nobody would just "walk off" with nowhere to go. They would have (and legally should have) had no communication with anyone, so they probably didn't know the crossing was blocked.

So instead of getting all huffy and riled and taking traffic matters into their own hands, shouldn't the locals have called the phone number shown by the crossing? I assume NS does this; the other three big railroads have such a number. A signal maintainer could have raised the gates and/or provided flag protection, with the help of the dispatcher. I'm sure it wouldn't have taken two hours.

I hope this is investigated...someone might get canned over it, but it shouldn't be the crew. I'd be more concerned with prevention of future occurrences.

Carl

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon

"Good afternoon Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking....Due to weather conditions at Newark we are going to have to go into holding for a couple of hours while we get sequenced. Unfortunately, because of this delay the First Officer and I will run out of crew day and will be bailing out now. We have set the autopilot, and if any of you have any large aircraft experience, we have left the manual in the cockpit if you want to give landing a try. You may experience a little discomfort when we depressurize, but if someone will close the main cabin door behind us, conditions should return to normal shortly, and again thank you for flying the friendly skies."

[:D] this is so funny!!

Mook

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon

"Good afternoon Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking....Due to weather conditions at Newark we are going to have to go into holding for a couple of hours while we get sequenced. Unfortunately, because of this delay the First Officer and I will run out of crew day and will be bailing out now. We have set the autopilot, and if any of you have any large aircraft experience, we have left the manual in the cockpit if you want to give landing a try. You may experience a little discomfort when we depressurize, but if someone will close the main cabin door behind us, conditions should return to normal shortly, and again thank you for flying the friendly skies."

[:D] this is so funny!!

Mook

[Modelcar]

....Also, if a major fire erupted in the downtown business district I'll wager someone would think it would be an emergency if fire equipment was located on the "other" side of the tracks.

[Modelcar]

....Also, if a major fire erupted in the downtown business district I'll wager someone would think it would be an emergency if fire equipment was located on the "other" side of the tracks.

[Modelcar]

....Sorry...Jen for bringing up that nasty old "common sense" again...

[Modelcar]

....Sorry...Jen for bringing up that nasty old "common sense" again...

[Modelcar]

.....That's about as ridiculous as it really is.

[Modelcar]

.....That's about as ridiculous as it really is.

[dharmon]

"Good afternoon Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking....Due to weather conditions at Newark we are going to have to go into holding for a couple of hours while we get sequenced. Unfortunately, because of this delay the First Officer and I will run out of crew day and will be bailing out now. We have set the autopilot, and if any of you have any large aircraft experience, we have left the manual in the cockpit if you want to give landing a try. You may experience a little discomfort when we depressurize, but if someone will close the main cabin door behind us, conditions should return to normal shortly, and again thank you for flying the friendly skies."

[dharmon]

"Good afternoon Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking....Due to weather conditions at Newark we are going to have to go into holding for a couple of hours while we get sequenced. Unfortunately, because of this delay the First Officer and I will run out of crew day and will be bailing out now. We have set the autopilot, and if any of you have any large aircraft experience, we have left the manual in the cockpit if you want to give landing a try. You may experience a little discomfort when we depressurize, but if someone will close the main cabin door behind us, conditions should return to normal shortly, and again thank you for flying the friendly skies."

[JoeKoh]

yeah you'd think they would check out the book by thomas paine.
stay safe
joe

[JoeKoh]

yeah you'd think they would check out the book by thomas paine.
stay safe
joe

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Modelcar

....How about installing a clause of common sense. Some human[s], are negotiating these rules and regs....

There is that darn common sense again. The bureaucrats keep trying to kill it off and it keeps coming back!

Mook

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Modelcar

....How about installing a clause of common sense. Some human[s], are negotiating these rules and regs....

There is that darn common sense again. The bureaucrats keep trying to kill it off and it keeps coming back!

Mook

[Modelcar]

....How about installing a clause of common sense. Some human[s], are negotiating these rules and regs....

[Modelcar]

....How about installing a clause of common sense. Some human[s], are negotiating these rules and regs....

[dehusman]

Federal Hours of Service Law prohibit a train crew from operating a train in excess of 12 hours except in case of emergency. The Federal Gov't does not consider a blocked crossing an "emergency".

[dehusman]

Federal Hours of Service Law prohibit a train crew from operating a train in excess of 12 hours except in case of emergency. The Federal Gov't does not consider a blocked crossing an "emergency".

[JoeKoh]

wow! can't blame a guy for following the rules.you think that if he was close to a crossing he'd stop just before it though.
stay safe
joe

[JoeKoh]

wow! can't blame a guy for following the rules.you think that if he was close to a crossing he'd stop just before it though.
stay safe
joe

[Modelcar]

....Something is clearly out of line that prevents a train from moving just far enough to clear an in town intersection....Someone needs help in creating rulings and regulations that generates such circumstances.

[Modelcar]

....Something is clearly out of line that prevents a train from moving just far enough to clear an in town intersection....Someone needs help in creating rulings and regulations that generates such circumstances.

[Anonymous]

im detailing a Southern Pacific GP9 black widow can someone help me with details as to what the 5670-5673 looked like i can not find any info on what type of horns they had or antennas thanx

callinwood

[Anonymous]

im detailing a Southern Pacific GP9 black widow can someone help me with details as to what the 5670-5673 looked like i can not find any info on what type of horns they had or antennas thanx

callinwood

[Anonymous]

Hmmm. An Engineer on the NS died on the law and the DS told him not to move. So he didn't move. Probably a good idea on his part as I'm sure he would be home relying on his job insurance otherwise, perhaps he is now anyhow since it made CNN last night...amazing...

Couldn't happen to a nicer company...

LC

[Anonymous]

Hmmm. An Engineer on the NS died on the law and the DS told him not to move. So he didn't move. Probably a good idea on his part as I'm sure he would be home relying on his job insurance otherwise, perhaps he is now anyhow since it made CNN last night...amazing...

Couldn't happen to a nicer company...

LC

[Anonymous]

man wish i heard about that before but that is interesting