Engineer or Motorman?

@Mannyrock posted:

My wife told me for years that her father was a railroad engineer.  I later learned that for 30 years, he actually operated one of the long circular routes on a New York Port Authority Subway train.

I believe that makes him a Motorman, not an Engineer?

Correct, for the United States, anyway. Throughout The United Kingdom and  Europe, the men and women are called "Drivers" for the same craft as Engineers in the US.

No disrespect either way.

Can anybody clarify this for me?

(I just saw again, the original "Taking of Pelham 123", with Walter Mathhau.    Lots of interior shots of the Motormans little closet cab on a New York subway train in the early 1970s.  Lord have mercy, I would have gone insane locked up inside of that little closet, 8 hours a day, for 30 years!

In the classic definition, a 'motorman' operates an electrically propelled motor-driven vehicle such as a streetcar or subway.

An 'engineer' operates a self-propelled vehicle driven by an engine, such as a steam or diesel locomotive.

In practice, the operators of electric locomotives and commuter cars running on mixed freight/passenger operations are also referred to as "engineers".   

In your example, a Port Authority subway operator would be a 'motorman', even if he might operate on mainline railroad lines over part of the route. 

Mitch

A Motorman back in the day but today it's Operator.

@Mannyrock posted:

(I just saw again, the original "Taking of Pelham 123", with Walter Matthau.    Lots of interior shots of the Motormans little closet cab on a New York subway train in the early 1970s.  Lord have mercy, I would have gone insane locked up inside of that little closet, 8 hours a day, for 30 years!

That was my "Dream Job" when I was growing up! My mother used to say the exact same thing to me, I thought about it and said to myself, nah I'd still love it!! I guess it all matters that if you love what you do it makes all the difference in the world. I still have the Arco Motorman's Test book, the actual operating rules for the NYCTA and the original blueprints for the R46 subway car that the TA sent to me. All this of course when I was just about 14 years old. LOL!!!!!

@M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

In the classic definition, a 'motorman' operates an electrically propelled motor-driven vehicle such as a streetcar or subway.

An 'engineer' operates a self-propelled vehicle driven by an engine, such as a steam or diesel locomotive.

In practice, the operators of electric locomotives and commuter cars running on mixed freight/passenger operations are also referred to as "engineers".   

In your example, a Port Authority subway operator would be a 'motorman', even if he might operate on mainline railroad lines over part of the route.

Mitch

PA trains are not actually operated on main line railroads.  They have separate tracks on the same right of way.  There is a short segment east of Journal Square used for freight moves to cross over the tube tracks.

In the days before PA when it was the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad, the track wets of Journal Square was owned by the PRR, but is was separate from tracks used by PRR trains.

When the H&M was sold off to the PA, was its line sealed off from the rest of the rail system, except for the above crossing?