Lots of things to do while running a train

Most railfans have no concept of what's involved in running an engine. It may not be a "physical" job, but mentally it's another story!

OK, suppose it was sixty or so years ago, and you had a steam locomotive.  You wouldn't have to worry about the radio, but you'd have to know about water - not only the level in the boiler, which if it got away from you might result in your wife becoming a widow, but how much you had in the tender and how far you could go before taking water.  Plus, you'd have to know your timetable and where you stood regarding opposing trains, and where you'd have to meet them.

 

Plus, the tools you had to work with - throttle and reverse lever, were more demanding physically than the comparable tools on today's engines.  And there were no sanitary facilities or air conditioners . . .

Not only hats off to those who do, but hats off to those who did . . .

 

EdKing

Know your timetable:  Now the sim I was on has a computer display which showed the trck diagram and grades, something along the lines the SP tables had for each division from the mid -1980's to merger.  That is coming to a locomotive in the near future, from what the sim controllers were telling me.

 Another thing you are constantly doing on a moving train is thinking ahead.Trying to adjust your speed to the terrain,and the speed according to the signal,and each train because they don't all handle alike

 

 And the main thing,staying awake 

 

 I work from 6:01 pm to usually 5am on my local that I'm on .Tonight it was till 6 am,so it gets draining to just stay alert.

  Did the simulator have a crew alerter ? That's something you have to reset every 45 seconds to prevent a penalty brake application if your falling asleep or not paying attention  

 

 Add all of this into consideration with the weather.I've been sleepy,had 200+ loads of coal,and fog so thick you can't hardly see past the nose of the locomotive.Really makes it a rough trip let me tell ya.Your looking for signals,whistle boards,and sometimes a conductor counting sheep 

When you have thousands of tons of train behind you, there are lots of things to consider.  Nothing happens in a hurry except if you lose your attention span and don't anticipate what's coming up miles ahead!  It's not a job for the novice.

 

It's probably kinda' like other skills like flying an airplane, especially in IFR conditions.  One pilot IFR is akin to being a one armed paper hanger!  I've never been so busy!

I have been told that when going down the hill with the whole train, the first brake application is the most important. Too much, too little and you play catch up the rest of the way.

Much you have learned, young Jedi...

 

Rusty

I run a Chance CP Huntington. We have about 3/4 of a mile of track, all through beautiful wooded scenery. It is 2 foot gauge and while small, packs the same amount of responsibilites and dangers and the standard gauge stuff. 

 

We use it as a scenic excursion not as an "amusement ride" like some consider these things to be (which they are NOT). Everything on the real stuff is on and must  be done to this thing. Running it is far from push the throttle and go contrary to popular belief. The track has to be watched, gauges checked from air to temperatures to whatever else. The train has to be watched, passengers need to be seated and behaving and we have no problem stopping the train if necessary to deal with passengers not following the rules, etc, etc. Our locomotive (1995 BLT.) is one of the last built before computerized technology was built into them where the computers respond to a problem. Not here. You have to listen to the way the engine is responding (it is powered of a 4 cyl. gasoline engine), plan your braking and accelerating, listen for wheel-slip, radio, etc. Everything listed above for the standard gauge stuff has to be watched on my little engine. Just because it is small and runs off a gasoline engine doesn't mean it can't kill you or hurt you if it wants to. 

 

Exactly the same standards, methods, requirements, etc are there for the track and associated equipment as well. We have already begun some of our annual track work, with the majority of it to likely start in the next week or two as we "finished" our operating season this past Saturday (cut short due to storm) and depending on the storm, may run our last scheduled day Wednesday.  This isn't the 3-rail tubular track that snaps together at home, and the 80-100 people's lives in your control behind the engine can't be replaced should something happen. There is no room for error regardless of the size or gauge. 

The sim did have an alerter.  But the part of the Portland/Brooklyn sub I was on one was constanly doing something:  horn, throttle, cut bell off...  And that bell believe it or not sounded WORSE than the one W/WBB uses!  On this sim, the horn also set the bell on.  But the bell stayed on until you shut it off.  UP guy said I was making the conductor crazy with the bell! 

 

But the first go around, I got into the seat, and wanted to roll it toward the stand, as if it was my computer at home.

 Something odd I had happen to me leaving west from Bluefield,WV once, was after swapping crews at the top of the hill,or should I say mountain,the rear two units had shutdown and not started back up (this was when the NS first started to get auto start/stop units),so when I gave it a few notches and knocked off the automatic brake I rolled a few car lengths east (backwards) before I put the automatic back on   

  Oh lesson learned on that one !

Collin,

I hate that auto shutdown feature. Especially the ones that don't even warn you when it is about to happen.

On top of that is the stupid "Battery Saver" bell that rings when you throw the reverser with the engine brake on!

Now the noise makers have added a "Beep" when the loco stops! How I wish all of these idiots would have to put up all this "sonic garbage" every minute they are at work!

 

I once saw a show where the noted Air Force Col. Robin Olds said that while flying in combat, they would turn off all of the warning bells they could in order to concentrate on the flying and the task at hand! I second those statements!!

And there are trains with mid or end of train helpers!

 Jim,I fill like an amusement park ride operator at times with all the bells and alarms 

  That's true.If you use your air twice,we call it "*****ng  away your air". You just can't hardly recover enough air to make another  brake application .

  I've heard of crews on short but steep runs out of a mine getting up speeds as high as 40-45 mph on 10 mph track

 It's diffidently a skill learned running on track with steep grades.

  The A/C locos have really great dynamic braking and have helped tremendously on steep grades  .

The RR I was on was the UP line along the Columbia River in Portland OR. 

 

At 45 MPH, there is not a lot of time between the X sign and the grade crossing.  At least i did not have somebody proving Darwin right at any crossing!  Then at th end of my tour, I was to stop my train on the main.  Took some air and distance to stop. 

How about running a steam locomotive up a 1.7% grade and around a world-famous curve, on wet rail with about 1,200 tons behind the engine, with the CEO of the railroad sitting right behind you. Now that was a bit intense.

 

But I'd do it again in a heartbeat! 

Rich,

I saw the video and when you went by you looked like the Cheshire Cat that grin was so big.  

 

Larry

I'm with you, Big Jim.  I could always tell when I stopped -- the ground below the cab window quit moving. Kind of old fashioned, but it worked. 

Actually, the term, "seat of the pants" is from what I here, a started as a RR, not from air transport!

Rich: 

 

Who owned the passenger cars on the train? 

Mid-America Rail out of St. Louis owns the trainset we pulled.

I know one thing for sure.  Lionel, MTH, and DCC are nowhere close to real deal after my time on the UP sim!