Rules for flagging a crossing ?

Always, it is the railroad's rules that govern its employees.  The railroad rules must conform to any Federal, State, or local regulations that may apply, but the railroad employees do not have to be concerned about the content of those regulations -- only about railroad rules, which, if complied with, will satisfy any regulatory requirements.

Makes sense, specifically I had in mind a private scrap yard where I work. Our guys shove our loaded gon's across the road to leave for the RR to pick up & we pull our empties across as well, no horns, no flags.  I think we should try to be safer but wanted some regs to cite before I make a suggestion to management.   ( We are situated at the end of a double-tracked branch.)  Thk You

Who's railroad is it? They have their own rules for their employees for that crossing. Ask the crew that brings your cars or picks them up 😉

In addition to the above, common sense (which isn't common anymore) used to rule as well.   Crews I worked with would go to greater lengths to flag crossings with fusees or something highly visible during snowy or foggy weather, or if the roads were coated with ice.

Rich:

Is the crossing your guys operate over a public or private crossing?  This will factor into what is required.

Curt

A 2-lane public road, that is most busy during morning & afternoon commutes.  Our yard is a daylight-only operation, albeit sometimes 7 days a week. 

Since your operations leave the confines of your property and cross a public street; I believe your crews should be FRA certified.  This is particularly true if they are operating on railroad owned or controlled track. 

The following from 49 CFR explains how FRA defines a plant railroad and whether it’s operations fall under FRA jurisdiction.  The very last sentence seems to cover what your crews are currently doing.

Plant Railroads
FRA’s regulations exclude from their reach railroads whose entire operations are confined to an industrial installation (i.e., "plant railroads"), such as those in steel mills that do not go beyond the plant’s boundaries. Other regulations (e.g., 49 C.F.R. §214.3, railroad workplace safety) exclude not only plant railroads, but also any railroad that is not operated as a part of, or over the lines of, the general railroad system of transportation. By "general railroad system of transportation," FRA refers to the network of standard gage track over which goods may be transported throughout the Nation and passengers may travel between cities and within metropolitan and suburban areas. 49 C.F.R. Part 209, App. A. Much of this network is interconnected, so that a rail vehicle may travel across the Nation without leaving the system. However, mere physical connection to the system does not bring trackage within the FRA’s jurisdiction. For example, trackage within an industrial installation that is connected to the network only by a switch for the receipt of shipments over the system is not considered to be part of the general railroad system of transportation.
Even where a railroad operates outside the general system, other railroads that are part of that system may have occasion to enter the railroad’s property (e.g., a major railroad goes into a chemical or auto plant to pick up or set out cars.) In such cases, the railroad that is part of the general system remains part of the system while inside the installation; therefore, all of its activities are covered by FRA’s regulations during that period. The plant railroad itself, however, does not get swept into the general system by virtue of the other railroad’s activity, except to the extent it is liable, as the track owner, for the condition of its track over which the other railroad operates during its incursion into the plant. Of course, in the opposite situation, where the plant railroad itself operates on the general system, it becomes a railroad with respect to those particular operations, during which its equipment, crew, and practices would be subject to FRA’s regulations.

 Curt

Depending on the shop managment, and my needs to retain my job. I would consider an anonymous suggestion to be nice/fair as fines may be a concern, and that way if you have to go to extremes to have laws obeyed, you're "safe" and less likely to have a whistle-blower suit to condend with while looking for work.  In my experience, some, usually small shop, management doesn't like it when attention is drawn to issues that may expose something unlawful that has been successfully skirted long term   

Adriatic, our management is laidback , they seem to like me, and I have told them I'll be gone to PA by year's end.   So that being said, if I suggest we get one of the yard guys in his orange hardhat to use a redflag when they shove cars across- per FRA- we should be good ?     Have never seen BNSF cross the road to our side since the branch ends just below the road  and there's no room for our weekly 8-10 empty gons & 8-10 loads on our (scrapyard) side of the road.   Road speed limit is 40mph and many go faster, so I'm looking to avoid an crossing accident for all the usual reasons.

Thks,

Rich

Adriatic posted:

Depending on the shop managment, and my needs to retain my job. I would consider an anonymous suggestion to be nice/fair as fines may be a concern, and that way if you have to go to extremes to have laws obeyed, you're "safe" and less likely to have a whistle-blower suit to condend with while looking for work.  In my experience, some, usually small shop, management doesn't like it when attention is drawn to issues that may expose something unlawful that has been successfully skirted long term   

As to the aspect of fines, I can assure you that the FRA is not going to stake out your crossing and fine your employer.  The might fine the railroad if, by chance, they observe its employees not sounding the whistle if required, but the most they would do to an industrial operator is advise management of the conditions when the whistle must be sounded when passing over public crossings.  They have bigger fish to fry.  The only way they might observe this crossing is if there is a complaint, or -- more likely by accident -- if the FRA Inspector is out and about and he pulls onto that side street to do some paper work, drink a cup of coffee, call his girlfriend, find a place to relieve himself, goof off on Facebook, or some other unusual reason.

If the railroad crew is not complying with rules there -- I say if  because there are several governing rules -- then there is a failure of the Road Foreman of Engines to properly coach crews working locals and switch engines on his territory.  This is one of those things that can be handled easily with coaching and getting a clear understanding with the crew about how a plaintiff attorney representing a motorist struck on that crossing would make them look lazy and indifferent to the safety of his innocent client who was not warned to stop at the crossing.  BNSF, your railroad,  had a rule providing for crew members flagging the crossing and stopping any approaching traffic before signaling the Engineer to move the engine onto the crossing. 

There are other factors:

• Sounding the whistle is only required when the locomotive is leading the train.  When shoving cars, other rules apply, and sounding the whistle is not required.
• Who owns the track on the crossing, the railroad or the industry?  The owner of the track gets to make the rules for its use, but still must craft its rules to comply with Federal and State regulations.  And the BNSF crew will be governed by BNSF rules unless the railroad Division issues a Special Instruction to the effect that BNSF employees will be governed by the operating rules of (industry name) from a specific location and within the industry track system.  Railroads almost never do this, as their employees have a lot more rules and are under the Federal Employers Liability Act, whereas industrial railroad crews work under Workman's Compensation rules in that state.  There's a world of difference if an employee injury should occur.
• Railroad employees can be governed by the operating rules of another public or private railroad, but are always governed by the safety rules and the air brake and train handling rules of the railroad which employs them.

Thks, Tom for the details.

  some more info then, - no whistle or horn on our Trackmobile.

                                        - it's all BNSF trackage, except in our yard siding

                                       - BNSF never crosses the road just because there is only room for 1 loco & maybe 4 cars before you hit the dirt, literally, which is why

                                         we use the wide open double tracks north of the road as our empties-in & loads-out staging area.

Rich