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Re: (erielack) RULES OF THE OPERATING DEPARTMENT
I actually had an argument with a rules examiner on this very point. He
claimed that if a crossing was being flagged by the railroad police (as
opposed to local police) or the signal department I could ignore the Form D
instructing my train to flag a crossing.
There is way in the world he was right and I told him so.
Steve
- --
Mechanical defects are no problem
as long as they don’t affect anyone working in an office.
www.ble272.org
> From: Walter Smith <wsmith5957_@_hotmail.com>
> Reply-To: EL Mail List <erielack_@_lists.elhts.org>
> Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2007 19:55:32 -0500
> To: <erielack_@_lists.railfan.net>, <snopercod@citcom.net>,
> <PapaG1954_@_gmail.com>, <s2choochoo@bellsouth.net>,
> <richardble_@_worldnet.att.net>, <pemchugh@aol.com>, <railwriter@comcast.net>
> Cc: <overcrailway_@_aol.com>, <alfred_runte@msn.com>, <terryem010762@yahoo.com>,
> <dewilkin_@_earthlink.net>
> Subject: (erielack) RULES OF THE OPERATING DEPARTMENT
>
>
> Speaking of Rule 220 - page 40 of the Rules of the operating
> Department/Erie-Lackawanna Railroad. This rule clearly states that
> "Trainorders are in effect until they are fulfilled, superseded or
> annulled". CSX has this same rule and it applied to the employees of the
> TRI_RAIL.
> Shortly after the TRI_RAIL began operating, an entire train crew was
> dismisssed and one of the rules broken was this particular one. It happened
> as follows...........
> The crossing gates at 79th Street in Miami (a heavily traveled 4-lane
> road) were inoperative and the CSX began isssuing a trainorder to 'Stop and
> flag 79th Street acct gates inoperative.' This went on for several days
> since it is easier to issue a T/O rather than repair the gates. On the day
> of the disaster, a passenger crew left the Miami airport station and
> approaching 79 th street on the mainline, stopped and flagged - thereby
> complying with the trainorder. On the Southbound trip, they did the same,
> stopped and flagged the crossing. Now, they had to return from the airport
> station and enter the yard to put their train away, having comleted their
> days work. The switch to enter the trainyard is JUST across 79th street and
> the engineer had his train slowed to near restricted speed to enter the yard
> lead but did not STOP. He properly sounded the horn with the 2 longs, a
> short, and a long but traffic had backed up on all 4 lanes and an impatient
> man raced around the other stopped autos and arrived at the crossing at the
> exact same time as the train. His car was hit and became airborne landing on
> a car headed in the other direction. The mans' little boy died, the man was
> injured, and a party in the other car was injured. I believe the CSX fixed
> the gates the next day but the crew was GONE forever. These were all
> experienced men..........not newhires.
> A few years later, gates were inoperative at a crossing near Boca
> Raton and the same thing happened. Another crew forgot to stop and flag and
> a woman in a step van got right in front of the locomotive and was hit.
> ANOTHER crew gone for failure to comply with a trainorder.
> After hearing all this, you'd think everyone on the property would
> be aware of this particular rule but a conductor told me he had an official
> observing his train near Commercial Boulevard station in Fort Lauderdale.
> He asked the official the reason and was told "you've been reported for
> delaying your train here". The conductor showed him a trainorder telling him
> to 'stop and flag Commercial Boulevard acct gates inoperative' . The
> TRI-RAIL man just said "OH" and left. The point here is.......all the other
> crews were just gliding through the crossing - NOT stopping and flagging.
> A year or so later, I was operating southbound and holding orders to
> stop and flag a crossing in Pompano Beach. As I approached the road in
> question (a 6-lane highway) a CSX signal maintainer came on the radio and
> said "I'm protedting the crossing, Walt, you can just take off". I thanked
> him and said I had a trainorder to stop and flag the crossing. He lost his
> temper and began yelling "I'm telling you to GO!! Are you going to delay
> that train??". I said "I had a traiinorder and had he had it annulled by
> the dispatcher?" By now we were at the crossing and conversation was
> screaming threats to have me fired, etc. I instructed my young assistant
> conductor to take the flag and flag the crossing which he did - staying well
> away from the CSX signalman who now began yelling on the radio "I won't flag
> for you anymore, Walt, I'll just let you crash right into cars!". I wshed
> him to have a nice day and proceeded to Miami only to find he had jumped
> into his truck and beat the train there and reported my crew to TRI-RAIL for
> 'wilfully delaying a passenger traiin'. The ever-courageous TRI-RAIL
> officials told my crew to report to the redneck signalmans' office where he
> accuseed us of 'writing him up for delaying trains and it was all our
> fault". I looked him in the eye and told him I'd NEVER written him up. I
> then questioned my conductor and AC in his presence and they'd never written
> him up. I don't doubt soem crews may have, but not my crew.
> After a few more threats, he subsided like a burping volcano telling us we'd
> "better be careful'.
> Until I left the EL and entered the chaotic world of present-day
> railroading, I had no idea how bad things were. I thank my lucky stars that
> I had a good grounding before entering the arena as it is today. I'm
> reminded of when I was a kid reading about the Japanese Kamikaze pilots -
> sent out with little or no training to do or die.
>
> Regards to all
>
> Walter E. Smith
>
>
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