About the Author J. D. Santucci (a.k.a. "Tuch") began his railroading career in 1978 as a trainman on the Missouri Pacific. After a round of lay-offs in 1985, Tuch embarked on a railroad odyssey, working in many different situations for different roads. This column tries to explain some of the nuts and bolts of the job and also demonstrates what we have to deal with on a regular basis within and without the industry. Tuch currently works through freights out of Chicago for Canadian National/Illinois Central. ©1999, 2003-2007 JD Santucci. Logo ©2002 The Railroad Network. By J.D. Santucci

May 13, 2004
I have wanted to write a piece on today's topic for quite some time, but have been saving it for what seems to be ever. Today's lesson is a true reality check into what terrible situations can occur within the rail industry.

Railroading has traditionally been a dangerous occupation. Rule changes and new rules have been developed as a result of such mishaps. There have been changes made in procedures and also in the equipment used to reduce the incident of injury or death. A great deal of the injury prevention focuses on the employees themselves. You need to be cut in all the time and must avoid shortcuts. Oftentimes the shortcuts or brief lapses in concentration are what lead to injury or even death. It only takes one second to change your life forever out here on the high iron. It is such situations that created the statement "The rulebook is written in blood."

Of course some episodes don't lead to injury or death, but can be devastating just the same. They also may result in a major unplanned and unpleasant change in your life. In today's lesson we will study several different types of events.

Rule G on the railroad is the one that clearly prohibits employees from using alcohol while on duty or subject to call for duty. It also prohibits the use of illegal drugs at any time and certain other controlled substances while subject to call or on duty. There is also a Federal law to back up and support Rule G. Nonetheless, like every other industry in the world, there is always somebody out there attempting to undermine or circumvent this rule. This first episode will cover such an event and one of those individuals.

On the evening of this particular event, I was nowhere near the location where this situation unveiled itself. I was filled in on the events of the episode over the following couple of days. One of the investigating officials was an old friend and he called me to give me the lowdown on this one. Comparing what could have happened with what did happen, which was quite bad in itself; this situation could have been disastrous.

On this night a train was leaving one set of rails for that of another railroad. They were using a connection track known as a "wye." This wye track was a rather long connection, probably three quarters of a mile long. In addition to the curve in the track there was a bit of an ascending (uphill) grade, then a bit of a dip and another little rise to this track before you entered the other railroad's line. The speed on this wye track was 10 MPH. At the end of the wye where it tied into the other railroad, there was a signal and a switch controlled by the Train Dispatcher. In between the signal and the switch was what is known as a "split rail derail," also controlled by the Dispatcher.

The split rail derail is a device that is made up of two pieces of rail and operated by a machine that separates or puts together two pieces of rail. When separated, this device is the derailing position. The split rail derail is used to prevent an accidental or unauthorized entry to the main track. This device will derail the train so as not to have it enter the main track. Now remember this bit of information as it will come into play later in the game.

So the train in question has a signal to enter the wye track and exit the line over which it was operating. The Engineer complies with the signal and the speed of 10 MPH as he starts his train into the wye. Now somewhere in between entering the wye and coming up to the signal at the other end, both he and the Conductor fall into the grasp of Morpheus. So now with nobody minding the fort, nobody has noticed the signal at the other end of the wye is displaying a stop signal.

"Nobody does it better."

The train proceeds by the stop signal and rolls onto the split rail derail, which is in the derailing position. Needless to say, it worked as designed causing both engines to derail which pretty much immediately brought the train to a sudden stop. As the engines derailed, one of them swung out a little bit and fouled the main track. Fortunately for all involved, there was no train in the neighborhood that could have been affected by this episode. Had there been a train either at this location or close at hand, it is entirely possible there could have been a sideswipe collision here. The potential was there for a disaster.

When they passed this stop signal without permission, it light up the Dispatcher's screen. The Dispatcher immediately knew there was a problem, only they were not exactly certain of what it was other than there was a situation that most likely involved failure to comply with the stop signal. This in itself is a major problem.

Prior to the Trainmaster showing up to investigate the problem the crew awoke to discover their dilemma.

"You in a heap a trouble now boy!"

Being there were two different railroads involved, both roads sent out Trainmasters to the scene. By this point in time the Engineer had regained his composure and contacted the Dispatcher to let him know what had transpired. He then began to concoct an excuse for what happened. The story the Engineer involved gave to the investigating Trainmasters was quite amusing. To think this was the best excuse he could come up with was pretty pathetic.

"I went to the well and there was nothing there!"

This guy told the Trainmasters he thought he was further from the signal than he actually was. He went on to tell them nature was calling and he needed to answer the call. He stepped out the back door to take care of such business. While handling this chore (no pun intended) he claims he looked ahead and suddenly realized that he was much closer to the signal than he first thought. He went on to state that by the time he was able to get back into the cab and put the train into emergency, it was too late. He got passed the signal and into the split rail derail which, in turn, caused his engines to hit the cinders.

"That's my story and I'm stickin' to it."

Had there not been an event recorder on the locomotives he might have been able to get away with the story, even though there was another rule violation involved. But the tail up the tape gave him up as being far less than truthful. The event recorder revealed that the train had come to a stop without there being any application of the brakes yet alone an emergency application. The engines leaving the rails brought the move to a stop. Being that the train was not going that fast, about 5 or 6 MPH at the time of the derailment, it did not take that much effort for the train to stop. Fortunately though, with the sudden stop, none of the cars back in the train derailed. A sudden change in the momentum like this can and does cause cars to derail from the rapid run in of slack

So now we have a derailed train that has passed a stop signal with no authority and an Engineer standing firm with an outlandish story as to how this little event occurred. Can you say drug test? Can you also say investigation?

The crew was indeed taken for drug and alcohol testing following such this event. Several days later when the results came back from the lab, it was shown the Engineer had tested positive for illegal drugs. When all was said and done, he was given a year off without pay and had to go into the spin dry, more commonly known as drug rehab.

The Conductor was also disciplined getting time off without pay. I do not recall exactly what he was charged with and how much time off he got though.

This entire situation could have been worse, far worse. The train could have been moving faster and more cars could have derailed. A train could have been passing on the track they were trying to enter without authorization. At a faster speed, the derailing train could have had cars or the engines come mix it up with the train that was where it was supposed to be. Yes kids, it could have been really ugly, but it wasn't. The railroad gods smiled on the industry that day. However, they didn't do a whole lot for the crew involved in this day's events.

Our next event is about a guy who also got himself seriously injured through his own negligence. He was doubling up his train. As he was making a coupling, he observed that the drawbar (coupler) on one of the cars did not line up correctly for the coupling to make successfully. The rules very clearly state that in such a circumstance, you are to stop the move and make sure the cars in question are separated by at least on car length before you step in between to make any adjustments. The rules also state that you are not supposed to use your feet at any time to perform such adjustments. There was also a rule in place that you were supposed to request and receive positive protection from the Engineer before stepping in between the cars to perform any work or adjustments. Three rules in place to protect you. Of course, it is extremely difficult to protect one from their own stupidity.

I have witnessed many a Trainman reach up with his leg and kick the offending drawbar over to get it to line up correctly. While this often works quite well, it is quite the safety rule violation. You could easily slip as you make such a move and fall, thus causing serious injury to yourself. And under no circumstances should one ever attempt any such adjustments to the equipment while it is moving.

Well this guy must have decided that such rules did not apply to him directly. As the cut was moving closer to the cars he was going to couple onto, he observed the drawbar on one of the cars to be coupled was slightly askew. He reached in with his foot giving the drawbar a kick. They only problem (aside from all those rule violations involved), was that his timing (in addition to his good sense) was slightly off. He did not get his foot clear in time and got it caught in the coupling. I cannot even imagine the pain and agony that he went through at the moment or in the minutes and hours that followed.

While he did not lose the entire foot, he did lose a part of it. He required all kinds of surgery and then rehab to get back into condition. He did return to work after missing about a year.

Another guy I have worked with also failed to have a car length of separation space. The coupler knuckles were closed on both cars so he had to open one of them to make the coupling between the two cars. One of the cars involved was equipped with a long cushioned drawbar. These types of drawbars are set up to slide back and forth, in some cases for several feet. They take up the shock of rough couplings or excessive slack action which, in turn, protects the lading within the car.

The two cars involved were only separated by a foot or so. This guy pulls the pin lifter to activate the uncoupling mechanism. In some cases, the knuckle will not always open right up; you need to reach in there and pull the knuckle by hand to get it to open all the way. Again, there are rules to cover the proper procedure for this as well. Unknown to this guy was the fact that the drawbar on the car equipped with the cushioning device was compressed or resting in a position in which the drawbar was pushed in; Cocked in a sort of way. As he reached in to pull the knuckle open, the cushioning device released and the drawbar popped back out to its normal position.

This movement occurred in an instant and the guy had no chance to pull his hand clear in time. The now decompressed drawbar shoved right up against the coupler knuckle of the car next to it catching this guy's hand in between. They tell me that even though it was a cold day and all the windows were closed in the yard office that was some forty or so car lengths away from the incident, you could hear this guy screaming.

He lost one finger and part of another in the episode. The lost finger was in part, the result of yet another rule violation. Employees are not supposed to wear any kind of rings on their fingers while on duty. The wedding ring he was wearing was crushed during this episode and it caused the loss of one of the fingers. It literally tore through the finger is was on. He underwent all kinds of surgery and rehab as well. Eventually he also returned to work.

Of course, not all injuries are employee negligence. I know one guy that suffered a very serious injury and pretty much cheated death when the car he was riding derailed. When the car first came off the tracks, this fellow quickly bailed from it. However, being that he was making a fast escape as opposed to a normal landing from a moving car, he hit the ground in a manner inconsistent with prescribed methods. Of course when a car is derailing, you are trying to avoid an injury and trying to make a fast break; you are not thinking about procedure; you are thinking about not getting hurt or killed. The area in which this guy was landing was less than suited for such action which caused him to twist his leg and ankle in a direction that caused immediately injury and pain. And his problems were just beginning.

In making his landing he lost his radio and could not call the Engineer to instruct him to stop immediately. Not knowing the situation, the Engineer was continuing to drag this cut out of the factory.

This now derailed car began to turn over onto its side. Our friend now injured and not able to walk was trying to drag himself away from the car. Fortunately he managed to get far enough away that the car did not land on top of him, but the momentum of the moving car, now on its side, slid it towards him and it actually struck and then pushed him which caused an even more serious injury. He missed over a year of work and required several surgeries to correct the damage done. He did manage to return to work and went on to finish out his career on the railroad before retiring.

Another guy was riding in a caboose on a hot day and had the windows open. Most of the cabooses on this railroad had screens on the windows but for whatever reason, they were missing from this particular cab. Some kids hiding in the weeds bombarded this caboose with large rocks and bricks. He never saw it coming and was struck in the side of the face with a brick. He suffered a serious injury, nearly losing an eye. He required several surgeries including some facial reconstruction and missed nearly two years of work.

Now while the screen on the window may not have stopped the brick from coming in, it may have slowed the speed of it enough to minimize or perhaps even prevent such a serious injury.

Our last episode today deals with a defective handhold. A Conductor was working an industry job and switching out the cars they had just pulled from a plant. As he attempted to board a car rolling past him, he reached up and grabbed a hold of one of the grab irons applied on every car for such purposes. Once he had a firm hold and started to pull himself up, the grab iron broke loose from the car.

Immediately this guy lost both his hold and his balance. He fell backwards away from the car. Fortunately his foot did not get caught in the stirrup so he wasn't dragged and he fell far enough back that he was not caught by the trucks under the car and dragged or actually struck by the car itself. He landed square on his lower back and was seriously injured.

Of course the railroad involved in this affair was quite concerned about what happened and this guy's well being in the moments after the incident. They did not want to call the paramedics and the Trainmaster wanted to use the company vehicle to transport this guy to the hospital. Such emergency medical response calls are expensive and operating costs needed to be controlled. The injured employee, lying there on the ground, had to demand the paramedics to be called as he was in severe pain and even in such a state probably realized that he shouldn't be trying to move on his own.

The paramedics arrived, placed a cervical collar on his neck and moved him onto a board to immobilize him, and then transported him to the hospital. He missed well over a year of work from this injury before eventually recovering and returning.

Ironically, this particular Trainmaster was also involved in handling another personal injury where he also wanted to transport the employee to the hospital via a company vehicle instead of calling for paramedics. In this case he did and as a result, the employee's injury was actually made worse. By failing to immobilize the injury before moving and transporting this guy, he received more significant damage to his already severe injury which resulted in his being off work an even longer period of time.

They tell us that as far as the transportation industry goes, railroads have less frequency of injuries per man hour than the rest. So with that information comes the belief by some managers that railroading is safer than other transportation jobs. I disagree with that statement. It is not safer; apparently most railroaders must tend to work a little safer than those in other industries. Considering the environment in which we work, we somehow manage to sustain fewer injuries. Large, heavy moving equipment is dangerous. Cars can and do derail. Some idiot driving around lowered gates at a crossing is placing your life in peril as well as his own. Some screwball throwing some heavy object or shooting at your moving train places a dangerous threat on your life. While we may be working safer, I would certainly not make a statement that railroading is a safe occupation.

It is true that terrible events can and do occur when you take dangerous chances or cut corners. And there is certainly a degree of corner cutting and chance taking coming from both the employees and employers. Safety indeed needs to be a two way street.

And so it goes.

Tuch