One-Man Crews in Maine

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I think they should have at least 2, if not three crew members on board. Two seems to be the standard these days. Before it was three, you essentially had a conductor, engineer, and brakeman (at least). These days the brakeman and conductor duties have been combined, which is understandable due to advanced technology. However the conductor and engineer duties should not be meshed into one. Both require high-skill, and it's important to focus. The idea of the engineer having to keep track of carloads and switching (Not sure how they do that...I'm not familar with the specific MMA operations) on top of operating a locomotive, does not settle well with me.

One man MMA engineer working his train north of Bangor. Look's like more walking the rail than riding them.
view in full screen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5fMG2QvGe4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

one man for line haul ? ok. two men if switching cars. the 'conductor' has the messy job of walking to identify the cars to be pulled/spotted. the engineer notes same on his work order. last time i looked, still a paper/visual system. no reading of the car tag. conductor has to pull the pin then coax the engineer to do a slow pull. the air hoses part with pressure. on coupling, the conductor has to get under the coupler and hook the air hoses together then coax the engineer to do a test pull. all in all a 100 year old process. freight conductor has a tough job. this is one of the many reasons i support e/p brake systems. ken patrick

drvmusic wrote:Wanted to share this article. Opinions? http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/ ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The Federal Railroad Administration’s top official says he’s ‘‘shocked’’ a Maine-based rail company is still using one-person crews following a deadly train disaster in Canada.

Otto Vondrak wrote:

drvmusic wrote:Wanted to share this article. Opinions? http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/ ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You need to post a brief "fair use" quote when posting links to new stories.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The Federal Railroad Administration’s top official says he’s ‘‘shocked’’ a Maine-based rail company is still using one-person crews following a deadly train disaster in Canada.

Sorry Otto, I missed that. Will do for future posts.