BNSF and UP PTC letters to Congress

[Gilbert B Norman]

Volks, what amazes me is that pre-Chatsworth, avoidable passenger train collisions occurred. Why didn’t they cause the outcry of Chatsworth?

Enquiring mind wants to know.

[ExCon90]

Just a guess, but as a bystander I think three factors may have been significant:
1. The number of deaths;
2. That the engineer was texting immediately prior to impact;
3. That the collision occurred during rush hour in a major metropolitan area, and no doubt many people could relate to people much like themselves going home in rush hour--not a bunch of tourists somewhere in flyover country.

[Gilbert B Norman]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/america-c ... t?ref=home" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Since I think of sites such as Daily Beast as "alternative media", I'm not sure how much credibility to give this reporting. Let's just say I put it here with the tagline, "We report, you decide".

[scratchy]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/america-c ... t?ref=home

Since I think of sites such as Daily Beast as "alternative media", I'm not sure how much credibility to give this reporting. Let's just say I put it here with the tagline, "We report, you decide".

as a FBI agent friend of mine put it, "if a site has "the daily" in it's title, give it the same critical thinking we used to give a paper with "the Weekly" in it's name.

[Engineer Spike]

The whole PTC debacle is self inflicted. Back in the 1920s the government had railroads install ATS and or cab signals on various lines. Over time many of these installations have been eliminated. This facilitated the elimination of the maintenance, of course, but relieved keeping a certain pool of equipped locomotives. Especially with power pooling theses days all has been streamlined.

The other issue is crew fatigue. I’ve chased a train which kept moving backwards on the lineups. Once a train I stood for moved over a 15 hour span. The hours of service laws were changed not so long ago. The FRA keeps watering down the interpretation of various aspects. Furthermore the mandatory rest periods are a joke. Sometimes trains are marked so that the rest is reset by minutes. Anyone could probably work a 8 hour day run infinitely without being unduly fatigued. Everyone on the planet takes the science of circadian rhythms for granted. The railroad mindset is still stuck in the 1860s, so they don’t subscribe to it. Additionally the trend toward Precision Scheduled Railroading has resulted in crew cuts. In many cases everyone is doing what multiple people used to do. It has little to do with running trains on a schedule. It’s all about doing more with less equipment and crews. A good example is a yard with three shifts has been cut to two crews working 12 hour shifts. Break times are cut to exactly what’s written in the CBA. They want that switch engine moving with the exception of lunch and 10 minutes to get ready, and 10 to unsecure equipment after lunch.

I just think that the conditions which prompted the PTC mandate are self inflicted. The railroads are trying to have their cake and eat it too.

[mmi16]

The whole PTC debacle is self inflicted. Back in the 1920s the government had railroads install ATS and or cab signals on various lines. Over time many of these installations have been eliminated. This facilitated the elimination of the maintenance, of course, but relieved keeping a certain pool of equipped locomotives. Especially with power pooling theses days all has been streamlined.

The other issue is crew fatigue. I’ve chased a train which kept moving backwards on the lineups. Once a train I stood for moved over a 15 hour span. The hours of service laws were changed not so long ago. The FRA keeps watering down the interpretation of various aspects. Furthermore the mandatory rest periods are a joke. Sometimes trains are marked so that the rest is reset by minutes. Anyone could probably work a 8 hour day run infinitely without being unduly fatigued. Everyone on the planet takes the science of circadian rhythms for granted. The railroad mindset is still stuck in the 1860s, so they don’t subscribe to it. Additionally the trend toward Precision Scheduled Railroading has resulted in crew cuts. In many cases everyone is doing what multiple people used to do. It has little to do with running trains on a schedule. It’s all about doing more with less equipment and crews. A good example is a yard with three shifts has been cut to two crews working 12 hour shifts. Break times are cut to exactly what’s written in the CBA. They want that switch engine moving with the exception of lunch and 10 minutes to get ready, and 10 to unsecure equipment after lunch.

I just think that the conditions which prompted the PTC mandate are self inflicted. The railroads are trying to have their cake and eat it too.

It is just terrible that the shipping and traveling public want their movements to take place over a 24 hour day instead of a 8 hour day. Shucky Darns!