Commuter engineers

Are uniforms required for any commuter engineers? Thanks for any info.

not on MNCR or LIRR

and not on GO or AMT either.

Not on NJT or Septa either

Add Metra to the list...

I noticed NICTD motormen appearing to wear some kind of uniform shirt.

Thats about the only part of a uniform they have to wear, just the white or blue uniform shirt and blue pants. Also, they have a uniform winter coat they can wear also.

Huh...must be one of those remaining vestages of the South Shore's interurban heritage?

You can add MBTA/MBCR to the no uniform ranks.

Hi All,

Depends on what you mean by Engineers. If you are talking about train drivers, they usually don't have a uniform, just what you would call regular working clothes. Occasionally you will find a traditionalist and he wears bib type levis and the usual cap, and sometimes a red bandana.

The degreed type engineers usually are dressed for working on the ROW but do wear a shirt and tie. Their construction hat color gives them away as being an engineer. If they are in the offices, at a desk, etc. then they will look the part, with shirt, tie, jacket, etc. They usually have that "professional look" about them. You might call that a "uniform".

pennsy wrote:Hi All,

Depends on what you mean by Engineers. If you are talking about train drivers, they usually don't have a uniform, just what you would call regular working clothes. Occasionally you will find a traditionalist and he wears bib type levis and the usual cap, and sometimes a red bandana.

The degreed type engineers usually are dressed for working on the ROW but do wear a shirt and tie. Their construction hat color gives them away as being an engineer. If they are in the offices, at a desk, etc. then they will look the part, with shirt, tie, jacket, etc. They usually have that "professional look" about them. You might call that a "uniform".

Is this a rail forum? If so, I believe we're speaking of locomotive engineers, not the "degreed" variety. And, we're NOT train drivers, unless you're working across the pond! Red bandana? I haven't seen that get-up since Moby Dick was a tadpole!

On PATH, the engineers have a gray polo shirt with the PATH insignia on it.

Since the motermen (motorwomen?) of the Hiawatha Line are standard drivers for the TCRT, so I believe they wear the standard uniform that the bus drivers wear, except with a safety vest.

Here's a pic. of a trainset rolling into the station adjacent to the Metrodome in Minneapolis, you can see the motorman clearly in the windshield...

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=68495


(Don't quote me on this, however, as I have yet to ride the TCRT LRT, have just seen pics online.)

Hi Komachi,

Nice shot of your Light Rail Vehicle. Our Gold Line in Los Angeles uses the same LRV's. (Bombardier of Canada) The operators, as they are called, wear either International Orange or International Green vests over their normal clothes. You can often see a shirt as well, with a MetroRail patch on the sleeve.

By the way, The west coast RR's do not call their engine drivers engineers. That went out years ago. They are called Enginemen. The boss of the train still remains the Conductor. What he says goes.

I know technically the MTA considers them motormen, but the men and women of the NYC Subway are essentially engineers; they are required to wear the same MTA uniform that their conductors wear.

Well, now we're starting to blur the line between commuter rail and transit. I believe the original poster was referring to commuter railroads, operating in the FRA-regulated railroad sphere.

The Minneapolis example is a transit line, so yes, those operators are clearly not engineers in the FRA-certified sense.

In every case I've ever encountered, subway and light rail operators (formerly called motormen in the days when the craft was pretty much one-gender) wear the transit authority's uniform for drivers, operators, subway conductors (not that many cities still have two-person subway crews).

Railroad engineers, even when they work for the same authority (i.e., SEPTA) do not.