railfan365 wrote:I've been wondering for years: Why does the conductor have to switch cabs at the end of a line? Why can't the cab in either of the middle two cars be good for door control going either way?
1- conductors are required to only open doors when the train is stopped at a c/r's indication board. That's the raised black/white striped board usually located at the middle of the platform. If the c/r is not spotted "on the board" the c/r must not open the doors unless ordered to do so by a higher authority. Put simply, when the c/r is " on the board", all doors of the train will open onto a platform.
2- With the advent of video monitors the c/r must change his/her operating position at terminal for basically the same reason. The leaving c/r must be "on the board" when leaving the terminal so that any c/r's indication boards or video monitors encountered will be in the same place at all stops.
Before the question is asked let me state that there are no 26 or 32 inch monitors out there in the field so the train must be stopped at a precise location at all stops or there will be a delay, or worse, if the procedure is not followed correctly. There are also no 6 foot c/r's indication boards out there so the c/r must change operating positions at the terminal. For the oldtimers out there who remember the c/r operating outside, between the cars, he didn't have to change positions because he would always end up " on the board" because he was in the middle already.