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  • Selective Service/Full Time Conductor Pilot

  • General discussion about railroad operations, related facilities, maps, and other resources.
General discussion about railroad operations, related facilities, maps, and other resources.

Moderator: Robert Paniagua

 #140360  by UPRR engineer
 
Anyone (Railfans) ever saw or heard on there scanners, guys working a single track or heard someone get track and time/permits and not understood what was going on? I spent a good deal of time doing this type of work for the railroad when i first hired on. I couldnt complain about the pay, kinda boring tho, and alot of responsibility came with the job. Easy work, just dont slip up, even the smallest mistake could get you in trouble, kicked out of pilot service, and or cause a wreck. I might think alot more of the job seeing as i was part of the team soo early after hiring out.

 #141108  by UPRR engineer
 
Heres what a single track order looks like.
_____________________________
NO. 034410 on Rawlins (260)
Track Bulletin Form C
To UP 5474 West
At Green River

1. 1300 Until 2030 06/27/05 All Trains Must Use
2. No. 2 Track Between West Switch Center Siding Point
3. Of rocks MP778.25 And CP G798
4. All Trains Must Stop Before Fouling No. 2 track
5. Between these points Unless Authorized To proceed
6. By Employee In Charge Of Switches Or By train
7. Dispatcher Via Radio Or Hand Signals
8. Eastward Trains Will Be Governed By CTC Signal
9. Indication At CP G798 Which Will Be Authority To
10. Use No 2 Track Between CPG798 and West Switch
11. Center Siding Point of Rocks MP 778.25
12. Dwarf Signal West End Center Siding Point of Rocks
13. Will Be Hooded And Removed From Service
14. Intermediate Pilot Located MP778.25 Mp782.00
15 MP 787.00 MP 792.00 and MP 797.00
16. Trains Operating Against The Current Of Traffic
17. Must Contact Pilots Before Passing These Locations
18. When Authorized By Train Dispatcher And All
19. Movements Directed By Employee In Charge Trains
20. May Use No. 1 Track Between MP778.25 And MP 798.00
21. Trains Operating On No. 1 Track Must Contact
22. Intermediate Pilots When All Movements Directed By
23. Employee In Charge Of Switches
24. Trains May Use Jim Bridger Spur Old Main Line
25.Thayer And Long Crossover Baxter
26 Westward Trains Contact Pilot Located At MP778.25
27. Before Passing Block Signal 777.3 For Instructions
28. Westward Trains At G798 Must Have Favorable
29. Signal Indication To Enter CTC
30. SSI Item 2 CHP 2 Applies.
31. OK 06/26/05 1908 Dispatcher: BCS
_______________________________

Hard to make any sence of it aint it? Most of the time with a form B or two, couple pieces of slow track your just along for a train ride. Run into one of these and most guys will be scratching there head for awhile trying to understand just what there suppost to do when they get there. When they talk about the employee in charge they mean a conductor pilot.
Last edited by UPRR engineer on Mon Jun 27, 2005 2:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

 #141193  by thebigc
 
When they talk about the employee in charge they mean a conductor pilot.
E.I.C., that's me! Gotta love the Roadway Workers Act! No safety glasses? No problem! And no work today!

Ahh, such sweet memories...

 #141209  by UPRR engineer
 
Forgot to throw in, i copied it word for word, the reason for the lines being numbered is so they can change something with another bulletin if it failed to come out right. Something like: add to line 25 to include yard tracks at thayer. Something like that.

What is the Roadway Workers Act? I have no clue.

 #141216  by thebigc
 
UPRR engineer wrote: What is the Roadway Workers Act? I have no clue.
You ever work as a Conductor-Flagman protecting contractors working along the right-of-way? The flagman is the EIC and responsible for the safety and rule compliance of the contractor and their workers. You know, so they don't get hit by one of our trains and delay it or make some engineer think he's gonna hit one of the workers and dump the air. And you're responsible for having a job briefing with all these "roadway workers". Even if they don't speak English.

 #141250  by UPRR engineer
 
thebigc wrote:
UPRR engineer wrote: What is the Roadway Workers Act? I have no clue.
You ever work as a Conductor-Flagman protecting contractors working along the right-of-way? The flagman is the EIC and responsible for the safety and rule compliance of the contractor and their workers. And you're responsible for having a job briefing with all these "roadway workers".
Like pilot a rail grinder train and crew, nope no contractors. About the closest thing to that was me looking after a gang (UP Guys, and that wasnt really my job, just didnt want to see anyone get killed) when the work got close to my mile post or switches. The few contractors i have saw or worked close with were the guys picking up the used tie piles and the form B forman looked after them. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

 #141397  by Chris_S68
 
thebigc wrote:
UPRR engineer wrote: What is the Roadway Workers Act? I have no clue.
You ever work as a Conductor-Flagman protecting contractors working along the right-of-way? The flagman is the EIC and responsible for the safety and rule compliance of the contractor and their workers. You know, so they don't get hit by one of our trains and delay it or make some engineer think he's gonna hit one of the workers and dump the air. And you're responsible for having a job briefing with all these "roadway workers". Even if they don't speak English.
Done that before. It's really fun when they give you a POS radio and the trains can't hear you and you can barely hear them. I swear, every time I was assigned a radio from the main office at Proviso... People tend to get a little irate when the scoots get delayed. Finally climbed to the top of a highway embankment just to get out a decent signal.

 #141422  by thebigc
 
UPRR engineer wrote: Like pilot a rail grinder train and crew, nope no contractors. About the closest thing to that was me looking after a gang (UP Guys, and that wasnt really my job, just didnt want to see anyone get killed) when the work got close to my mile post or switches. The few contractors i have saw or worked close with were the guys picking up the used tie piles and the form B forman looked after them. Thanks for clearing that up for me.
We pilot the LORAM rail grinder too, and the ballast cleaner. Both of those are lousy, noisy jobs but you usually make money. Also Sperry cars. Those things make for a long day, especially on old stick rail. And we pilot any crane with a drawbar. Those are also money-makers.
Chris_S68 wrote:Done that before. It's really fun when they give you a POS radio and the trains can't hear you and you can barely hear them. I swear, every time I was assigned a radio from the main office at Proviso... People tend to get a little irate when the scoots get delayed. Finally climbed to the top of a highway embankment just to get out a decent signal.
Agreed. Cell phones are really indispensable when you're flagging in the middle of nowhere. Technically, we're not supposed to use our personal cells while on duty but practicality wins out every time.

 #141431  by Chris_S68
 
Cell phones sure would've made things easier, though back then they weren't quite as prolific - Pagers were the in thing. Of course, you could get a "bag phone" for about $700.00 that was the size of a small suitcase! :wink:

 #141437  by thebigc
 
Chris_S68 wrote:Cell phones sure would've made things easier, though back then they weren't quite as prolific - Pagers were the in thing. Of course, you could get a "bag phone" for about $700.00 that was the size of a small suitcase! :wink:
I got my first cell phone in 1995 and was amazed at how useful it was for "field work". Really took the anxious moments out of flagging.

You mentioned radios earlier and reminded me of the "lunchbox" radios we used to have. Lucky if they'd transmit the length of your train. I wound up buying my own radio in 1989. I was just tired of working flag jobs and especially pilot jobs with no radio. I was also tired of relying on wayside phone boxes. The odds were astronomical of finding a working T box in the summer that didn't have a hornets' nest in it.