Ask me about railroading

[Stu Pidasso]

I've worked as a switchman, brakeman, hostler, conductor and yardmaster.

Stu

[spartaninpr]

Are there still a lot of hobos.Or are the days of "ridin' the rails" history?

[Knight Vision]

How come the caboose went away? It served a purpose before, now it doesn't?

[Stu Pidasso]

[ QUOTE ]
Are there still a lot of hobos.Or are the days of "ridin' the rails" history?

[/ QUOTE ]

Ocassionally you find a rider but yes the days of ridin' the rails are over.

Stu

[offTopic]

[ QUOTE ]
I've worked as a switchman, brakeman, hostler, conductor and yardmaster.

Stu

[/ QUOTE ]

[img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] I thought this was going to be about getting an innocent man convicted of a crime.

[Stu Pidasso]

[ QUOTE ]
How come the caboose went away? It served a purpose before, now it doesn't?

[/ QUOTE ]

They don't use them anymore in chain gang through freight service because of automation. In the old days there was a brake man who rode with the engineer at the head end of the train. When a train needed to go into a siding the brakeman would line the switch in. Once the train was completely in the siding a brakeman in the caboose would line the switch back for main line movement.

Now the switches are all automated. Some guy in Fort Worth Texas pushes a button and the switch lines into the siding. Once the train is in the siding the guy in Fort Worth pushes a button and lines the switch back for main line movement.

Cabooses are still used in local service as shoving platforms. The conductor or brakeman will use them to ride and watch the movement when the train is backing up or "shoving" it beats hanging on to the side of a car for a mile or two.

Stu

[thirddan]

[ QUOTE ]
I've worked as a switchman, brakeman, hostler, conductor and yardmaster.

Stu

[/ QUOTE ]

wtf are all those jobs?

[Stu Pidasso]

A switchman works in the yard. He operates switches, cuts cars away and now through the use of remote control operates locomotives. A train will come into a terminal and the cars from that train will be put into particular classification tracks based on their final destinations. When there are enough cars to build a particular outbound train a switch crew will pull the cars from several classification tracks and put them in a longer departure track to make the outbound train.

A conductor is in charge of the train. Does all the paperwork, usually works the radio, and does the ground work if there is no brakeman. Most thru freight trains do not have brakeman so if cars needs to be set out or picked up online then conductor will do the ground work(i.e. make couplings, line switches, etcs)

A brakeman pretty much sleeps all trip except for the hour or so a train might have some online work to do on its way to its final destination. For instance if a train has to pick up some grain cars from an elevator the brakeman would do the ground work. Most freight trains will not have a brakeman unless the have several pickups or setouts to do online.

A hostler moves locomotives around in the yard. For instance the switch crew will have built an outbound train and the hostler will go to the round house, gather up the power, take it to the train and couple up to it. A hostler is different from an engineer in that a hostler can not move an engine with cars attached.

A Yardmaster is in charge of all the workers in the yard. He decides what tracks will be switched and what trains will be built. He assigns this work to switch crews, ultility people and hostlers. He coordinates train movements and switch movements within the yard.

Stu

[canis582]

How dangerous is it? Has it gotten safter?

[gusmahler]

What is the difference in power, pulling capacity, and speed between a steam locomotive and a diesel?