Quote:
Originally Posted by Cobrabill
Ron,"step closer so i can smack you one".
Actually,the rail safety bill that Bush signed last year makes the conductors postion safe for the long term.THe RR's would like one craft in the cab(engineers)but part of the safety bill is requiring conductors to be certified every three years like the Hoggers are.They (the RR's) won't be able to get rid of a postion that was deemd so important that there needs to be certification.
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Bill,
I just layed off for recertification Monday morning. Probably would have made it back in time to be rested by 0745, but my Road Foreman said not to take a chance.
We do have RCO (Remote Control Operation) in our yard but during busy times, the company reverts back to quicker full crew operation, with an on-board engineer, to get the necessary work done without gridlocking other yard movements.
When I review all the experimental things the company has proven, and temporarily(?) shelved, the GPS, the auto signal recognition, the electric brakes, removing crossings, the "Quiet Zone" no-liability campaign, Distributed Power with built-in remote inherent in each locomotive, and several other items, I think that maybe conductors may stay with the train, but on-board engineers may be history. If a train can be run from over a mile away, it can be run from New Dehli or
wherever. Also note, the effort was made to include remote road-engine rights in our last BLET contract. I do also have conductor rights, but don't expect this to take place while I'm yet there anyway. Of course the RCO yard operation a few years ago was a rude and sudden surprise. Nobody had a clue here and you know rumors fly in these ranks.
Semi-automating general movement by remote source, with multiple safety back-ups, may allow operation with only a RCO qualified conductor aboard to make occasional repairs. I imagine train movement for a knuckle replacement or bad-order setout could be done by temporarily converting to beltpack control. In the public safety eye, it would be easier to drop only engineers first, then eventually all crew in the future. Voila, giant unmanned conveyer belt.
I did hear a rumor that the Sept 12-08 one man head-on near LA gave cause for the FRA to stiffen their stance regarding avoiding one man crews. It was popularly blamed on phone-texting by corporate but there was some doubt cast since the engineer never bothered to
apply brakes and had several
personal problems.
Wes
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