I'm just curious about something, now that I've ridden both the C&TS and D&SNG RR's... I'm not a railroader, not by any stretch of the imagination. I am, however, an Operation Lifesaver volunteer, and I've done a couple of Safety Trains on the Union Pacific (They have excellent support for OLI, as does the BNSF), and have worked as a volunteer on-board those trains. I've also worked with both BNSF and UP train service employees and safety people who also participate in OLI.
So. I do know the rules, no where near the knowledge of the average railroader, but I'm definitely familiar with them. And I've been through the pre-operation safety and rules re familiarization briefings on the UP trains.
Last week, on the train rides, and I'm not going to "point fingers" at a particular RR, I observed a number of clear violations of rules in place on the Class I's... For instance, riding a moving locomotive, walking between a moving locomotive and uncoupled cars, staying on the same side of the track as the switchstand during train movements through the switch, coupling to occupied cars, and some other relatively minor violations...
Is this just a lack of awareness/oversight, or are the rules simply different on the narrow gauge lines? A lot of these are common sense rules the Class I's use to cut their injury/fatality rate to near 0%, and I was actually surprised by some of the "nonchalance" regarding basic railroading safety rules on one particular railroad (again, I'm not going to point fingers...) By contrast, a recent ride on the Georgetown Loop RR impressed me on how the train service people followed the rules to the letter, and I've also observed that at the CRRM, where safety procedures are also followed.
Has anyone else noticed this, or is it an "early in the season" thing, or am I completely off-base? Especially interested in hearing from professional railroaders that have ridden/worked on the two railroads... Again, I'm not interested in starting a riot, I'm actually just a little bewildered that simple, easy to follow, safety rules were being ignored...
Thanks,
Robert
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2017 09:38PM by rdamurphy.
