Re: safety

Dan,et al,

In watching this video, a couple of things come to mind.

First, it seems that there are railfans playing railroader. The employee on the back deck of the moving locomotive should have stopped the movement and gotten the photographer out of the way. Although none of us were there and have no idea what the guy on the back deck saw, it is a sobering reminder that people will many times park their brains at home when they get around a railroad. It is up to the people who work there to keep an eye out for the general public. I am amazed at the close calls that I see every time the 844 or 3985 are under steam.

Fortunately, the UP Steam Crew has been around long enough to expect damn near anything. The Freight Crews are aware enough when the steam locomotives are running to watch out for idiots standing on the main line "for just a second" to get a photo, with a train coming toward them. We get the "One finger salute" quite often for blowing the locomotive horn when the steamer is moving, but it is to warn the civilians that there is a train moving, and in an argument between a train and a person, the train will win.

Back to the video. Not to apologize for the lack of vigilance of the crew, but the photographer was wearing dark clothing and if the sun was in the brakeman's eyes, it might have been difficult to see him. Either that, or the brakeman on the end of the locomotive was so used to people out between the tracks taking photos that he just figured that this daisypicker would move.

Yes, I agree, the photographer was in the wrong place. The crewmen that walked by him are as guilty as the guy riding the end of the locomotive for not warning this bozo of the oncoming danger or doing anything to protect him. Unfortunately, a liability lawyer could make one helluva case against the BM&R using this video.

Another thing that popped out at me was that after the accident, when the brakeman was about to couple the locomotive to the passenger car that he stopped short about 6 feet to adjust a knuckle, and then he put his head near the couplers to check the alignment. If he worked for UP and did that, he'd be fired on the spot. If you need to get between the ends of the equipment to adjust the knuckles, the cars or locomotives have to be separated by at least half a car length, and with recent rule revisions, a car length is the norm. You don't have to visually line up the knuckles, either. There is enough play in the couplers that if they are both lined up closely, the joint will make. If the brakie directing the movement was worried about the alignment, the safest thing to do would have been to being the locomotive close, check the couplers, and if they needed to be adjusted, to back the locomotive to a safe distance and then adjust the knuckles. They were very close to two serious injuries that day and nobody even realized the second one.

Safety First, fellas, the public's and your own.

If you stop and think about it, all the fabled railroad heroes from Casey Jones to John Henry to Jesus Garcia, end up dead. Don't be a hero.

Rick Steele



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/2008 09:42AM by Rick Steele.