Re: Road engine versus helper

John West Wrote:
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> I have often wondered what determined which engine
> and crew was the road engine, and which was the
> helper. The trainorders simply indicated two
> engines. From your narrative it sounds as if
> there was a bit of "flexibility" since you went up
> the hill as the road engine, but ran light into
> Alamosa as the helper. How was all that sorted
> out? Seniority, timetable bulletin, or ????
> Which was preferable, helper or road engine? I
> assume they paid the same.
>
> JBWX

As the NG was run a pool, it was first in, first out. Whoever tied up first got to be first out. Usually, the road engine crew got called first, then the helper.

The Grande paid crews the same rate to the road engine and helper crews. It was part of the standard union agreement - based on weight on the drivers. The only difference in pay was the helper running light to Alamosa paid a bit less as there was less overtime involved, but it was the same basic day for both crews. The Helper crew, running by themselves, qualified for extra pay for lining their own switches. I think they got an extra $1. Likewise if the road engine crew performed local switching along the way, they got a little extra on the "local rate".