Well, for all it’s worth, coming from someone who has investigated more than his share of railroad employee fatalities (as a railroad safety inspector) and who has lost two friends in the tourist railroad industry (one by getting off moving railroad equipment), it isn’t worth the risk. I used to train employees on the proper way to get on/off moving equipment and most could do it OK in ideal conditions while others just couldn’t get the hang of it for some reason. As for myself, getting on/off moving equipment was something I did all the time but never felt comfortable when doing it. For me, I tried to not put myself or crew in the situation that we were in that big of hurry. As noted, sometimes it is necessary.
Regarding the comment about the former Conrail employee who indicated a major loss of productivity when the railroad applied this rule. I also worked with a former Conrail employee who switched the auto plants in Detroit back in the day. He also agreed that if this rule was in place, productivity would have been cut in half, if not more. He also said that he would be able to walk better today as his hips and knees were shot from all those years of hitting the ballast hard as they worked to make these moves. The accumulative toll on the body is just as much of a factor as suffering a catastrophic incident while performing the task.
Now, tourist railroads vs. Class 1 operations. As explained there is a big difference between the two and how safety rules are applied based on the type of operation and risk. In my opinion, having worked for multiple tourist operations, I just don’t see the reward vs. the potential risk by performing this move, unless it is in an emergency situation. Nothing in a tourist or museum situation rises to the level of productivity vs. safety to get the work done. After all, it is SAFETY FIRST not productivity first…isn’t it?
My 2 cents…..
Mike Ramsey