About the Author J. D. Santucci (a.k.a. "Tuch") began his railroading career in 1978 as a trainman on the Missouri Pacific. After a round of lay-offs in 1985, Tuch embarked on a railroad odyssey, working in many different situations for different roads. This column tries to explain some of the nuts and bolts of the job and also demonstrates what we have to deal with on a regular basis within and without the industry. Tuch currently works through freights out of Chicago for Canadian National/Illinois Central. ©1999, 2003-2007 JD Santucci. Logo ©2002 The Railroad Network. By J.D. Santucci

July 24, 2002
Once again, the planned and long written column that has been bumped so many times gets bumped again. Eventually though, it will get its turn to appear on the Hot Times network. Today's column is one that was inspired by the events that occurred July 20th.

We were heading north to Chicago on train 325. As part of this day's journey we met southbound 322 at Paxton. The Engineer and Conductor were positioned on either side of the main track to give a roll-by inspection of our passing train. After we passed, Engineer Aaron McKinnon called telling me we had a tank car smoking about thirty or so behind the engines. He missed the car number but gave us the initials of the car next to it and a description of the car in question. Rich was able to use this information to locate the car on our wheel report.

I slowed the train and Rich dropped off to take a look. I pulled the train past him and up to the car in question. He found a handbrake on the car in question. We had just passed the Ludlow detector and it gave us the "no defects" message too. As it would happen, the handbrake was on a tank car loaded with Sodium Hydroxide. While at this moment there was no impending disaster, it may have become a problem down the road. By the time we got to the next detector at Del Ray some twelve miles from Paxton, the wheels would have heated up even more than they already were. It is likely the Del Ray detector would have caught the problem giving us an alarm and then the "first hot wheel" message, but here is the problem.

If the wheels had overheated enough they would have caused the brake shoes to melt leaving a build up of their material on the tread of the wheels. We would likely have had to set out the car as a result. The problem with this was two fold. There is no "hospital" track near Del Ray for us to set the car out. We would have to take the car to the north end of Gilman, some nine miles away to set out the car. We would have to proceed at a slow speed to assure the car didn't derail account of the build up which had developed on the wheels. Then a crew of Car Inspectors with a new set of wheels and any other necessary hardware would have to be dispatched to make repairs to the car. There would two significant delays; one to our train and another to the car we would have to set out.

Engineer McKinnon's sharp and watchful eye prevented this. He gets a Hot Times "attaboy" for his efforts.

Whenever trains meet at a location where one of the trains is stopped, the crew members of the stopped train are required by the rules to position themselves on the ground to perform a roll-by inspection of the passing train. When conditions allow, one of these crew members is supposed to be on the opposite side of the track so as to allow a good look from both sides. In the days when we had cabooses, an employee on the caboose of a stopped train was required to position himself on the back porch to observe a passing train as well.

Some railroads were and are maniacal about this. If you failed to perform the roll-by and were caught, it meant time off without pay. It was common on the MoPac for officials to ride the trains with crews. If they were riding a train and observed a stopped train at a meeting point with nobody from the crew on the ground, there was hell to pay. You could figure on a thirty day unpaid vacation. There may very well be officials hiding in the weeds or parked on a nearby road out of sight to observe the crew in question performing the roll-by inspection.

In the dead of winter when it is really cold outside, this can be a tough chore. You have to bundle up and head out into the weather. After sitting in some siding for quite awhile, this may be difficult to say the least. There are times we get headed into a siding and told we will meet several trains before proceeding. After sitting for an extended period at three or four in the morning, it becomes difficult to remain awake. The boy's Circadian rhythms are demanding you to sleep. Thus a performance check of the eyelids for light leaks may occur. Whenever we meet a stopped train during the overnight hours and there is no sign of life, we give them a wake up call. This means a good blast of the whistle as we pass the cab of their locomotive. When we still had them on trains, we would also give the same wake up call to the caboose.

Over the years I have been stopped numerous times by the on ground observers who discovered defects in my trains. Likewise, I have observed problems in passing trains and notified them to stop. In more than one case, we were able to assist them or they have assisted us in making the problem right or in setting out the defective car.

Even when I am not working I do the check, only this time from my car. Whenever I get stopped at a crossing for a train, I always give them a good look over. The beautiful bride laughs as I always count the cars as they pass. There is a reason for this. On more than one occasion I have spotted a defect. In one case it was wheels sliding on a car. I was able to contact the railroad involved and explain the situation. I always let them know who I am, that I am a Locomotive Engineer and who I work for. There are enough kooks and weirdos out there and I am sure the railroads hear from them on a regular basis. When I have contacted the railroad involved, I also try to give them the initials and number of the car if I can. If I miss them, I try to get the initials and number on one near it. If I can catch something about the car, I will convey that information as well, such as it being a Grand Trunk box or maybe an L&N covered hopper if I can catch that much of it.. Again, this is why I count them as they pass, this way they have an idea where it is located in the train.

In my days at Wisconsin Central, they were probably one of the least concerned about such inspections. Nobody in charge seemed to be too terribly concerned about enforcing this rule. And this was interesting considering that oftentimes a company official was on board a train there too. Although in this situation it was due to the routine shortage of help and these officials were often working as part of the crew.

In one instance while heading west on train TO41, we met an eastbound at Rugby Junction, WI. It was around midnight as we passed them. The crew remained aboard their train greeting us with a flash from the Conductor's lamp. This indicated there was life. We zoomed past them and heard "flashing" from the Engineer on the radio when the FRED passed them. This was their message to indicate to us that the FRED was indeed blinking. We went about twenty miles to the next hot box detector and got an alarm from it indicating a defect. It told us of a hot box. Upon inspection the Conductor discovered the detector was correct. It was an overheated and now on fire, friction journal bearing on a tank car full of herbicide. Fortunately the detector caught this before the journal burned off and the car derailed. Now had the crew we met been on the ground as we passed, they very likely would have spotted this defect and we would have been stopped sooner.

If the detector hadn't been there, this car would have never made it up Lomira Hill. It would have certainly derailed causing a major wreck and very likely an environmental situation. So you see just how valuable the roll-by inspections can be.

We are also required to make inspections of our own trains as we round curves by looking back. While there is no possible way we are going to see all, yet alone most of these monsters we run today, we can see a fair portion of it at times. In the days of cabooses, the tail end crew was also required to observe the train when rounding curves and in other cases where conditions allowed. Probably every railroad was and continues to be big on the requirement of looking back at your train. Many railroad officials perform efficiency tests to see if you were fulfilling the requirements of this rule. Also, either the Flagman or Conductor on the caboose was required to periodically get up and look out from the back porch onto the rail and roadbed. This was to observe any indications of dragging equipment or a possible derailed car.

We have observed some problems from the engines or cabooses and brought the train to a stop to investigate the problem. There was a situation in my Chicago Central days on the one train that normally operated with a caboose, the Freeport-Hawthorne turn. The Conductor kept seeing sparks from his perch in the cupola of the caboose. He stopped the train several times but found nothing. As day broke and he could now get a better view of the train he discovered the trouble. He observed several flatcars loaded with trailers were rocking excessively. The sparks were coming from the bottom of the cars themselves rubbing the wheels as they rocked over far enough. Fortunately and amazingly enough, none of these cars derailed. They were set out of the train and the mechanical forces were dispatched to inspect and make the required repairs on them.

A Conductor I worked with on the Wisconsin Central told me of an episode involving him during in his days with the Milwaukee Road. Being the good Conductor he was, he got up to look out from the back porch of his moving caboose. He told of observing what appeared to be fresh cut marks in the ties behind his train and immediately headed back in to call the Engineer on the radio. It was good plan but just a moment too late. He said he grabbed the radio and began to call the Engineer to have him bring the train to a stop. The train went into emergency from the condition he observed, which just happened to be a derailed car. The caboose wound up also derailing as part of this mess, turning over on its side knocking him out cold.

Other Conductors I have known over the years have recounted stories of discovering some sort of impropriety within their trains from the caboose. Dragging equipment, cars smoking and other problems were discovered in between detectors from crew members on the tail end. Their attentiveness and alertness prevent derailments and other problems.

Back in the days of cabooses, whenever we stopped anywhere that was more than a momentary pause, members of the crew were required to perform a walking inspection of their stopped train to check for defects or other problems as well. The Conductor or Flagman on the caboose would begin to head towards the engines and the head Brakeman might begin to walk back towards the caboose. If we were stopped somewhere and were told our stay would be for a while, there was no excuse not to perform the walking inspection. Again, sometimes the weed watchers were out there to observe the application of this rule. And over the years, defects have been discovered before they caused a problem or derailment.

Maintenance of Way employees working on the track or structures along the right of way are supposed to stop working and observe passing trains as well. As with train crews, when practicable they are required to have at least one of them positioned on the opposite side of the track. Once the passing train clears, they may resume their work. Signal Maintainers will also observe passing trains.

A couple of years ago as we headed south through Chicago near 47th Street, we passed Signal Maintainer Ken Bentley. Ken noticed a large piece of banding dragging from a flatcar and called alerting us of the problem. I brought the train to a stop; he came up to the engines, picked up the Conductor and drove him back to the problem. The banding that was dragging was a very large, thick gauged piece, the kind that could easily cut somebody standing too close to the tracks in half. Together the two of the removed the offending banding and we proceeded.

About a mile down the tracks we encountered a Track Welder and his helper working. They were working on track one and we were operating on track two. The Welder's truck was parked east of track two on the road just east of the tracks. Had Maintainer Bentley not spotted this piece of banding, it would have likely caught on the Welder's truck and done some damage to it before it was torn free from the flatcar. Again, a job well done that prevented a serious episode.

Back in the days when there were open towers and train order offices all up and down the right of way, the Operators who staffed those facilities were also supposed to come outside to observe passing trains as well. That is, if their duties allowed. It would have been unrealistic for them to announce to the Dispatcher in the middle of issuing train orders to their office, "Wait a minute, I must go outside to observe this southbound."

As in the past, there are very important reasons for this roll-by inspection requirement. We are observing the passing trains for defects. Even though there are equipment defect detectors every twenty to twenty-five miles on most railroads, they are not infallible, they may miss something. Some sort of defect may develop in between detectors as well. Also, these detectors are not designed to catch every type of defect there is. While they may check for hot bearings and wheels, wheels that have become loose or have excessive flat spots, dragging equipment and excessive height or width, there are some defects they simply are not designed to detect.

We scan the passing trains for some of the same defects the detectors do; handbrakes, sticking brakes, dragging equipment and excessive height or width in locations where such dimensions are a factor. Some defects we watch for the detectors cannot see. This includes shifted or loose lading, loose or swinging doors, excessive lateral motion and leaking cars. Over the years, I have spotted all sorts of defects no detector could ever see.

We cannot take cars higher than seventeen feet tall north of Kensington on the Chicago Sub. And even then, we can only take cars in excess of seventeen feet on track four under the MoPac overhead just south of Kensington. These cars can only operate as far north as the connection to Norfolk Southern at 95th Street. Absolutely nothing higher than seventeen feet can operate north of 95th Street on any track. The overhead bridges and the McCormick Place tunnel will not accommodate cars higher than seventeen feet. On occasion it has been attempted just the same though. To assist us in preventing this from occurring, there are high car detectors on tracks one and two at Homewood which scan the trains for excessive height cars.

We were heading north on train 337 earlier this year and rolled our train past this very high car detector. This detector uses a signal for the indicator. Two white lights in a vertical position mean no high cars. Two white horizontal lights indicate an excessive height car has been detected. We observed the indicator and it gave us two vertical white lights meaning no high cars.

We passed a road switcher crew working at Harvey. After the tail end of our train cleared them their Engineer, Steve Hoyt called and informed us that he and Conductor Fred Huntzinger had observed what appeared to be a car too high to go north. I brought the train to a stop and Conductor Billy Haynes check out the situation. We learned our train contained a flatcar designed to piggyback damaged freight cars. The trucks and wheels are removed from such a car and it is set on the specially designed flatcar. This car carried a damaged Wisconsin Central boxcar. The boxcar piggybacked on the flatcar was well in excess of seventeen feet. Our paperwork did not reflect this information. The total height of the car was a couple of feet too high to fit under the MoPac (former C&WI) overhead. We set the car out at Wildwood and continued our trip. The alert eyes of the crew we passed prevented a sure mishap.

Had this car not been detected, it would have assuredly rammed the MoPac overhead. It is very likely the car being carried on the flatcar would have been knocked off and caused a derailment. Such a derailment would have blocked not only the CNIC tracks, but may very well have blocked the adjacent Metra Electric University Park District too. This could have really been a huge mess. Once again, adherence to the rules prevented a disaster.

On another note, the vote has been counted. The Engineers represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers ratified the proposed new contract on the CNIC. This agreement may very well change the way contracts are negotiated in the future for all railroads. We are abandoning the mileage based standard for compensation in exchange for an hourly wage. This agreement will take effect on the former IC and CCP beginning August 1st. I intend to do a piece explaining this new contract in the near future.

And yet another note; a reader suggested something tongue in cheek that has me thinking. He mentioned the idea of Hot Times wear. T-shirts and other wearables with a Hot Times logo on them. I have absolutely no talent for drawing. Hell, I can barely make stick people with a ruler. So I don't have any ideas for such a novelty. Any suggestions? It must be clean though. And if we can create something, is anybody actually interested in purchasing something like this?

And so it goes.