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

December 23 , 2005
We’ll, I’m back. I survived the surgery, recovered quite nicely and returned to work December 5th. I’ve been busier than anything since the surgery as we have been getting ready for the baby. I’m so horribly far behind in correspondence as well as other items as a result that I may never catch up. It was amazing how much I had to do in my seven week hiatus from the nut house, how much I actually got accomplished and how much still remains on the list of things to do.

To all of you that sent along get well wishes, I thank you. Your thoughts and well wishes, as well as words of encouragement for both the beautiful bride and I were greatly appreciated by both of us.

For those of you that inquired, I had surgery to relieve the carpal tunnel syndrome in my left hand. This is a repetitive motion problem, the result of twenty-seven years of doing what I do for a living. I am planning on doing a piece about this sometime in the New Year.

Enough of that, now on with the show.

It is that time of year again when children dream and talk about the return of Santa Claus and his big bag of toys. Even though I am not Santa, I too carry a big bag, only it is not full of toys. Instead, I call the grip I carry my big bag of tricks. It weighs a ton, heavy enough to qualify as Santa’s bag though. There is good reason for this heavy load and in today’s lesson we’ll deal with what all these years of railroading have taught me to bring along on each trip.

I have been ridiculed by some over the years for all the stuff I carry along with me when I am on duty. Some guys travel light, very light; light to the point of not having what they might and do need in the performance of their duties. I come prepared and equipped as one just never knows what one will encounter during the tour of duty. I guess my days of being a Boy Scout paid off. I travel heavy as I have learned that if you don’t have it with you, it is a certainty that you will need exactly what you don’t have.

To get started, we’ll first look at the bag itself. I have learned that a high quality bag that you will spend a fair amount of cash for is most certainly worth the price. A much lower priced bag, while less in up front cost, will last much less time. I presently carry a bag produced by a company called Autumn Creek. You can find them at www.autumncreek.com. This outfit produces very high quality bags made from heavyweight material that uses heavy thread for stitching as well as heavy duty zippers. These bags are made in the USA, and by far, are the best bags for work I’ve ever owned in all my years of railroading. I’ve had this bag since 2002 and it has worn quite well. I should easily get many more years of use from it. This is the only bag I’ve ever owned that has lasted this long as most of them are usually shot within two years. I highly recommend Autumn Creek and their products even if you are not a railroader. If you travel a great deal, their bags are designed to make the trip again and again. The model I use on a daily basis is the “Local.” I also have the “Double Header” that I use as my overnight or “going to Champaign” bag.

Railroading is murder on the luggage we carry. I know guys that replace their bag every year or two owing to the rough use they are subject to out here. I’ve had handles rip right off; zippers fall apart and the material used to construct the bag itself simply wear out prematurely owing to the harsh life on the high iron. Therefore, it is worth the money to get a high quality, long lasting grip. And, being that the bag is directly job related the money spent on one is a write off on my taxes.

A little more on the bag itself; for a look at it, click onto http://www.autumncreek.com/Local.htm. There is a description and photo of it. What it doesn’t mention is there are small divider type pockets inside a couple of the large side zipper pockets. This bag is huge inside and easily handles all the stuff I carry.

So now let’s open up my big bag of tricks. First off in the large side pocket we find the so-called required reading. The operating rules require us (and all railroaders everywhere) to carry our rulebooks and timetables with us while on duty. For many years there was a separate timetable, operating rule book, safety rule book, hazardous materials guide, radio rules, in some cases special instructions and other books as required by each railroad. And if you operated over more railroads than you’re your home line, you were also required to carry their timetable and operating rulebooks. Over the years the industry has wised up rationalizing and consolidating these books into a single handy manual. While they didn’t pioneer the concept of it, Conrail was one of the first roads to put all the books into a single binder.

Today, you are issued a single binder that holds all of the books required by your railroad. On CN like most other roads, you are issued pages for each book that fit quite nicely into the binder. Each book is divided with tabs to make it easy to find which section or portion you need. The operating rules, timetable or timetables (in my case I have to carry both Chicago and Central Division timetables as I operate on both divisions, system special instructions, air brake and train handling rules, safety rules (known as the LIFE book on CN’s US operations) and hazardous material instructions are all part of my operating manual. This binder full of required materials fits nicely into the large side zipper pocket.

We are also required by Federal law to have a copy of the Emergency Response Guide, also known as the “erg book.” This manual has more detailed information about the hazardous materials we haul. The Indiana Harbor Belt used to have one on each of their locomotives so you didn’t need to carry one in your grip. However, oftentimes you used locomotives from other railroads and most other roads did not subscribe to the IHB’s philosophy of placing the erg book on all of their locomotives. Therefore, the Harbor wound up issuing erg books to all of us. It fits quite nicely into one of the divider pockets on the top side zipper pocket on the opposite side of the bag.

A book that we are issued that I presently don’t carry is the CORA book. CORA is the acronym for Chicago Operating Rules Association. This is a large, 8x11 size book that in itself, weighs a ton. It contains hundreds of pages of information, special instructions, track maps, yard maps and rules for almost every railroad that operates within the Chicago Terminal. Being that I don’t operate on any other railroad within the terminal other than CN property, I don’t need to carry it. However, when we were detouring a couple of years ago after the big bridge fire in Riverdale, I carried it with me as I was operating via the IHB across the terminal as part of my daily trip.

I also carry a book that deals with trouble shooting locomotive problems. While not required, this is a very handy dandy little item to have along. There are some issues or problems which occur so infrequently or perhaps never before, that sometimes need to be looked up. My particular book was produced by the Kansas City Southern in the 90’s. KCS is the only railroad I’ve known to produce such a comprehensive guide. While this guide doesn’t contain information about the latest models of locomotives from both builders, it does have a great deal of information that proves quite valuable. To prevent it from getting damaged while packed away in my grip, I have placed it into a nice pouch that came from Union Pacific. A friend that used to work there gave me this pouch several years ago. He used it for holding money collected from passengers when he worked commuter trains on the former CNW in Chicago. The trouble shooting book fits quite nicely in this pouch and remains in excellent condition as a result.

There are two organizers. One of them, the plastic one, contains a pad of track warrants. This pad has pages of blank track warrant forms used for operation in track warrant control territory. There is also a piece of carbon paper to make duplicates as both the Conductor and Engineer are required to have a copy of each track warrant. On the back side of the track warrant form is a track and time form which is used in centralized traffic control territory. I also keep a form D book in there too. We operate on Norfolk Southern’s former Conrail Kankakee Secondary when delivering to and pulling coal trains from them. This line is governed by the NORAC rulebook and they use the form D movement permit form instead of track warrant. While I don’t make this run very often these days, the possibility exists that it could happen, so the form D book is there. There are also applications for the BR&CF job insurance that I sell. I offer this insurance to all new hires and the old heads that do not have it, or have it and are looking to increase the level of coverage they carry. At some point I intend to do a piece about this insurance.

Several other forms are included in this organizer. Those include locomotive daily inspection reports and trip reports. There is also a delay book. While I am not required to keep train delays, sometimes I will keep them if I plan to write about a particular trip.

The other organizer is a metal one. Within it are the particulars for District Four Seniority Engineer vacations. As a union officer with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, I handle the vacations for all of the Engineers on what is referred to as the Chicago District, but is officially known as Seniority District Four. I conduct the picking and scheduling of the vacations for all of the Engineers on our seniority district, which is quite the daunting task and frequently has me talking to myself. All of the information I need to deal with the vacations is in this organizer. I receive requests for changes to the vacation choices as well as numerous inquiries about them, so I keep the list handy. Needless to say, I also store this information on a computer disk as well. I may have been born at night, but it wasn’t last night, so I assure myself of a permanent storage system for the vacations, including all revisions made during the course of each year. The disk stays at home; it does not come out on the high iron with me. I also have a complete list of the names, addresses and phone numbers (those that each employee makes available to the company) as well. A District Four seniority list rounds out the items in this organizer.

A small bottle of Windex is in a side pocket. This comes in quite handy for cleaning windows, control stands and the like. Being that the industry cleans locomotive cabs once every ten or so years, whether they need it or not (if we are lucky), some Windex comes in quite handy. I also carry a large package of the baby wipes. These too, are valuable items to have on hand. They do a great job cleaning up the place. Unfortunately, many railroaders are nothing short of slobs and a few have questionable personal hygiene habits, so it is necessary to have to perform a little housework when taking charge of motive power. The cleaning items are, for me and some others, a necessity.

Deep within my bag is a plastic container that holds various items. Included are a spare reverser handle. Over the years there have been times when I have been taxied out to a train in the middle of nowhere only to find no reverser handle on any of the units. This can be quite embarrassing. I always carry one or two extra ones these days. In performing the inventory of my bag in preparing for this piece, I discovered three reverser handles; one in the container and two others in two of the pockets of my grip.

Other goodies in the container include a fuse puller. While the newer locomotives have just one or maybe two fuses, older locomotives have several fuses, some of them rather small that on occasion blow and need replacing. The fuse puller makes it quite easy to pull those small or smaller ones. A pair of pliers, a slotted or flat head screwdriver, a Phillips screwdriver and a Leather man’s (all in one) tool also resides in this container. While I am not required to and don’t perform major repairs or adjustments on the locomotive, sometimes one of these tools is needed for some type of minor repair, adjustment or correction, especially one that makes my life easier or more comfortable or that eliminates or greatly reduces rattles and vibration.

A small (four inch) Case Double X knife is in this case. While I cannot recall the last time I actually used it, I keep it there in the event that I just might need it. I carry a small pocket knife all the time so the bigger knife is usually not needed. But if I pull it out of there, well…..

There is a white paint stick as part of this package too. This comes in handy when markings and labels on the control stand wear out or fall off. I will write the name of the item on the control stand or elsewhere using this paint stick.

A thermometer is also part of this case. I use it to measure the misery index of a really hot, non-air conditioned cab in the summer and also the freeze factor on cabs with poor or insufficient heat in the winter. I guess I really need to know just how uncomfortable I really am when either sweating or freezing my tail off.

You’ll also find a lumber crayon in there too. One just never knows when they may have to apply some witticism to the side of a boxcar or something.

Another plastic case holds a small bottle of contact lens solution, a contact case, a pair of prescription glasses and prescription sun glasses. I normally wear my contacts, but carry the glasses in case I have problem with one of the contact lenses, damage or lose one. If we need vision correction while on duty we are required to have a back up set. The glasses are my back up. Interesting enough though, in wearing contacts for well over twenty-five years on the job, I have never once lost one while on duty. There is also a set of side shields for my glasses should I have to resort to wearing them. In lieu of safety glasses, the side shields are required when wearing prescription glasses while on duty.

In one of my side pouches is a small first aid kit. This kit is pretty much only band aids and various types of bandages and some adhesive. Most of our motive power now carries first aid kits but I keep this one along anyway.

Also within the side pockets are a multicolor highlighter for marking important items on my tabular general bulletin order (TGBO) or my daily operating bulletin (DOB). A can opener resides in a small pouch within one of the pockets too. This will open cans of soup, veggies, beans, chili or other canned foods that I may bring along to heat up and eat while en route.

There is also a small pair of binoculars. Some of our signals are next to impossible to see in daylight so these come in handy. They are ideal for getting license plate numbers from vehicles that run around lowered gates in front of us too. We’ve captured more than one offender in this manner over the years and report such incidents to the Risk Management Department. The Risk Management folks send letters to the registered owner of the vehicle involved and also enter their name into a data base for possible further use should such motorist be involved in some sort of episode at a later date.

A pad of air slips is part of the package. Whenever we perform air tests on our trains, we are given an air slip to verify that fact. This air slip must remain with the train for its entire journey. Should we perform air tests on cars we pick up en route, we need to verify this which is why I carry a pad of them.

A book of safety standards for locomotives, which is issued by the Federal Railroad Administration, is also in one of these pockets. While I am not required to carry this book, I do so anyway. It has come in quite handy when debating a locomotive issue with a company official that is not enlightened on this topic.

An extra pen is also stashed away in there. One just never knows when their pen might run out of ink, get loaned out to a Conductor that forgot to bring one only to never get returned or fall out of a shirt pocket. We need a writing implement out here at all times as we have forms to fill out and often receive instructions known as mandatory directives from the Dispatcher that deal with the operation of our trains.

I have a blue ring that resembles a thin blue donut that is attached to my shoulder strap. I place this ring on the throttle handle while inspecting my power. On the railroad this is known as a blue flag. Whenever a blue flag is displayed, it means the employees are on, about or in between locomotives or rolling stock and that equipment must not be moved or coupled to under any circumstances until such protection is removed. It may only be removed by a member of the craft that placed it there. What this blue flag does is add another level of protection for me as I inspect my power so that nobody else will move it.

Also on my shoulder strap is a role of duct tape. Duct tape is the greatest invention since round wheels, indoor plumbing and wireless radio. To coin a phrase used by the American Express Card, “Don’t leave home without it.” Duct tape has probably found millions of uses on the railroad in addition to other industries. I use it for all sorts of purposes from weather stripping to a securing device that holds some loose door, tray or other item in place. I have also used it in an emergency to seal up an air hose with a rupture or to hold an air hose coupling together when the glad hands on the ends of the hose keep popping apart en route. It has been crafted to form an awning or shield of sorts to place on top of the heater discharge vent so that the air does not blow right into my face. You name it; I have probably created something to improve life in the cab or repaired something in the cab or on the locomotive with duct tape. I’ve even let Conductors use it to repair radio belts, boots, gloves or rain gear with rips in it.

I keep two sets of switch keys in one of the inner pockets. One of them is in case the Conductor or Brakeman forgets theirs (it happens more often than one would think). I have two complete sets of all the keys we need. The extra set that I lend to the Conductor or Brakeman actually has fewer keys on the ring than my regular set. The small ring carries an IC brass key for the items not locked with a high security lock, the high security key used on both the former IC and former GTW, a Conrail (now NS) high security key for use on the Kankakee Secondary, a coach key and a locomotive cab door lock key. I carry a few extra keys on my large key ring. We have one assignment that operates on the BNSF’s former Santa Fe between Plaines, which is just southwest of Joliet and Millsdale, IL. We need their key for the line so I have one of those. I also have an IHB key as we have had to detour via the IHB in the past owing to problems such as bridges burning down and the like. There is also my original MoPac key on that ring as well. I have carried that key on every ring on every railroad I have ever worked; sort of keeping a hold of my railroad roots. There are a couple of other keys on this ring too.

A plastic bag stored inside contains several different sets of work gloves. I have a heavy weight set, a light weight set and a winter weight set in there. Of course in the summer, the winter weight set comes out.

I also carry a time book with me. This book, issued to us annually from our respective unions, is used as a log of sorts. It has a ledger where you indicate your on and off duty points, time on and off duty, job or train symbol, crew you worked with, arbitraries entitled to on each particular trip and money earned per trip and per pay period. There is also a table for converting miles to minutes for straight time and overtime pay for those roads that use the mileage based system. This book is invaluable to me at tax time as there are certain items, such as away from home meal money that is calculated on my taxes for write offs.

The other end pocket is the storage spot for my hearing protection. I use the Quiet Band II model instead of the cheap little foam ones the railroad issues. I also carry replacement plugs for the band as well. They do wear out or get hard over a period of time rendering them unusable. Also, on occasion the plugs will break, so I always have spares.

I have a pouch that contains my required safety glasses. I always have two pairs with me, a clear pair and a tinted pair. Depending upon the time of day and light conditions, one pair will be held in this pouch and I’ll be wearing the other pair.

There is also a small Thomas the Tank Engine in one of the pockets. The son of a very good friend gave me this many years ago and I always carry it with me while on the job.

A couple of crew packs are always somewhere within my bag as well. These are plastic packages that contain six paper towels, six wash and dry type wipes, a small roll of toilet paper, a toilet seat liner, a couple packets of hand degreaser and a plastic garbage bag. Again, sometimes you’ll get on power out in the middle of nowhere and discover no crew packs on board anywhere.

I may also have a magazine or newspaper stuffed in there as well. Cannot read that rulebook and timetable all the time.

On the outside there are two straps at the top. In colder weather I will strap a hooded sweatshirt in there in the likely event we get a cab that is extremely drafty or has poor heat. In the summer when there is rain in the forecast, I strap in my raincoat.

This bag weighs a lot. I’ve never weighed it but really should, if nothing else, just to see how much weight I am lugging around. Others that have picked up my grip for me have often commented on how much it weighs. I usually tell them it is all the knuckles and knuckle pins I store in there.

So from this little dissertation, you can clearly see that Santa has nothing on me when it comes to goodies.

I mentioned my going to Champaign bag at the beginning. I won’t get into the details of that one, but will mention that with all the stuff in my local grip, I need a second one for doing the overnight thing. So when I work layover jobs, I carry not one but two, count ‘em, two grips. And the overnight bag is also loaded with lots of stuff too.

And now for something completely different.

This years Santa Train, the 35th annual running I might add, was yet another rousing success. The change in our day one itinerary of doing stations on the Gilman Line this year was a big hit with the neighbors of the line. The proprietor of a business in Gibson City even took the time to write and thanks us for our efforts. Over 2600 visitors passed through the train this year. 452 of them made the tour from Gibson City alone; quite impressive for a town of about 4000. It was another fine turnout by the neighbors, families, fellow rails and friends. Even the brutally cold weather and high winds on Saturday did not dampen the turnout. And the snow already on the ground and then the snowfall we received Saturday afternoon really added to the appeal of it all.

To those of you that were part of the “paparazzi,” thanks for the photos you took. And thanks to those that have already passed some of their photos along to us.

And as we close this edition and the year 2005, both the beautiful bride and I, along with our child under development wish to send along wishes for a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a safe, healthy and blessed New Year to all of you.

And so it goes.

Tuch

Hot Times on the High Iron and the HTOTHI initials, ©2005 by JD Santucci.