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 15, 2006
First off, we have some business to take care of before we get started. In response to a couple of emails I received about last month’s column of the dos and don’ts of getting hired on the railroad, volunteering at a railroad museum is not resume material for a class one railroad. Sure, you have received training in order to operate the museum railroad, and from what I have been told by several it is quality training. But the fact of the matter is this, it is not THE railroad. Again, some interviewers may see this as railfans playing with trains on the weekend now wanting to come out and play with the big kids. I don’t want to discount the training one receives to operate a museum railroad as it is important and contributes to the preservation of the heritage and history of the rail industry.

However, the folks doing the hiring are not likely to view it that way. Some of those that come from the museums can and will perform well; they should as they already have a background. I’ve worked with several over the years who put time in at museums before coming to the industry and they worked out quite well. But alas, there have been instances that others have come out with a chip on their shoulders thinking they already know all about how to be a railroader. Again, you don’t. And yes, I’ve worked with several that came from museums with the know-it-all attitude and chip on their shoulder.

So I would not recommend attempting to sell the class one industry (CN, UP, NS, BNSF, CSX and CP) on the concept of hiring you based upon your experience on a museum railroad. While some of the tasks you perform are quite similar or even the same, it is a totally different world than what you will encounter in the big leagues. The museum operation is a much more controlled environment, generally with only one train at a time operating. Now such museum experience may help if you are applying with a short line or even a regional carrier. Some smaller operations are quite willing to hire museum workers and do so quite often. On the other hand, the big boys are likely to thank you for coming out and send you on your way.

Second, this might be the last column for awhile. Owing to an injury I sustained, serious enough to require surgery to make repairs, I won’t be able to type for sometime. I won’t get into the details right now, but suffice it to say I won’t be able to crank out any columns for some time after the surgery. I’m actually not typing that well right now. I am trying to get a column for August completed, but I might not get it finished before surgery, which will occur this coming week. If I don’t answer your e-mails for some time, that is the reason why.

And now on with today's feature.

In keeping with last months theme of getting hired on the railroad, I thought we would follow up that topic with what happens after you get hired and how, as a new guy (or girl), you must learn to adapt and learn to fit into our steel wheeled lunatic asylum. This will be a do and don’t guide for the new shooter, most the latter.

New hires on the railroad have often been referred to as FNG’s or Friggin’ New Guys. That F is often used for another quite descriptive term too, but we’ll refrain from using that one in our family forum. I’m sure though that many of you know what it is; perhaps you’ve seen written on a wall someplace or heard it in some of the music your kids are listening to. And even if you are a girl, you’re still a new guy. The rulebooks used throughout the industry use the male gender for all examples and for all employees and we the help tend to do the same. And for today’s lesson, we will refer to all of the new shooters in the masculine gender.

So this time we are going to discuss new hires, the problems they encounter and the problems they cause. This is not to say they are all bad and all cause problems, it is that just they are fresh, new and green and in some cases and totally overwhelmed by the job. Some mistakes are going to occur and the powers that be within the rail industry know this and its how they managed to get the 75% entry level rate for new hires. They claim that the mistakes that new hires make in misrouted, damaged and delayed cars and lower productivity costs them significant money and the lower entry level rate makes up for that loss.

After making it through the selection process and then passing the physical and pending the results of the drug tests, the new hires are sent to training classes. In some cases, this is the washout point for applicants. They have done well on the testing and interviews and successfully passed their physicals. They are hired on the contingency that they can and will be dismissed if the results of the toxicology report come back dirty. In more than one instance a new hire was removed from the training classroom during a lecture and dismissed for failing the whiz quiz.

The classroom portion of the training varies from railroad to railroad. Some roads have up to six weeks worth of classroom training before the students embark on student trips with regular crews. Others have one or two weeks of initial classroom followed up by more later on after taking some student trips. Usually during the first day of class a ranking officer such as a Superintendent or Assistant Super from the railroad will make a presentation welcoming them into the industry and explaining what will be expected from them. They can make it sound bad, far worse than some expect. This is intentional; they are trying to weed out the weaker ones right away. They will also likely tell you of company goals with regards to growth and expansion as well. They want you to be excited about becoming part of a growing company; they are attempting to motivate you.

In the classroom training, there will be videos presented about various aspects of railroading; the what’s, how’s and why we do its. There will also be videos dealing with rules their explanations and applications and working safely. There will be lectures and demonstrations. The recruits will likely be taken out into a rail yard someplace where they will get some hands on training within a very controlled environment.

There will be more lectures and videos and usually some sort of test. After the initial classroom portion, the recruits will be sent out to work student trips with real crews working under “battlefield” conditions with the “live ammo” as it were.

On CN new hires get a week of school in the manner mentioned above, take a test on safety and then get six weeks worth of student trips in the real world. After this six week training period the recruits will go back for another week of class. More lectures, this time with discussion about how they have seen the application of the rules and still more videos. They are given an examination of the rules in which one must achieve a score of at least 85%. On the security and hazardous materials tests you must score 100%. If you fail to achieve the prescribed scores you are washed out. Those that have successfully completed their tests are then placed onto the extra board in the manner that was previously discussed with the recruits at the beginning of the class. Before doing so, seniority, bumping, the extra board and your obligations to protect it are explained.

Now during your student trips, initially they only want you to watch and learn before you get your hands on to the pin lifter or switch handle. But we all know the only real way to learn is by doing. If you don’t get your hands dirty, you’re not getting involved. During their student trip period, the student Trainmen will get to experience first hand, the wonderful world of railroading, which is not to be confused with “The Wonderful World of Disney; although at times it is difficult to differentiate between the two. Mickey Mouse’s name has been mentioned more than once over all my years as a comparison to what is going on around us. In preparation of their student trips, the student trainmen have been issued radios and are to watch, listen and participate in the action.

Each new hire is given a training schedule of what job assignments they are to work during their training period. They are normally not assigned to a particular Conductor. There is an intention to give them opportunities to work with many Conductors to observe different styles and also different assignments performing different duties. Different assignments perform different duties at different locations, so it is desired to give the recruits exposure to much, if not all of it. Gee, there sure is a great deal of differentiation here, isn’t there?

So training has been completed, all tests, including that whiz quiz passed successfully and the recruits that have survived this portion are placed onto the extra board. There are some that washout in this portion of the training, here is where they discover railroading is work and not just riding around looking out the window and they abandon railroading. Or a few just might not cut the mustard and the company will release them.

New guys make mistakes. It is not because they are less than intelligent (if you discount the fact they wanted to work on the railroad in the first place), it is just they are new and highly inexperienced. There are varying degrees of improvement over time. Some new guys are very sharp and pick it up quickly once they are on their own. Others will take a little longer while still others, in ten years from now, will still be little better than students.

The industry has a sixty day probationary period. During this time frame, they are observed by managers. These managers also receive input and feedback from the troops with regard to how the new hires are fairing. There are a few that will wash out during the probationary period. As I have mentioned in the past, these are the “59 dayers.” During your probation, it is strongly recommended to the new hires not to miss calls, arrive late, mark off or have attitude issues. I know a guy that got fired from one railroad during his probationary period when he marked off to attend a wedding. They didn’t care that he was standing up to the wedding and that it had been planned for months before he started at that railroad.

Once you reach that magic sixtieth day, you are now a permanent member of the railroad. To be dismissed after this point, they need to conduct the fair and impartial investigation first. Only then can they fire you. Of course now the union is there to represent you and, in the case of disciplinary action, appeal such discipline.

So now let’s examine some of the mishaps, mistakes and screw ups from the new guys. In some cases the mistakes are humorous; in other cases they cause serious problems. And what better to start than with me.

In my very early days, I was given instructions to couple onto a track come out with the head twenty cars, double them to another track and spot them up at the air plant so the car inspectors could work them for an outbound train. Sounds simple enough, right? Well usually when they give you a move like this, the Yardmaster will also give you a cut number; the initials and number of the car you are supposed to come out with. For whatever reason this particular night, the yardmaster did not do this; must’ve been awful trusting of the new guy.

I found out the next day that I made a bad cut coming out with one car too many. I knew I should have taken off my boots when I ran out of fingers. They didn’t catch it right away. In fact, they didn’t catch it until the train was departing the yard and they found an extra car that didn’t belong there, twenty-one cars deep. Oops, one too many when I made the cut. I felt bad and the Conductor explained a way to avoid that problem in the future. He told me to count backwards instead of forward. He explained that if I have to come out with say twenty cars, as they start rolling by me, count backwards from twenty down to one. And he also said that when in doubt, ask. If I am not positive I have the correct cut car, call the Yardmaster to get that all important cut number. Lesson learned and learned in only one session.

Another mistake I can recall was when I was really new, on the job for about two weeks. My crew was sent over to the Baltimore & Ohio Chicago Terminal’s Barr Yard in Riverdale to get some power and a caboose that was left there when a crew died on the hours of service several hours earlier and bring it home. We brought everything back and were instructed to put the caboose on the caboose track and the engines to the roundhouse. I made the cut on the caboose and gave the Engineer the sign to take them away and he obliged. As soon as the brake pipe hoses between the engine and caboose parted, both engine and caboose went into emergency. In my haste to handle the chore and do a good job, I forgot to close the angle cock on the engine that stops the flow of the air. It was a typical new guy mistake and I made it.

Some of the old heads have forgotten what it was like to be new on the railroad. They have lost contact with their own past and what it was like to be new to the railroad. Some old heads cannot recall the infancy of their careers of not knowing what to do, how to place themselves when out working in the yard and how to read a list. They treat new hires poorly. No, they treat new guys like crap. And oddly enough, some of these veteran railroaders have not been railroading for what seems to be ages, they have only been part of this industry for a few years themselves. They just have attitude issues.

One in particular was extremely hard on new hires. He would berate them, screaming at them constantly, throwing his lists in the air in anger, then placing his hands on his hips and giving you an evil stare. About the only thing he didn’t do was to instruct the new guys on how to perform better. One new hire decided he had taken about enough from this guy. He told me that he decided that the next time he worked with the crab ass he intended to go out of his way to make the guy’s life miserable. And he did.

Anytime he worked with the crab ass after our conversation, he would intentionally miss the pin on a car while switching. This meant the cars wouldn’t uncouple when the move was stopped and the process would have to be repeated, and often by this Conductor. He would miss numerous pins and manage to have himself out of position for the next move; all to drive the crab ass nuts. He later told me it worked. He got the crab ass so mad the guy practically flipped out; he went into a huge tirade screaming and yelling, ranting and raving and storming all up and down the lead. The new guy told this character to shut up, grow up and act like an adult. The crab ass was so taken by this comment that he stormed off the lead, into the office and had to take a break to cool down.

And after that, the new shooter purposely performed quite well and the old crab ass said virtually nothing to him the rest of the day.

One Engineer told me of having a new guy attempting to make a coupling one evening. He told of numerous attempts to couple and failing to achieve the primary objective. He mentioned they made ten attempts to make this coupling. After the tenth attempt, he finally got off and walked back to see what the problem was that prevented success. When he reached the point where the coupling was being attempted he took a look. The knuckles (the moveable part of the coupler system that allows the coupling or uncoupling of cars) of both cars were closed. With both knuckles closed there was no way a coupling would ever be accomplished. This would be akin to trying to fill up you car with gas but leaving the gas cap on.

This Engineer told of explaining to the new Brakeman that at least one of the knuckles had to be open or they would spend the entire night just slamming one car into another for no particular reason other than to make noise. He told me this new shooter seemed somewhat amazed, but opened the knuckle and they accomplished the coupling on the first try when they made the attempt after the Engineer got back on the engine.

On the subject of making couplings, another Engineer told me of repeated attempts and failure to accomplish. This Engineer finally asked the Brakeman on the radio what the problem was. He responded that the Engineer would have to hit the cars harder to try to make the coupling as one of the cars was missing a knuckle. No matter how many attempts you make, if the knuckle is missing the coupling isn’t going to happen no matter how hard you hit them.

Uncoupling can also be a problem for some new hires. One evening a new hire was instructed to “cut them all off,” meaning to cut all the cars away from the engine. He got off, walked back on the Fireman’s side out of view of the Engineer to make the cut. He instructed the Engineer over the radio to take them ahead. That was when all hell broke loose. The new shooter made the cut between the first and second engine. While he did close the angle cock on the brake pipe hose on the engine, he didn’t break any of the other connections. There are three to six additional hoses that require the angle cocks to be closed, the jumper cable that electrically connects the locomotives must be removed and the chains between the locomotives for the walkways have to be disconnected. None of this was done. Apparently this guy just reached in, closed the brake pipe angle cock ignoring all those other connections and pulled the pin to uncouple the engine. Obviously, he lacked good sense as well.

As a result main reservoir air was now exhausting at a rapid rate and the jumper cable was torn apart and now the wire within with exposed ends was contacting the rail, arcing and causing strange responses from the throttle. And the end catwalk handrails were bent back, way back as they were pulled by the chains that did not break right away. When asked why he did what he did, the new guy responded that he was instructed to cut them all off, so he figured that meant everything behind the engine they were riding.

When cutting away from cars you have to properly secure them meaning that you apply handbrakes on the cars left behind. One new hire was instructed to cut a couple of cars off. The cars he was cutting away from were sitting on lead track on a slight grade, a grade that descended towards a road crossing and into an industry. He neglected to apply handbrakes and this was a serious mistake. The cars he cut away from immediately took off rolling down the grade. The now free rolling cars went over a road crossing, through the gate of the industry and ran into some cars sitting inside the fence. It could have been much worse; this industry operated their own locomotive and frequently moved cars around inside the plant. The free rolling cars could have plowed into it. Trucks also moved around this facility and fortunately no trucks, locomotives or factory employees were clobbered by the free runners. And as luck would have it, there were no cars or trucks at the road crossing either so yet another disaster was averted.

This new hire didn’t last either. He actually did himself in during another situation. He was called to work on a holiday. Apparently he was not expecting the call and had decided to celebrate the holiday. When called to report he told the caller he was drunk and could not make it. Really bad response. He was removed from service and after due process was dismissed.

On the subject of inebriation, another new hire showed up for work drunk, really drunk, pretty well smashed. He staggered into the door and was caught rather quickly. The whiz quiz and drunk testing folks were summoned. This guy went out to his car to wait. He passed out while waiting out there and they almost couldn’t wake him up. After repeated efforts they finally got him back to consciousness and he was tested. He failed the test and was removed from service. He was later dismissed for this offense. Being that he was still in his probationary period he could not appeal the rule G.

On the subject of handbrakes, as I have mentioned, you must use them when detaching and leaving cars behind and unattended. One new hire properly applied handbrakes on some cars as instructed and as he had been trained. Only problem was this, he applied handbrakes on the cars remaining with the train and failed to apply them to the ones he was leaving behind. While they didn’t take off immediately, those cars did wind up rolling, and rolled right into the side of his train.

A problem that actually happens more often than one would think is lining a switch underneath a car. One set of trucks rolls over the switch and either an overzealous or extremely nervous new shooter will line the switch underneath a car instead of waiting for the entire car to clear the switch. In most cases, the car will derail. And when it does, sometimes it causes track damage as well, so it compounds the problem. With that we’ll study a couple of episodes.

One new hire, one that came from a railroad family, was somewhat of a nervous wreck. It was quite obvious that he was overmatched by the job. Several Conductors had mentioned that he was pretty much a wreck and seemed scared to death. So during his student trips he lines a switch underneath a car causing it to derail and tore up some track as well. He came unraveled and practically started crying. He was beside himself and a real basket case. The Trainmaster did everything he could to calm this guy down but to no avail. This guy struggled through the rest of that day and then resigned.

Another new shooter lined a switch under a car then denied doing as much. He insisted somebody else did it and not him. Moments later, in full view of everybody, he did it again. It was kind of tough to lie about it when all eyes are upon you.

“For the night has a thousand eyes and a thousand eyes can’t help but see.”

Still another guy was instructed to line a switch to head his train towards a wye track that would take them onto another line. The Engineer was running long hood forward, or backwards as we often refer to it. The switch was on the opposite side from where the Engineer was sitting. There were two switches fairly close together. One of them was underneath the locomotive when they stopped, the other in front of it. That second switch was the one that needed to be lined. The new guy gets off and goes to line the switch.

The Engineer, having a hunch of as much, goes over to the Fireman’s side and observes the new guy line the switch under the locomotive. He quickly informs the guy to line that one back and get the one in front of the engine. And so this guy complies. And so it is believed that all is well again. The Engineer gets the okay to proceed and they begin to move. Then they went on the ground; the engine derailed. Upon further examination, it seems that the new guy had taken it upon himself to line that switch under the engine wrong yet again. When asked why he did it, this new shooter had no idea why he did what he did. Shortly thereafter this guy was gone from the rail industry.

I mentioned in the previous column that railroading is indeed a physical job. It isn’t easy hanging onto the side of cars, lining switches that are stiff and hard to operate, making up air hoses in the winter that are half frozen and don’t want to flex and trudging through waist deep snow. And there’s more. If you happen to be the famed “98 pound weakling” of those old Charles Atlas body builder ads, you might have quite the difficult time making the transition into the railroad world. The industry no longer requires the physical agility test as a condition of employment. I personally think this is a huge mistake as they would weed out a few that really don’t belong here. It would also save them some aggravating moments as well.

One of my readers that is a long time close personal friend told me of one new hire where he works that was horribly out of shape and seriously overweight. He was also a smoker, a heavy smoker. He was struggling big time while trying to work a lead job. Between the smoker’s hack that brought him to a stop and the weight situation, he really couldn’t perform. He spent half of his time doubled over trying to catch his breath in between the coughing jags. For all practical purposed, this guy was really not able to perform. He was 59 day’d out of railroading.

Another was rather short and stocky. He had an extremely difficult time getting on and off the rolling equipment, frequently falling off whenever he attempted to detrain and struggled when getting on, usually making mounting appear to be a Herculean effort. He resorted to mounting by placing his knees on the bottom step of the locomotive. This would quickly become murder on his knees. And it was not possible on virtually all freight cars. It was quickly decided by the powers that be that owing to their inability to perform in the proper and required manner, he had to be washed out of the training program and down the drain he went.

Another was unable to operate many of the switches in the yard. He simply did not possess the physical strength to line a fair amount of the switches in the yard and could not operate a dual control switch in the hand mode at all. It was not the switches were all that difficult to operate, it was just this new shooter simply did not have the physical strength needed as some of them can be harder at times, especially in cold weather. He too did not make it past their fifty-ninth day.

And still another was rather short and stocky, with very short legs. He was also lacking in physical strength and he too frequently fell off when trying to board and dismount from moving equipment. He also could not line half the switches. In one situation he had to replace a knuckle. The Engineer involved told me this new shooter didn’t even have the strength to pick up the 86 lb knuckle and place it into the drawbar.

One afternoon I had this new shooter as my headman. I explained to him, or at least thought I did anyway, not to get off and run ahead of me and line the switches that would likely be wrong. I told him I would stop the train and he could get off and walk to each switch and line them. Back when virtually all railroads allowed you to get on and off moving equipment, many Brakemen would drop and trot ahead of you and line the route so that you didn’t have to bring the train to a stop. I would have the train down to about 2-3 mph when the Brakemen made this move. I know I did it for Engineers way back when I was a Brakeman.

So here we are entering the yard and the first three of four hand operated switches we encountered were lined against us. I’m slowing the train to a planned stop when the new shooter drops off and hits the ground running. I had my left hand on the automatic brake valve and leaned forward to watch. The Brakeman’s legs resembled a little dog that was running full speed, really picking them up and putting them down in rapid order but not moving very fast. He reached the switch and put everything they had into getting it lined for our move. Only problem was at this particular yard the switches were very well maintained and could easily be operated with one hand.

The switch lined with no effort, but the new shooter was not anticipating such ease. With the excessive force he applied, there was all of this left over energy that had to be spent. The new shooter’s entire body followed the easy to operate handle, practically cart wheeling through the air and he landed solidly on his butt. I started to laugh so hard that I pulled my hand forward, the same hand that was on the automatic brake valve handle. As a result I put the train into emergency. Over the radio from the tail end came the standard question whenever the train went into emergency;

“D’you do that?”

I had to regain my composure enough to answer the radio and finally responded that I did and I would explain it when we got the train yarded. I filled them in on the details later. The new shooter was alright with no injuries other than a serious strain of the ego.

Proper attire is required when on the job. No, we don’t wear black ties, tails and spats but we are required to wear long pants, work boots and shirts with some type of sleeve (no tank tops or sleeveless T’s). No shorts of any type are allowed to be worn. Technically, sweatpants are not supposed to be allowed either but some roads overlook them. I was told that at one time the Southern allowed shorts during extremely hot weather, but that was many years ago, well before they took over the Norfolk & Western.

Some guys I’ve worked with over the years, in order to beat the heat have slipped into a pair of shorts while sitting up in the cab of the engine. One old guy used to strip down to his boxer shorts and a tank top or “Dago T” type of shirt. It was quite a sight. There are reasons to be fully covered. I know of others that will remove their work boots and put on slippers or sandals while sitting on the engine. Technically these are all violations but if you don’t get off the engine dressed like this and no company official gets on board and catches you in this attire it is a no harm, no foul situation.

So anyway, this one new shooter shows up one hot summer day in those cargo type shorts, the ones that come down just below your knees. He had one of those body builder type shirts on that resemble a skimpy woman’s bathing suit. He was also wearing short type boots, the ones that look more like a heavy shoe than a boot. The Trainmaster took one look at him and sent him home to change. This guy protested stating “I am not going to sweat my ass off if I don’t have to.” He flat out refused to change into proper work attire. His career ended that day as he too, had not reached his sixtieth day on the job.

One new shooter incorrectly assumed that there are weather related delays in railroading. There aren’t. One Conductor told me that he had this guy one day when it was starting to cloud up. Thundershowers were in the forecast for that day. This Conductor told me he commented to the new kid that he hoped the rain held off until they were finished for the day. The new shooter stated that he hoped it would rain as he figured they would get to stay in the office for awhile. When the Conductor told him there were no rain delays in railroading, the new shooter seemed upset.

The Conductor explained to him that you put on your rain gear and went about your assigned duties. When he inquired about where you get the raingear, the Conductor told him “Target, Sportmart, K-Mart, Wal-Mart.” This kid got upset and stated that he thought the railroad was obligated to provide you with the raingear if they expected you to work in the rain. Oh ya, that too is a riot.

“You’re a riot Alice, a regular riot!”

Next he’ll be asking for a parka or insulated Carharts for the winter season too. This guy didn’t last much longer as weather was a serious issued with him.

On the topic of weather, a friend that used to be a Caller at one railroad recounted this one to me. A new hire had just been placed on the extra board. As it seems to happen so often, your first night on the board is a Friday night. She told me of this guy seeming to be quite sharp. Others had spoken highly of him stating that he was quite intelligent and seemed to be quickly getting a grasp of what was required and expected of him. A good new hire. It does happen and happens more often than some think.

Anyhow, this new guy comes up first out and gets his first call on this Friday night. As luck would have it, this was a rainy Friday night. My friend said she called the guy ordering him to work for 11pm. He seemed upset and told the Caller, “I don’t work weekends and I don’t work in the rain.” Hmm, bad answer. She told him to hold on and contacted the Trainmaster. The Trainmaster instructed her to let this guy off for the weekend but to have him report to his office first thing Monday morning. She relayed those instructions to the new shooter.

Come Monday the new shooter shows up at the Trainmasters office where he was informed that “If you can’t work weekends and you can’t work in the rain, you can’t work here.” And with that he was dismissed. His career was over before he even established his seniority date.

Protecting the extra board is vitally important, especially when you are new on the job. Protecting your job assignment is also vitally important irregardless whether new or an old head. One character missed a few calls shortly after he concluded his probation period. He then proceeded to take a call on a holiday and not show up. When he finally called in the following day, he told the Caller that he got arrested as he was leaving for work and wound up in the slammer.

He was assigned to an outpost job for a week. He was put up in a hotel that was so close to the yard he could leave five minutes before the on duty time, walk on his knees and still get there with time to spare. He was 15-30 minutes late every single day except Friday. On Friday he showed up early, still in party clothes and told the rest of the crew that he was going to head over to the hotel and change and would then be right back. He never returned. After about an hour, the Conductor contacted the Trainmaster to report the situation of the show and now, no show. A few minutes later, the Trainmaster called the Conductor back and told him this guy just called in and marked off sick.

A few days later he missed two calls in a row. He checked in sometime later, after he missed his second call. He informed the Caller that he was busy and couldn’t make it to work. But now he was free and he would be willing to “take the next train that comes along.” He instead took the trip to the seat before “Mr. Microphone” at not one, nor two, but three, count ‘em, three investigations in one day for missing calls and failure to protect. His railroad career was finished in less than one year as his dismissal was upheld by the arbitrator that heard the final appeal.

As I also mentioned in last months column; you need dependable transportation. You cannot rely on public transportation to get you to and from work when assigned to the extra board and obligated to protect several different yards within a terminal. But some make the attempt to live the railroad life without dependable transportation. And they always fail to achieve their objective.

One new hire, who was the son of a railroader employed there had this fact emphasized to him when he was hired. He then attempted to make it without a car. When he was called while the buses were operating he had no problem. His troubles began when he started getting calls to report in the wee hours of the morning when most buses do not operate. He was routinely late, and late by quite a bit of time when required to report at say 3:30 in the morning. And when he got off work in those same wee hours, he had no way home until the buses started running again. In some cases, he had to sit around the yard office and wait for the bus, sometimes for a few hours. In other cases he was able to get a ride home from a fellow employee. I gave him a ride home one early morning but I wasn’t sure I was going to make out of his neighborhood alive. Quite obviously though, I did.

He had to resort to marking off when getting those early morning calls. The powers that be decided that he was not going to be able to survive with no car. He was able to transfer into another craft with more regular hours that were more suited for somebody using public transportation to get to and from work.

Another new shooter had his car shoot craps shortly after completing his training. The common denominator of railroading tends to be a lack of help. Being that the railroad where this guy worked subscribed to that philosophy, they overlooked this guy’s lack of wheels. He promised them he would get the car fixed as soon as he got a paycheck or two. In order for him to be able to get to work the railroad was sending a cab to pick him up for duty and also one to bring him home when his tour of duty was completed. They figured this would be a short term problem and offered this short term solution. They also told him that he would be responsible for the cab fares.

For weeks this guy was getting a free pass, or so it seemed. After weeks of this little game the company got on this guy about his lack of dependable transportation. He begrudgingly acquired a new car, a very expensive one to boot. Then came the payback; he received a bill for his seemingly free cab rides. It was several hundred dollars. Oh the whining from that one. He managed to get himself fired for an unrelated episode and then stiffed the cab company for a large portion of the bill.

When you are forced to an outpost to protect a vacancy, the company will normally pay your hotel bill. This is normally a direct billing deal through a hotel in which accommodations have been previously arranged. They bill the company for your lodging, you pay for any amenities. One new shooter got forced out of town for several weeks. While staying in the company sponsored lodging, he charged numerous long distance phone calls, some to phone sex lines. He also charged some pay per view movies including adult films and some other stuff to the room. He assumed the railroad would pick up the tab for everything. He was wrong.

When the railroad received the bill, they paid for the room and gave this guy the bill for all of his personal charges. I had the opportunity to see the bill and it was around $1100. This guy was irate but had no choice; he had to pay the bill. In fact, the railroad attached his wages to assure the bill would be paid. He could have been dismissed for this offense as it is an unauthorized use of company credit.

He is yet another member of the former railroaders club as he was dismissed several months later on an unrelated charge and never got his job back. Who woulda thunk it.

One new hire was a character that had serious issues with regards to staying awake. He always had excuses why he was so sleepy and none of them were legitimate. One morning while working with me, he was asleep before is butt hit the seat. I kept reminding him that he will not learn anything with his eyes closed and that he was not getting paid to sleep. He gave me a line about missing a call the previous evening and not getting any sleep because he was up all night worrying about it. Now there’s an original excuse. I didn’t believe it for a second but it was original in its creative content if nothing else.

Apparently he had all sorts of problems because he was always losing sleep over something as he could never seem to stay awake whenever he was on duty. One evening while working a lead job, he was leaning against a switch stand and fell asleep. He was out cold standing up. The rest of his crew was calling him on the radio and he failed to respond. Finally the Conductor walked up to him and had to give a shake to revive him. He was asleep that deep. He too failed to complete his probation period and was dismissed. Imagine that. Wonder if he lost any sleep over that one?

And so it goes.

Tuch

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