by ccie
Lately I've been listening in on the railroad frequency on my scanner during my morning commute on Caltrain. It ends up being very helpful when there are delays, since they tend not to announce much over the PA but you can hear everything that's going on on the radio. Anyhow, as I listen in I hear the engineer reading out the signals to the conductor. E.g., "Caltrain 277, advanced approach"... My understanding is that these are the signals the engineer is seeing ahead, and that they indicate at what speed he can operate the train.
My question is this. Why is the engineer giving these to the conductor? The conductor is in the back of the train, and would seem to have no involvement in the speed of the train. He's obviously not driving. What does it matter to him? My theory is it just keeps the conductor informed of what's going on for his own info, but it seems like a lot of chatter just for that. If any expert could enlighten me I'd appreciate it.
My question is this. Why is the engineer giving these to the conductor? The conductor is in the back of the train, and would seem to have no involvement in the speed of the train. He's obviously not driving. What does it matter to him? My theory is it just keeps the conductor informed of what's going on for his own info, but it seems like a lot of chatter just for that. If any expert could enlighten me I'd appreciate it.