Crew Bag

What is in a crew bag?

i was told that i should get a duffel bag? i bought http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/u ... 239375-389" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

do you think that bag will be sufficient to carry all the things required?

the position is for conductor btw

Bloodline wrote:What is in a crew bag?

i was told that i should get a duffel bag? i bought http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/u ... 239375-389" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

do you think that bag will be sufficient to carry all the things required?

any good type of back pack will usually suffice, plus it keeps hands free to climb on or off equipment.

That backpack will probably last about 3 seconds. If the bottom doesn't fall out right away you'll want to get something bigger and better quality.

Like I said a GOOD backpack

Thank you for the info my friend. Looking forward to joining the brotherhood

I've always had a Swiss army backpack, better to have a little extra room than not enough. Always cracks me up hearing some of the old timers still call there work bags "grip."

8th Notch wrote:I've always had a Swiss army backpack, better to have a little extra room than not enough. Always cracks me up hearing some of the old timers still call there work bags "grip."

YES I called it a "GRIP" and there was a lot of knowledge in that grip too. I carried a few tools for emergencies, an extra flash light, several operating manuals for the large numbers of locomotives and MU equipment that I had to operate all of which were different, at least three or four different rule books and timetables, timeslips plus toilet articles and overnight stuff for trips that laid over out of town, generally either a complete change of clothes or at least emergency mending gear to make emergency repairs when I tore someting on a locomotive or someplace else and way more too much to recall right now. Of course I carried less when I was working for Metro-North because I did not lay over away from home and only worked on one railroad so one timetable and one rule book would be enough and I did not have to carry a bunch of operating manuals either although I think I had one for every class of equipment that I was qualified on to operate.
Noel Weaver

One of those "tool bags" can work very nicely if you are not planning to hike the Appalachian Trail. The one I have has handles just like a grip & It also has a shoulder strap so you can hoist it over your shoulder when climbing up those darn covered wagons or GE's.

For most of my career I maintained two separate "grips". One for passenger service and the other for freight service but either could be used as necessary. One was in my locker at Oak Point and the other at home for passenger use. In my last ten years at Selkirk only one grip was necessary and I had a rather large metal grip or box made of aluminum and bought at a store in Harrisburg, PA. It served me well getting banged around for ten years, I still have it with a thousand dents and bangs still on it, use it for papers that I do not need but do not want to destroy just yet. I bought that bag several years previously on a trip to Harrisburg when there were three different sizes offered and I bought one of each. I still have the medium size as well for stuff. Some of the time with Metro-North I carried a smaller "grip" with a shoulder strap and sometimes a handle, the non aluminum ones did not last nearly as long as I would have liked so I stuck with the PRR type grips for quite some time. They traveled a lot of miles and took a lot of abuse.
Noel Weaver

keithsy wrote:Get a flight bag or a large brief case, like the old-timers. Back packs are fashionable and for Scouts. The weight of that pack on your back can sway and throw you off balance. Just bring what the job requires, plus something simple to eat or drink. You can always pack you Bible with your rule book. That is how I lived when I was Boy Scout. I see many employees, namely women wheeling full-sized suitcases. There is no need for them.

Maybe not with Metro-North where one is home every night but in through freight service you need to be equipped to stay overnight in an away from home facility a long way from home. I kept stuff in a locker in Buffalo but still it was necessary to carry much with me. You carry what you need or what you might need, the Boy Scout Motto "BE PREPARED" certainally applies. Even on Metro-North you are basically on your own with MU or locomotive hauled equipment and you need to know what to do when the alarm sounds, maybe some don't care but I DID CARE. I can pretty much remember every single time I got towed in during my entire career, not many.
Noel Weaver