LIRR Conductor

I am a rush hour commuter. This might sound stupid but I take the same train every morning no matter what time I need to get to work so I can see the conductor that usual tends to the car I sit in. Once in a while, we will catch eye and say a few word each morning, but I haven't seen him in a week or so. Curious to know what happened to him. Is there any way to find out info about crew members?

It very often happens (in my experience at least) that condutors or AC's will be on a certain train for several months and then move to another run. There was a conductor I would see every morning on my WH train for the better part of 2 years before he changed trains. He was a great guy; when I first started taking the train into school, most conductors would accuse me of joyriding on my father's ticket, but this guy would always take the time to stop and ask me how everything was going and whatnot.

Any number of things could have happened. The most likely explanations are that he's on vacation , he bid on to another job, or he was knocked (we call it trimmed) off the job by some one with better senority.

Bluebelly:

Have they stopped using the term "bumped" when an employee with higher seniority takes someone else's run?

Dave Keller

Dave Keller wrote:Bluebelly:

Have they stopped using the term "bumped" when an employee with higher seniority takes someone else's run?

Dave Keller

Dave,
I know CAMs still use the term "bumped". A buddy of mine is a CAM that's what he calls it. I don't know about other crafts but my impression is that only Trainmen and Engineers use the term "trimmed" and all the other crafts use bumped, but I could be wrong.
No matter what you call it stinks

You're derned right!

It DOES stink.

Dave Keller

It doesn't stink when you're the barber. lol

Jay

Trainmen still get bumped.

There was a change in the crew book a few weeks ago, so those whose jobs changed gained the right to "trim" or displace others junior to them. This process of "trimming" runs down the roster, displacing many people.

As our friend said, maybe he's on vacation.

If you send me a personal note with particular information such as the train, where in the train you ride, where you got on, his badge number or name or description, and a message, I'll get it to him...

Just because you sound nice.

Clem

jayrmli wrote:It doesn't stink when you're the barber. lol

Jay

Very true my friend.

When everyone is referring to "displaced", "trimmed", "knocked", you mean shifted around or you mean "laid off?"

Always wonder how the trains worked - do you ride the same train for your whole shift? What times are the shift? Do you get to pick the time slot you want or that goes by seniority also? Do you ride a train that starts and ends by somewhere close to where you live?[/list]

As a LIRR employee, your seniority (date of hire and or date of qualification) places you on a list of fellow employees within your department: enginemen, conductors, block operators, ticket clerks, etc.

You bid the individual jobs and/or runs you wish within your area of employment. The newer people (low on the senority list) do not get the good jobs. The older people (higher on the senority list) get the better jobs.

The oldest person usually has their choice of jobs and usually gets the cream of the crop!!

Should you happen to get lucky and bid on, and win, a decent job, it's yours until a person of higher seniority comes along and says, "hey, I like that run . . . it will get me off closer to dinner time" or "it's more convenient to where I live. . .", etc., etc., they exercise their senority and bump you out of the job (run or position, not your job on the entire railroad).

Now, you don't have a job, so, you bump the guy who has less seniority than you and get his job. He, in turn, bumps the guy below him, etc., etc.

It's a pecking order that doesn't end until you're #1 or #2 on the roster!

Jobs used to bid weekly. I don't know about nowadays.

Dave Keller

Everything Dave said is correct , I would just like to clarify one point. A person with higher senority cannot just decide to trim some one off a job whenever it suits them, they must have trimming rights. Without trimming rights they cannot knock a younger man off a job. So a younger man does not usually have to worry about getting trimmed until there is a crew book revision. There are other ways to get trimming rights but one's jobs being revised is the most common.
Dave trainman bid sheets are weekly , engineers I think are twice a month, I have no idea about other crafts.

If you're a conductor or asst conductor, you choose already-set-up runs that are printed in a book.

You may have a nice run such as leave Jamaica, work to Montauk and deadhead back . . . end of run (usually for the guys in the #1 and #2 slot on the roster )

You could have terrible runs such as (and I'm just making this up as an example, so don't hold me to it!!) going from Penn to Hempstead. Then, return to Jamaica and work Jamaica to Long Beach, then return Long Beach to Penn and work Penn to Port Washington. You could, in past years, end miles from where you started.

You could also get runs that leave Flatbush Ave in the wee hours of the morning and your train could be full of bums and/or drunks. You could get runs after games to Shea where everyone drinks too much at the game and chucks in your cars.

Back to the seniority roster, I have one for enginemen dating from 4/1/49. #1 engineer was Sylvester P. Doxsey, who was employed as fireman on 5/27/1901 and was promoted to engineer on 5/18/1906.

So, in 1949, he already had 48 years of service and had his pick of ANY run he wanted. He chose a Montauk run, which, I believe, he worked from Hunterspoint Ave. to Montauk and that was it. Then deadhead back (with pay) and went home.

When someone stayed on the seniority roster for that many years, you really never got a chance at the good runs until they retired and then everyone moved up a notch or two.

Dave Keller

Thanks for the update, Bluebelly!

I was posting my 2nd response to LILady commuter when you were posting your response to me.

Dave Keller

Thanks for all the knowledge! I always wanted to know. I cannot believe that's how it works. I guess that's the case with alot of jobs though. So newcomers really get the crap end of the stick, huh? Basically, you have to pay your dues.

Then I have another question then - in the morning on the train, one person comes to us (I'm the first stop) and checks our monthly passes/tickets and put a punch in this little slip - I'm assuming its an indication that they already checked ours and they don't ask for it again. But then after the third stop, the conductor guy I was talking about starts to come around. Intially the first person (who happened to be a woman) checked while he said in those compartments they have and then he finished out the rest of the ride and she just made annoucements. What's the purpose to that? I know he was a conductor - what could she be?

Thanks!
LIladycommuter