Longest LIRR freight train you've seen or crewed

Yes the montauk cutoff is still in service, and yes it is not electrified. What we do is hook up a 1500 to each end of the m-7's going to arch street, then take them from hillside to arch street via the lower montauk. We then take them over the montauk cutoff to yard a, and then west into arch street. Here are the pics..


http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictu ... 3653&idx=6

Not so long ago, sometime in September of this year hanging out in Mineola there was a consist with 3 1500's and at least 40 cars of ballast/concrete ties. Was pretty impressive to see being that's considered an above average load weight wise.

Hi Tommy, what do you mean by "staged"? If you mean set up and blocked for an LI Road Freight, the answer is no. That was up to the LI Yardmaster and the drill crews.

a 40 car stone train on the lirr? thats probably the nyar guys pulling that. i shudder at the thought of a long island motorman running a train that big. nah, had to be nyar crews on that train. i heard they wont even let them in their yards in fresh pond and hicksville without a pilot because the lirr guys screw things up whenever they go there. so i really dont think anyone on the lirr is capable of running something that big on the main. especially stone.

Lirrconductor, the Hillside to Yard A/Arch Street move is pretty interesting. Here are a few shots I got this summer- 4 cars to Arch Street and 2 back to Hillside. Not exactly a big train, but we took the same route as you mentioned. Even got to see fireworks on a beautiful, clear night while the train was stopped on the cutoff. Engines were 154 and 164.

<img src="http://www.trainweb.org/nyar/hillside1.jpg">

<img src="http://www.trainweb.org/nyar/hillside2.jpg">

Joe

There are several engineers on the Long Island that can handle those trains without a problem. There are others, many others, who would pull a knuckle on the first move.

Unfortunately, the Long Island just isn't teaching train handling as they once did and the DM's and DE's have been modified in such a way that they can be operated with less skill in a less skilled manner.

The result of all this is what we saw a couple of weeks ago, where an engineer tried, with an engine, to pull 12 MU's with full brakes applied. He broke the coupler. Couldn't tell the brakes were applied. Duh.

Nobody's born an engineer. Without the opportunity to gain experience it's a difficult trade to learn.

Clem

I guess we are steriotyped as buffoons. It is kind of embarrassing that NYAR won't let us play in their yard without a pilot. I guess that's the way it goes.

I dont like it either, but there have been a few incidents the last few years. Engine 160 running away, the m-1's getting scalped at the subway overpass, I believe a work train derailed there too. All the new engineers are trained on "stone Train" Training trains, but I guess it is hard to keep sharp if you fall into passenger train mode. When I went to fresh pond about 3 years ago, for the first time in over 20 years, the first thing I did was tell the brakeman and engineer to "hold My Hand" because I had not been down there in awhile. Thats the key. Don't let pride get in the way, and talk things over with the crew. Most of the guys and gals on the RR are good people and will work with you. They understand that none of us know it all, and we need each other.

Form 19 wrote:what do you mean by "staged"?

I meant the cars Conrail was supposed to pick up were already sitting on the Bay Ridge-Fremont track waiting. That all Conrail had to do was couple up and charge the air. But maybe not, this was 15 years ago. Seems like Conrail more often used to go engines light one way??

I know the M train is (or was) one of the few subway trains in New York where you can look out the window and see a 70-car freight rumbling by!!

tommy

Anyone who works with the Long Island's engineers knows the vast majority are far from bafoons. The problem lies with the high visibility incidents as those mentioned above, the rentention of a handful of grossly incompetent blow-hards and with a railroad management that permits the equipment department to dictate certain elements of train handling modifications.

We can blame the recient hiring of middle-age-know-it-alls, we can blame a few years of bad training instructors or blame the Railroad for not offing the bad apples who keep distroying their equipment.

The reality is that the workforce is generally fairly new and less experienced than anytime in the past century. There have been major technological changes that limit the experience learned on the job. And there has been change amonf the Road's management in what is socially acceptible as discipline and what is expected from an American worker.

What hasn't changed is the pressure and demands of the nation's fastest paced rail line. Some of the "worst" engineers I deal with come to the Long Island from other roads where the pace is thirty times slower. It's very difficult for them to adjust and they often don't feel they have anything to learn.

The Locomotive Engineer on the LIRR is a very specialized craft. While they may no longer operate 100 car freights, they possess a set of skills, work ethics, and patience that is quite different from those needed to work anywhere else. Most are very reliable, skilled and dedicated. Few other crafts share in the visibility, responsibility and productivity demads.

As a group, these men take the pride in getting stuff over the road and seeing the job through and learning about the technical aspects of their job. Few other crafts illustrate this quality to such a degree.

Clemuel

Clem: You couldn't have said it better! I totally agree with you-MACTRAXX