Montauk/Speonk train question

I commute daily on the 7:29pm Speonk on the weekends and the 6:17pm Montauk train during the week. I always see the same Conductor and Engineer on those trains. I notice that the Conductor always gives the Engineer a wave to leave the station instead of the wall buzzer. I asked the Conductor about this and she said "this is what he likes and she doesn't mind". I think this is really nostalgic considering how bland the LIRR has become. I am curious, is this allowed these days? Can they really do that just because the Engineer "likes it that way" and the Conductor "doesn't mind"? I would think the Railroad has procedures that the two of them must follow regardless of what they like.

Frank..they do have rules and procedures concerning what you asked. It's up to the Condr and Engr to agree on how the train is to be started. The wave you are reffering to is a vertical sign to "Proceed" which is in the Rule Book...basically it's either the buzzer or a handsign..however they do it is fine.

The Engineer you mentioned prefers a handsign because...several years ago, the Conductor slipped and fell under the train. No one knew he was under there. The Engineer received a signal on the buzzer but did not proceed because they were using a handsign all night. He then discovered that the Conductor was trying to get out from under the train but broke his leg. After he and the brakeman pulled him out they realized that it wasn't a train crew member that gave him a buzzer signal, it was a passenger. And if he proceeded, he would have killed the Condr and not even knew it. He wants a handsign so communication between he and the Condr is between them only and not involve the passengers like it can with a buzzer.

Do you really think the LIRR minds if the C&E run their train that way?

the train can proceed only after the proper signal is received (both a fixed signal, and/or the signal from the conductor). If in the job briefing they agree not to use the communicating buzzer, and to only use the hand sign, then if the engineer receives the two shorts then that isn't the proper signal and the engineer knows something is up.

A physical hand sign is preferred and is superior to a communicating buzzer signal for the somewhat obvious reasons mentioned above.

An experienced and conscientious crew would work that way. That's the type of crew I would want carrying my family in manual block territory.

Clemuel

Thank you guys for the detailed information. Basically they are following the rules and it's just a different way than what is common. Clem, I agree with you on what you said and I am sure that Conductor that fell under the train would too.

Hi bellportfrank,

In my opinion you've got one of the best engineers on that train

Also did you hear the two short toots of the horn before you took off from each station?

-Barry

Can't go wrong. He's one of the better engineers, knows his job well.

Usetabee that train crews would position themselves off the train with the head brakeman giving the signal to the next one back, to the next one back to the end of the train and the go ahead one would be given via signal cord (buzzer) from there OR it would start from the rear and work forward to the head brakie who would give the highball by hand OR the conductor would collect the highballs from his crew and be the one to give the engineer the signal to go. Each crew did what worked best for them at each station or with each trian.

Yes the buzzer can be dangerous . one incident that comes to mind is a car inspector that asked us to pull the head 2 cars off at jamaica so he could re-set an MA (motor altenator) on an M1. While he was re-setting the MA, a passenger woke up, saw he was in jamaica and gave the engineer the signal to go. (he had wanted to get off) If we had not had the train dumped (or in emergency) the car inspector would have been injured or worse. There have been a few times over the years when i have closed doors at various stations and then heard the signal to go. I would always check and make sure the train was clear and let the train go. When the angry passenger would come up and say " I wanted to get off, why did you signal him to go?" My response would be, i did not signal him, YOU did.

Clem and Form 19:I recall myself that it is the discretion of the crew-namely the Engineer and Conductor to use what signal works best for them as said here. I remember this from my earliest days around the railroad as a child that RULE NUMBER ONE is: SAFETY FIRST. I remember passengers doing stupid things in the past like pushing the buzzer button. MACTRAXX

LirrConductor wrote:Yes the buzzer can be dangerous . one incident that comes to mind is a car inspector that asked us to pull the head 2 cars off at jamaica so he could re-set an MA (motor altenator) on an M1. While he was re-setting the MA, a passenger woke up, saw he was in jamaica and gave the engineer the signal to go. (he had wanted to get off) If we had not had the train dumped (or in emergency) the car inspector would have been injured or worse. There have been a few times over the years when i have closed doors at various stations and then heard the signal to go. I would always check and make sure the train was clear and let the train go. When the angry passenger would come up and say " I wanted to get off, why did you signal him to go?" My response would be, i did not signal him, YOU did.

I have to wonder if "blue light/blue flag" signals were used in the above
case, if not, it was not a safe operation.
Noel Weaver