Speeding to make up time

I've come across a couple stories where "back in the day" engineers would often speed to make up for lateness. (10mph+) How common was that? Does this still occur today?

Back in the day (when railroads operated their own passenger trains) it was fairly common.

Today, on the Class 1 carriers it is the next fastest way to lose your Engineers Certification Card - the only faster way is run by a Stop Signal.

Not only are their 'weed weasels' with radar guns, the data retained by the 'black box' data loggers gets reviewed by Operating Officials and prosecuted when violations are discovered.

I don't know Amtrak's procedures, however, I suspect they are similar to the other Class 1's.

A quick ticket to 30 days in the street.

Certification aside, what if you hit someone at a crossing? The engine event recorder, and the crossing activation are all recorded. I don't want to loose my house.

If there was a derailment, someone has to be held accountable. It's not like the insurance industry, where act of God may be used as the cause. It is real easy to look at the tape and say, "Oh the engineer was 2 mph hot. Cause of derailment; case closed." In actuality it may have been bad surface condition ( counts against MOW), or a thin flange on a car (mechanical dept. fault).

Things really -were- different in the old days.

I was there.

CSX uses GE's ERAD system that downloads all the data from a trip to a central sever. They then runs the data through filters to check for rules violations and other engine perimeters. They check speed, power braking, dynamic braking and overall train handling. They are also using GE's Trip Optimizer to review speed restriction. So as a former BLET Local Chairman I advised my members that "It's better to be 2 under then 2 over" the speed for the territory. I have had to try and defend several member who didn't catch the train in time coming to a speed change in the mountain and got a 2 week unpaid vacation. It's hard to argue with a data dump.
Mike