Dunkin Donuts commercial....

[RPM2Night]

I know this isn't directly related to the LIRR, but have any of you seen that Dunkin Donuts commercial that is narrated by the train engineer that "works fourteen hour shifts moving freight cars to over 50 different stops" and makes a special stop for coffee? lol. I just thought it kind of went along with our discussions on the inaccuracy of the media and the public's knowledge of the workings of a railroad. I'm not complaining or anything, I just thought it was a little bit funny though.

[Long Island 7285]

yo dude, i seen that advertisement, real cool, i can see the NYA guys doing that

[RPM2Night]

lol yeah, we used to make stops when I was up workin for the New England Central. Sometimes we'd be waiting for a couple hours for the inbound train from the north, which we would recrew at my terminal and run the rest of the way south to Bellows Falls....but with a few hours to kill we'd usually go to the local diner and eat breakfast while we waited. There were a few other diners and shops along the way that we'd stop at every now and then if we were running a little early. Oh the memories lol. Can't do that on the LIRR.....although it's not such an issue because I won't be stuck on one train for an entire shift. I'll most of the time have atleast a few minutes between trains to get out and stretch a little lol.

[RetiredLIRRConductor]

Actually, that commercial is accurate. Over the years various crews have stopped at locations where there are 7-11's or Dunkin Donuts to get coffee. Obviously it is done on equipment trains, or alcohol trains, or any train where the public will not be delayed. There are many locations on the RR where there are 7-11's or Dunkin Donuts adjacent to the tracks where a quick stop can be made without delaying the train. It is done late at night or early in the morning more then you might think. With the advent of cell phones, sometimes calls are made ahead so the order is ready and there is no delay. There used to be a coffee shop in the station in Speonk, and there was an overnight crew that went to Montauk at 1AM, and came back during the morning rush hour. When leaving Montauk the order would be phoned in, and the owner of the coffee shop would meet the train with the crews breakfast when they pulled into Speonk on their westbound train.

[trackml2]

Point of information, that coffee shop re-opened. (New owner)About a month ago I went in there early morning for some java. Not the same atmosphere from the "old" days.

[Long Island 7285]

I been on a run where we stoped for coffie, it kinda cool when you don't do it every day.

well, lets make a LIRR version of the advertisemnt? see how well that will go with the costomers, just seeing freight flips there lids, nevermind a crew stopping to get coffie.

they had something similar to this on the news a while back where a frieght (on the US main land not LI) would stop for Duncan Donuts and tie up a crossing and the locals would be pissed.

Mabe hooping op coffie to that train would not be a bad idea?

[Nasadowsk]

I give DD credit for at least putting a "Don't try this at home" disclaimer at the bottom of the screen.

Actually, at first, I though it was an op lifesaver ad.

Hey, don't they normally 'hoop up' the food, instead of stopping?

[dukeoq]

I remember a commercial years ago that showed the freight crew at the end of thier run. The poetic narration mentioned that the run was over and the work was done and now "It's Miller time"
The crew was seen happily running onto the hack with a case or cases of the foamy stuff (ahh! The good old days.)
Complaints from the railroads, the unions and FRA got that commercial booted in less than a week

[emfinite]

There was a post about this commercial on the NYAR forum, too. Check it out here:

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21484

Joe

[BMC]

Anybody care to mention how many hours he says he's been on duty and what the FRA would say about that ?

[alcoc420]

Anybody who reads the NY State forum may remember the thread that this commercial seems to be based on. An eastbound CSX on the river line was said to cause a lot of traffic congestion in the Kingston area when they stopped for coffee, at a DD as I seem to remember. In my years of watching local freights here and upstate, I have never seen a train having anywhere near 50 stops, unless you mean changes in direction in yard drills. Also, don't crews outlaw after twelve hours. In any event, neat commercial to watch.

[dukeoq]

Anybody who reads the NY State forum may remember the thread that this commercial seems to be based on. An eastbound CSX on the river line was said to cause a lot of traffic congestion in the Kingston area when they stopped for coffee, at a DD as I seem to remember. In my years of watching local freights here and upstate, I have never seen a train having anywhere near 50 stops, unless you mean changes in direction in yard drills. Also, don't crews outlaw after twelve hours. In any event, neat commercial to watch.

What makes anyone think that ad men or for that matter newspaper reporters do research when it comes to depicting rail operations.

[RPM2Night]

yeah, the 14 hour shifts is the main inaccuracy that I was refering to.


50 stops in one night does sound like an exageration too, but who's counting. lol.

I think some of the camera angles in the commercial are pretty cool. Like the one showing the brake cylander as the brakes apply, and the engineer adjusting the throttle etc.

[jayrmli]

The FRA is looking for that crew as we speak...

The unions are probably going to get after them for doing so much work in one shift too. It's making the rest of them look bad.

50 freight stops in one day? What exactly is in that Cup 'O Joe???

Jay

[RPM2Night]

Yeah, I definitely can't see a freight train making 50 stops in one night. Maybe the train physically stopped 50 times, but didn't add or subtract any cars from the consist? lol.

Heck, our interchange would usually take 2 hours atleast. The managers didn't like that, but it sure made for some great railfaning. Plus, if we went any faster, we'd be breaking rules.