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Charliemonster42 posted:I'd hardly call it *everything*. Looks like it was all standard stuff that could have been planned for with more than 20 minutes forethought. They would have planned everything (except the breakdowns, and the truck on the dockyard), it's just Nat Geo likes to make it sound like everyone's as dense as their average viewer*. You can see the simmering hatred for the Nat Geo guy when they asked about taking the loco under steam to the port. "Yeah, that'd be great, but I've just checked my diary and 'dying in a boiler explosion' simply isn't on the cards for the next few weeks". *: They had a special on the Mayan Apocalypse, and the show wasn't wall-to-wall people saying "won't happen, now how did you get past security?"
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Apr 6, 2013 08:01
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IPCRESS posted:They would have planned everything (except the breakdowns, and the truck on the dockyard), it's just Nat Geo likes to make it sound like everyone's as dense as their average viewer*. Still, I'm surprised that they didn't clean out the axle boxes before lubricating them. That could have used better planning.
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Apr 6, 2013 08:13
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Today, the middle of the 3 cranes at my terminal was down. The yardmaster knew this, was in the intermodal office watching a train pull cars under the cranes, was asked to shove the cars to the north end of the working tracks, but decided that doing the job 90% of what was requested was good enough. We had to waste 20minutes moving equipment so that we could work the south end of the train. You know...instead of spending 1 minute to shove back another 400ft. Heaven loving forbid you ask the yardmaster to use the road crew or his yard crew to do any switching or make any cuts cause that's not going to happen. He's going to cram every foot of car that he can on one track. I'm becoming more and more amazed that the railroads make any money.
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Apr 7, 2013 03:19
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Veins McGee posted:I'm becoming more and more amazed that the railroads make any money. They make money by complete accident. We have some yard masters that really are dumb as hell. They can kill 2 hours of switching easily by just making a couple of dumb moves. As a yard guy, I work with the MOW guys when I can. Have you earned yourself a nick name yet?
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Apr 7, 2013 03:29
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BrokenKnucklez posted:They make money by complete accident. We have some yard masters that really are dumb as hell. They can kill 2 hours of switching easily by just making a couple of dumb moves. As a yard guy, I work with the MOW guys when I can. I'm intermodal, not MOW. And no nickname yet, not as far as I know.   Cut of intermodal cars blown over in a freak gust of wind.
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Apr 7, 2013 03:43
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Strawberry posted:Day two of my MOW training, sitting in my hotel. Familiarizing myself with this 6-inch thick engineering binder. You TY&E guys get anything like this? Lance Fritz told us the other day during a town hall meeting that the UPRR was working on rule consolidation for multiple rules that have the same meaning.
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Apr 7, 2013 06:59
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Veins McGee posted:Today, the middle of the 3 cranes at my terminal was down. The yardmaster knew this, was in the intermodal office watching a train pull cars under the cranes, was asked to shove the cars to the north end of the working tracks, but decided that doing the job 90% of what was requested was good enough. We had to waste 20minutes moving equipment so that we could work the south end of the train. You know...instead of spending 1 minute to shove back another 400ft. Warren Buffet once called the UPRR the most mismanaged gold mine in the world, and then bought the BNSF RR to punctuate the point. Veins McGee posted:I'm intermodal, not MOW. And no nickname yet, not as far as I know. This happened to the hottest train right when it got to cheyenne a half dozen years ago. The train was waiting to get into town. It was the ZLTG2 or ZG1SC or similar.
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Apr 7, 2013 07:08
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Here are some old pics from 08 or 09 I got      
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Apr 7, 2013 07:11
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Nothing to see here....
BrokenKnucklez fucked around with this message at 14:52 on Apr 7, 2013 |
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Apr 7, 2013 14:47
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Veins McGee posted:
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Apr 8, 2013 00:17
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9axle posted:I bet there is more to this than you are saying. Maybe he wasn't authorized to give the yard crew o/t, maybe they needed head room on the main and he couldn't get it from the dispatcher. Maybe the yard crew was switching another part of the yard. And you drat right, he had better not ask me to switch his yard if I am a road crew. I am on a trip rate, not hourly. None of those things are/were the issue. The train was 1700 ft long. The processing tracks(underneath the cranes) are 2300ft. The train was already on the processing tracks. He didn't want to shove back another 400ft because he doesn't understand or use the safety equipment that prevents a container from passing over a human. The yard crew couldn't have been anywhere else in the yard because there is no yard power. Besides that, the terminal only handles intermodal cars(therefore, most of the train building is done underneath the cranes). The issue is a lovely corporate/organizational structure where the yardmaster doesn't report to the terminal manager. Who do you work for that you aren't hourly? I thought all the Class 1s paid crews by the hour.
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Apr 8, 2013 02:06
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Road guys are generally trip rated and the more ground you cover in less time the better. Yard men are hourly. And has any one ever watched a road crew do work in the yard? Its hilarious.... pretty much better off waiting for yard guys to do it.
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Apr 8, 2013 05:36
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BrokenKnucklez posted:Road guys are generally trip rated and the more ground you cover in less time the better. For companies that love talking about safety so much, this seems kind of dumb.
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Apr 8, 2013 23:13
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Veins McGee posted:For companies that love talking about safety so much, this seems kind of dumb. You just don't get the big picture now do you?
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Apr 8, 2013 23:33
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Veins McGee posted:For companies that love talking about safety so much, this seems kind of dumb. You seem to have a bit of expertise in our agreement and working conditions. How much time did you spend in T&E again?
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Apr 8, 2013 23:41
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I don't know poo poo about your agreement. I actually don't know poo poo about much of anything at all, hence why I'm asking questions. I've worked for a railroad for all of 3 weeks so I'm still trying to understand a lot of what goes on and why it happens. Maybe I'm missing something, but paying by the trip vs by the hour seems to emphasize the wrong thing if you purport to be big on safety. I know that if I'm getting paid by the job, I want to get it done as fast as possible so I can clock out.
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Apr 8, 2013 23:58
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Veins McGee posted:For companies that love talking about safety so much, this seems kind of dumb. Mission statements and reality are not always the same thing.
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Apr 9, 2013 00:09
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Veins McGee posted:I don't know poo poo about your agreement. I actually don't know poo poo about much of anything at all, hence why I'm asking questions. I've worked for a railroad for all of 3 weeks so I'm still trying to understand a lot of what goes on and why it happens. trip rates will give you the incentive to get over the road quicker. If you don't go on over time after 12 hours for a 197 mile run, then there is no incentive to get out of the yard. You are very very very green. Don't ask why things are done, people have done that in the past, and as you can tell, has gotten no where. Concern yourself with your work at this point in time. Learn how to do your job well, and learn how to observe. I am not trying to be a dick. This job is much like the military, do as your told and don't ask questions.
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Apr 9, 2013 00:22
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My foreman told me that the size of the gravel in the yard that the train guys walk on is set by the union agreement. I chuckled. He was serious.
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Apr 10, 2013 03:39
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Makes sense. Ever tried to walk over that huge-rear end gravel they sometimes use for roadbed? The stuff with 3-6" chunks? That'd be a ton of workplace accidents waiting to happen, and I'll bet it's what they wanted to use, given that there's plenty of it around.
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Apr 10, 2013 17:52
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I just wasn't expecting it to be part of a union agreement. That ballast out on the road is gnarly, especially in those steep spots we can only get to via hy-rail.
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Apr 11, 2013 01:09
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Strawberry posted:I just wasn't expecting it to be part of a union agreement. That ballast out on the road is gnarly, especially in those steep spots we can only get to via hy-rail. Yup they prefer the 3/4" gravel. I have had to fix many SIRP's due to 1" or larger gravel around switches. Read our union agreement. Lots of fun little clauses in there. TY&E guys, I've heard you get a small bonus if you have to walk a certain distance. Any truth to this?
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Apr 13, 2013 00:42
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Rabid Anti-Dentite! posted:Yup they prefer the 3/4" gravel. I have had to fix many SIRP's due to 1" or larger gravel around switches. Read our union agreement. Lots of fun little clauses in there. TY&E guys, I've heard you get a small bonus if you have to walk a certain distance. Any truth to this? False. But the bonus is overtime!
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Apr 13, 2013 00:46
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Tex Avery posted:This is the highlight of my list of reasons of what's wrong with that railway. They'll tell you all fuckin' day, "Tip the singers, get out some money for the robbers!" Those cowboys keep the money for themselves. Meanwhile, the car attendant who's been making drinks, handing out information, and basically being your planner for the day usually doesn't bring home much in tips, and they are strictly forbidden from making it known in any way that they accept tips. gently caress that place. What you're describing sounds like some kind of sociologist experiment with reviving 1950s sexism. "Oh the silly flight attendants can't do anything useful and they'll be unreliable due to their menstrual cycles, let's not pay them. Get some MEN in here to get things done. They'll need compensation. And cowboy boots." Kind of appropriate for the southwest, I suppose. gently caress that entire region.
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Apr 13, 2013 03:31
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BrokenKnucklez posted:trip rates will give you the incentive to get over the road quicker. If you don't go on over time after 12 hours for a 197 mile run, then there is no incentive to get out of the yard. This is literally the kind of work environment that crushes creativity and innovation. Not saying someone here should try to stick their head out, as the change has to start at the top, which is hard too.
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Apr 13, 2013 06:24
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Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:I did the GCR twice and although I loving HATED the cowboy poo poo, I loved the overall experience. Trains are awesome and the grand canyon is awesome. Both times the attendant ladies were good, and one time she was totally great. Told us all kinds of interesting historical things about the high desert, what the native americans called the canyon, told us about the hiking she did in it and how seriously you have to plan for hiking in it. That whole railroad is goofy. I was underneath a car one night and another carman released the handbrake. He knew I was down there, and he had just spoken to me less than 20 seconds before hand, but he released it and the car rolled quite a bit. He didn't even go for a piss test. Later, I got fired for pointing at a guy. No poo poo. He said he felt threatened by that. They fired me on my 20th birthday. That was an awesome day. 
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Apr 13, 2013 17:46
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CharlesM posted:This is literally the kind of work environment that crushes creativity and innovation. Not saying someone here should try to stick their head out, as the change has to start at the top, which is hard too. It is, but I get to drive trains, which is cool as poo poo and therefore makes it all ok.
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Apr 14, 2013 02:29
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9axle posted:It is, but I get to drive trains, which is cool as poo poo and therefore makes it all ok. gently caress yeah, trainbro. That's the only reason I stuck around GCR as long as I did and would have, had I not been canned.
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Apr 14, 2013 02:43
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This is a very much don't fix it until it breaks and even then just repeat the same. Funny thing is every day is basically the same... but different. Some times a car rolls like crazy down the lead and others just die instantly.... its a super strange job and with out being on the ground for a few years its when you understand things.
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Apr 14, 2013 04:19
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I got to ride around in an engine today while they were doing some yard switching. It wasn't all that thrilling or anything but I'm starting to get an appreciation for why things take forever on the railroad. This engine is interesting because it has a 3rd seat in the cab. vains fucked around with this message at 22:38 on Apr 14, 2013 |
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Apr 14, 2013 22:25
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They all do.
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Apr 15, 2013 14:01
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On the UP the newer SD70Aces have a little jump seat behind the engineer.
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Apr 15, 2013 14:04
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The local UPRR yard has a genset locomotive. I found that kinda neat.
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Apr 15, 2013 14:34
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 more like, "20, 5, OH NO, OH NO, I mean STOP-STOP-STOP!"
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Apr 15, 2013 16:59
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B4Ctom1 posted:
I enjoy road conductors doing set outs.... Good for 30 cars, clear track. (train moves 1 car) ok good for 20 now!
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Apr 15, 2013 17:19
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I had to set out a bo on a loaded coal set 120ish deep at like 2am in the snow because the crew before me was too scared or something and we almost ran out the other end of the set out track... "20, 15, 10 to go, 7, 5...3...that'll do when you get her stopped" "Ok" "Anytime now" "*something garbled*" "STOP STOP STOP gently caress"
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Apr 15, 2013 17:31
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You know something good will happen when some ones "gently caress THAT'LL DO(insert crashing sound)" on the radio.
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Apr 15, 2013 17:35
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BrokenKnucklez posted:I enjoy road conductors doing set outs.... Good for 30 cars, clear track. (train moves 1 car) ok good for 20 now! Best I've heard is "Clear back 15, two to the joint."
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Apr 15, 2013 20:16
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9axle posted:They all do. Oh well the crew thought it was weird. They could have told me that it was weird that there wasn't a flat screen and an xbox in the cab and I would have believed it.
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Apr 16, 2013 03:48
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Here is a rare patch from my military service
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Apr 21, 2013 04:27
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