Amtrak to Needles

[Kachina26]

Anybody ride it last night? Friday 8/27

 

[stokerwhore]

no? were you driving?

 

[Kachina26]

no? were you driving?

I was steering, engineer handled the throttle and brake.

 

[stokerwhore]

nice. you have my dream jop as a closet rail fan (no foaming)

 

[Motor Boater]

I was steering, engineer handled the throttle and brake.

Conductor.

 

[Kachina26]

Conductor.

Years ago.

 

[wallnutz]

Dispatch? They are the ones that steer.

 

[GRADS]

This may be a stupid question but how do you steer a train? Isn't it on rails? It's not like you can make a sudden right turn.

 

[Kachina26]

This may be a stupid question but how do you steer a train? Isn't it on rails? It's not like you can make a sudden right turn.

The steering wheel is on the back of the locomotive. https://static8.depositphotos.com/1...9878-stock-photo-detail-of-a-diesel-north.jpg

 

[GRADS]

Oh wait a minute is this a thread about a bunch of dudes pulling a train?

 

[ChumpChange]

nice. you have my dream jop as a closet rail fan (no foaming)

Hopefully this thread won’t bring the Foamer BNB back!

 

[monkeyswrench]

Gotta be a bitch to parallel park

I was steering, engineer handled the throttle and brake.

 

[Ace in the Hole]

Oh wait a minute is this a thread about a bunch of dudes pulling a train?

We don't need to know about the intricacies of your Friday night....

 

[Rogers Hopeful]

This may be a stupid question but how do you steer a train? Isn't it on rails? It's not like you can make a sudden right turn.

Dispatch controls where they turn.

 

[ChumpChange]

I didn’t ride it but I saw it while driving my new forklift.

 

[havasujeeper]

Do they still have the toilets so the engineer can shit and steer?

 

[Rogers Hopeful]

Do they still have the toilets so the engineer can shit and steer?

there is a shitter but no way to operate and shit. lol Amtrak runs 2 engineers on long haul trains

 

[havasujeeper]

I was promised a ride with the engineer on a train from SB to Needles when I took a 3 day auto vs. train collision investigation class. I lost his card, but that was on my bucket list.

 

[grumpy88]

Are there any hot chick engineers ?

 

[monkeyswrench]

Are there any hot chick engineers ?

Locomotive types, or mathematician types?
Seen a couple of the math ones...can't say as though I've seen one in a rail yard though

 

[GRADS]

I like to pull trains...Chooo Chooo

 

[wallnutz]

Are there any hot chick engineers ?

There was a pretty good looking girl that worked at the switch yard at 59th and Glendale. Surprisingly small girl for that job.

 

[Kachina26]

Locomotive types, or mathematician types?
Seen a couple of the math ones...can't say as though I've seen one in a rail yard though

There are quite a few females in the field.

 

[monkeyswrench]

There are quite a few females in the field.

He asked about "hot chick" engineers...he was a bit more descript.

 

[Desert Whaler]

I always wondered what @Kachina26 did for work. Nice . . . i'm jealous . . . I fucked up and could of applied for an entry level brake-man position when I was young . . . . yet another fuck-up move in my long list of bad choices . . .

 

[ElAzul]

I didn’t ride it but I saw it while driving my new forklift.

Lol get yourself an extra scoop of ice cream tonight for making me laugh

 

[Rogers Hopeful]

Are there any hot chick engineers ?

there are quite a few on the passenger side

 

[DLC]

Can you walk us through a typical day?

do you have to check the engine before you head out? Pre ride check or do you just jump on and go…. What happens when 1 engine breaks down?

do you just operate for 6-8 hrs then jump off / trade with a fellow coworker?

do you sign up for a route ?

how does it all work? It’s an interesting carrier

 

[02HoWaRd26]

Can you walk us through a typical day?

do you have to check the engine before you head out? Pre ride check or do you just jump on and go…. What happens when 1 engine breaks down?

do you just operate for 6-8 hrs then jump off / trade with a fellow coworker?

do you sign up for a route ?

how does it all work? It’s an interesting carrier

All Kachina does is sit in a chair for 8 hours than go home, the real railroaders however do all that on your list, for 12 hours (because there’s not many dispatchers worth the air they breath) then sit in a hotel for 12-20 hours then run a train back home.

When we lose a locomotive typically that means we stall and hang out and wait till another train drops off extra power. There’s a million different issues however somehow the railroads still make a lot of money in-spite of themselves.

 

[Kachina26]

Can you walk us through a typical day?

do you have to check the engine before you head out? Pre ride check or do you just jump on and go…. What happens when 1 engine breaks down?

do you just operate for 6-8 hrs then jump off / trade with a fellow coworker?

do you sign up for a route ?

how does it all work? It’s an interesting carrier

Rodgers Hopeful can answer better than me. I was only on the ground for 2 years. @02HoWaRd26 is a prime example how this business will suck the life out of you. It’s not what it once was.

 

[Rogers Hopeful]

Can you walk us through a typical day?

do you have to check the engine before you head out? Pre ride check or do you just jump on and go…. What happens when 1 engine breaks down?

do you just operate for 6-8 hrs then jump off / trade with a fellow coworker?

do you sign up for a route ?

how does it all work? It’s an interesting carrier

Check the engines paperwork which includes air brake system. Most of us double check head lights, air hoses, fuel level, and load(power).
amtrak will borrow locomotives from host railroads when 1 breaks down.
most jobs are set up to be on duty 8-10 hrs with 7-9 hrs run time. La to kingman then a crew from Albuquerque takes over.
Amtrak has nationwide seniority and broken up in to zones with multiple crewbases per zone. You bid on jobs twice a year and jobs get awarded in seniority orders. You don’t get a job you go to the on call list

 

[Kachina26]

Can you walk us through a typical day?

do you have to check the engine before you head out? Pre ride check or do you just jump on and go…. What happens when 1 engine breaks down?

do you just operate for 6-8 hrs then jump off / trade with a fellow coworker?

do you sign up for a route ?

how does it all work? It’s an interesting carrier

For the record, I don't work in the field anymore. But, the guys that run the trains have an inspection they do when they get on. They can run for up to 12 hours and with today's economy, that's almost every day. They have no idea when they will come home. Their seniority allows them to sign up for different runs or yard jobs. While they are paid well, they are paid for the inconvenience of the job, not their skill set as you can see from @02HoWaRd26 's grammar. He's retarded, but is willing to sit on a train for hours on end, so they toss buttloads of cash at him.

 

[Kachina26]

I always wondered what @Kachina26 did for work. Nice . . . i'm jealous . . . I fucked up and could of applied for an entry level brake-man position when I was young . . . . yet another fuck-up move in my long list of bad choices . . .

Weird to me that you wondered what I do for a living. But, be happy that you didn't follow your dreams. It's a fucked up career path for sure.

 

[Desert Whaler]

Weird to me that you wondered what I do for a living. But, be happy that you didn't follow your dreams. It's a fucked up career path for sure.

Ha . . . I guess that did sound a bit creepy. I have 3 friends who work for BNSF, one of them actually had a stroke while surfing at a very young age mid/ late 30's if I remember correctly . . . he got lucky some dude saw him and drug him out of the water, could've eaasily drowned. Took him a pretty good length of time to recover/ rehab. But he did, and is back driving trains and back in the water surfing. I think his route/ run is from LA down to the Port of Long Beach or LA Harbor. He works a shit ton.

 

[ONE-A-DAY]

For the cluelesss like me please explain how you “steer” a train that is on tracks? wouldn’t we be talking throttle and brakes, I don’t get how the steer part comes into play - Thx

 

[02HoWaRd26]

For the cluelesss like me please explain how you “steer” a train that is on tracks? wouldn’t we be talking throttle and brakes, I don’t get how the steer part comes into play - Thx

Train crews don’t steer, the dispatcher steers the train!


Switches, Y’s, Ballon’s, cross overs, are how a train is steered. It’s joke not serious.

 

[Kachina26]

For the cluelesss like me please explain how you “steer” a train that is on tracks? wouldn’t we be talking throttle and brakes, I don’t get how the steer part comes into play - Thx

I tried to find a short video, but there aren't any. Here's some redneck foamer explaining switches.

Basically, a code is sent to a machine that bends the rails to cause the train to go to a different track. These can also be operated by hand.

 

[Rogers Hopeful]

I tried to find a short video, but there aren't any. Here's some redneck foamer explaining switches.

Basically, a code is sent to a machine that bends the rails to cause the train to go to a different track. These can also be operated by hand.

Had to throw bandini a few years ago. Took 2 big guys to throw it and still took 10 mins. Lol

 

[Kachina26]

All Kachina does is sit in a chair for 8 hours than go home, the real railroaders however do all that on your list, for 12 hours (because there’s not many dispatchers worth the air they breath) then sit in a hotel for 12-20 hours then run a train back home.

When we lose a locomotive typically that means we stall and hang out and wait till another train drops off extra power. There’s a million different issues however somehow the railroads still make a lot of money in-spite of themselves.

Some lurker sent me a text saying MOW are the real railroaders. OK, it was my son, and he works his ass off compared to train crews.

 

[DaveC]

So yore hitting switches on the bitches

 

[Bigbore500r]

Weird to me that you wondered what I do for a living. But, be happy that you didn't follow your dreams. It's a fucked up career path for sure.

For the record.....I have met Kachina26 in person, and he remains a nice guy despite his disgruntled career choice