Before and even now as a retired locomotive engineer, I have enjoyed my Railway Age subscription because you’re always on the cutting edge of the railroad world. I feel compelled to comment on the articles by about crew size in the May 2024 issue. The major point made against the [FRA] mandate of two-person crew size was the so-called “lack of data backing this decision.”
I have operated a locomotive on a short line under all conditions: engineer-only, conductor and engineer in the cab, and engineer with conductor following the train in a vehicle. Why is it that railroad management most always never asks those doing the work how it should be done?
Operating by yourself creates a prayerful state of mind: You pray nothing goes wrong. One night I was operating totally by myself. I had a “kicker” (a car that causes the train to go into emergency when some air is set) on my train. The second time this happened, the train air wouldn’t pump back up. This necessitated me leaving the cab and walking back to inspect the train, which had either come apart or had a car leaking air. About 20 cars back and just in front of where there was a bridge that would require negotiation of barbed wire to get around, I found a car blowing air. I cut (disabled) the car’s air system and returned to the cab. I was able to complete the run without further incident. A conductor would have made this a quicker repair.
Another time my conductor was following my train in a vehicle. My train went into emergency. I notified the conductor by radio. He began searching for the problem because my train air would not pump up. He reported that the train had come apart. He closed the angle cock, and we put the train back together. After he opened the angle cock, the train still didn’t pump up. “Must be leaking somewhere.” I told my conductor. Sure enough, he found another break a few cars behind the first. We completed another coupling. Still, the same problem existed. A few cars behind the last break, my conductor found yet another break and the cause for our problems. A tree branch had fallen next to the tracks, and the perfect placement of the branch enabled it to lift the cut lever as the cars brushed against the branch.
The point of this illustration is that engineers can’t fix train separation problems on their own. Also, an engineer can’t replace a knuckle alone.
There are also safety issues with a one-person crew. A conductor friend of mine saw his engineer choking on a sandwich, and performed the Heimlich Maneuver on him, which saved his life. Conductors have prevented many accidents by dumping the air when they saw their engineer “zone out,” about to run a red signal.
If management were to interview conductors and engineers, they would discover many stories of a variety of situations where a two-person crew saved the day.
I don’t believe the catch-all solution to the problem is “it depends” is acceptable. I have operated all alone, but you’re only tempting fate. Without a conductor, engineers could find themselves with problems they can’t fix. The cost of a conductor is worth the expense.
Not all “new ideas” are good. Consider Precision Scheduled Railroading. When it first came on the scene, management jumped on it. Today, we see that you can cut a slice too thin, and service will suffer. Norfolk Southern has wised up, making a commitment not to lay off TY&E workers at every slowdown. The cost of bringing them back results in horrible service to customers. The cost of a conductor today will offset the increase of costs due to accidents, deaths and injuries from operating with one-person crews.
I am not presenting the “union view.” I speak for those actually doing the work.
Bruce Brewer started his railroad career with BNSF and retired from Watco’s South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad.
