The annual volunteer training for the Nevada Northern Railway Museum is the last weekend of April. I'm beginning to develop the training program and a nagging thought that I have is, whether its a good idea to have volunteers get on and off moving equipment. I understand this is forbidden on many of the class 1 railroads. So why would I let a volunteer that only has a few hours per season do it? What are the policies of other museums?

Nevada Northern Railway Museum
bassett@elko.net

It is forbiden because it is dangerous, and the legal dept's have put there foot down. It is good to train new people and volenters in this practice, and to put the binders on your locomotive engineers to adhere to it. Many of us old heads still do it to speed up operations, but if we ever get hurt the company is off the hook as it is clearly stated in the saftey rules not to do it.

AL P.

Most railroad's operating policies now forbid getting on or off moving equipment. Insurance companies have been know to even go as far as to video tape employees during the course of a day
if they suspect unsafe habits.

On another note, if you must, the rule is trailing foot first for getting on / off rolling equipment. This doesn't mean you can't fall at some point. Everyone at some point will trip or fall getting on / off trains if you work around railroads long enough. As Forrest Gump would say S**t happens.....

-Alan Levy



AlanL759@aol.com

Although it is still in our rules and we still sit thru the safety training films and still have questions on the test, the first thing I tell the engineer when I am on a train crew is that I ain't getting on or off moving equipment ... unless it is an emergency! In the tourist railroad business there is no such a thing as not having time to come to a complete stop for safety, no big deal. First thing in the book is that the responibility for my safety rests on ME!


lamontdc@adelphia.net

While the practice of getting on or off moving equipment may be banned by the rules, the fact remains that many "old heads" still do it in "real world" operations. My thinking is that you should teach the proper method of getting on or off moving equipment with emphasis of doing it only in an emergency. Since "turnover" is constant on our commuter railroad, I see a lot of new employees attempting it and doing it improperly. When I do see someone not doing it the right way, I usually try to take them aside at the earliest opportunity and demonstrate how to do it in the safest possible way. That includes getting on the leading end of the second car instead of the trailing end of the lead car when two cars (or more) are coupled together. Then, if you should happen to lose your grip you end up against the side of the car instead of between the cars. That's on with the trailing foot in the direction of travel, off with the lead foot in the direction of travel. However, stopped is best.



hcastle@rcn.com

And don't forget to look at the ground for hazards to trip over on your way. I had a track gang leave piles of loose rock where they had changed out a switch tie where I had to drop off and open a derail after the last train of the day in the dark with just a lantern for light. Took a while to find a reasonably smooth and stable landing area.

dave

I recall some years ago the Railway Education Bureau (Simmons Boardman publishing?) put out a booklet called The Basic Training Manual for Brakemen and Switchmen (or something like that). I believe it's out of print now and I can't lay hands on my copy at the moment, but it was full of very useful information, not only for getting on and off moving equipment, but for proper operation of swtiches, derails, hand brakes, etc.

Alan Maples

AMaples@aol.com

> That's on with the
> trailing foot in the direction of travel,
> off with the lead foot in the direction of
> travel. However, stopped is best.

HO,

Your last comment is best, get off while stopped. Your directions for getting on are correct but your directions for getting off are wrong! You get off with the trailing foot first.

The idea is, if you do start to fall, your lead foot is still in the air and as you land on it, you can start to turn away from the train. If you land on your lead foot and start to fall, your trailing foot has no where to go and you get tangled up and may go down close to the rails. Watch some old films closely and you will see that it is the trailing foot that you drop on first. The AAR used to have a training film that showed how to do this. They probably don't circulate it anymore, but someone may still have a copy. Perhaps TRAIN has it available?


trainrider47@aol.com

I have a copy of this on loan from a friend. It's put out by the Railway Educational Bureau in Omaha, NE. and published by Simmons-Boardman. Copyright 1974 by BN.

It is a very good book with good illustrations on how to stay a live and leave at the end of the day with the same number of parts you started with. There may be some on Ebay, TRAIN, or ARM(?) My friend's book has some milage on it.

> I recall some years ago the Railway
> Education Bureau (Simmons Boardman
> publishing?) put out a booklet called The
> Basic Training Manual for Brakemen and
> Switchmen (or something like that). I
> believe it's out of print now and I can't
> lay hands on my copy at the moment, but it
> was full of very useful information, not
> only for getting on and off moving
> equipment, but for proper operation of
> swtiches, derails, hand brakes, etc.

> Alan Maples


rldewley@juno.com

> I have a copy of this on loan from a friend.
> It's put out by the Railway Educational
> Bureau in Omaha, NE. and published by
> Simmons-Boardman. Copyright 1974 by BN.

Ray:

What is the exact name of the publication? Alan gives a name and then parenthetically adds 'or something like that'--which leaves me unsure as to what it is for which I am searching.

sc 'doc' lewis


Heber Valley Railroad
utweyesguy@aol.com

> There's a real problem here. Doing it requires practice, practice requires not having (or breaking) the rule. Anybody who's ever tried this realizes books and trailing foot prescriptions do damn litle to get the dance step right-and to develop the judgement of how fast is going to pull your arms out of their sockets.

You can bet your Workers Comp carrier would disapprove-since the general prohibition by the Class 1's is going to be the presumed state of the art.

I say skip it-not worth the risk exposure. These guys aren't old hands from the days when lawyers didn't write timetables.

Superheater@rrmail.com

> It's put out by the Railway Educational
> Bureau in Omaha, NE. and published by
> Simmons-Boardman. Copyright 1974 by BN.

Simmons-Boardman has a website and it lists quite a number of books for sale, both technical and fan related in the rail, marine, and aviation fields.

The brakemen and switchmen book is not currently listed. But you may find some other interesting books.

Simmons-Boardman Publications
bnorden49@earthlink.net

TVRM policy concerning mounting or dismounting moving equipment is covered by safety rules 1070, 1071, 1072, 1073 and 1075. 1070 prohibits mounting and dismounting moving equipment is prohibited except as required in the performance of duty. 1071 states that employees must not attempt to get on or off equipment moving over 2 miles an hour except in case of emergency. 1072 requires that employees use the leading end ladder or step to avoid falling between moving equipment. 1073 prohibits mounting or dismounting moving equipment while a coupling is being made. 1075 requires that employees do not mount or ride moving equipment unless it is provided with a grab iron permitting the employee to stand upright on the step.

Basically, it's best not to mount moving equipment when it can be avoided. Back in the old days, in order to prevent unnecessary delays in train movements, the conductor might have the engineer start the train once the trainmen had closed up the vestibules and board the train on the move to save time and save himself the walk back to the rear. On trains that had a lot of head end traffic, that could be a long walk. There isn't much good reason for that practice on a tourist line though. In the odd case where I have to mount or dismount moving equipment, I will make a point to do it on the engineer's side where he can see that I've made it aboard safely before accelerating out of the station. If that is not possible, I will tell him (in carlengths) where I will be getting on or off and signal the engineer once I have successfully mounted or dismounted. Still, for new-hires its probably best to provide the training with the understanding that mounting or dismounting moving equipment should not be done unless absolutely necessary.

awalker2002@comcast.net

One important point on leaving a moving car: the lowest car step is still quite high, relative to ground level, so drop your butt as low as possible before putting the first foot down (lowers your center of gravity).


tr2manz@frontiernet.net

Additional considerations are the condition of the grab irons and stirrups or steps. Stirrup type rungs are a good bit higher than steps on passenger cars equipped with vestibules since the vestibule steps are intended to be as close to platform level as possible without interfering with low switch stands or other ground level items. I've seen plenty of freight cars that had grab irons and stirrup steps that were so beat up that they were unsafe to use. Last time I switched gondolas on our line, I rode inside the car rather than take a chance. One additional consideration is teaching new-hires how to enter and exit cars that are blind at both ends (no vestibules) such as baggage cars, ex-army kitchen cars or dining cars.

Mounting and dismounting moving equipment can be done safely but it requires the knowledge of proper procedure, proper body positioning, equipment in safe condition and good judgement.

awalker2002@comcast.net