Railroaders' Nostalgia > 1907 Hours of Service Law editorial comment

I have the April, 1907 issue of The Official Guide of the Railways. The Editorial Comment section has the following item regarding the recently enacted Hours of Service Law which prohibited train service employees from working more than 16 hours. Of course, the publisher of the Guide would generally take the side of railroad management over labor in any issue related to working conditions.
In the case of the United States vs. Scott, in the United States Circuit Court for the Western District of Kentucky, the court decided that "legislation...in respect to employing or retaining servants is not, in the opinion of the Court, a regulation of commerce, and certainly is not a 'regulation of commercial intercourse among the States' within the meaning of the Constitution." In view of this decision it is difficult to see how the "Act limiting the hours of service of railway employees," commonly called the sixteen-hour law, can be found constitutional if tested in the courts. If it ever is tested, however, the chances are that the complaint will be lodged on behalf of the employees themselves, as they are likely to be the ones who will suffer the most inconvenience from the strict enforcement of the law.
A far more practical law in the interest of safety would be one that would prohibit an employee from going on duty for any considerable time unless he had had just previously a certain number of hours of sleep. The enforcement of such a law would of course depend largely upon the will of the employee, and recent legislation seems to be based upon the idea that railway employees are a set of imbeciles incapable of taking care of themselves.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Having hired out while the 16 hour law was in effect I will attest to the poor work conditions it created. Yes, some liked it because they hated being at home or were intent on being the richest man in the graveyard. There was one outlying job back then that worked 7 days a week with two holidays off--do you think they pounded the ballast for 16 hours? NOT! Many atime we plowed for 16, tied-up and drove home intent on getting some rest after cleaning up and a quick meal only to lie down for a few hours before the crew office was calling us out on our rest. ("No, I can't lay you off--I don't have any men!) In road switcher service you found a place to "hide the crummy" and get several hours spot time just so you weren't entirely rummy after seeing the sun set and rise again. 'Rails often resorted to the bottle as an antidote to brutal on-duty hours. Management was generally aware of these accommodations and turned a semi-blind eye but every now and then some hot-shot trainmaster would make it a personal crusade to go bust a crew. One memory that surfaces involved a job that was out of sight so far as their engine and caboose but not out of mind to a particularly disliked official. In the middle of the night he managed to slip aboard the crummy and catch the luckless brakemen having assumed the position of "eyes closed, lying prone" that assumed a sleeping on-duty violation whether true or not. (Decent officials use to toss ballast at the caboose, stomp up the steps, cough loudly or in some way signal their appearance.) Having "caught" the brakemen, he wanted to know where the conductor was; the men said he had he had gone to get the switch list at the next place they were to work. The trainmaster stomped off in search. HAH! Twice the officious one passed by an empty boxcar between engine and caboose not knowing the conductor (henceforth "Sleepy Bear") had climbed inside and burrowed beneath some cardboard and brown paper dunnage! Afterward white chalk graffiti next to any boxcar door reading "Zzzzz" with an arrow pointing inside became locally as familiar as the well-known "Herbie" tag. It was poetic justice when that trainmaster got de-horned during a downsizing and had to exercise his seniority!! After the 12 hour law went into effect there came the idiotic "limbo time" ruling (neither on-duty nor off-duty) which allowed the Carriers to let crews sit and rot for hours.

And I suppose there were those that would tie up with 15'59 against them, so they were considered full rested in just eight hours, instead of having to take ten hours off, if they worked a full 16 hr day and went dead.

ddg Wrote:
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> And I suppose there were those that would tie up
> with 15'59 against them, so they were considered
> full rested in just eight hours, instead of having
> to take ten hours off, if they worked a full 16 hr
> day and went dead.


Yes, I once worked with a hoghead on a job that worked 20 or 30 minutes overtime and he wouldn't claim the overtime and tied up with 15'59 so he could get out in 8 hours. I put in my own timeslip to claim the overtime.

Many times the conductor would tell an extra or relief man " Son, this job works 6 hours or 16 hours. Doesn't matter how many cars we have to handle or far we run. We dash or we die!"

Norm

Norman Orfall
Helendale, CA
TIOGA PASS, a private railcar

aronco Wrote:
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> Many times the conductor would tell an extra or
> relief man " Son, this job works 6 hours or 16
> hours. Doesn't matter how many cars we have to
> handle or far we run. We dash or we die!"
>
> Norm

I've worked many of those jobs over the years, fortunately they have all been under the 12 hour law. Unfortunately the "limbo law" can get you into 14, 16, 18, or more hours in a day. My record is 20 hours but I've seen many crews get 24 or more. At least with the latest laws, the amount or your limbo time is added to your rest time, which is a good thing if you're at home but it can keep you at your away from home terminal for longer. -BMT

Railroads will post requirements in the special instructions for crews to tie up before 16 hrs now 12 hrs on duty so they can only get 8 hrs off duty. Failing to do that is a dismissable offense.

Limbo time came out account abuse of crews already over the hos. A crew which was relieved on the road then forced to deadhead to the final terminal in a following train might be 8 hrs or longer getting in. Surprise! When your crew gets in they were rested and maybe called on duty upon arrival.

Safety First you know.

Posted from Windows Phone OS 7

rabidcats Wrote:
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> Having hired out while the 16 hour law was in
> effect I will attest to the poor work conditions
> it created. Yes, some liked it because they hated
> being at home or were intent on being the richest
> man in the graveyard.

I work with a lot of guys STILL trying to be the richest man in the graveyard.
Classic, sad but true.

Thomas G.