International Railroad Discussion > General Code of Oper. Rules -- Spanish language version

Evidently there is a 2008 Spanish language version of the General Code of Operating Rules (the rule book used by the majority of railroads in the U.S. west of Chicago).  Does anyone know if there was a newer version (maybe 2015) issued and, if so, what year.  I'm looking for a copy of a newer version, if it exists.  Are they available to purchase somewhere?  Thanks in advance.

Just out of curiosity... Why would they have a U.S. Railroad Rule Book printed in Spanish? Is it a politically correct thing, or what?..If that's the case, I'd like to have them print one in Gaelic so as to accomadate me too!

Your uninformed response regarding Spanish rule books can be traced back to at least WW2, the Santa Fe had operating and safety rule books in Spanish.  Have you ever been to a safety meeting with the Hopis or the Navajos and had a talk with them through an interpreter?  The railroad world has always been very diverse in total make up of the work force but segregated in many ways by craft and location.

patd3985 Wrote:
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> Just out of curiosity... Why would they have a
> U.S. Railroad Rule Book printed in Spanish? Is it
> a politically correct thing, or what?..If that's
> the case, I'd like to have them print one in
> Gaelic so as to accommodate me too!

For me, the overuse of the word "politically correct" is similar to the near constant use of "awesome". Both words are used so much they have no longer have any relevance. I don't even know what "politically correct" means any more.  
As for Gaelic, I suppose if the railroad employed a large number of Gaelic only speaking workers, they too would be supplied with a transated version of the rulebook.
 



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/16 06:39 by ATSF3751.

patd3985 Wrote:
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> Just out of curiosity... Why would they have a
> U.S. Railroad Rule Book printed in Spanish? Is it
> a politically correct thing, or what?..If that's
> the case, I'd like to have them print one in
> Gaelic so as to accomadate me too!

Pretty much bacause Mexico Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes adopted GCOR as the standard rules for Mexico in the late 1990s while I was working there on developing Mexico City commuter rail.

TAW

TAW Wrote:
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> patd3985 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Just out of curiosity... Why would they have a
> > U.S. Railroad Rule Book printed in Spanish? Is

Hmm, makes me wonder if Canadian rulebooks  and working timetables are distributed in French outside of Quebec and New Brunswick (the latter being Canada's only officially bi-lingual province.)

newtonville150 Wrote:
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> TAW Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > patd3985 Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Just out of curiosity... Why would they have
> a
> > > U.S. Railroad Rule Book printed in Spanish?
> Is
>
> Hmm, makes me wonder if Canadian rulebooks  and
> working timetables are distributed in French
> outside of Quebec and New Brunswick (the latter
> being Canada's only officially bi-lingual
> province.)

Don't know, but I have a copy of the AAR Standard Code (predecessor to CCOR) in French. Some time ago on a job in Vermont, the CV guys told me that the CV line in the US was worked in French...or grudgingly in English.

TAW

After all, the Mexican railroads do interchange with the U.S. CIE and ScotRail (am I leaving out something unique to Wales?) don't.

Welsh is a Celtic language, but not especially closely related to Scots Gaelic or Irish Gaelic.

wpamtk Wrote:
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> CIE and ScotRail (am I leaving out
> something unique to Wales?) don't.

The Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland perhaps? :-)

This was discussed a couple days ago on the Western Board.  As noted there and above, Mexican Railroads have adopted large portions of the GCOR for their operations.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,4084901,4085181#msg-4085181

As for the question in the original post, I don't know if there are any updates since 2008.

The Grand Trunk in Maine was dispatched in French, west of Island Pond back in the 1970s. Heard it myself.

Don't know if the rule book was en francaise.

Posted from Android

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> The Grand Trunk in Maine was dispatched in French,
> west of Island Pond back in the 1970s. Heard it
> myself.
>
> Don't know if the rule book was en francaise.
>
> Posted from Android

After Canada went to two official languages, you bet there was.

Portions of the GCOR (in Spanish) are used in Peru.
Watching and listening, an English (only) speaking observer feels right at home.
After all, the purpose of the rulebook is to make everyone's behavior predictable and safe.
Even though the signs, text, and dialogue were in Spanish I knew about what to expect.
It was almost like a universal language.

railstiesballast Wrote:
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> Portions of the GCOR (in Spanish) are used in
> Peru.
> Watching and listening, an English (only) speaking
> observer feels right at home.
> After all, the purpose of the rulebook is to make
> everyone's behavior predictable and safe.
> Even though the signs, text, and dialogue were in
> Spanish I knew about what to expect.
> It was almost like a universal language.

When I was developing the Mexico City commuter service, I did a lot of hyrailing, learning the territory.

One day, I was out with the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent, and a local translator from Mercer Management Consulting (their gig, I was a subconsultant). He was a mathematician, so he couldn't help with the railroad stuff that he didn't know in either language. The dispatcher was buried. In the CTC territory between Mexico and Cuautitlan, there were headlights everywhere, most of them not moving. I could tell from the parts of the radio conversations that I could understand that the dispatcher was not having a good day and we were a big part of that. A couple of times, I tapped the Superintendent (next to me, driving) on the shoulder and gave him a sign to get in the clear. Each time he said no, no VIP. I said Sí VIP también despachador but each time, he still responded, no no, VIP.

We left the CTC main line at Lecheria and headed for LA Paz, southeast of Mexico City on a single track dark train order line. That involved stopping to copy a few times as spatch had to maintain a positive block around us.

We got to La Paz and set off. The Superintendent reported clear, and the dispatcher replied with what I heard as an unmistakable Good, and you are NOT coming out any more today!

The Superintendent kind of quietly Si. I started laughing out loud. The Superintendent looked at me quizzically and the Mercer translator said I thought you don't speak Spanish. I replied, I don't, but I speak train dispatcher. That message was perfectly clear. He told the Superintendent what I said. The Superintendent laughed and said only Si!

TAW