Western Railroad Discussion > Yard Clerk Duties

Figured I'd post this on the Western Board as well as the Eastern...

After doing some various reading on and in forums/websites/magazines over the years about railroads, I was curious what duties a yard clerk is responsible for on railroads today. Unlike some other jobs on the railroads, I don't know that I ever really hear about clerks outside of them just being mentioned once and awhile, hence my curiosity.

Thanks for any info in advance!

Yard clerks traditionally verified numbers on cars in the yard, and recorded them in a journal. These would be used to prepare "switch lists" for yard switchers to marshall trains. One the trains were marshalled, yard clerks would prepare a "train list" or manifest for the conductor on the train, and also advise of any cars to be picked up or set out by that train.

Yard clerks would also create "waybills", bills of lading which travelled with the train for each loaded car.

Another duty was recording information submitted by conductors at the end of the run, where cars were set off, delays and payroll information.

On the mega-railroads, much of this work is done by computers and trackside scanners, and the clerks are hundreds of miles away in a central office.

Shortlines and regionals still use clerks to do much of this paperwork.

We have a chief clerk at our Englewood Yd. office, but all they really do is pull up the crews paperwork that go on duty there.

Doug Wooten
UP Engineer
Kingwood, TX MP 21.5 UP's Lufkin Sub.

UP_Engineer2005 Wrote:
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> We have a chief clerk at our Englewood Yd. office,
> but all they really do is pull up the crews
> paperwork that go on duty there.
>
> Doug Wooten
> UP Engineer
> Kingwood, TX MP 21.5 UP's Lufkin Sub.


It's pretty much the same at West Colton, although they occasionally drive crews out to their trains if there's no Renzenberger available.-BMT

I worked for Santa Fe during summers in mid to late 50's while in college. Yard clerk aka mudhop, and also car clerk. Even took a shot at a clerical job in the freight office. I was on the Oklahoma Div. I recorded a lot of car numbers, first thing when I arrived was to walk several tracks making switch lists. Never recorded in a journal except when writing down seal numbers on loaded grain cars. I made up wheel reports (on a typewriter), took heat from the yardmaster, took more heat from the switch engine crew (my dad was the engineer), walked down to a local refinery to record switch lists on their tracks, rode or walked to several large grain elevators to work switch lists, put ice in the cooler, called crews, including a local crew that slept on the waycar. Oh, called interchange reports to the Frisco and Rock Island, and received interchange reports from them.

Took a lot of heat from the yardmaster, and also the conductor on a local when I didn't wake him up at his specified time (he he).

Loved it so much that when I graduated from college, I accepted an offer to move to Topeka KS GOB and spent 10 years there, where I was trained by IBM to be a programmer, designed the first live car file, and the first live loco file, and then moved out of railroading but stayed in computers.

Bob

Years ago I hired on with the Algoma Central at Sault Ste Marie (Steelton) as a car checker....and depending what shift I worked (days, afternoons, or nights) I would walk every track in the yard writing down car numbers in a journal, recording seal numbers (only for merchandise and cars traveling 'under Canada Customs Bond' from one US place via Canada to another US place) and other miscellaneous things required by the yard monster. Then I would make up switch lists, fill car orders from customers, make waybills, and other office paperwork. On afternoon shift I would also have to car check all incoming and outgoing transfers to the Soo Line and Canadian Pacific. Night shift I was on my own (there was no night yard monster, and if necessary, I could always get one out of bed!), and then I'd have to do any car checking, call crews for the morning yards, passenger trains and at times, an extra freight, and, most important, make coffee for the incoming day shift!

After a year of that, I wrote my "C" book and went operating...more money, and inside work (no fun trying to write car numbers in a journal when it was pouring rain). This was back in the era of train orders. Later I wrote my "B" book so I was then an agent-operator, and I did work at various stations along the line, selling tickets, waybilling, and of course taking train orders and hooping them up.

Ted

Yard clerks are responsible for:
--bitchin' and moanin'
--staying at home and getting paid to do nothing
--drive the crew van
--mop the floors, take out the trash
--submitting timeslips, lots and lots of timeslips.

jackpot Wrote:
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> Yard clerks are responsible for:
> --bitchin' and moanin'

Sorry, just like safety, it is everybody's job on the railroad.

Obtain paperwork, check cars in the yard, update yard inventory, transport crews to their trains, deal with train dispatchers and corridor managers, janitorial duties, and NO! WE DO NOT SIT AT HOME AND DO NOTHING!. When something is wrong with the paperwork or crews have to do a setout or pickup in the yard guess who they come to first THE CLERK!