Western Railroad Discussion > Thoughts about Northwest railroads and Railroaders

After my recent trip to the Northwest I have some thoughts:

1. There was a lot of congestion on the BNSF Hi Line and around Spokane/Hauser. Trains did move although with a lot of "parking", crews going dead, etc. I'm sure corporate doesn't want this. Yet the infrastructure and WEATHER impact operations. Avalanches and mudslides disrupt operations and you can't plan on when they will happen.
2. The crews are putting up with a lot but for the most part they seemed to accept the situation like: calling the dispatcher "outbound crew on board and ready to go westbound out of Hauser" only to hear " you're no. 3 after I get the Wenatchee trains out of town. Besides you won't be going far on the Lakeside because there's a work window until........
3. Or......"you're going all the way to Hauser. I know you've already picked up a crew but I need you to stop at East Tokio and East Sprague to pick up some more if you have room. ALSO would you check the train at Fishtrap. I think they were picked up by a van but just in case"....And the crew responded "will do". (I suspect it was a Q or Z train) which would rather just keep going. But that's railroaders taking care of their brothers and sisters.
4. At the highest levels of corporate management perhaps the decision should have been made to not do MAJOR track work in these corridors with the increased traffic.
5. So kudos to the operating crews who keep the trains moving as they can and arriving safely 99.9% of the time.
6. Non-railroad thoughts: The economies of places like Havre are impacted by the railroad's workforce in those communities. Railroaders make good wages and spend most of their money locally. Yet I noticed in Havre that "Now hiring" signs are all over the place just like in North Dakota. Big corporations today, including those based in Ft. Worth and Omaha, understand the need to provide a relatively good quality of like for there employees. They know that the happier the employee-the more productive they are. That include their living environment. Hopefully these corporate executives are looking for ways to improve the environment for their employees.
7. Lastly to all you railroaders: Thank you for your service! Our economy simply could not function and thrive without you.

Blessings to all
Bismarck Bill
 

bmarti7 Wrote:
> 4. At the highest levels of corporate management
> perhaps the decision should have been made to not
> do MAJOR track work in these corridors with the
> increased traffic.
> Blessings to all
> Bismarck Bill
>  

This is a very naive post.  It would be extremely short sighted to not keep up with the track maintenance.  The track won't wait because some bean counter wishes it to.  Instead, it'll simply fail.  Every railroad that ever tried defering maintainence paid for it with speed restrictions, derailments and lengthy rebuilds, in the long run.

The part about big companies being concerned about quality of life was a really good laugh.  History has repeatedly demonstrated that big companies view employees as expendable.  Name one thing the railroads have willingly done to improve quality of life.  (By "willingly," I mean something that wasn't forced by union contract.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/17 10:11 by radar.

Modern matra from big companies:  "what the hell do the employees want now?  screw 'em.  We can always replace them!"  Look at your local Sears store, if you have one.

Ed

Which companys in Omaha and Ft. Worth are you referring to? The two that I'm acquainted with, for the most part, treat their scheduled employees like liabilities instead of assets.

couple of things regarding your comments.........IMHO it is just a matter of time before the politicians get involved (once again) in the railroad service issues facing the customers here in the northwest.  Unfortunately the service issues are the result of Mom Nature and the only option BNSF had was to "just deal with it!"  There is nothing the railroad could have done to prevent the mud slides and the heavy snow storms.  But.......wheat is still on the ground in central Montana.  One shuttle facility was suppose to load a grain train once a month.  Their unit train scheduled for mid February finally arrived in mid March. Couple that with the fact that grain companies are having problems finding buyers for low protein wheat.  Unless the stars can align, buyers for wheat can be found, and the railroad can get this backlog of wheat hauled off in a timely fashion, shuttle loaders will be plugged early on with the 2017 harvest. Then the grain grower organizations will be on the phone to their senators & congressman to get something done.  So the ingrediants are in play to make ALL of 2017 a real headache year for the railroad.  Just what we all need is another congressional hearing so somebody can "grandstand!"

As for the "help wanted" signs abounding in Havre, they are a frequent sight in every Montana big city I been through of late.  It is simply a sign of the times.  Why ( and this is a certain amount of speculation) we see these signs are, in short, nobody wants to work anymore, especially the youth.  In my 40+ years in the cattle & grain growing games I used to turn away young people wanting to work simply because I had sufficient numbers already hired for the summer months.  Now, I go to the guidance counselors at the local high schools to see if they can reccommend ONE that may want summer employment.  NOBODY comes looking for work, especially HARD WORK anymore.  Even a high hourly wage will not entice some to work.  I can only imagine the problems a railroad is having getting and keeping experienced track crews.  Although it is more automated now, the hours are long and one doesn't know if they'll be on the highline next week or south of Laurel.

My two cents.  FYI: BNSF appears to have added a seconded South (east) bound freight onto the Laurel Sub. One in the morning and a second one early evening.  Both trains are substantial in length. Some have DPU which is unusual on freights on this sub. Must be pulling congestion off the highline or the MRL.  Take your pick.

Actually the service issues are less weather related, and more related to a bonehead move on BNSF's part that really upset the workforce. The issues started shortly after BNSF instituted "super pools" at Havre and Hauser. Now employees have no idea which way they will be going, what train they will be on, and what kind of work they will do until they get a call. Thier lives became much less predictable and it's a crap shoot to know when to get some sleep. Since the pools are self protecting and trains are dying all over the place, the super pool is turning and burning and everyone is wore out and could care less about getting over the road. The service issues are also affecting the connecting and trackage rights railroads in a big way. Amtrak's Empire Builder has been running hours late in both directions. Just like 2014 all over again.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

The Sunday after Winterail I was following the UP up the Columbia. The DS called an eastbound to tell the crew they would be going into the siding at Castle for at least 2 hours so they could get a crew rested for a connection at Hinkle. Translated to management doesn't give a rip about your home time so we will take a couple hours of that away from you so we don't inconvenience the Yardmaster and Trainmaster at Hinkle. Imagine how the crew feels about that if they miss a child's softball game when they could have been home.

fbe Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Sunday after Winterail I was following the UP
> up the Columbia. The DS called an eastbound to
> tell the crew they would be going into the siding
> at Castle for at least 2 hours so they could get a
> crew rested for a connection at Hinkle. Translated
> to management doesn't give a rip about your home
> time so we will take a couple hours of that away
> from you so we don't inconvenience the Yardmaster
> and Trainmaster at Hinkle. Imagine how the crew
> feels about that if they miss a child's softball
> game when they could have been home.

Hear! Hear!

...and from the purely operation point of view, how many gandys stood around staring at the sky waiting for this guy that had nowhere to go to get by (probably none on Sunday but I'm sure this stuff doesn't happen only on Sunday) and how many west men took a dive for it?

TAW