Western Railroad Discussion > Who cleans locomotives between runs, etc?

A number of posts have mentioned how dirty the cab interiors of locomotives are. Rarely cleaned, control panels that are sticky, toilets that are (ahem) in need of attention, etc. Grimy windows, wiper blades that haven't been changed since the unit was delivered, etc.

Who actually cleans the locomotive cab, and how often does that happen?

At BNSF's Hauser main line fuel facility, it's done by BNSF laborers assigned to their Mechical Dept. They do a pretty good job. But I did carry a small can of sani-wipes to clean things off. If the trash bag needed changing out enroute, the full one went to the second unit (not out the window), and an empty one in the second unit got moved to the first. 
Dave

On BNSF the roundhouse or Mechanical cleans and services locomotives. Hauser does a good job as does the Pasco roundhouse. But when crews change and there's no service facility it's up to the crews to clean up best they can. I always gather up my trash, wipe it down and pack it off the locomotive. We have plenty of guys though that do none of that and I have had words with a few of them. I will say BNSF does a good job of keeping up the cabs. I hate getting foreign units. Most are in horrible shape compared to ours. Many outright stink and are just filthy.

"Many outright stink and are just filthy."

Reminds me of SP units we would get from time to time. The walls hadn't been washed since they left EMD.

Never could understand not keeping the work area clean.

Posted from Android

Used to get power with dirty cabs on BNSF trains at West Quincy MO, especially on freights out of Galesburg, would put in codes for dirty cabs and the TM would deny it saying it came from a maintenance base. Coal power was bad also, used to set the trash on the second motor to take a ride back to the coal fields. Worst power ever was the KCS power that came up from Mexico, most smelled like a outhouse!

Posted from iPhone

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> A number of posts have mentioned how dirty the cab
> interiors of locomotives are. Rarely cleaned,
> control panels that are sticky, toilets that are
> (ahem) in need of attention, etc. Grimy windows,
> wiper blades that haven't been changed since the
> unit was delivered, etc.
>
> Who actually cleans the locomotive cab, and how
> often does that happen?

Train crews, not very often.

Posted from iPhone

Crews can help out a lot by trying to keep their work areas clean to start with. I got an Eastbound out of Ark City, KS once, the outbound crew got off, and we boarded. There were wet paper towels & newspapers all over the place, partly to soak up the air conditioner drainage which was rainging straight down to the floor. There was Skoal drippage around the control stand and window track, the trash bag was overflowing and there were chicken bones on the floor. There were ashes & cigarette buts laying around, the place was filthy, and it smelled bad. I told the brakeman I'm not going anyplace until the cab gets cleaned up. It was an on & off crew change point, no laborers, so I got off, went back into the depot and told the crew, who was trying to get tied up, that they would have to come back and clean up the cab, before we left. The Gainesville Conductor or Engineer said "Why ? what's wrong with it? I said come out and take a look, and bring a trash bag and a broom. He came out and argued that was the way it was when he got it, I argued that I wasn't moving until he cleaned it up. In the meantime, the Train Master, Bill Matzen (recently deceased) was pacing out on the platform, smoking his cigarette, and wondering why we weren't moving yet. As the Engineer again started to defend his position, He and I both noticed Bill out there looking up at us impatiently. So he cleaned up the mess, but he didn't like it, and when he left the cab, he slammed the door so hard it thought it was going to knock the glass out.

When you look at the condition, both inside and out, of the rigs some guys drive to work, it reflects pretty accurately the condition they leave a cab when their day is done. Some guys just have never heard of a trash bag, and won't use one even if it is right next to them.

monaddave Wrote:
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> At BNSF's Hauser main line fuel facility, it's
> done by BNSF laborers assigned to their Mechical
> Dept. They do a pretty good job. But I did carry a
> small can of sani-wipes to clean things off. If
> the trash bag needed changing out enroute, the
> full one went to the second unit (not out the
> window), and an empty one in the second unit got
> moved to the first. 
> Dave

I lived just south of the Columbia river bridge from Pasco WA the crews tossed there empty water bottles out the window while sitting on the siding N bound quite a mess there.
 

Surprised anyone on BNSF is getting cleaned cabs anywhere on the system. The ones on the west coast are filthy, even when they come right out of servicing, including Barstow Diesel and Commerce Diesel. Since COVID began the company assured us they would sanitize cabs between trips. I've yet to see it myself. I spend about 20 minutes before each trip cleaning my side of the cab and tidying up the common areas.

The one thing they do seem to do is pump the toilets and renew the chemicals. Other than that, the workspace is a disgusting mess most of the time. That being said, the worst cabs I've ever seen are CSX and the best were Canadian (CP and CN) units. 

Let's not even talk about AFHT hotels. Eww.

No one.

If anyone is wondering (probably not), at the airlines there is a simple answer-- we do.  The first 5-10 minutes of receiving an airplane from another crew finds us wiping down the high touch points of the cockpit.  I'd love it if the cleaners could take care of it for us, but it didn't take long for someone to put some solution on the wrong electronic device and fry several thousands of dollars worth of technology to hell and delay a flight.  So we clean it.

I have seen info from the FAA that high temperature (120 degrees or better) has been proven to kill the crud.  So we may start baking the cockpit instead of wiping it down.

Of course, all I thought when I saw that was "Man, that ATR-72 I used to fly in the Atlanta summers was the safest place I've ever been."

 

AT our crew facility in Kansas City there were about a dozen computer terminals for crews to use. The keyboards were looking pretty nasty, so a Conductor who was on light duty decided to spray them all down with Windex, as a result about half of them were ruined and had to be replaced.

So let me get this straight. One of the things that is supposed to happen when a locomotive is serviced is that the cab needs to have the trash emptied, toilet serviced and the cab cleaned.
But it seems to not be happening. Okay, so why are the laborers and hostlers not being held accountable for this? It's part of their job.
 

Amtrak cabs are generally clean but this one hoghead out of the Oakland crew base was an absolute pig. Every unit he ran, he trashed. Wonder what his house looks like. I feel for his wife.

Posted from Android

On the North Shore Scenic Railroad, each morning the car cleaners include in their sanitizing routine the diesel locomotives to be used that day.  They're wonderful, and truly appreciated. It's a blessing.

We didn't run steam in 2020, but in prior years they did not do the steam engine cabs, but I can understand that - steam engine cabs are REALLY dirty from the previous days operations.  But, a firemans jusicious use of the sprinkler hose quickly rectifies that, and certainly sanitizes as well as anything else possibly could.

-LD



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/21 16:25 by LarryDoyle.

PHall Wrote:
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> So let me get this straight. One of the things
> that is supposed to happen when a locomotive is
> serviced is that the cab needs to have the trash
> emptied, toilet serviced and the cab cleaned.
> But it seems to not be happening. Okay, so why are
> the laborers and hostlers not being held
> accountable for this? It's part of their job.
>  

Well, speaking of the UP in Roseville, it's because a significant portion of the power goes "train to train" and never sees the house. For the power that does, there's a chance the cabs are cleaned. It depends a lot on which foreman is working at the time.

The-late-EMD Wrote:
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> Amtrak cabs are generally clean but this one
> hoghead out of the Oakland crew base was an
> absolute pig. Every unit he ran, he trashed.
> Wonder what his house looks like. I feel for his
> wife.
>
> Posted from Android

If he is married

WAF Wrote:
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> The-late-EMD Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Amtrak cabs are generally clean but this one
> > hoghead out of the Oakland crew base was an
> > absolute pig. Every unit he ran, he trashed.
> > Wonder what his house looks like. I feel for
> his
> > wife.
> >
> > Posted from Android
>
> If he is married

He may be, I've seen more then a few wives who were as big or bigger slobs then their husbands.