Nostalgia & History > Conductor assignments in the 1980's

I was curious about the change for conductors when the caboose was removed and F.R.E.D.'s became the norm. I assume the conductor pool filled the front left seat of most freights. What happened to the firemen/brakemen pools? Would they have to qualify for any conductor openings remaining?

Thanks for any assistance on this query.

hogantunnel Wrote:
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> I was curious about the change for conductors when
> the caboose was removed and F.R.E.D.'s became the
> norm. I assume the conductor pool filled the front
> left seat of most freights. What happened to the
> firemen/brakemen pools? Would they have to qualify
> for any conductor openings remaining?
>
> Thanks for any assistance on this query.

You're right, the conductor had to be in the cab and the brakemen would ride in the second unit. Eventually through buyouts and new labor agreememnts, the brakeman/men were phased out completely. For a while, some trains that had pickups or set outs would get a brakeman, but even those have been eliminated. They also came to a point where all brakemen had to get conductor qualified. On the UP in L.A. it was either '90 or '91 when that happened.-BMT

UPNW2-1083 Wrote:

> You're right, the conductor had to be in the cab
> and the brakemen would ride in the second unit.

Interesting. I thought the conductor, being in charge of the train, could sit anywhere he/she wanted. Was this a UP requirement?

BCHellman Wrote:
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> UPNW2-1083 Wrote:
>
> > You're right, the conductor had to be in the
> cab
> > and the brakemen would ride in the second unit.
>
> Interesting. I thought the conductor, being in
> charge of the train, could sit anywhere he/she
> wanted. Was this a UP requirement?

I'm quite sure it's not just the UP. Most railroads now require the conductor to call signals, keep a log book ( called a signal awarness book on the UP )of all activities in the cab and work to be done, mandatory directives, plus most, if not all signals that pertain to his or her train along with mandating they be in the lead unit.-BMT

UPNW2-1083 Wrote:
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> BCHellman Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > UPNW2-1083 Wrote:
> >
> > > You're right, the conductor had to be in the
> > cab
> > > and the brakemen would ride in the second
> unit.
> >
> > Interesting. I thought the conductor, being in
> > charge of the train, could sit anywhere he/she
> > wanted. Was this a UP requirement?
>
> I'm quite sure it's not just the UP. Most
> railroads now require the conductor to call
> signals, keep a log book ( called a signal
> awarness book on the UP )of all activities in the
> cab and work to be done, mandatory directives,
> plus most, if not all signals that pertain to his
> or her train along with mandating they be in the
> lead unit.-BMT

I could certainly understand that today as there are only 2 man crews save for a few switch and local jobs. But before the crew reductions, buyouts, and the continued blending of crafts, I could well imagine a conductor not wanting to occupying the same space with an engineer, especially the old heads.

When I spent some time in Ohio in the mid-80's, I remember being at Binghamton, NY and watching a D&H caboose-less train make a crew change. Five railroaders emerged from the locomotives, and they weren't deadheads. I think NY still had a five-man crew law. I talked to one of the brakeman and he said it was a matter of time (and short at that) before he would have to find another job. Not an easy thing to do in a region that had seen better days.

While working for the BN back in the early '90s, we had 4-person crews and even some cabooses still around, but when there wasn't a crummy on the end of the train, the conductor/rear brakeman rode the 2nd unit, while the head brakeman rode up front with the hogger. In 1993 the BN Northern Lines finally got an agreement signed cutting crew size down to 2 people, which was when the conductor came up to the lead unit.

I think the UP was quite a ways ahead of the other western railroads, getting rid of the 3/4-person crews in the latter stages of the 1980s.