Railroaders' Nostalgia > DTC Shenanigans

Come on guys, don't try and tell me you didn't  "RailRoad" into the next "block" when you were not authorized!
Now you've been out there 10 hours already and it's time to head home. Party Tonight. But you're stuck in your last
authorized DTC Block. And you've work to do a half mile into the next block and all it will take is 20 minutes
And the man authorized isn't even close! You've got him on the radio doing work 3 Blocks east of you. Now lets just duck into
his block, get our work done, pull one, spot one and return to our authorized block. There are no Whiskers around anyhow so
lets just do it.
Well we did it! And we didn't feel bad about it either. You know there are times when you need to Railroad" the old fashioned  way.
And we were not the only crew doing it. Why just last week so and so did the same thing. Anyhow it was the Dispatchers fault:
probably a new man that doesn't know the territory.


RMG

Those were the days. They have long since passed. Big brother is watching you.

irhoghead Wrote:
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> Those were the days. They have long since passed.
> Big brother is watching you.

With inward and outward cameras plus with GPS on the engines you can't get away with these shenanigans anymore. Plus if the crew runs over a derail, switch or gate you're screwed.

Posted from Android

Not SP, not DTC, but, TWC. On BNSF shoved over a derail in the siding at Ironsides on BNSF former Santa Fe Harbor Sub with power and part of car blocking main and 2nd Watson wanting to get by to tie up for a quit. After shoving derailed car another half a car so it cleared. Fudged a half mile ahead to Torrance Pass, cleared, gave up track warrant, let job pass, then got another track warrant to await car department to rerail car and complete work.
JB



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/23 06:36 by 3rdswitch.

I've never run under DTC.  I have traipsed onto the mainline without TWC authority but since the fellow I was working with has not yet retired, I will save it for another time.  But, our RFE did tell on himself about running on DTC into Brooklyn once when they didn't have authority the whole way.  Even went to investigation but SP messed up, sent the wrong tapes or some such thing so it was dropped.

On purpose? Nope.

Now...rerailing cars without telling anyone? Different story.

RetiredHogger Wrote:
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> On purpose? Nope.
>
> Now...rerailing cars without telling anyone?
> Different story.

I might resemble that remark. Actually I’m the only guy still alive and/or working involved in some stories that have to wait a few years…

Regards

Posted from iPhone

Yeah, was involved with that but didn't instigate it.
Thought at first it was kind of cool to pull it off, but later when I thought what if we hit a car at a crossing or something happened and someone got hurt there would be real hell to pay.

train1275 wrote: "Yeah, was involved with that but didn't instigate it.
Thought at first it was kind of cool to pull it off, but later when I thought what
if we hit a car at a crossing or something happened and someone got hurt there would be real hell to pay."

A friend of mine spent some time fired for something very similar.  Hit a trespasser near the end of his run.  Management found an overspeed 150+ miles earlier in the trip. 

Chessie Wrote:
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> train1275 wrote: "Yeah, was involved with that but
> didn't instigate it.
> Thought at first it was kind of cool to pull it
> off, but later when I thought what
> if we hit a car at a crossing or something
> happened and someone got hurt there would be real
> hell to pay."
>
> A friend of mine spent some time fired for
> something very similar.  Hit a trespasser near
> the end of his run.  Management found an
> overspeed 150+ miles earlier in the trip. 

I had an RFE that would examine your whole trip, if the infraction he was looking at wasn't all that.....we often chided him on this but he got his comeuppance when he showed his arse at a wreck scene when the FRA wanted the cars that were still on the rail moved away so they wouldn't blow up....he insisted on a class one brake test...the FRA said just get them out of here...and the superintendent was there and the FRA said "who is this guy?" He was fired immediately....well past retirement age but he went to work for Amtrak for a couple years....somehow.