Passenger Trains > Has Amtrak Changed Their Rules or ……….?

On today's VRF Grab Bag (YouTube), No. 1 is seen departing Tucson with the Amtrak business car carrying the markers. On the open platform, there are people standing outside on the platform waving to the VRF camera. So have the rules changed or are there two sets of rules?

PCBill

They probably don’t know there were rules

I saw pictures they took along the way. Can’t tell they were taken from the back of the moving train but they sure looked like it

Posted from iPhone

bmarti7 Wrote:
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> On today's VRF Grab Bag (YouTube), No. 1 is seen
> departing Tucson with the Amtrak business car
> carrying the markers. On the open platform, there
> are people standing outside on the platform waving
> to the VRF camera. So have the rules changed or
> are there two sets of rules?
>
> PCBill
Two sets of rules.  This was the car hauling the big shots of Amtrak, thus they can do as they please.  Trust me, Gardner and his Cronies need to go ASAP.
John in White Marsh, Maryland

We love to point at Amtrak and cry that there are two standards. There has always been two standards for every business and organization when it comes to boards and leadership vs. every day people. Amtrak is no different, like it or not. Its hard to fight the people that say We make the rules, do as I say not what I do.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/23 15:09 by TomG.

Yes it falls under the category "do as I say, not as I do". Even a RR President, though I don't know about these characters, would be required to wear a hardhat walking around a car shop. 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/23 15:43 by joemvcnj.

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> Yes it falls under the category "do as I say, not
> as I do". Even a RR President, though I don't
> know about these characters, would be required to
> wear a hardhat walking around a car shop. 

That's because it's not their rule, the hard hat requirement is an OSHA rule. The no passengers on the open platform is an Amtrak rule which they feel they can ignore because it's their rule.

Can you post a link to that video?

https://youtu.be/4vcUUqOBct4

Clip starts at 2:08

Posted from Android

send a clip to amtks safety officer.   Im sure he/she will shake their head and nicely let their boss know that this was counter to amtral policy.

Shows u how out of touch they are will the railroad.  They dont even know their own safety rules.

Thanks for the link!  I hope that episode of the Virtual Railfan Grab Bag stays up for a while.  I viewed it and indeed it does look like Gardner stretching his arms as #1 rolls by at about 20mph. A bit grainy but it looks to me like he is bored and needed to stretch before going back in. I forgive him for his sin.  Its hard to resist the urge to stretch and enjoy the outdoors of your rail car when it is smoothly rolling along at about 20mph.  But I hope those persons(mostly private car operators) who get dinged by Amtrak in the future for such a rolling safety violation can ask and receive forgiveness too.  

 

You can't hide. There are cameras everywhere. 

Hahahaha you guys are impossible. Gonna start crying about conductors with open doors and windows spotting stations next?

Posted from iPhone

Thank you Mr. Weaver.

What the person on the open platform did was not dangerous or wrong.  Amtrak's policy is wrong.  Change it. Go back to the common sense rules that worked fine for way more than a century.

mt-king Wrote:
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> What the person on the open platform did was not
> dangerous or wrong.  Amtrak's policy is wrong. 
> Change it. Go back to the common sense rules that
> worked fine for way more than a century.

Amtrak's policy was changed because of the actions of a few on a certain green PV. They were known for ignoring the rules all of the time...

When, if ever, was the last time someone was injured while riding as a passenger on an open platform?  instead of persecuting private varnish operators and riders Amtrak should encourage them as a revenue source!  I have always had to sign a very complete Release and Indemnity when so riding, in the bad old days before it was outlawed.

Charlie Rice

Charles Rice
Saint Louis, MO

There was a passenger on one of the AAPRCO convention specials a few years back where a passenger was hit in the face by a rock at medium speed with the platform running backwards. If I recall correctly, he ended up in hospital briefly.

MWPerkins

Posted from Android

MoPac1 Wrote:
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> When, if ever, was the last time someone was
> injured while riding as a passenger on an open
> platform? 

It has happened, and could be dangerous.


>  I have always had to sign a
> very complete Release and Indemnity when so
> riding, in the bad old days before it was
> outlawed.

A lawyer from a decent personal injury firm would turn that paper into garbage.  A smart move on Amtrak to limit liability.

More likely than a platform or vestibule injury would be someone choking to death  on contemporary dining.  

This is a screen grab from the La Plata, MO cam as #4 was departing yesterday.  The guy on the rear platform has a lanyard of some sort so it must be okay for him to be there.

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