Passenger Trains > Enraged California Zephyr

After catching UP 7221 east as seen in the posts I shared a few days ago, I stuck around for westbound Amtrak 5, the California Zephyr. I don't know what the motives were for the crew in the cab of AMTK 169, but when they rounded the bend and saw me they flashed up an enraged emoji sign as they pulled the window shades down. Fun or anti-foamer or a little of both, who knows? (Perhaps some of BoilingMan's former colleagues that he knows?)

Cheers,
Sean

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Lol

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Nice shots anyway!  Do you khow what the consist is?

texchief1
RC Lundgren

texchief1 Wrote:
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> Nice shots anyway!  Do you khow what the consist
> is?
>
> texchief1
> RC Lundgren

Should be:

2 Locomotives
1 Baggage Car
1 Superliner Trans Dorm/Sleeper
2 Superliner Sleepers
1 Superliner Diner
1 Superliner Sightseer Car
2 Superliner Coaches

Can only see to Superliner Sightseer (edit) in photos.....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/23 08:57 by jp1822.

I didn't get a shot that included the entire train due to the curve and rock bluff obstructing the rear of the train as the head-end passed, but after locomotives 169 and 196 there was a baggage car and at least 6 Superliner cars, including a lounge.

Sean

texchief1 Wrote:
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> Nice shots anyway!  Do you khow what the consist
> is?
>
> texchief1
> RC Lundgren

There were a couple of BNSF enginemen on the Seligman Sub that would do such things.    A couple of minutes in post and it is all gone, no problem!

Richard.

I don't know if the enraged emoji is displayed to frown upon unsafe behavior or just fear of the picture being used against someone. But when I worked for Amtrak in the 70s there was a pervasive antagonist response to any railfan snapping a picture.  In hindsight I regret that deeply for there is little documentation to the uniqueness of the work that we did.  But fear that somehow that photo could be used against you was the attitude. 

I was well off the RoW on an embankment, so compared to things that I've done around railroads that could be construed as unsafe this was quite benign. I figured they were doing it as a joke, or to your point they did not want to be seen and identifiable.

Sean

Sounds a little distracting for the crew to perform those antics....

Victor Baird

I’ve asked around a little bit, casually, but never gotten an answer back. I could easily narrow down exactly who it is, but I don’t think I’d get any info as to exactly what the intended motive is- other than the obvious.
I guess they just think it’s funny. Who knows how it’ll take until they tire of it.
SR

On the upside- you have to admire their situational awareness. Those guys are paying attention!

Is pulling a shade down over the engineer's front window a safety violation?  If nothing else, it seems like a bad idea.  Would be pretty awkward trying to explain that in court if God forbid they hit someone or something.  Why do they even have front window shades?

Dave

I would love to know why these guys are flipping the emojis. The weird thing is if they are doing it to "ruin" your photo, it's really trivial to photoshop out the emoji and get a nice clear dark windshield:-)

WP17

Not all of the engine service employees are paranoid of having their pictures taken, it never bothered me.  I have one very fond memory of one rail fan whom I would see almost every trip through Newark, CA on #11, happily snapping pictures and waving.  Through the grapevine he found out I was pulling the pin and on the night of my last trip he met me on the platform in San Jose and presented me with a framed montage of seven photos of me in various Amtrak locos and a couple of freight rescue units I had operated.  That is hanging in my bedroom/office and it means a great deal to me.  As for pulling down the shades, they are made of Mylar and transparent, silvery on one sided and photo brownish on the other, they are sunshades and do not block your vision. I have never had a bad feeling for any rail fan doing their hobby safely, did douse a few with a coffee cup full of water that were standing way to close to the rail.  Have a safe day out there everybody.

Steeleg8 Wrote:
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> Not all of the engine service employees are
> paranoid of having their pictures taken, it never
> bothered me.  I have one very fond memory of one
> rail fan whom I would see almost every trip
> through Newark, CA on #11, happily snapping
> pictures and waving.  Through the grapevine he
> found out I was pulling the pin and on the night
> of my last trip he met me on the platform in San
> Jose and presented me with a framed montage of
> seven photos of me in various Amtrak locos and a
> couple of freight rescue units I had operated. 
> That is hanging in my bedroom/office and it means
> a great deal to me.  As for pulling down the
> shades, they are made of Mylar and transparent,
> silvery on one sided and photo brownish on the
> other, they are sunshades and do not block your
> vision. I have never had a bad feeling for any
> rail fan doing their hobby safely, did douse a few
> with a coffee cup full of water that were standing
> way to close to the rail.  Have a safe day out
> there everybody.

Nice explanation and cool story 👍

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broken_link Wrote:
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> Fun or anti-foamer or a little of both, who knows?

We've had several discussions on the "angry" emoji for a while.

Fun is in not knowing the actual answer. I think it's cool they went through the trouble of putting up a non-digital emoji.
 

Steeleg8 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have never had a bad feeling for any
> rail fan doing their hobby safely, did douse a few
> with a coffee cup full of water that were standing
> way to close to the rail.  Have a safe day out
> there everybody.

I was occasionally one of the several greeting your train at Santa Clara before you pulled the pin. 

I knew a tower operator that wasn't the most friendly on the Penn Central Grand Rapids Branch. When he retired, he found a way to contact me. Jerry Spillner knew I had taken movies that included him handing up orders and asked me to come over to his house and show the movies to his wife and kids. It was a pleasure.

He went way back when steam was still king. Jerry not only worked around steam but remembered a PRR shovelnose gas electric on Grand Rapids & Indiana. Jerry wasn't mean, he just thought a kid should be playing baseball or something like that. (I was never athletic) He was the senior operator at Wolcottvile, Indiana for many years and was a Pennsylvania man. He "broke in" the infamous John Marty when John was a kid. IIRC, Jerry told me that John actually made local TV handing up train orders.

Victor Baird



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/23 20:02 by wabash2800.

Maybe the emoji action is used to illustrate to other 
employees that they are not only under constant interior 
camera surveillance by the company. The exterior is also
under surveillance and the mere act of lowering the sun shield
can bring nationwide notoriety.

The crew might have perceived the camera as a radar speed gun. Or a weapon. Tough to be under constant surveillance.

#beentheredonethat

There was guy who worked the Conrail Shared Assets in Woodbridge NJ. Made it very clear he did not want his picture taken. Many people respected that.

When the job was assigned a heritage unit, etc, all the long hood doors were opened, the broom and bucket came out.

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