Do train engineers have to stop every time they hear or feel a suspicious bump?

Question

I seen on TV one time an engeneer said it was 'one of the longest walks you'll ever take' when an engineer hears or feels something, they HAVE to stop and check to make sure it wasn't a person. Is this true and what are the rules for when you should stop?

Answer 1

No, cause you won't feel a person.. Heck you can barely feel some cars.

Besides, its the conductor/brakeman who has to walk the train... They don't have to stop unless they know they hit something, have a report radioed via dispatcher from a citizen who called something, get a bad report from a trackside automatic hotbox and/or dragging equipment detector, or if they are getting some really wierd things going on (loss of brake pressure) and other things.

It is a rule, that if an emergency application is made, the train must be inspected. This is because emergency apps put tremendous forces on the train and can cause shifted loads and even derailments.

Answer 2

Any engineer who sees, hears, smells or feels a problem with the train or engine is a complete moron if he doesn't stop to inspect.

Trackside detectors alert the crew of overheated journals (bearings), dragging equipment, loose wheel, shifted load, derailed equipment and most report the train's speed.

These are automated devices with radio transmitters in them and they notify the crew of the condition of their train, although some older devices display a signal of one sort or another to inform the crew of the condition of their train.

When a trackside detector transmits a defect message and ends the transmission with the words "Detector Malfunction" the train must stop and the entire train must be inspected for defects.

As far as hitting people goes, the impact is not usually felt. But a person or large animal produces a sound when contact with the engine's pilot is made. It is a dull, sickening thud accompanied with a slight, short ring to it.

To be safe, expect any equipment on any track to move in either direction at any time with no advance warning. Here's another safety tip. Twice thus far in my own career I have had the displeasure of operating trains over public crossing at grade and the automatic crossing gates were INOPERATIVE.

In both instances, signal maintainers had disabled the devices so that work could be done on the road bed without triggering the gates. In both instances, I had been notified by the train dispatcher via radio, that I was authorized to proceed in these areas at the maximum permissable speed (40 MPH and 60 MPH). It is a miracle no one was killed.

Also in both instances, that authorization came BEFORE the signal maintainers had enabled the gates. These were not out of the way crossings but, in fact, two heavily traveled highways.

Granted these incidents were the result of an unusual set of circumstances, other ciscumstances can combine at the same time to produce the same results.

The point is, THESE THINGS ARE NOT FAILSAFE. ANY ELCRTO-MECHANICAL DEVICE CAN AND WILL FAIL !!!!! Now that you know, do you really want to bet your life on these things?

NEVER CROSS RAILROAD TRACKS ANYWHERE WITHOUT LOOKING BOTH WAYS. If just might save your life........

Answer 3

The engineers must walk but not to see if it was a person, how do you hear that on a long freight train if you don´t see it? They walk if from the locomotive feel bumps of the cars, if see something not normal or feel that there are brake problems or the gauges in the loco indicates loss of air pressure for example. Also if the fixed detectors of "hot boxes" detect one axle hot, they must stop to check.

Answer 4

If you hit a person with a train your not going to feel a thing.

Answer 5

hell no if it does;nt look like a person before the bump there is no need to check anything rails sometimes have bumps jjust like the highways do

Answer 6

no