Angry Jew Cat - Banned for Life

In alot of cases THEY DO. Especially on the railroad. If you've been there you'd know what I mean. Trackwork is alot of "calling it as you see it". Who better to know the job than those who do it? If it were my call, I would have dropped the switch man and sent him back to count cars until the bridge had been cleared. But that is not operating procedure, and they did the "right" thing by not moving. Had they took matters into their own hands they could have pulled the train another half mile or so up, saved the bridge, and mostly avoided disaster, maybe burnt up a car or two and a few ties. No biggy. If the axles were hot enough to hit whitehot, they were being pulled with a locked up axle for a good few miles already. It sounds stupid but that's the way it is, railroad rules are enforced like law. Even though they likely lost millions in revenue while having a mainline track shutdown, and there was a likelihood that things could have been avoided simply by pulling the train ahead, you don't disobey the rules if you want to keep working.

Here's what would have went down. A hotbox detector or onboard sensor spotted a hot axle, train crew was alerted by radio (this is done automatically), train crew alerts RTC (rail traffic control) of the situation, train crew performs spot check, radios back to RTC the situation and suggests that the train be moved forward, operating rules forbid movement of the train and RTC politely tells them in radio-safe language that if that train moves they are all fucking done, train crew steps back and watches train and bridge burn down as they wait for emergency and cleanup crew to show up.

Seriously, had they moved that train, the whole crew likely would have lost their jobs, or at the very least been hit with heavy demerits against them. In Canada we have the CROR to dictate railroad operations, as well as strict company to company rules. Not sure what the States' equivalent of the CROR is, but I don't imagine they operate much differently. Around CN, the Rules book is known by alot of people as "the book of blood", it is full of FUCKING RETARDED operating rules. If you don't believe me, here's a couple prime examples.

There is an entire 2-3 page section outlining proper office operating procedures, with helpful tips like "don't stick your hand blindly into filing cabinets, this can result in paper cuts." "be sure to watch each step while ascending staircases to avoid tripping." Or my lifelong favorite "Do not dry work clothing in furnaces or bunkhouse ovens."

Failure to adhere to these rules, or ANY rule in the book for that matter can result in a reprimand. Now start thinking about what can happen when you break a serious operating rule!

Ahhh, I miss the tracks sometimes