Dang I needed to cross the track today on an isolated road but a crossing none the less. A short train pulling hoppers was blocking the crossing by 3 to 4 cars and when I drove to the front of the train, I found the engineer kicked back with his feet up apparently sleeping with the engines shut down. I tried to get his attention to see if I could have him move up a little, but he did not see me or was ignoring me so I had to drive a few miles down the road to cross. My coworker who showed up about ½ an hour later had to do the same thing. I don’t know what the holdup was, but there were 3 short trains stopped on the same track ahead of him. They finally moved about 45 min later.
Too bad he couldn't at least clear the crossing. There must have been a reason. It would be interestig to know more.
Very possibly he was "dead" on his hours of service and awaiting transportation back to his final tie up/release point. If that was the case he was not allowed to perform any railroad service while awaiting his ride because it would be a major violation of FRA rules for both him and the company. Since the locomotives were shut down I am guessing that the train had already been secured properly (tied down with adequate handbrakes) and he was getting some much needed sleep. Why he didn't clear the crossing to the rear is a puzzle but may have had something to do with it being little used (maybe even a private farm crossing?) and he had pulled up short of the crossing by the locomotive so it would be closer for the crew vehicle to reach him. I am pretty sure he didn't do it on purpose or maybe his conductor mis-calulated where to tie the train down without clearing the rear crossing. If that's the case then I would also bet if one looked on the other side of the engine cab you would have seen the conductor napping also for the same reason. Or maybe I don't really know since I wasn't on the engine and this is all speculation based on my years as an engineer. i do know, however, i wouldn't block a crossing if I could avoid it. Barry
I think he was just waiting for the trains in front to move, but he had at least 3 to 4 miles between them so he had plenty of room. There were 3 locos and I could not see anybody else around. I just don’t think he knew he was on the crossing or he figured it was not important because of its location. Its out in the desert https://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf...gl=us&ei=8u4fUu1V7feKAprSgYAE&ved=0CCwQ8gEwAA
However if the signal that he was stopped at, he has to stop at it, unlike a car, trains stop short of signals, unlike most drivers who pull as close to the light as possible. Also, in a car, if you cross over the line a little, no big deal, in a train, its huge.
I know these track well and I don't believe there are any signals in that area. I just now followed the tracks in Google Street View from the crossing to well past were he was stopped and there aren't any visible signals from the road. I took this photo last year along the track farther up about 10 mile maybe, but there’s nothing in between except another crossing with lights. Before I left that day, I set my camera next to my lunch box to take to work and then ran out the door without it. This is a typical view from the area [FONT=&][/FONT]
Oops! There is a signal before the next crossing, its 1/2 mile away from the crossing so He may have stopped for it. This is captured from Google maps Street view
I don’t know that he was actually sleeping only that he was pretty relaxed with his feet up and was not acknowledging me. Maybe he thought I was a crazy railfanner wanting to come inside. LOL Sometimes those guys get trapped out there for hours. Once, my coworker got a phone call from his brother who is an engineer for BNSF wanting him to pick up some McDonalds Hamburgers for the crew. There was a problem up the line and they had already waited a few hrs and it looked like it might be another 3 or 4 hrs before they could move again.
