Week 4

Hey everyone! Week 4 has come and gone, and right now, we're enjoying some fall-like weather here in Atlanta. 2 more weeks to go, and it's time to get out to the real world.

On Monday, we spent the first part of the evening playing with a conductor simulator that had us doubling over (grabbing cars from one track and connecting them to cars in another track) four cuts of cars into a single track.

The simulators we used were very similar to this one here (minus the UP train). We had a touch screen console to control the movement of the conductor, to flip switches, and couple and uncouple cars.  It also controlled the speed and direction of the engine we used.  I thought it was a good simulation because it got us used to the order in which we would accomplish tasks on the job.

Monday evening, after dinner, we went and "kicked" cars out in the yard.  Kicking cars is when there are cars attached to an engine that need to be sorted out for different trains. The conductor give the engineer a "proceed" signal or a "backup" signal based on which way he/she is facing and immediately gives a signal to stop, while pulling the cut lever on the cars to be separated.  The momentum keeps the cars moving down into a per-aligned track. This is normally down in what we call "flat" switch yards.   

I got lucky my first night kicking cars because I was kicking from the engine.  I got to ride back up and reconnect the whole line of train cars and ride the tail all the way back.  It was really interesting to put everything together that we had learned and see the bigger picture, (consequently, some of the other guys that I was there with made the joke that watching me ride back like that was like watching that other kid get to ride the fire truck when we were little.  I smiled back at him, maybe a little smugly, and said I was that kid too.

In the end, everyone got a chance to ride). 

Tuesday was much like Monday.  We started with conductor simulations and then went out and doubled over cuts of cars from one track to another.  It was pretty similar to what I had done the night before except that we moved the cuts of cars from one track to another.  We also went back to the shed and looked at some different problems that can happen to the wheels on a train, different types of switches, and the different types of brake tests for trains.

Wednesday and Thursday were lost days.  They had some track repair going on so the yard was closed down to us.  We ended up going over the CSX "Key Measurements."  These are the performance numbers that CSX uses to judge how well we are doing on the transportation and safety side of business.  We also played a switching game that in the end only hurt my head.  Give it a whirl and see what you think.

http://www.gamesheep.com/game/railroad-shunting-puzzle/railroad-shunting-puzzle.swf

That was the extent of what we did on both days.  On Friday, we were able to get back out in the yard and did drills as part of a crew with a switchman, conductor, and engineer that involved us doubling over cars again.  Afterwards, things got really fun.  First, we went to the locomotive simulators there at the school. 

These are really, really cool.  They even have simulated signals and put obstructions out in the middle of the tracks so you will have to stop.  A couple of the guys maxed out the speed on the trains.  They can get going pretty fast. 

Afterwards, we went into the train dispatching center for the Atlanta Division. 

This was really interesting too. Although it was the New York Stock Exchange atmosphere that we were expecting, it was still a pretty busy place.  We listened to the conversations back and forth with trains out on the road and watched the dispatcher change light signals just by clicking on the image.

The system seems pretty intuitive... it's like a giant video game, (and it looked fun too).

That was week four in a nutshell.  Over the next two weeks, we'll be back in the books.  More studying and more exams.  Until next week, have a good one!