Poor visibility

[nicky9499]

It's raining cats and dogs over here now, and a question popped up in the back of my head.

What do locomotive engineers do when they're met with exceptionally poor visibility of say 500 yards, following US operating procedures?

Cheerio,
Nicholas.

 

[Euphod]

As far as I know, they keep going at the signaled and posted speed, watching carefully for new signals.

 

[nicky9499]

Thank you.

 

[R707]

It's raining cats and dogs over here now, and a question popped up in the back of my head.

What do locomotive engineers do when they're met with exceptionally poor visibility of say 500 yards, following US operating procedures?

Cheerio,
Nicholas.

Locomotive Driver's need to know exactly where they are on the route they are driving on.

They are assessed to be competent, and must maintain a thorough knowledge of any route driven.

In foggy conditions, a Driver knows exactly what terrain is in front of him. In fact, in foggy weather, it is useless to have the headlight on high beam, as it's like driving with a white sheet in front of you.

It can be a bit scary for the new, but as long as the Driver knows intimately where he is, he can drive at track speed. It's all a matter of just knowing where you are. He has a watch, and track markers at kilometre or mile intervals.

Pete :wave:

 

[nicky9499]

Well, that's interesting. Will an engineer new to the job be penalized for slowing down and causing minor delays because of poor visibility? What if a train running in such conditions encounters an obstruction at a grade crossing?

Cheerio,
Nicholas.

 

[Euphod]

What if a train running in such conditions encounters an obstruction at a grade crossing?

Cheerio,
Nicholas.

It's not likely to make much difference, given the distance most trains require to stop, it probably wouldn't have been able to anyway.

 

[bendorsey]

And just think how much worse it must be driving a steamer. Poor visibilty plus a very restricted view (that darn boiler gets in the way every time, lol).

Ben

 

[nicky9499]

Hmm. I do believe the fireman (the then-conductor I presume) did help a little looking out the other side. Whether or not they still stick their heads out in the rain, that I cannot confirm. :hehe:

Cheerio,
Nicholas.

 

[R707]

And just think how much worse it must be driving a steamer. Poor visibilty plus a very restricted view (that darn boiler gets in the way every time, lol).

Ben

Hi Ben,

And don't forget the glow of the fire every time the Fireman opened the butterfly doors to stoke the fire. The cab went from pretty dark, to very bright every time.

Most Drivers had to run with their head out the window.

I know a lot of Drivers who lost some of their hearing because of this.

Pete :wave:

 

[nicky9499]

Sigh. It's at that cost many of us get to see these top-heavy, living, breathing machines running about doing their business.

Cheerio,
Nicholas.