The If/Then Game

Note: This has nothing to do with the railroad, this is just some of my middle of the night musings.

     All women play this game, some are amateurs, some are professionals, but there aren't a whole lot of women I know that don't play to some extent.  Here is how the game works; a seemingly innocuous occurrence turns into sheer panic and we have thought through the consequences of this one event for the next several months (if you are an amateur) to next several years (if you are a professional).  I fall somewhere in the middle depending of course on what is causing me to panic.
The one thing I realized when I was musing over this topic, was that we could channel this idea into some great job opportunities.  So lets look at some circumstances and where they could lead in life. 

     The first one we will visit is the impending snow storm.  Weathermen love to do these up to sound like the end of the world, so there are a few women who will go into a panic and start the if/then game.  If the weatherman does a good enough job a man might even get into it a little.  Lets examine the difference.
Man:Hmmm IF there is a big snow storm tomorrow THEN I will be shoveling snow tomorrow. (If  the man is really concerned then he might pick up an extra 6 pack on the way home.) 

Woman :  OMG IF it snows tomorrow, THEN I will have to drive to work in it, THEN I will wreck, OMG THEN will the insurance cover the damage, IF it doesn't, THEN where will I get the money, OMG  THEN how will I get to work, IF I can't get to work THEN I will get fired!  IF I get fired, THEN how will I make the house payment!

      Notice the difference.  Now this may not send all women into a panic, and some men pride themselves in their snow removal prowess, those men however say things more like "I get to use my new snow blower"  Not the same game, they just get to play with their new toy.

     Now that example is at least a semi legitimate reason to go into full if/then mode.  Lets look at an example that may be a little more benign. Lets say you call your significant other and say, "hey I am going to stop and have a drink with some friends on the way home, I will be a little late"

Man: IF she stops for a drink, THEN I will have the house to myself when I get home.  (In this example the worst the man may think is, "dang, hope there is something microwavable in the fridge")

Woman:  IF he stops to get a drink THEN he won't be sober when he drives home, THEN he will get a DUI, OMG  IF he gets a DUI he will lose his license, THEN he will lose his job.  IF he loses his job, THEN how will he find another one without a car and with a DUI on his record. OMG IF he can't find a job, THEN we will have to sell the house!!

or perhaps this will be the Woman's reaction.

Woman:  IF he is stopping to get a drink, THEN he might meet someone, IF he meets someone, THEN he will have an affair, IF he has an affair, THEN he may divorce me, IF he divorces me, THEN the children won't have a father around to take care of them!!

Now you understand?  Now these are all examples of professional if/then-ers.  Chances are most woman fall short of getting to the sell the house part.  These little panic attacks can come from anything, a political agenda, your neighbors cat, the fast food joint they are putting in town and so on.  Most women will have these little panics, realize they are silly, and resume their normal sanity. A few will drag it out a bit longer but most never more than a day or so.  So if you are involved with a woman in any way, and she has an if/then panic, the best thing you can do is wait, silently if at all possible.  She will figure it out and go on her merry way and you will be standing there slack jawed trying to figure out what just happened and if you are in trouble for anything (If you stayed quiet, probably not) 

     So after I started thinking about this little game, I thought "wow, this would be great if we could channel it better!"  I think if we could channel this talent better we could be great civil engineers, city disaster planners, architects  etc.  Think about it; IF we build a new hospital, THEN there will be more traffic, IF there is more traffic, THEN we will need better roads, IF we put in new roads and a new hospital, THEN there will be more jobs, IF there are more jobs, THEN we will need more housing!

     IF there is a hurricane, THEN the electric will go out, IF the electric goes out, THEN people won't be able to get clean water....

     IF we put a support here, THEN we can open this wall up, IF we open this wall up, THEN we can add more counter space.....

I am sure you get the idea.


I hope you have enjoyed this installation of midnight musings, hopefully I will be back on days in December and we can go back to talking about railroading.

Deer, Derailments and the Dead of Night

     Lets start with the deer, they are huge here!  I am working in mid-Ohio and if anyone is looking for a good place to find a trophy buck, they should look no further than mid-Ohio.  One of the guys here showed me a picture of a buck he shot locally and it scored a 179 on the Boone and Crocket scale.  The antlers were as big around as my wrist!  I have not seen any that big but there is a beautiful 8 point that hangs around the yard and a few smaller bucks as well.  The sheer body size is amazing, even the does are the size of a small pony.  I guess that's what they mean by "corn fed"

     Now to the derailments, we have had two in the past two weeks here and the damage this equipment can do always amazes me.  One truck comes off, grabs the rail next to it, and pulls the whole track over for about 300', ties and all.  The rail looked like spaghetti when the conductor finally stopped.  It is one of the things that we need to remember out here, this is dangerous work and one small "oooppps" can cause major damage and major injury.  I know we preach safety but sometimes I think we forget just how powerful this equipment is.  In the above example the cars were moving at about 5mph.  At 5mph we can bend steel and rip ties out of the ground, it's not the speed that kills out here, it's weight.  One of our road engines is around 350 tons, that's 700,000lbs! This is an unforgiving environment and I pray to God that I never have to deal with the death of a coworker out here.  I know a lot of stories, but I don't want to be the one that has to knock on someone's loved ones door. 

     And finally, the dead of night.  I have been working all overnights mostly 12 hour shifts.  For my first part of training I was always with someone, but now they have turned me loose on my own.  This gives me a lot of time... in the dead of night....to think.  This is never a good thing, and I am sure every married man that just read that went "uh oh", yea I know.  It seems 4am when the crews are in lunch and I am sitting alone in my truck is about the worst time.  I have started reading my Bible, which helps, but I am starting to be a pro at worrying about my life.  Trying to figure out what you are supposed to be as a wife and mother while working 400 miles from home in the middle of the night, well lets just say, I am pretty confused.  On one hand I like my job, my husband is proud of me, and he is pretty big on the income that I bring in, on the other hand I haven't seen the man in 3 weeks, my house is a wreck and I haven't cooked a real meal in 6 months.   Here's hoping that they keep me busy at 4am. For my sanity and probably my husbands to.

Sorry no pictures of the deer or the derailments, but working in the dead of night does not make for great pictures.  For my foamer friends, Canadian National has been sending some beautiful brand spanking new engines through Ohio, they are dead in tow, but they are very shiny!

Lessons In Leadership

     During my 2 weeks in Jacksonville, FL for my front line supervisors training we were voluntold to participate in a community service event on Saturday morning.  Perhaps working for the railroad has skewed my perception some, as we are often voluntold to do things, but this really didn't bother me.  It was for a good cause, and I am missing doing physical labor.  We were tasked with helping an organization called Dignity U Wear (http://www.dignityuwear.org/)  They are an organization that helps everyone from wounded warriors to battered wives and everyone in between to be dressed well for interviews and work situations.  Since they spend so much time giving people makeovers, we were going to give their warehouse a makeover. 
   
     We all showed up at 0730 on  Saturday morning, got our matching t-shirts, name badges and a light breakfast.  There were cameras everywhere and some newspaper reporters as well.  When we were called to order there was the usual handshaking photo ops and that included CSX's VP of transportation, Cindy Sanborn.  Many of us little folks in the crowd assumed that Ms. Sanborn would get the pictures taken and then be off to her ivory tower, and we would be proved very wrong.  Along with Ms. Sanborn there were some other higher level officers of the company and there were also families and kids that other employees had brought with them to support a good cause. 

     All day everyone there worked their butts off to help this great organization, we painted, we pulled stumps, we scraped old paint off of concrete blocks and so on and so forth.  It was hot, and we were all sweaty... well with the exception of 2.  There were 2 guys who stood and watched all day, never picking up a paint brush or a scraper.  These 2 guys are supposed to be the mentors of our management trainee program and our leaders.  When asked why they weren't working they responded that "we are a higher level than you"  which is true, but they were not above some of the people there. When the VP is sweaty and dirty, you don't have an excuse. That didn't seem to matter to these 2, but I can proudly say the rest of the people that showed up worked really hard, from the VP's on down to the kids.  When we were done we had painted the entire warehouse, inside and out!   No one other than those 2 "leaders" left clean and dry, we were all dirty and sweaty.  And we were all proud of what we had accomplished that day.

    So to those aspiring leaders, don't stand there and watch.  Some of the comments I heard afterward about these 2 were pretty nasty, and whether they deserved them or not, they chose to say "Do what we say, not what we do" and they never even had to open their mouths.  If you are acting as a leader know that you are being watched by your subordinates and even if you are not the top tier there is always someone looking to you to show by example.  This can be an old head teaching a lemon head, or a lemon head showing his children what he has learned in his life, or a new manager getting their hands dirty.  We are all leaders to someone.

Sorry there aren't any pictures, I was pretty busy and figured I could find some online since there were so many people running around with cameras. Turns out I was wrong, but if you can find some pictures I would love to see them, and please check out Dignity U Wear they are a pretty cool organization. 

Trainmaster Trainee and Hotel Living

This is a picture of the Main St. Bridge in Jacksonville, I am staying right behind where I took this pic from

 

      Sorry I  haven't written I a while, I have taken on a new role here at CSX and I wasn't sure what the rules were about social media and posting about my experience.  As I expected, they are fairly strict and I am limited as to what I can or can't put on a blog.  Here is what I can tell you. I have gone back to the dark side (transportation) and am now working as a trainmaster trainee.  I do miss the signal department, but this job is pretty challenging in its own right and I am nervous and excited about it.

     This program is 8 months long and none of that time is at home.  I traveled a fair amount with the signal department and add the last few months of this and I am now a platinum or diamond member with 3 different hotel groups (Marriott, Hyatt and IHG)  I can say with confidence that if you want to know about hotel living I can give you the ins and outs of it.  I have spent time in Atlanta, GA, Avon, IN, Jacksonville, FL and Ontario, OH and that is just in the last 3 months.  Since I feel incredibly qualified to comment on hotel living, I thought I would make a list of a few tips that would have made my life a bit easier.

1.  If you can stay in a Marriott, DO IT!
   It doesn't matter if it is one of there more reasonably priced hotels like the Fairfield or one of their premiere resorts, Marriott knows how to take care of its customers.  The beds are always super comfy and the rooms are always clean.  Oh yea and they give you cookies!

2.  I don't care how lazy you are feeling, room service is just not worth it. 
   This morning I decided to have a lazy Sunday morning and called down for a cheese omelet, crispy bacon, OJ and some rye toast.  I expected it to cost more than Denny's but $30 for breakfast almost made me lose my appetite, and they forgot my toast!  The omelet had just a teeny bit of shredded cheese and the grits were instant, it did come with the smallest bottle of tabasco ever.

    
3. Don't leave anything valuable in your room.
    This seems obvious but really, even just to let the maids in.  Take laptops, watches, purses etc. and lock them in your trunk if you have one.  If not and you are only going to be there a few days, pass on the maid service, you probably don't have one at home and you can live without one for a few days in a hotel.

4. Check your receipts at check out!
     Again, it may seem obvious but there have been many over charges or extra charges show up on a hotel bill.  Once you sign your name, your done.  A new trick hotels are trying is "I am sorry we don't print receipts anymore, I can email it to you"  Say yes please, and then check it before you leave. 

5. Your bed is always better.
    I have heard a few people lately tell me how "cool" it must be to get to travel so much, or how "exciting" it must be to stay in so many different hotels, I can say with confidence they are wrong.  It is "cool" and "exciting" to stay in a hotel for a few weeks, not a few months.  My bed is still my favorite (Marriott's are a close second)  They also must be forgetting that I work most days, and most days I work 12+ hours (oh yea salary and no hours of service!)  I have a little time to see the sights, but mostly I am working and sleeping.

I hope to be able to add some more to my blog that probably will not be directly railroad related, but I can post some generalizations and answer broad questions about how this place works.

The Dangers of Volunteering

     When I was a kid we had two choices, volunteer for a job or be assigned one.  It didn't take us to long to realize that if you were the first to volunteer you usually got your pick of jobs.  This mentality has kept on into my adult life.  I generally volunteer for everything, call me a kiss up, or a brown noser but really I am trying to get the good job and sticking you with the crappy one.  So this year when they started planning our second half safety certification and they asked for volunteers, naturally my hand went up.  Then I was appointed the lead of this team.  Hmmm, I thought, this isn't how this is supposed to go, but since I had already jumped in head first I figured I would go with it.   

     Then on our first call, we came up with some ideas of classes we would like to have and again were asked to volunteer to take one class on to research and again I spoke up first.  Surely I thought this would go better. I volunteered to build a box filled with dirt showing a ground go from one wire to another, this sounded much more interesting than researching standards.  So far so good, I build a dirt box and the other suckers get stuck researching standards,  jumper policies and the like. 

     We have our second call and everything is going great, we are paring down the classes and figuring out logistics and so on.  Then the boss man doesn't ask, he tells me that I will be teaching a class on metering and grounds to go along with the dirt box. What?!?! eeekkk.  Folks let me remind you that I have a little less than 2 years in this department, I am one of about 5 females and I am blonde and polish.  I will be teaching this class to the entire east region construction, not new guys but 30+ year guys who were probably working out here before I was born.  Oh yes, and did I forget to mention I have to create this class?!?! 

     I will have some help from managers, and I am sure to learn a lot from this experience, but to say I am a little nervous about this would be a gross understatement.  I tell this story just in case you have grown up in a household like mine, where volunteering to vacum was much better than being assigned toilet cleaning.  Sometimes volunteering doesn't work out quite the way you planned, be cautious in your hand raising. 
    

Dumpster Diving

      Yea I said it, dumpster diving.  Thanks to the track department, I spent my afternoon taking the trash that they put in the dumpster out.  Why in the world would you take trash OUT of a dumpster?  I know this is what your thinking so I will explain.  You see we (the signal department) has ordered a dumpster from a company that is for concrete ONLY.  My foreman gets very nasty phone calls from the lady at the dumpster place if she finds wood or regular trash in the concrete dumpster.  We had attempted to make this clear by hanging a sign, and speaking with the Roadmaster. Apparently, we needed to resort to a more obvious form of communication.

     Please note the big spray painted sign that says CONCRETE!  There is a matching one on the side.  Hopefully this will clearly convey what the contents of this dumpster should be, and prevent nasty phone calls from the dumpster lady and me climbing in any more dumpsters...blech

 

     We also got to see the Dominion Power guys in action today, and I have to say they are braver than I am.  Here is a picture of them. Please notice the lake that they are in.  To me electricity + water = bad idea, but they put on some really big gloves and had our service swapped in about 20 minutes.  Kudos to the Dominion guys!

 

 

 

And to follow up on a previous post, my horse is still sick, and we have a diagnosis.  She has Alopecia Areata, which is an auto immune disorder that attacks her skin cells.  Not good, she is on steroids for about 2 months, if she doesn't founder we will be looking at immune supplements and a lot of praying.  She also looks pretty gross, but she is starting her very own collection of blankets, and I think she has more than me right now. 

 

One more note, NEW DUCK DYNASTY TONIGHT!!

So What do you DO in the Hotel

     Since we had a pretty boring half, I thought I would talk a little about what we do in the time we have sitting in the hotels in the evenings.  We spend at least 16 nights a month in a hotel and recently we have been spending a bit more than that.  So other than racking up some serious hotel points, what do you do?
     Well, I go to school online, which does pass the time, but it is also fairly boring. The boys on my crew all have high end RC cars.  Every single member of the crew with the exception of me, has one.  Even the brand new guy we got last week!  His had been in the garage for a year, but he was happy to bring it out and play with everyone.  The reason I don't have one is simple economics, I already have one very expensive hobby in horses, I don't need another one.  They are pretty cool, and they get new bodies, and tires and motors etc. to make them faster or prettier (I should probably say bad ass looking, not prettier)
     The other thing we have decided to do is run in the Marine 1/2 marathon in May.  I did decide to participate in this one.  I am not sure what I was thinking when I said I would, probably "hey I will look good in a bikini this summer!" So we started our training last week. I may need to quit smoking for this one.  The marathon training schedules all assume that you can run for 30 minutes straight! So sadly I am in the marathon "pre-training" stage. This will be much harder mentally and physically, but also much cheaper.  I already own sneakers, there is a treadmill at the hotel, and entrance into the marathon is only 75 bucks.  I am still waiting to discover this "runners high",  I think all those runners are damned liars trying pretend that running is more fun than real sports like football or baseball. 
     I actually have off all week so I will be working on my science experiment and sitting around in my pjs.  I have some scrap cable in the truck and need to run to the hardware store for a good sheet of plywood and some screws, probably have to get out of my pjs for that one though.  (you know you are being lazy when you type this and think, well I could just throw my coveralls on over the pjs and no one would know!)  I also plan on going to the outdoor show in Fishersville, hubby and I never got a honeymoon (thank you railroad schedule) so we are thinking of taking a hunting trip in the fall. 

Back to Work...kinda

     Well I haven't written a new blog post because miracle of miracles I had a few days off.  I did get the house cleaned, some homework done and read a few books.  I even got to spend time with my husband!  The farrier came to shoe the horses and when I showed up this is what I found on my horses side.  Bald horses are not a good thing, so I called the vet.

 

 

     The vet couldn't get out here until today so my week has been full of laps across Virginia.  On Monday, I left Covington, VA (west coast of VA) and went to Richmond, VA (east coast of VA). I did this so I could work on Tuesday.  Turns out my job for Tuesday was to take a broken grapple truck to Covington, soooo I drove to Covington, and then turned around and went back to Richmond.  When I got to Richmond, I hopped in my personal truck and drove back to Covington.  Then of course today, after the vet showed up I jumped back in my truck and drove back to Richmond.  I am a little tired of driving at this point. If it never occurred to you to check out the size of Virginia, its a pretty big state, and that drive takes 3 hrs, one way. 

 

     The vet is a little stumped as to why my horse is losing her hair and has swelling in her legs.  He put her on a fungicide, an antibiotic, an anti-inflammatory and some dermawipes to try and wash the balding areas.  I can't wait to get my vet bill.  He took some skin scrapings to try and find a root cause, so now we are waiting for something to grow in the petri dish. 

 

     As for railroading this week, we will be mostly working clean up of the old stuff we took down last week.  This entails taking old signals and cases to scrap and busting concrete with a hammer hoe (we really do get some great toys out here) .  After the concrete is busted up, we will need the broken grapple truck to pick it all up, so somewhere in the future is another lap across Virginia, but I may let someone else take that trip. 

 

     One other intersting note, I have a new science project.  At our first saftey certification of the year I volunteered to be on the committee for the second half safety certification.  We had our first conference call on Tuesday, so while the boys ate at Jack Masons Tavern, I sat on a conference call.  One of the classes that we came up with was a grounds class, and thats where my science project comes in.  I need to build a box of dirt, with 2 wires in it, to show how a ground can jump from one wire to another wire.  I am sure I will post some pictures when I am done with this one.  

I Survived!

     I survived the cut-in, and more importantly so did everyone else!  I am also still employed, which is always a good thing.  Let me explain a little bit more about my job for this cut in.  I am assigned a section of track, in this case about 3.5 miles, and anyone who wants to be on that track has to talk to me first.  Cool right, you are the God of your 3.5 miles. Well yea kinda, but after being God of 3.5 miles I sure don't want God's job.  Here is the thing, when I say anyone, I mean ANYONE, must talk to me first.  This includes, trains, trucks, persons, train masters, road masters etc. and my job is to keep all of those people from hurting each other. For example, I had 8 crews spread out in my territory that were working on the signal system, one truck on the track taking down old signals and and trains calling me and asking to come through, or into the yard etc.  My job is to get the people that will be in the way of that train out, be sure the truck won't be in the way and then bring the train through.  If I forget someone, there is a chance they could get squished, and if I forget a truck, there is an even better chance of a WhamO. 
     The moral of the story is take good notes and pay attention.  Knowing your territory also helps, which is why I got this job. When I was a conductor I worked out of this yard, so I was more familiar than most of my counterparts.  However, I have already told my boss, someone else can have the privilege for the next cut-in. 
    
     In other exciting news, I am typing this from my very own living room! Which to me is pretty exciting.  It needs to be cleaned, but I can handle that.  My husband was good enough to keep most of the dishes clean and all of my pets are still alive so I will assume everyone got fed as needed.  Maybe I am easy to please but just doing those few things keeps me pretty happy.   This is a picture of me and my dogs laying in front of the fireplace.  It is one of our favorite pastimes

   
     I also go back to school this week.  I take classes online through Liberty University, mostly compliments of CSX.  I am a business major with a minor in project management.  This semester I am taking Theology 104 (Intro to Christian Thought) and Accounting 212 (Principles of Accounting 2).  Some people may ask why a business major is taking Theology, and the simple answer is, its required.  This is Liberty University and they are very big on teaching Christian thought as well as the normal college classes.  This is my last religious required class and I hope to find it interesting.  I am a Christian, which does help, but I never thought myself as a "bible beater" or a "fundamentalist".  I simply believe the word of God as truth.  There were two other required religious courses, Bible 101, which I liked, and Apologetics 101, which I wasn't a huge fan of.  Bible 101 taught the history of the Bible which I found very interesting.  Apologetics taught how to argue christian thought, which I found misaligned with the word of God.  He said tell people about it, don't argue or beat them over the head with it. 

   So dear readers, that is what has been happening here.  I am hoping for a nice break from work before getting back at it on Tuesday.  The farrier will be here tomorrow, I am hoping to actually ride a horse that I own this weekend and get some of that house cleaning done that I mentioned earlier.  If I am really lucky I might get a massage to!  Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Homesick and Cosmo

    First I must apologize for my delay in writing a new post, the internet at the hotel has not been very friendly. 

    So now that we have got that out of the way its time to cover the topic at hand, I am starting to get homesick.  I haven't been home since January 13th, I should finally get to go home around the 6th of Feb.  This job always has a lot of travel and  most times I don't mind it at all, sometimes I like getting to go new places and see new things.  Right now though, I miss my puppies, ponies, husband, bed, satellite TV etc.  God only knows how many episodes of Project Runway and Top Chef I have missed.

    I don't really talk much about being a girl around a bunch of guys because on most days it isn't an issue, and today it still wasn't, but this mix can produce some pretty interesting learning experiences.  For instance, yesterday I bought a Cosmopolitan magazine.  It had the normal Cosmo type stuff on the cover and I left it in the truck. Today as we were waiting for track time, the guys picked it up and started reading it.  Listening to the guys read it and smell the perfume samples was pretty priceless.  There were things like "wow, I am getting my girlfriend/wife this magazine, I like that idea!"  and "ewww that smells like 70's old lady".  I think they will become just as hooked on Cosmo as I am, now if they could just get me to run out and buy a $300 RC car we might be even!

    This week at work has been pretty busy, we put in a switch, did a lot of wiring changes, pissed off a dispatcher (twice, sorry KLH) and are just about ready for the cut in on Monday. The big wigs will start coming in this weekend and we will all have to mind our P's and Q's.  My job at this cut-in will be to keep everyone safe while they are working on the tracks for about 3.5 miles of track.  Trains will have to talk to me before they come into those 3.5 miles.  I have run these type of things before, but never with such an audience, so I am a little nervous.  I will report back on how I actually did and hopefully everyone will live through it and I will still have a job when we are done.

    I am sorry to say I didn't get to many pictures this week, but my foreman took a couple and I did change my profile picture.  Here are a few pictures of me operating our boom truck to get the switch that we replaced into position.

 

 

Very Cold and Flu Season

     Back to the grind out here and not a moment to soon!  We have a big cut in coming up in the beginning of February so we are still busy working on buttoning up the odds and ends that need doing.  Of course the more we look the more odds and ends we find.  So our list continues to grow, and I don't think I will be seeing home for a few more weeks yet.

     So besides having an ever growing to do list, we all managed to come back from safety certification with some degree of the flu.  Six sick people working together can get a  little ugly.  We may have been a little tired and irritable, and if I never here another bowel movement description it will be to soon.  Although that probably won't happen, bowel movements seem to be a once a week topic of conversation.  Weekly I can handle, 3 times a day, is a bit much for me.  Thankfully we all seem to be doing better now.

     Another thing worth note is the FREEZING cold weather.  Here is a picture of me working on a switch today.  I swear I am under there somewhere.  I had on under armor, jeans, long sleeved shirt, sweatshirt, coveralls, jacket, insulated hood thing and wool socks.  I was OK, but I felt a little like the kid from a Christmas Story.  If someone or something had chased me, I would have waddled away as fast as I could, but most old men in wheelchairs would have been able to catch me. 

We also got to see the geometry car yesterday.  I grabbed a quick picture of the cars and put them below. It is a pretty crappy picture, but the best I could do this week.  I have also noticed a lot of "vintage" Amtrak engines coming through, so any rail fans that are interested in getting pictures of some older Amtrak engines they are running through Richmond this week.

Saftey Certified

      Its the beginning of the year and time to redo all of our qualifications and certifications.  In the signal department this means heading to your regions safety certification conference, and thats where I have been all week. We actually hold these bi-annually and  ours is held in Hagerstown, MD.  I am part of the Eastern Region which includes parts of the Con-rail, B&O, C&O and RF&P properties.  It is nice to see some faces you haven't seen in a while and get the chance to see and hear some of the issues and solutions other teams have come up with.
     In past years, this has been called death by power point, you would sit there for 3 days watching 8 hours of power point slides and listen to rule after rule.  It was pretty hard to take, and pretty hard to stay awake some days.  This year they did a pretty good job teaching us some good information and,having some hands on stuff and keeping us awake.  Sure there was still the required FRA training, but they even tried their best to spice that up the best they could.  So hats off to the guys that tried get us educated and keep us entertained at the same time.  This year we had no draft dodging speaker that had so many concussions he wasn't coherent.  Things also ran pretty smoothly, last year was a cluster, late classes, no one real sure what was going on, this year we had a few classes run over but for us we were doing pretty good
     But of course that's not what makes this job fun.  Put 300 signalman in the same place and you are bound to have a lot of fun.  Sadly for you folks, not to much of that will make the Internet.  The best I can do for you is put up a picture of the killer heels of choice this year.  The rest is up to your imagination.

Railroad is Family

     It might seem strange to classify the people that you work with as family instead of co-workers but that is something I do everyday.  When I started working for this company 5 years ago, I went to the REDI center for conductor training, and they told us "Look around, these people will become your family".  I didn't believe them.  I thought a few would become friends, others acquaintances and others annoyances to be tolerated.  After they said that, they had us all write down our name, room number and cell phone numbers on a sheet of paper, made photo copies and handed it out to everyone.  As a girl sitting in a class of 70 guys, I was a little bit nervous.  The list did come in handy later on in our 6 weeks in Atlanta, but not for anything more than you would find in any college dorm.
      Last night my phone rang at about 2am, it was a co-worker's wife and she needed her husband. It was obvious this was more than a jealous wife looking for her husband. I got up and went to the desk and asked for the room number, she wouldn't give it out but did call his room and hand me the phone.  I then asked him for his room number, not wanting to discuss the problem in front of the nice desk lady. I ran down to his room, got everyone on the same page and groggily padded back to my room.  Realize that I am in my pj's with a pair of unlaced work boots on, walking down a hotel hallway.  I have just left my husband in bed and a man in his boxers answered the door I knocked on. This is not a usual work place scenario. This made me once again think of the instructor telling me "Look around these people will become your family".
      In September I got married to my boyfriend of 10 years. When we got together neither of us worked for the railroad, now we both do.  Our wedding was catered by a railroader, we were married by a railroader and there were many guests that were railroaders.  Our true families may have been outnumbered if it wasn't for the crazy schedules we all keep that prevented some railroaders from attending.
     A few months before I left the transportation department I got sick going to Richmond on a train.  I hid it from my engineer, but by the time I got to the hotel, I knew something was really wrong.  I called the train master to let him know what was going on and then called my husband who was thankfully working not to far away.  He carted me to the hospital where I learned I had pancreatitis and needed my gall bladder removed.  I was out of work for 7 weeks. During my off time my co- workers pulled a kitty together of close to $1,000.00 for me.  They do it for everyone who is off and I have thrown my money into a kitty before but I never knew what it meant to the person receiving it.  I was floored, and could not write thank you enough times on that thank you card I posted on the board.
     There are countless other times that I can recall where someone covered for someone else or helped out in one way or another.  This can be a tough job, sometimes physical, out in all weather and away from family and loved ones.  Most times we get along like most families, there are a few black sheep and we might yell and argue but at the end of the day, we let it go.  I have been fortune to have worked with great people in both the transportation department and the signal department and I am happy to consider these people my family.

Why do you work for the railroad?

     This is probably the question I get asked the most.  I get asked by other railroaders, by acquaintances, delivery drivers, and even an occasional relative.  When people ask me this I try not to get offended, even though some do mean it that way. Most though are just curious, I guess I don't fit into any one category. I take it as why does a girl who's favorite color is pink, who loves to wear killer heels and loves a mani/pedi work in a profession that requires not only hard work, but a fair amount of dirt and grime?  I have given a few different answers depending upon the person asking the question.  The simple, most honest answer is; because it pays well, has good benefits, and actually, most days I quite enjoy it. 
     No one is ever satisfied with this answer, so I will assume (perhaps incorrectly) that my readers won't be either.  The follow up question is usually something like, "don't you want to work in an office somewhere?" or "why don't you find a good man to take care of you?"  The answers are, No I don't want to work in an office, I have tried it and my boss would tell you that I did a good job but in her words "Don't sit her next to the window, she might jump out".  I enjoy the outdoors, I grew up as the only girl in the family and I hunted, fished and built forts with my brothers and cousins. I lived in the barn for half of the summers, and probably still would if I hit the lottery.  My nightmare is a cubicle.
     To the second follow up question, I do have a man that does take pretty darn good care of me, even on the days when I want to waffle him with the frying pan.  He takes care of the things any girl needs, to be loved, appreciated and to feel wanted and needed.  I try to do the same type of thing for him. Perhaps I am missing the point of being taken care of, but to me it feels much better when I don't have to ask for money or justify any of my purchases.  When I go to the tack shop (horsey store for the non horsey folks) and I see a pair of boots, or zebra striped wraps that I want, I purchase them.  I do not have to ask anyone for money, justify my purchases to anyone etc.  Sure if there is a major purchase then it is discussed between us,  but otherwise, he spends his money, I spend mine.  Working for the railroad gives me this freedom.
     Butttt you will get dirty! Yes I will get dirty, but they have these neat things called showers, and if I am really savvy, and use soap, the results are amazing! I have spent the majority of my life in the woods, in a barn or playing in a creek and I am still here today to tell the tail.  I did throw away the jeans I was wearing when I was waste deep in ditch water, but the railroad pays me well enough to afford some new jeans.
     So dear readers, the simple answer is probably pretty close to why any of us do the job we do.  It pays well, the benefits are good and I enjoy it most of the time. There is no magic answer, no sad story, just a girl that likes to play outside, but likes to play dress up once in a while to. 

     Ahh back at home.  This half was pretty short, and I am not complaining the next one will be 10 days long.  We got our truck back! I think that was really the most exciting thing that happened this week.  We have been working on our punch list to get ready for an upcoming cut in, so that means doing lots of little stuff.  We did a lot of running bond wire out to the tracks and foaming signal housing and junction boxes.  Here is a picture of one of my fellow employees shrinking the shrink tube on to the splice to insulate it and prevent grounding out.

 

 

     I do have to say we really do get to do a lot of pretty interesting things out here.  I have gotten the opportunity to run a backhoe, a boom truck and a shovel. (OK that last one isn't really that fun)  I am learning how the signals work and how to trouble shoot problems in the system.  One of the things that makes this job so interesting is that no two locations are exactly the same.  Here is a great "for instance" 

This is what we call "Coney Island" and it is at the beginning of a 2 mile long bridge.  The signal you see there is actually sitting on a cantilever upright.  The upright itself is about 20' high, and another 20' to the top of the signal.  You better not be afraid of heights if you do this job!  The other interesting part was the walk way.  Once we figured out how we were going to build it, then we had to make it accessible.  There is a matching one on the other track.  We are not the only ones involved in these decisions, our bosses come out and come up with some pretty good ideas themselves, but there are always changes or issues that come up as you work.  When we were installing the base of the cantilever for this signal first we had to make a road, then we dug up part of an old bridge!

     I have to add one more pic for all the rail fans out there, this is the triple stack in Richmond, VA.  There is one more set of tracks under the track with the grain cars.  I had to settle for two outta three ain't bad because there was no train on the bottom.  The top track is the C&O, the middle track is the SCL and the bottom track is NS.  I grabbed this picture as I was walking back from lunch, but couldn't get my phone out fast enough to catch the engine of the grain train.

     I will be home until Sunday, and then I will be headed for Hagerstown for safety certification. In my next post I will answer the most asked question, "Why do you work for the railroad?"

Thank You Sheehy Ford, or Not

     Ahhh back to work and it feels good.  As I mentioned in one of my previous posts we had a gate mech get knocked down in Newport News.  Someone had a bit to much to drink on New Years Eve and must have mistook the gates for the stripes in the road.  They are now in jail with a bill for a new gate mech, and we had the pleasure of fixing their mess.  Really, its not so bad, one little gate mech.... but it really went OK.  The gate mech part that is.
     You see, orders were to pick up our work truck, the one with the big walk in utility bed and almost ALL of our tools on it, and then head to Newport News.  I dropped this truck off at Sheehy Ford before the winter break for a recall notice on the turbo, an antifreeze smell and an alignment.  We got up there around 0745, walk in, sign the papers and the man says they will bring it around.  At 0815, my counterpart goes back in.  They tell him the battery is dead, they left the railroad radio on, it will be around in just a minute.  At 0930, I go back in, it went a little like this.

Me - Where is my truck

A Sheehy Employee - Umm well the manager asked me to convey to you that you may want to come
                                     back this afternoon.

Me - No, I need that truck now

A Sheehy Employee - OK well I will convey that to the manager
(enter manager)

Manager - Well it really just needs to charge up, we can't get the computer to wake up

Me - Put new batteries in it, I need that truck, now

Manager -  I can't just put new batteries in it, (the leasing company) turned us down for new batteries.

Me - Call them back, or I will put it on the foreman's credit card

     So after that lovely conversation he calls the leasing company back, while he is on hold he looks at the account.  Oh look at that the batteries are STILL UNDER WARRANTY!  I am not happy, but whats done is done.  OK put the new batteries in, our emergency dig ticket is good at 1100, it is 1000 now and we need to get our butts on the road.
     Anyone want to guess what happened at 1045?  That's right readers, they have the batteries in, but they STILL can not get it to start.  OK, I can't wait anymore, we grab some tools and head to News.  
Today we went and grabbed more tools, they are telling me now it will be Monday afternoon before it is ready. Apparently, the body control module is bad.  I have no idea what a body control module is, but they don't have one on hand and it will take them till Monday to get.   Folks we are talking about a truck that has been sitting in their lot for 3 weeks!

     I will have to work on remembering to take pictures to post on here. So my promise to you, is a few more pictures.  Sheehy's promise to me, a working truck on Monday.  Hopefully we all keep our promises.

Railroad Terminology

     Well I have made it to Richmond from my home across the state to start work tomorrow. I have already gotten a call about a gate mech that has been knocked down in Newport News, so I know what we will be working on tomorrow.
     Before I get into reporting on the ins and out of what I do everyday, I thought I should post some of the terminology that is unique to the railroad and specifically the signal department. I know that this is a short list, and I know I am missing a lot, so if I use a word or phrase that you don't understand please feel free to leave a question in the comments section.  I will try to make this more interesting than your average dictionary, but I make no promises.

Cut-in - as in: We have to have everything done by February for the cut-in.  A cut-in is when we turn all the old signals or crossings off and turn on and test the new ones.  Once they pass all of the operational tests, they are turned over to the transportation department and trains can run on them again.

Dark Territory - as in: There is no track circuit here because we are in dark territory.  Dark Territory is simply a section of track that has no signals on it. 

EC-1 - as in: I got an EC-1 from milepost 10 to milepost 12. An EC-1 is a form issued by the dispatcher, it gives the recipient exclusive occupancy of the track.

Fired - as in: Tom got fired for not wearing his safety glasses.  I know that sentence sounds just like getting fired at any normal job but here is the difference, when you get fired here, it means that you go home with out pay for 5 days or 15 days etc.  and then you come back,  Now if you get fired too many times, they can terminate you, which is the same as fired in every other job.

Gate Mech -as in: Some drunk hit the gate mech and knocked it over. The gate mech is the mechanical device that makes the crossing gates go up and down.

Half - as in: We got 20 hours overtime this half. Because we normally work 8, ten hour days and then have 6 days off, which equals 14 days, which is half a month. Therefore, a half is one work period, or half a month.

Megger/Meg - as in: We need to meg this cable before we put it in service. This is a wire insulation checker that we use.

Red block - as in: I have had to much to drink I better red block.  This one is probably exclusive to CSX, it is a program that means you can call in and tell your supervisor/crew management that you need to mark of red block and you will be marked off sick, no questions asked.  Do this more than 3 times a year and you can find yourself in trouble.  Use it once on a short call and you will be fine (ask me how I know)

Short Call- as in: I only got 6 hrs of sleep and got a short call.  This is generally a transportation term, but since I used to work as a conductor, and I used it in an explanation so I figured I better explain it.  A short call, is when a conductor or engineer gets called out with minimal rest between trips.

Shunt - as in: Put down a shunt to be sure the gates go down. A shunt is a wire that has the same resistance in it as a train. We use these to imitate a trains presence to test our systems and be sure they will work.

Terminal Wrench - as in: I need a terminal wrench to get this nut off. All of our terminals are one size and this wrench is standard issue for a signalman.

Terminated - as in: Tom got terminated for getting fired to many times. The same as fired in every other job.