which engine 464 proceeds as Second 87 and requires that it be regarded
simply as though it were regular No. 87 and were running 30 minutes late.
4.8.
WORK TRAINS AND WORK EXTRAS
Trains hauling work gangs and their tools and equipment to perform
maintenance and construction work along the right-of-way are called work
trains. They have a regular train crew in addition to the maintenance or
construction workers; however, this text deals only with the train crew.
Work trains must give way to other trains as promptly as practicable. In
emergencies, however, it may be necessary to make them superior to other
trains and, sometimes, to all trains.
Paragraph 5.19c explains this
further. An example would be a wreck train that must clear the right-of-way
before any train could move. The following subparagraphs discuss operations
involved in using work trains.
a. Protecting. A train is said to "protect" when the crew stations a
flagman sufficiently ahead or to the rear to stop any approaching train that
might otherwise collide with the stationary one.
Since work trains are
nearly always stationary, it is most practical to have them protect
themselves against all trains.
They generally locate where they are
reasonably close to a siding so that they can enter it to clear the main
track when another train approaches. The work train's conductor sees that
his train clears all regular trains, as specified by rules 86 and S-87.
When a wayside dispatcher telephone is near, the conductor maintains almost
constant contact with the dispatcher on the whereabouts of extras and knows
when to take siding. The work train has a flagman who must flag the main
track while the work train is occupying it; he is relieved from flagging
only when his train clears the main. He is advised of this clearance by the
engineer's sounding the appropriate number of blasts on the locomotive
whistle, discussed in subparagraph e.
b. Work train orders.
When a work train must move back and forth
frequently for the work crew to get the job done, it is impractical to have
the flagman walk ahead of the train. The dispatcher, knowing the kind of
work being done and the extras moving in the area, attempts to issue an
order that permits the work train to move unhampered. If, for instance, no
extra is to arrive at the work limits before 1001 hours, the dispatcher
would issue a train order that permits the maintenance men to carry out
their tasks without protecting against extras until that time.
Such an
order might read: "Engine 325 Works Extra 0701 Hours Until 1501 Hours
Between RK and WD Not Protecting Against Extra Trains Until 1001 Hours."
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