Monday, May 19, 2025
I got called for the Z LACNYC, which goes from Los Angeles to New York City. We went to Winslow. It was smoking trip- 6 and a half hours. Really good for a trip to winslow. I got in around midnight, got up for the free breakfast at 6 am, and they were behind. A bunch of us railroaders were in there waiting for the free breakfast. They finally came out and served it -with no apology.
I went back to bed, slept for several more hours, and got up around 2 pm. I got called for the "WINKING," which is built in Winslow and goes to Kingman (it actually goes to Nelson, an industry east of Kingman). On duty time was 8:30 pm Mountain time. When I got to the depot the trainmaster said that we would have to take the power out of the roundhouse and hook it onto our train, which was in track 17, and do the Class I Air Brake Test. There was no herder on duty. My engineer and I would have to do everything our own. Keep in mind, I don't know the Winslow Yard that well. My engineer and I walked out to the roundhouse and our power wasn't there. We went back and the train master said it was on the "west end" of the roundhouse and we would have to take the van. We got in the van. I grabbed an ETD. We were lucky that we had a van driver who knew what he was doing He took us to our power and we asked him to wait for us at the east end of track 17. I briefed with my engineer. Neither one of us were sure how to get to track 17 from the roundhouse. We would have to figure it out. I dropped the derail and lined a couple of switches. We went ahead. My engineer said, "After we go over this swtcth throw it back and we'll start shoving."
After he went over the switch I threw it back and positioned myself on the steps. I guided the shove back. We were shoving into the yard. After went went over one switch my engineer said, "I'm going to pull ahead, I think we need to throw that switch. So we did so. I continued shoving us back and I eventually saw the van waiting by a cut of cars in what should have been track 17. We were in the right track. I checked the # of the first car. It matched the # of the first car on my list of cars. I guided my engineer back to a hook, laced the hoses, and cut the air in. There were no handbrakes at the east end. I had the van run me to the rear of the cut, checking my list of cars as we went back. They were all there. I tried to hang the ETD, but the hose on the last car was too short. I had never run into that problem before. I tried placing the ETD n the ground and lacing the hose first. I couldn't get it to lace. The gladhand on the car looked pretty chewed up. I called for responder. Two men in a pickup truck showed up. Somehow they got the hose laced and mounted the ETD. I thanked them, activated the ETD, did the two way, and released about 6 handbrakes at that end. I had my engineer do a 20 pound set and had the van run me to the head of the train- checking the pistons as we went. They were all out at least 6 inches. I went up to the cab and briefed with my engineer. He said he would pull up to the signal while I watched the train roll by and made sure all of the brakes were released. I got in the van and watched aas the train rolled by. All of the wheels on the cars were rolling freely. The van ran me to the head of my train, I got on and we departed. We were limited to 55, and we didn't have a lot of power.
We got to Nelson around 5 am Mountain time. A trainmaster had sent us a note saying that if all of the cars did not fit in track 4601 (the main track at Nelson) we should put the remainder in track 4608. My engineer found a track chart of Nelson and said that our whole train should just fit in track 4601. When we got to Nelson I threw the switch and dropped the derail. I had another switch to throw too. But, where was our van? I didn't want to walk to the head of our train. The van showed up just then. Perfect timing. He ran me to the head of my train. I tied 10 brakes and we did a release test. The train didn't budge. My engineer and I gathered up our gear and got in the van. He would take us to Needles. It had been a long night and I was tired.
I tied up in Needles at 8:15 Mountain Time. I got some overtime and some held away. I am now on my rest cycle. I have attached a picture of our leader on the Z NYCLAC- the 8191.
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