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Most western railroads have helper districts in operation. The practice of cutting in helpers varys somewhat between RR's. Some cut in mid train, some on the rear depending on loads/mtys or car types, or tonage. Some practices call for placing the helper ahead of the road engine when total tonage is below a specified total. On the MRL this figure is 5000 tons. My question is, when the helper is placed on the point, does the road or helper crew operate the train. I expect most of the time both crews will be on board, as the helper crew will be cutting off at some point, to return to the base or meet their next shove. I am also curious of the differences between RR's.
[This message has been edited by JDRumley (edited 04-09-2001).]
Kruzn40 Member # 688
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On the BNSF(former Santa Fe)here in San Bernardino, CA the engineer on a point helper handles the air. We simply trainline the brake pipe and MU the throttle and dynamic brake control. That way the through engineer maintains control of his engine brake and there is no requirement to air test the consist.
JDRumley Member # 625
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Thanks for the info. I am curious if this is a common practice among most RRs, or their others.
[This message has been edited by JDRumley (edited 04-21-2001).]
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