Prototype Railroading: Winter versus Summer

As I begin to write, the snow is falling past the window, as it has been doing most of the afternoon.  It is nice to be home, in a warm living room, with only minimal responsibility, but I know the railroad will want me later tonight.  Depending when it stops snowing, and how much is on the ground when they want me, it could make for an interesting night.  Winter railroading is a bit different than summer railroading, besides the obvious temperature difference between the two seasons. Colder temperatures make the same tasks more difficult, and that can lead to a whole new set of challenges on even a normal day.

One of the most regularly noticeable differences in the winter is the fact that it seems like it is always dark out.  Even when I get called to work in the morning, it seems that some part of my day happens during the hours of darkness.  And if there is any switching to be done, my luck usually has it that it does not get done before the sun goes down.  The darkness makes it harder to see, especially if it is snowing, and it means there is nowhere particularly warmer to stand while waiting for something to happen.  At least during a cold day, you can stand in the sun to make a joint!

Compressed air tends to act differently in colder temperatures.  If the air pressure is lost in a train for whatever reason, it will take longer to recover it in colder weather.  The colder it gets, the longer it takes.  On a hot summer day, it only takes a few minutes to recover the air pressure, even in a long train.  On a cold winter day, which around here can have a high of -30, it could take up to a couple of hours to recover the pressure.  Sometimes a little extra planning is required to avoid that delay.  For example, many of our trains, when they arrive in Glendive, have to have the locomotives fueled or serviced.  Rather than lose the air pressure completely, three of the yard tracks have a compressed air line that comes out of the ground, and that can be connected to the air hose when the locomotives are removed.  In the summer, before coupling locomotives on, we would simply remove the air hose and let all the air escape from the train.  In the winter, we couple to the train first, and then close the angle cock, which keeps the pressure in the train.  Once the angle cock is closed, we disconnect the yard air hose, and connect the hoses between the first car and locomotive.  This way the cars will have about 60lbs of pressure in them, and the locomotives will not have to pump them up from nothing.  For you purists out there, this is "bottling the air," but if you read the rules carefully, it is only not permitted when a locomotive is not coupled to the cars.

As temperatures get to new lows, especially at night, we are finding that broken rails are not such an unusual problem.  Most rails are laid and welded together in the summer, when it is warm.  As the temperature gets lower, the steel contracts.  If it gets cold enough, the steel will contract enough to pull the rail apart.  Usually this is obvious because we get a red signal entering the block with the broken rail.  If it is not an absolute signal, we may stop and proceed at restricted speed.  When we operate under restricted speed, one of the things we have to watch for is broken rail.  If we find what we think may be a broken rail, we report it to the dispatcher.  Usually it is noticeable because it is a bump much larger than any normal rail joint.  Usually we will operate over it, unless we can stop easily before it.  Usually it is hard to see though, because the rail ends stay lined up and the gap is fairly small.  Generally maintenance does not want trains making a sudden stop on or near a broken rail, because that puts a lot of strain on the rail and may shift it out of position, which makes it a bigger project to fix.

Snow is one thing I found a little strange at first.  Since trains are on rails and really do not run the chance of spinning off the road the way cars do, typically most engineers do not reduce speed much, or at all, even if visibility is limited in a snowstorm.  As long as they can see the block signals for a second before the train goes past them, most engineers will operate at track speed.  This is also true in fog, but for some reason, I find it a little more surprising in snow.  It is a weird feeling to sit up front during your first snowstorm, and not be able to see anything coming at you besides snowflakes.  After a snowstorm has passed, sometimes trains are forced to slow down to see the block signals.  The snow can pile up in front of the actual signal, making it difficult to see at a distance, especially if it happens during the day.  When this happens, signals tend to appear much farther away than they actually are, because the light shining through the snow is dimmed considerably.  Apparently they do not get hot enough to melt the snow off of them.  In extreme cases, the train has to be stopped at each signal so the conductor can climb up the signal mast and brush the snow off.

Of course, there are many other things that make winter different.  The number of slipping and tripping hazards goes up dramatically.  Engines tend to not pull quite as hard in the cold.  Trains can be delayed by any number of things that simply do not exist in the summer.  Everything seems to take longer in the snow, so what should be a quick, easy task, such as a set out or pick up, feel like they take three times as long to get done.  My grip has gotten heavier as I have had to pack warmer clothes.  You always have to plan ahead.  Even a moderate day can lead to a very cold night, so I have to think about when I will be getting off work.  It might be nice out at noon, when I go in, but it could be pretty cold out by the time I get off, which could be as late as midnight.