Unit 1Introduction to the Railroad Industry

Objective

Describe how a typical railroad company is organized and the function of each of its major departments.

Objective

Describe how to communicate with a railroad company and its employees.

Typical railroad administrative organization

President

Administrative Legal Marketing Operations

Information

Public Relations

Purchasing

Claims

Legal

Engineering

Mechanical

Transportation

Operations Department

Vice President or General Manager Operations

Assistant V.P. or Assistant General Manager

Engineering

Assistant V.P. orAssistant General Manager

Mechanical

Assistant V.P. or Assistant General Manager

Transportation

Engineering Department

VICE PRESIDENT OR GENERAL MANAGEREngineering

ASSISTANT V.P. OR ASSISTANT GENERAL

MANAGER ENGINEERING

ASSISTANT V.P. ORASSISTANT GENERAL

MANAGERSIGNAL

ASSITANT V.P. ORASSITANT GENERAL

MANAGERSTRUCTURE

REGIONAL ENGINEER (s)

DIVISION ENGINEER (s)

ROAD MASTER (s)

SECTION FOREMAN (s)

SECTION CREW (s)

Mechanical

• Headed by an Assistant V.P. or Assistant General Manager Mechanical

• Responsible for maintenance and repair of all railroad rolling stock..

• Person in charge may be the Superintendent of Motive Power or Assistant General Manager of Locomotive Maintenance.

• Shop Superintendent or General Foremen schedule and supervise maintenance of the railroad rolling stock.

Transportation

• Headed by an Assistant V.P. or Assistant General Manager Transportation.

• Schedules and monitors rolling stock and train movement.

• Dispatchers, Train Masters and Traveling Engineers all work in this department.

Job titles of train crew

Conductor is in charge of the train

Locomotive Engineer is in charge of the locomotive

Brakeman is subordinate to the Conductor and Locomotive Engineer

Railroad Police Department

Communicating with a railroad company and its’ employees

Who to contact

• Section Crew• Road Master• Train Master• Dispatchers• Mechanical

Foreman• Signal Crew• Train Crews

• Regional or District Engineer

• Regional or District Transportation Supervisor

• Regional or District Mechanical Supervisor

• Claims

Railroad Contacts•Personal visits with railroad employees•Telephone calls addressing railroad issues•Letters•Local / Division / Regional meetings between cooperative agencies and railroads

Follow up in writing where necessaryKeep communications ongoing and open

Review

What are the three major functions of the operations portion of a railroad?

Review

Which function is responsible for the control of train movement from point A to point B?

a. Dispatchb. Train masterc. Section crew

Review

If you needed help moving firefighters and equipment to a remote location on the track, who would you contact?

a. Railroad Dispatchb. Road masterc. Division Engineer

Review

If you investigated a fire on the railroad right of way, and found that it was not the result of any train movement or maintenance activity, who should you have railroad dispatch notify?

a. Mechanicalb. Railroad policec. Section crew

Summary

• Railroad organization varies from the simple to the very complex.

• Successful interaction with a railroad requires you understand the railroad organization.

• Successful communication and cooperation with a railroad begins before the fire starts.

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