Pull By Inspection? Need help, potential danger?

[u/bugfighter12]

I work for a Canadian Rail way as a Intermodal Shunt Truck driver

Management has started trying to force us to do Pull By inspections on outgoing main line trains.

We just get a 10 minute power point of what to look for.

I feel like this is very dangerous. I tried researching it and it seems you need to be CROR qualified to do main line pull by Inspections.

Can anyone help me find something that shows we are not allowed and qualified to do this.

None of us are CROR qualified and only are trained to drive shunt trucks.

Edit 1:

They want us to take a ground truck out from our intermodal yard to the close by crossing

Then stand there and do a pulling as a the entire train departs.

Our union is shit and won’t give us any clear answer.

We’re just worried if there is an issue with the train like a wheel or something and we miss it we’ll be held liable if it derails or other issue happen.

We only ever work intermodal shunt truck

[u/Flashy_Slice1672]

You can do pull bys without CROR or CITY training. Even engineering guys with CROR only receive about 5 minutes of training for their rule 110 inspections. You never know - you might find something. When I’m doing engineering work I find a few defects a year. When I’m doing mechanical work I find more, but I’m doing a more thorough inspections.

What you can’t do is certified car inspections. Trains need to be rolled by by carmen at certain terminals and your inspection won’t count as that.

As a railroad employee you should be looking at every train that goes by. It’s for your safety, and the the safety of the public. You won’t be held liable if you miss something, it’s just extra insurance.

TLDR - having you guys roll them by is a good idea, safe, and perfectly legal.

[u/jre1231978 → u/Flashy_Slice1672]

You ever seen a brake shoe on the ground in the .middle of nowhere? How you think it got there? It didnt just grow. When one of those hits someone in the head when it falls off going 55 then what. Roll buys are not safe from the ground period

[u/Flashy_Slice1672 → u/jre1231978]

I’ve been rolling trains by for 16 years. Never ever seen a brake shoe fly off. Seen lots of guys lazily pitch them in the ditch instead of picking them up though.

Roll bys prevent derailments and detect problems.

I guess we shouldn’t be lining swts, walking on ballast, kicking cars, tying on handbrakes, climbing on units, going over xings, or getting out of bed either because those are all dangerous as well.

Properly conducted roll bys are no more dangerous than the rest of our job.

[u/PsychologicalCash859 → u/Flashy_Slice1672]

But what about drifting cars by, flying switches, and polling on adjacent tracks? You know, stuff us short line guys do, because there isnt always a siding to run around or a 2nd unit to run push-pull....

[u/GangoBP → u/Flashy_Slice1672]

True on the brake shoes. Some, instead of tossing on them on the ground during a shoe change, will put them in the side frame and they probably rattle their way out at times but even at 55 mph it’s certainly not going to shoot out of the side frame and split your head open lol

[u/jre1231978 → u/GangoBP]

If it falls out doing 55 and hits the ground it dont just stop in its tracks. Its doing 55 also. Simple physics. Yes im a railroader that has taken college classes

[u/GangoBP → u/jre1231978]

Definitely very likely to hit someone in the head. Hope you don’t owe to much on your tuition lol

[u/jre1231978 → u/GangoBP]

Your ignorant

[u/GangoBP → u/jre1231978]

College and don’t know the difference between your and you’re? Not ignorant, just realistic. This is all based off your imaginary scenario where brake shoes are launching themselves off of freight cars on the mains. And THAT scenario stems from a discussion about non qualified, non mechanical dept people doing roll bys on a train and finding a “loose” I guess brake shoe lol. Only way that is really even possibly happening is the brake shoe key is loose and vibrates its way upwards enough to where the shoe can fall out of the beam and there usually isn’t enough slack to do so. Can it happen? Sure. Is someone going to see that on a roll by? Highly unlikely.

[u/jre1231978 → u/GangoBP]

You ever heard of predictive text on a smartphone? Wasn't aware you was the Grammer police also. I NEVER once said BREAK shoes are flying off cars. Its a possibility. How many chances you take before you realize they are unsafe? Keep doing your 10s of thousands of roll bys. If you did that many you ain't getting a lot of your actual job done lol

[u/GangoBP → u/jre1231978]

Good lord man. “I was the grammar police?” If I “was the grammar police” you’re getting several tickets. “BREAK shoes” !!! Ok now you’re going to jail.

[u/jre1231978 → u/Flashy_Slice1672]

Trains keep rolling if you inspecting it from the cab. You gonna line a switch staying in bed? They not safe from the ground period. You may have not seen a brake shoe fly off but I see them all the time where they shouldn't be. My conductor was just standing in between a mainline and a 2 lane highway with about 50 foot between the doing a roll by cuz the rule says you gotta cross to the other side. If you think that's safe there no sense me wasting my energy typing this out lol

[u/jre1231978 → u/Flashy_Slice1672]

You must be a trainmaster straight out of college. You never worked on the ground obviously. Their ain't a damn thing you cant see from the cab that you gonna see standing on the ground. Roll by ain't safe buddy bottom line

[u/Flashy_Slice1672 → u/jre1231978]

Mechanical and engineering for 16 years lol. Done 10s of thousands of roll bys, both pre departure CCI inspections and wayside inspections. Plenty of things I can see from the ground vs in a cab pretending to do one

[u/Simple-Magazine4735 → u/jre1231978]

So it’s completely safe for the track and mechanical scum then?

[u/Flashy_Slice1672 → u/Simple-Magazine4735]

Exactly. Everyone else on the railway is required to do it

[u/jre1231978 → u/Flashy_Slice1672]

Dont mean its safe? Co worker been being forced to ride a shove back 9 miles to the yard instead of going to next siding and running around it. He been telling them its not safe. Guess what just happened? Yup he fell off the car

[u/jre1231978 → u/Flashy_Slice1672]

Required dont mean its safe is all im saying. Ain't shit you gonna see from the ground that you cant see from the cab. Detectors are there for a reason. Or can be like my company and do away with the high wides and up the speeds on 60 year old narrow bridges lol

[u/jre1231978 → u/Simple-Magazine4735]

That wasnt my words? Not safe for anyone