Train Blockage Update
By Gene Bowles, Union
Pacific Liaison for SLPOA
The SLPOA board’s
actions to work with the Union Pacific railroad appear to be reducing the number
of blockages at the Soda Springs Road crossing.
On April 5th, I
received a report of a blockage from John Scott – the first in six months.
A train had blocked the crossing for operational reasons from about noon
to 12:45. Because I got the
information the same day (including two car numbers), I was able to communicate
it on a timely basis to Dave Bowler, manager of operating practices for the
Sparks to Roseville corridor.
Dave investigated the matter. Using the
car numbers, he identified and talked to the train crew, who remembered the
circumstances. The problem was caused by the actions of a dispatcher in Omaha.
The train was going east and he needed to stop it to allow a westbound train to
pass. The dispatcher controls where the train is stopped and should have stopped
it before our crossing, rather than in a position to block our crossing. Then he
held it up for two trains going west, not one.
When the dispatcher instructed the engineer on the train to wait for the second
train, the engineer communicated back that he was blocking the crossing -- which
he was not supposed to do for this amount of time. The engineer asked if he
should "break" the train at the crossing to allow traffic through. The
dispatcher advised him not to, because the second train would pass before he
could complete the separation process.
Dave Bowler personally got back to the
dispatcher (who was relatively new) to inform him of the situation up here and
to reinforce operating procedures for the summit. Moreover, Dave (who thought
that such operational blockages were very rare) now realizes that things are
happening that he doesn't know about. I think he now has a better appreciation
that such blockages do occur more frequently that he thought, and he will be
more diligent in communicating the proper procedures to all concerned in the
future. He thanked me for the information and encouraged me to get back to him
again if another incident occurred.
The Union Pacific does want to be a good neighbor. To this point, I have received three reports recently of
trains that were stopped on the summit for over 30 minutes -- and positioned
back from the crossing so as not to block it. I think we have their attention.
Please continue to report train blockages to me, per my original report, which
can be accessed by clicking here: Blockages