The Expanded Railroad Glossary Part 4 in Tales of the Jointed Track

• Dead Head....Nooo Noo not those dead heads. This is where you are transported to the home terminal or the away terminal via a railroad contract transportation. You could also ride the train to the destination called. They usually “rubber tired” you there. If going to Pueblo, there was a train in the yard or the hump awaiting your arrival. Train orders or track warrants were already on the desk.

• Going Dead: We are not actually going to die and leave the physical world. This means that we are about to meet our legal Hours of service time, which is 12 hours on duty.

• DOL: Dead on Law. That’s the service rule. You may or may not have made your destination. You will be relieved by a rescue crew if dead on the mainline or siding.

• HOS: Hours of service.. That is your duty time. It can be also be used interchangeably with DOL and Going dead.

• Dog Catch: You are the crew that is called to relieve a DOL or HOS crew. You will either make a live crew change with them somewhere out on the road. Or pick it up in a siding or where it has been tied down on the mainline. On the California end of the Santa Fe there were called “Patch Crews”.

• Helpers: These are a second or third set of locomotives, used to boost a train up the grade. They also can be used to help get a heavy train down the other side. A set of helpers cut into the train, is known at a swing helper. These can be “manned” helper sets or controlled by one engineer on the head end via DP or Distributive power.

A pair of UP C-44-AC’s swings easing downgrade at ROCKY siding. If you look above the second unit UP 6879. You can make out another DP consist two former Southern Pacific locomotives..C-440-AC’s as well. The consist was a DP 2x2x2 locomotive configuration, or since I never saw the head end 3X2X2. The coal probably originated from the Paonia / Sommerset mine area on the western slope

This is a manned helper on the Minturn-Tennessee Pass line. 10 GP-40’s!! but this is a 3 to 3.5% grade. Plus yeah 30,000 hp on four axles is great, but they will de-rate, and get into the “red”. Now excess power due to speed is not generating anymore tractive horse power, but heat. Heat is a killer for an electric motor.. regardless. Even though this is a winter scene, I’ll wager when they top the pass, and cut out at Pando, the traction motors are around 300 to 350 degrees F. If that was summer, I’d get a bunch of ground relay action.

• Distributive Power-DP: These are consists that are controlled by a radio signal, from the engineer on the lead consist. The process of “conditioning” the locomotives used in DP, is important, because not only do the units communicate via data radio, but through the brake pipe as well. I have a BNSF training video on VHS…if I can figure out how to get this in a video..it will explain a lot. So remember, if the rear consist crew is unfriendly and doesn’t wave!!… It is because there isn’t anyone back there.

Last updated September 05, 2014