Devon Parsons.com

Day Two

The number one rule--ask anyone--on the railroad is SAFETY. Safety, safety, safety. It couldn't be more true. Railroaders in all departments interact with machinery that could seriously or fatally injure you. Just look at the FEC's slogan: "Moving America Safely and Efficiently." See the emphasis on safety? Railroads have always been dangerous places, but in modern times more safety practices and implementations of the Federal Railroad Administration (much like the FAA for railroads) have drastically improved railroad safety.

To start my day, I reported to a local hotel to observe a safety class for roadway workers, basically individuals who work on and maintain the track. Thanks to my experience with the Florida Gulf Coast Railroad, I know the general safety rule and how vital they are to survival in the railroad environment. Yet always ready to learn, I stepped into the hotel conference room with an eagerness to learn. I did get a few curious stares as to why I was there, but any 19 year old in the railroad enviroment will certainly be a point of interest.

I took in the safety presentation and the procedures that FEC goes through to be one of the safest railroads it can. Around 10AM I met Mr. Burnet, a track supervisor for the Florida East Coast Railway. He would take me on my hi-rail experience for the afternoon.

What is hi-rail you ask? Well it's a combination of the words highway and rail. It's a vehicle, usually a truck, that is certified to operate on both the road and tracks. They have railroad wheels that are operated by hydralics which lower onto the tracks and raise the vehicle above the rails. No need for that steering wheel anymore! (If you're wondering, it gets locked into place one the rail wheels are lowered.)

Mr. Burnet met me at the hotel and we headed out to the parking lot where we climbed inside the hi-rail truck. The agenda for the day took us down to Bunnell, Florida via Interstate 95 where we would get on the tracks and ride the rails in the truck back north to Jacksonville.

We had a wonderful conversation on the drive down. Most of the guys I met had been with the FEC their entire lives and couldn't say enough good things about the company and the business they are in. They take great pride in their work, and Mr. Burnet was very eager to show off his pride and joy--the trackwork he supervises on a daily basis to keep the FEC in tip-top shape for its freight trains.

After stopping for lunch in Bunnell, we headed down a sidestreet and approched a crossing. After recieving permission from the railroad dispatcher through the computer, Mr. Burnet lined the truck up parallel to the tracks, blocking the crossing, and lowered the railroad wheels on the truck.

At this point, the expression of the people's faces in the cars around us was hysterical. It's definately something you don't see every day.

The wheels were lowered, steering wheel locked, step on the gas, and off we go at 30mph down the tracks. Note that we had to stop at every crossing for traffic. Although we technically have the right of way being on the tracks. Mr. Burnet didn't want to bother with the device that signals the crossing gates to lower.

We traversed the line, and the day was beautiful. We had to pull over into a siding a few times to let freights pass us. The FEC is a single track railroad, so when equipment going northbound has to pass something going southbound, one has to wait in a sidetrack, which are automatically controlled by dispatchers at FEC headquarters.

The FEC hi-rail truck, on a siding waiting for southbound Train 101 to pass.

We finally reached Jacksonville a few hours later, and reversed the process of putting the wheels up to become roadworthy again. Back to the hotel we went, I thanked Mr. Burnet, and was back in my car (that Accord that, unfortunately, doesn't have railroad capabilities. I was going to upgrade the stereo... but maybe railroad wheels will be more practical?) The week was just getting better and better.