DevonParsons.com

Day Four

Today was Operations Department. If you know me, you know operations has always caught my interest, so it only makes sense that today was one of the most memorable days of the week. Even better? I GOT TO SLEEP IN!

That's right. I mentioned earlier that the FEC is a scheduled railroad, so the trains tend to run on time I think 98% of the time. My train I was scheduled to ride on was called a "meet me" train that departed Bowden Yard in Jacksonville at 1PM. It's called a meet me train because it heads southbound for Miami, meeting the northbound train halfway so the crews can swap trains--so at the end of the day the crew ends up where they started at their home base. It's a full10 hour day. Train 101 is the "hotshot" intermodal train bound for Miami. Why so high priority? It's UPS traffic, and they have an exclusive contract that their cargo has to be in Miami in 8 hours. That means no stops, save for the train meet with Train 202 northbound, 101's counterpart bringing empty loads back to Jacksonville.

I arrived at Bowden yard slighly after noon, hyped up on Dunkin Donuts and ready for the full day. Nearing the yard office, I got some stares. One gentlemen noted, "How old are you?" I said 19. He replied, "Why should I talk to you? I have two grandchildren older than you." And it showed the realm I was dealing with, where seniority is everything. Yet I just smiled, and headed up to the yard office where I met Joe the engineer and Ron the conductor for the day.

Joe and Ron have both been with the FEC since right out of high school, and have over 80 years combined experience. I felt honored to ride-along with them, and I knew it was going to be a day of excellent conversation. They were surprised, as they had never had a student rider before, but were certainly eager to share anything and everything.

Standing in the yard office, I could see all of Bowden yard, and it was pretty impressive. The three units on our train were ready to go, but word got out that maintance was inspecting the train and found a bad flatbed trailer car with a UPS flat on it. That means the train would have to be switched so the broken car could be flagged for the shop, and the UPS freight put onto another car. The delay cost 45 minutes, but Joe was certain we could make it up in route because we had an extra locomotive. Our lead locomotive for the trip south was FEC #707, an ex-Union Pacific SD40-2 locomotive, left in her original armor yellow paint scheme with the FEC logo added. I was told I was in for a treat, the locomotive on Train 202 that we would meet was one of the new SD70-M locomotives in FEC paint. [Since the acquisition, RailAmerica has begun repainting the units red, white, and blue.] The SD70 units are ultra modern, with computerized displays, quiet cabs, and very, very comfortable seats. And after sitting in one for a day, I can tell you there is quite a difference.

We left Bowden and enjoyed the trip south, eagerly talking with Ron and Joe about anything and everything. These men had wonderful insight on the industry which I definately took to heart. The scenery on top of that was BEAUTIFUL, especially near Cape Canaveral where we were right next to the water. (And the Restricted Area for the NASA spur track from the mainline.)

Our train was over 10,000 feet of loaded containers, with everything from Publix produce to IKEA furniture to, mainly, United Parcel Service cargo. We maintained about 60 mph the entire trip save for a few curves with speed restrictions. I also learned how the Flashing Rear End Device worked from the locomotive cab, and how it could be used to trace distances, etc., since you can't really see the back of a two mile long freight train.

Our train made good time, and we got all the way to Melbourne where we met Train 202, pulling the locomotive windows right next to eachother so all of our gear could be transferred between the two crews. While we were stopped, I didn't even want to think about the unlucky motorists trapped by our train behind us, and additionally the other train and the crossings it was blocking. Well, they should have taken the train!

Ron played a joke a pretended that I was an Federal Railroad Administration inspector with the crew of the northbound, and they bought it for a few minutes. After the laughs and quick conversation was over, each train asked for clearance, and we were on our way.

On our way in a different world. The SD70 at the head of the 6,000 feet long Train 202 was a wonderful locomotive from the cab perspective. Very cushy, and once again on the ride back to Jacksonville I taked with Ron quite extensively about anything and everything. That's what you do to pass the time.

And while the day didn't entail any problems, we were lucky. We didn't have to walk the train for a broken axel or anything of the sort. But it does happen. We pulled into Bowden yard at about 10:30PM, just ahead of schedule. The train was cut, and the locomotives headed toward the engine barn. I thanked my hosts, and headed back to the car.

Thursday showed me more than I could soak in. However, it confirmed my aspirations of career choice. I'll never forget when we stepped into the cab of the locomotive and Ron said,

"Welcome to my office."

That about sums it up, my first time down the east coast of Florida and it was on a train. Not bad, not bad at all.