What does Amtrak do with large quantities of chainsaws?

[walker46]

Not a surprise Amtrak has a crook on the payroll, every company has a few bad apples. But I'm puzzled. Read this article about an employee selling Amtrak's chainsaws. What I can't figure out is why does Amtrak have a big stash of chainsaws? Anybody know?

AP news article: amtrak-worker-accused-stealing-77-chain-saws

 

[Steve4031]

I was on the CZ several years ago when we were delayed because trees had been blown over on the tracks by a storm. I heard on the scanner that the conductor used a chain saw to cut the trees so they could be moved. Delay was three hours.

 

[Seaboard92]

Just imagine how many they need to maintain the NEC with all of the wires, and their own row. Trees fall and need to be cleared.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I doubt he stole them all at the same time, so many of them might have been ones to replace previously stolen saws.
Plus, as noted above, each train probably as one on board to clear the tracks of downed trees & branches.

 

[Steve4031]

It was AlanB who was traveling with us at the time and he had his scanner on and relayed the information to us the next morning. I should have been clearer in my earlier post on how I got the information. Alan noted that this was not necessarily the conductor's responsibility. But that this particular conductor had gone beyond the call of duty to clear the tracks so we could proceed. i was happily snoring away in my roomette as this drama unfolded. But in my experience Alan usually had a balanced perspective of what was going on.

 

[NS VIA Fan]

On the roof of passenger cars in Canada and I imagine it's the same in the US........locations are marked where the roof panels can be cut for an emergency escape. Those locations even have a chain-saw symbol. Usually it would be a first-responder doing the cutting but I wonder if a chain-saw is carried on board for use by the crew? (photo below is from a TSB Report)





I don't have an GO Bi-level roof photo.....but here's my model that shows roof cutting locations.

 

[MARC Rider]

Just imagine how many they need to maintain the NEC with all of the wires, and their own row. Trees fall and need to be cleared.

Definitely on the NEC. When I started riding between Baltimore and Washington in the early 2000s, there was all kinds of brush growing right up to the tracks. I remember arriving at Union Station one evening after work and finding the whole NEC shut down because somewhere up the line the wind blew a tree branch on to the catenary. People just kept pouring into the station from the Metro and nobody was leaving. Fortunately, the crowd was very well-behaved. I connected with a few other commuters who rode the same train every day and vaguely recognized each other. We ended up going out front and taking a taxi (for $75) from Union Station to the BWI rail station, where there was a MARC train waiting that took us up to Baltimore. I got home several hours late, as you can imagine.

A few years after that, there was a big push by Amtrak to clear out all the trackside bushes and trees. I don't know whether they used contractors or their own people (and chainsaws.)

 

[TrackWalker]

Cutting downed/semi-downed trees blocking the ROW on a dark stormy night with a chainsaw is NOT fun.

They rarely fall on nice bright sunny days.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

It was AlanB who was traveling with us at the time and he had his scanner on and relayed the information to us the next morning. I should have been clearer in my earlier post on how I got the information. Alan noted that this was not necessarily the conductor's responsibility. But that this particular conductor had gone beyond the call of duty to clear the tracks so we could proceed. i was happily snoring away in my roomette as this drama unfolded. But in my experience Alan usually had a balanced perspective of what was going on.

I can assure you that if the conductor refused to help the engine crew he would not be popular!!!! (I used to be a conductor on a tourist railroad that also carried a chainsaw on all trips for downed trees... trust me... it’s part of the job! Haha).

 

[Steve4031]

I certainly didn’t mean to imply that some conductors might refuse and some might not. I had never thought about this until that trip. I assumed(incorrectly) that track crews would do this rather than the operating crew. Now that I’ve thought about it, waiting for someone else to do it Word’s hours to the delay.

 

[RebelRider]

I doubt he stole them all at the same time, so many of them might have been ones to replace previously stolen saws.
Plus, as noted above, each train probably as one on board to clear the tracks of downed trees & branches.

We don't have chainsaws onboard trains, just radios and phones to call the people with the chainsaws.

 

[TinCan782]

Just imagine how many they need to maintain the NEC with all of the wires, and their own row. Trees fall and need to be cleared.

Cutting downed trees when around/tangled with wires (catenary?) doesn't seem to be particularly safe!

 

[gwolfdog]

We don't have chainsaws onboard trains, just radios and phones to call the people with the chainsaws.

A result of the Massacre in Texas?

 

[OBS]

Cutting downed trees when around/tangled with wires (catenary?) doesn't seem to be particularly safe!

This is why train crews are forbidden to get involved in clearing the mess.

 

[me_little_me]

I know what Amtrak management does with the chainsaws:

• They chop employees from the payroll
• They cut employees working hours
• They cleave amenities as much as possible
• They hack away at the schedule
• They whack the whole idea of dining
• They thin the running fleet of cars and engines
• They clip their customers
• They mince their brains
• They sever the system
• They truncate the long distance trains

I'm sure others can come up with more.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

We don't have chainsaws onboard trains, just radios and phones to call the people with the chainsaws.

Who’s we?

 

[Steve4031]

A result of the Massacre in Texas?

The Texas Eagle Chainsaw Massacre: what happens when some one is subjected to days of flex dining. Mounting anger until SOMEthing has to happen.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Who’s we?

Amtrak

 

[crescent-zephyr]

Amtrak

Oh sorry... haha. Didn’t realize you worked for Amtrak. I worked for a shortline and we always carried chainsaws so I just assumed Amtrak / mainlines did as well.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Oh sorry... haha. Didn’t realize you worked for Amtrak. I worked for a shortline and we always carried chainsaws so I just assumed Amtrak / mainlines did as well.

I don’t work for Amtrak but I know that some posters here do.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

I don’t work for Amtrak but I know that some posters here do.

Ok... maybe let them speak for themselves them

 

[RebelRider]

Who’s we?

Amtrak.

 

[TheVig]

I know what Amtrak management does with the chainsaws:

• They chop employees from the payroll
• They cut employees working hours
• They cleave amenities as much as possible
• They hack away at the schedule
• They whack the whole idea of dining
• They thin the running fleet of cars and engines
• They clip their customers
• They mince their brains
• They sever the system
• They truncate the long distance trains

I'm sure others can come up with more.

This might not be a bad thing. There are some customers I don't even wish On Greyhound, much less Amtrak.

 

[John Bobinyec]

Right here (in NC) we are chockablock with loblolly pines which can grow to 100 feet or so. Despite NS and CSX trying to keep the rights of way clear, when a strong storm comes along (we do get tornadoes) trees end up on the right of way, even though they were growing from a point off the right of way. So, we believe all Amtrak trains should carry chainsaws.

jb