Highballing With Flimsies: Working Under Train Orders on the Espee’s Coast Line

Details

• Creators:
  Gamst, F. C.
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Train operations
  • Freight cars
  • Procedures
  • Railroad traffic control
  • Case studies
• Resource Type:
  Research Paper
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  University of Pennsylvania
• Abstract:
  In classic timetable and train-order territory, the study focuses on several dimensions of train dispatchers' work, viewed through the other end of the telescope, i.e., from the perspective of the dispatched train crewmembers and others in the field. The monograph, comprising a micro-ethnographic case study, emphasizes the cognitive work tasks--including mental manipulations of changing information, logic of procedures, work interactions, and language used--on just one freight train trip. Railroaders' integrations and applications of circumstantially selected sets of operating rules for the movement of trains control the freight trip. More broadly, the study constitutes a railroad apprentice's instruction for and a layman's introduction to North American railroad operating work. Specifically, a demonstration of the safety-critical nature of the corpus of interrelated railroad operating rules provides the underlying framework of the case study.
• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/14463/dot_14463_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 201.36 KB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a7a58e48848b4411636c975f0376467984137e7fba530ca6414ab20f388d36a8633f1764b9de0fc1f362b19521bab8a48867e523f9448d1d9b10de1b16fad18b