Why must conductors,point to that striped board on the train platform?

[ac1962]

Just curious,why must conductors point at that striped board on the train platform? Is it true that if they don't do it,they get wrote up?

[PATCOman]

They are acknowledging the board which means that the train is fully berthed in the station and it is safe to open the doors.

 

And yes you can get written up or taken out of service if you don't point or if you open the doors with a missing board.

[ac1962]

they are acknowledging the board which means that the train is fully berthed in the station and it is safe to open the doors.

 

And yes you can get written up or taken out of service if you don't point or if you open the doors with a missing board.

 

damn.that's strict!

[Amtrak7]

Pointing and calling

[INDman]

damn.that's strict!

 

No, thats enforcing safety.

[slantr40]

It is definitely a safety feature. I've seen it in use on commercial flight decks as well. Example: air traffic control issues a new vector, the first officer changes the autopilot, and points to the change, but does not yet hit the confirm button. Captain must also point to it to acknowledge the change before they press the confirm button on the autopilot.

[TriboroughBridge]

They are acknowledging the board which means that the train is fully berthed in the station and it is safe to open the doors.

 

There are plenty of times, when I'm on a train & when it comes to a stop & jerks a little, the train doors quickly open, literary as the train stops the doors open simultaneously, it's scares me every time. :eek:

[pjbr40]

i think this policy got implemented ever since the 14 street crash on the Lexington Line. I remember reading all the articles about this and the conductor said sometime that engineer over shot the stop point. I am not sure if this was earlier then this. i never saw this when i was a kids(70 , 80 era). So by pointing to the stripped board, they are definitely know for sure all subway coaches are in the station in proper place.

[Nova RTS 9147]

i think this policy got implemented ever since the 14 street crash on the Lexington Line. I remember reading all the articles about this and the conductor said sometime that engineer over shot the stop point. I am not sure if this was earlier then this. i never saw this when i was a kids(70 , 80 era). So by pointing to the stripped board, they are definitely know for sure all subway coaches are in the station in proper place.

 

The policy had nothing to do with the Union Square accident. This link will let you know what happened, I don't feel like typing the incident out.

 

damn.that's strict!

 

Yea, apparently the takes not having passengers roam the tunnel/falling off the el structures very seriously.

[azspeedbullet]

how does the TO know the conductor pointed to the board?

[Dan05979]

There are times also where supervisors will take down the board or cover it just to see what the conductor will do. Conductors are supposed to communicate with the T/o make sure he made a proper station stop, then call control and let them know the board is "missing"....Faliure to do so will resort in a write up, or taken out of service.

[SubwayGuy]

damn.that's strict!

 

As it should be. If a train opens its doors and is not fully in a station, people can get hurt or even killed.

[SubwayGuy]

Union Sq had nothing to do with conductor's boards.

 

The ONLY thing it had to with a conductor was that the conductor should have taken the train operator out of service after what happened earlier in the run. That train operator should have never been operating a customer service train, especially considering he was overspeeding a lot and had overrun other station platforms.

[Eric B]

I remember it being a spate of wrong side or out of the station openings in the 90's, and then they instituted that, copying from Japan, where the salute the board, or whatever it is.

[INDman]

I remember it being a spate of wrong side or out of the station openings in the 90's, and then they instituted that, copying from Japan, where the salute the board, or whatever it is.

 

They have had C/R boards since the at least the 70's, do you mean that the pointing is relatively new?

[Eric B]

Yes, we're talking about pointing. That was added in the 90's.

[SubwayGuy]

I remember it being a spate of wrong side or out of the station openings in the 90's, and then they instituted that, copying from Japan, where the salute the board, or whatever it is.

 

Yeah, I remember seeing one as a kid at 77th St on Lex with a redbird. Luckily no one was hurt. It was brief, but wow.

[FriedChikkin]

Acknowledging The Board is relatively new and if supervision decides to act upon a Conductor not being compliant it is recognition of his performing an unsafe act and he will be removed from service, have to most likely go for Incident Testing/urinating in a cup and tested for drugs and given a date to appear for a hearing at 2 Broadway along with a Disciplinary Action on his record.

 

The repercussions of the 14th Street incident? Timers heading into 14th Street and required uniforms for Train Operators.

[Eric B]

14th street is what led to the implementation of wheel detectors. (The special flashing white timers that activate when overspeed is detected, rather than waiting to clear when the speed is decreased).

[Matt91]

So which incident has led to the proliferation of timers? The Williamsburg Bridge crash?

[FriedChikkin]

So which incident has led to the proliferation of timers? The Williamsburg Bridge crash?

 

Timers were in the system before that... unless we're stressing on the proliferation point...

[TwoTimer]

Timers were in the system before that... unless we're stressing on the proliferation point...

 

Yeah he's talking about proliferation. The most recent ones however have to do with protecting from home signal overruns and station overruns, which while childish is also poorly done (How you have a 30mph curve into High St and a GT 20 300 feet after the 31 miles? Lets not even mention the homeball on the other side going south. How do you have a D20 followed by a one shot GT15 at Grant? Over on the Hillside branch, GT25 follows a 28 miles sign).

[Eric B]

For that matter, around High St., a one shot timer on a steep upgrade!

Protecting against signal overruns? That' s just now one more signal that can be overrun!

[Ceya]

In Japan they go through a whole ritual.

 

Pointing, calling out, watch looking, looking at time sheets, etc.

 

The one thing they have on their subway is a 3rd man.

 

He would be where the conductors are on NYC trains and is located at the platform and does not board the train..

 

They have last car conductor and motorman.

 

They all point to each other when it pulls and stop, they all are timed with the board 's time (board is the time people look to see how long the train is) and when the 1 min warning and departure.

 

They also ring a buzzer for the 1 min warning the train is leaving the station.

 

S/F,

CEYA!

[SubwayGuy]

In Japan they go through a whole ritual.

 

Pointing, calling out, watch looking, looking at time sheets, etc.

 

The one thing they have on their subway is a 3rd man.

 

He would be where the conductors are on NYC trains and is located at the platform and does not board the train..

 

They have last car conductor and motorman.

 

They all point to each other when it pulls and stop, they all are timed with the board 's time (board is the time people look to see how long the train is) and when the 1 min warning and departure.

 

They also ring a buzzer for the 1 min warning the train is leaving the station.

 

S/F,

CEYA!

 

NYC's trains used to be somewhat like that.

 

IRT trains originally had a conductor in every car, throwing armstrong levers to open and close doors manually.

 

Elevated trains used a system of bells to pass along information to the motormen that the steel gates had been closed and it was safe to depart.

 

Even trains of BMT Standards, before the addition of MUDC, had conductors in every car. Even after MUDC, many BMT trains retained a 3 person crew...motorman, conductor (operated doors), and guard (signalled conductor from the far end of the train when it was OK to close that section).

 

Technology has made it such that it is now safe to have a two person crew on a train. Pointing is important because it is the check and balance that ensures the train operator is in the station (as opposed to "letting them check their own work" as is the practice with OPTO).