Just out of curiosity how some of our operating museums handle the FRA. I know several are exempt, and some are voluntarily under the FRA. Recently there are new FRA rules about the use of cell phones and electronic devises (cameras). To quote the recently updated CFR's:

"§ 220.303 General use of electronic devices.
A railroad operating employee shall not use an electronic device if that use would interfere with the employee's or another railroad operating employee's performance of safety-related duties. No individual in the cab of a controlling locomotive shall use an electronic device if that use would interfere with a railroad operating employee's performance of safety-related duties."

You can read the CFR here, which outlines it all:
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/te ... .3&idno=49

Now, I know this is mainly for employees, but does it bode for volunteer train crews as well? If so, What are you doing to enforce it? This goes for Cameras as well as cell phones. I recently was witness to a surprise FRA inspection on a shortline and the first thing that they did was check the crew to see if they had any "electronic devises" on them, and if they were switched on. They are not messing around with this one anymore. Apparently there are some steep fines if you are caught, which can be implemented on a personal level to, somewhere in the several thousand dollar mark.

Paul

Paul

It doesn't matter if the crew is paid or volunteer, steam or diesel, the "personal electronic device" regulations apply to everyone regardless, if you fall under FRA oversight. They are very serious about this.

I specifically asked my FRA rep if it applied to "guests" in locomotive cabs (ie cab riders). His answer was that it did not apply UNLESS such use of this device would distract the crew. So, someone who buys a cab ride ticket and wants to take a picture with his cell phone is NOT prohibited from doing so. The guest also does not have to turn off his/her cell phone, unless the crew/railroad deems it appropriate for them to do so.

Interesting also is that the prohibitions regarding employee use of personal electronic devices also applies to recording devices (cameras, etc.) and hand held electronics (I-Pads, etc).

Now the crew of course can have a company supplied "authorized electronic device" such as a cell phone and it can be used under circumstances outlined by the FRA, but of course, never by an engineer at the controls of a moving train.

Dave

While we follow the rule we are not required to. Not all tourist railroads have to. Here is the section dealing with application. Based on this, it is not applicable to non-general system tourist operations, whether "Insular" or "Non insular" This is what our FRA inspector told us.

§ 220.3 Application.
a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, this part applies to railroads that operate trains or other rolling equipment on standard gage track which is part of the general railroad system of transportation.
(b) This part does not apply to:

(1) A railroad that operates only on track inside an installation which is not part of the general railroad system of transportation; or

(2) Rapid transit operations in an urban area that are not connected with the general railroad system of transportation.

Bill Houston
HODRRM

standard gage track

The misspelling was not Bill's. It's now the law of the land!

Steve

Bob Opal, of IRM and formerly the FRA and Commerce Counsel for Union Pacific wrote a good article for one of the more recent issues of Railway Museum Quarterly the publication of ARM. It covers this specific rule change, does a good job of explaining the three spheres railway museums may fall under with regard to FRA regulation. Also, he lists some of the more recent decisions that deal with railway museums that were on the FRA docket.

The article is good, and a must-read for anyone involved in rules and regulatory compliance with your respective organization.

There are also exemptions for shortlines that use cell phones and other electronic devices for primary communications systems. Of course these also fall under the company issued or company permitted exemptions.

Frankly, this is yet another knee-jerk bunch of garbage from Fedzilla. Ray LaHood is an anti-cell phone nazi who has gone so far as to suggest requiring devices on your personal automobile that will jam cell signals when the car is running. If anyone out there thinks that railroad employees are actually following these rules 100%, then keep drinking the kool-aid. It is followed about as much as cell phone while driving bans in places like Chicago. Enforcement is virtually impossible, but it made someone feel good to save the day from all those evil cell phone users. Don't get me wrong, I've worked with guys who stayed on the phone from one end of the line to the other and were distracted, especially when switching. However, the railroads already had rules in place to cover such things.

Railroad operating rules already carry the force of federal law under FRA rules and fines can be issued based on infractions thereof. Enforce the rules we have, not invent new ones. Let railroads issue their own rules based on their own business needs and risk analysis. The federal government micromanaging every part of our lives and our businesses continues serve as nothing but an impediment to productivity. Everyone wants to lay blame for the Metrolink incident on the engineer texting - frankly, if it hadn't been that it would have been something else. If it was distraction from the job, then he could have been distracted by daydreaming, falling asleep, thinking about a hot date or about how bad he had to go to the bathroom. Guess we'd have had to ban all those things, too.

On a related note, I just came from Atlas Shrugged, and it was definitely worth the wait and the 50 mile drive to see it. With the exception of the updated time setting, its fidelity to the novel is exceptional. I will say that those not very familiar with the novel may miss some of the inferences, but overall it was a great production for the very limited budget. The manager at the theater (in Kalamazoo) said that it was the best attended show so far this weekend, even with the college crowd coming for Scream and some other flick which I forget at the moment.


Who is John Galt?

We are off the general system and the no phone rule applies to us. There is an exemption for our conductors who can have their phones on but the train has to be stopped in order to call or answer. The only reason we can do that is our base radio at the Depot won't reach the train when we're more than a few miles out.

I've heard that the fine can be upwards of $20,000(twenty-thousand) for using a phone when you shouldn't even if you don't cause a problem.

Because of the political expediency, museums would be foolhardy not to enforce the "don't be using your devices" rule. Though just tonight I did a move, and I'm fairly sure I had my fanny with my phone not turned off.

On other rules, it's catch as catch can. Most of us fall into a special enforcement category of "Non-insular, yet not part of the general system". There is no special division of FRA responsible for enforcing that type of organization. As a result, it gets left to local inspectors, who as a rule, inspect railway museums very rarely. They don't understand which regulations apply -- but think they do. The effect was a crazy-quilt of inconsistent regulations. FRA got tired of it, and issued this letter which seeks to canonically call out every single regulation which applies to "Non-insular, but not general system" railroads.

http://www.fra.dot.gov/pages/2348.shtml

This letter has had very little effect. Volunteers at railway museums (on average) don't have the nerve to risk offending their local inspector, so even if one member understands the letter, he has little chance of building consensus. The inspectors, unchallenged, proceed.

Now consider this phrase, quoted above: "operates only on track inside an installation which is not part of the general railroad system of transportation" (emphasis mine). This is used in the XXX.3 Applicability section of many regulations. That underlined bit sounds an awful lot like "insular"... right?

Nope. They actually mean "Non-insular but not general system". FRA makes this clear in 49 CFR 109 Appendix A. Another document hardly anyone reads, but you can hardly blame them. It's dense. And then it requires you to go back and re-interpret 109.A upon every xxx.3 Applicability section. Ugh. The April 2010 letter is a significant improvement.

And by the way, this is not FRA giving us a gift. They are REQUIRED to, by Congress.
49 USC Chapter 20103.

While we have all (mostly) gotten used to a world of instant gratification, we should stop and +consider, Is it necessary: to have contact every second. While some have never known a time when cell phones didn't exist, we old fossils do. If the time occurs at your installation where there is an incident, what standards do you think the attorneys will use to sue you? Your own made up rules will be shredded by the poorest of lawyers. Abiding by an already accepted code of conduct will at least put you in a better position to defend your organization. Insular or not, common sense and maturity should prevail here. There is no need for a person in train service to be conducting private business while on duty. This was already in railroad rule books long ago. Why even discuss it? The rule is clear and concise and common sense.

Fred Jordan
Luddite Corners
Deep River Connecticut

The basic idea behind the cell phone law is easy to understand, but when you start considering all the specific examples it gets much more complicated.

As a previous poster mentioned, crews cannot have personal cameras while on duty, but a cab rider is allowed to use their camera if it does not interfere with train operations.

We do not allow cab riders due to our insurance and liability policy. However, if someone wants to see what the cab interior looks like, we will often use their camera to take a picture for them, that they can examine later at home. But under the new law, that would be use of a personal electronic device (even though it is not beloning to a member of the crew), which is used by a crew member during their tour of duty. Is this allowed?

The law also says that you can have a 'stand alone watch' and a 'stand alone calculator'. We all understand that cell phones cannot legally be used to keep time or as calculators, but a device which only keeps time or only is used for calculations is allowed. So, one of our crew members has a watch with a built in calculator. That's all it does - it's not some secret mini cell phone or texting device - it only keeps time and crunches numbers. Is that allowed?

It's best to consult your local representative and present questions like these before you get in trouble later.