I found this as the last page from a December 30, 1982 train order for AT&SF Extra 6334 East issued at Waynoka, Oklahoma;

"C and E Eastward Trains - While icy conditions exist trains should be stopped while changing crews"

Looking at it from today's perspective I suppose it would cause a meltdown to think of changing crews while a train was in motion. That said, stepping on and off of moving equipment was once a very common practice. I suppose it lasted longest on tourist railroads and the like. I learned to do it when I started at the Georgetown Loop in Colorado in 1999 and did it the whole time I worked there (until 2007). I know that the Loop does not do it anymore and would imagine that it is rapidly becoming a lost art.

Jason Midyette

When I started working at a tourist railroad we could get on and off moving equipment - not gonna lie, it was fun. Haha.

But as I was working there that rule changed - and honestly, it’s for the best. Especially at a tourist railroad / museum - there is never a need for getting on and off moving equipment and it’s never going to be the safest way to do the job.

It's already a lost art.

I grew up in an era when old heads, some of whom probably remembered steam, could do it routinely, such as snagging the steps of a locomotive or caboose at the crossing they just flagged on my hometown local. As such, I thought nothing of it the first few times the opportunity ever arose, at reasonably low speeds and in reasonably safe environments--probably giving a hand to isolated local crews or catching a short lift back to my car or whatnot in remote settings.

Both the practice and the opportunities have disappeared, even on tourist or insular operations where they may know me. I remember that the last time I had the opportunity, stepping off a passenger train step or vestibule at maybe walking speed at best, I freaked out two employees, who quickly figured out I was "old guard railroad"--but they politely asked me never to do that again......... The last place I can recall the practice was flagging the station crossing at the East Broad Top RR years ago before its second shutdown in 2011.......

Heck, I've even witnessed "flying switches" executed with diesels and freight cars to save switching moves, that's how old I am........

At lunch a few weeks ago, I was asked about my watch by a young Class 1 employe. Said watch is just a bog-standard railroad approved wristwatch that I bought back in the 1990's and nowadays wear simply out of habit (along with a 1986 Victorinox genuine Swiss Army issue Alox Soldier folding knife carried in my left trouser pocket).

He thought it was a cool, impractical antique; afterwards, I felt like an uncool, impractical antique.

Times - and keeping track of time - do indeed change.

I suspect rolling crew changes are long a thing of the past but many railroads still permit conductors to get on and off moving equipment while switching, subject to specific safety and operating rules.

- Alan Maples
Everett Railroad

As recently as the late 1980s rolling crew changes were a regular practice on Conrail at Selkirk, NY for what at the time was the premier through intermodal service with ATSF, "TVLA". The assigned crews performed as expected with the Pride of Conrail in their hands.

In due course and in accord with revised Operating Rules and Practices, these rolling crew changes were eventually discontinued systemwide.

Some railroads are bringing it back and it is allowed in certain situations. I guess they feel it is worth the risk.

Early in my railroad career a fellow employee and good friend died getting off moving equipment correctly and at a slower speed. I won't go into the details, but if we all used the extra 2-3 minutes to just stop the train, he would still be with us today.

I used to do this, taught others and still do not think it is worth the risk, from either a single catastrophic event or long term health perspective.

MD Ramsey

I don’t think the time saved could possibly be worth a workman’s comp case or lawsuit for a broken ankle or worse.

Again…. I did it, it was fun, I felt like a “real railroader” and I never got hurt. But the rule just makes sense for everyone.

I'm on the younger side of the forum and this was definitely against the rules on the class 1 I worked. On the tourist I volunteered at I would get on and off a speeder for the work train when it was moving and it freaked out the even younger volunteers, who I looked at and laughed. I've been around trains and speeders all my life and I feel very comfortable doing so. Heck I have gotten on and off a tractor plowing across the field to check the depth and climbed back up

The UP finally relented before I retired, but they prefaced the order (at the time) with the requirement that a manager had to qualify you in the procedure, observe you do it and sign off on having visually observed you do it, lol. Plus, the manager had to be qualified as well.
The manager here wasn't too interested in performing this feat.... one day I got the switchmen to hound him and force him to do it. I (an engineer) insisted on getting qualified as well.
So, that morning all 3 of us were officially authorized to get on and off moving equipment. I assume I'm the only engineer that ever bothered.

I always did it because as we'd have inbound trains come in, the dispatcher would tell the inbound crew the moves (that the foreman had told the Dispatcher) to make as far as the setout and pickups, but the road crews were always dragging their rope and were pro's at making a simple move into an hour and a half Mongolian cluster.

To expedite things, the foreman would tell the inbound crew to just stay on the engine and we'd do the work. I'd climb on as they came rolling past and oust the engineer from his seat and get down to business.
Lots faster when we did it. We didn't really want to do their work, but they were always soooo slow.

This shows the evolution of railroading.

In steam and early diesel days, division points were about 100 miles part ans freight crews were paid based on a 100 mile day. The train would be inspected, including journals (enough oil, brasses and pads/waste where they belong) and brakes, wheels, etc. The steam engine would either be replaced or get its rods and driving axles greased, and load coal and water.

Roller bearings and dynamic brakes allowed the rolling crew change. The diesels could go through on a tank of gas and dynamics allowed slowing to 1-3 mph without setting the air.

Now we're up to 1000 mile inspections, 5000 gal of gas and crew changes wherever.

Phil Mulligan

This may be obvious to freight railroaders so I apologize if it's a silly question - what was the benefit to you if you did the work faster?

My carrier still allowed getting on and off at 4 mph or less when I hired on, now it's banned. I have years of experience working under both sets of rules, and I know which one I prefer.

I would argue that getting on and off at slow speeds (walking pace) is actually a safer practice than coming to a complete stop to entrain and detrain. This allows you to avoid being subjected to the harsh run-ins and run-outs of slack when the movement starts or stops, and gives you more freedom to ride instead of being incentivized to walk everywhere.

Learning to get on and off moving equipment is like learning to ride a bike, after a while it becomes a natural fluid motion. And as far as I know the other Canadian Class I still allows crews to get on and off at 4 mph or less.

This is probably the only thing working railroaders and Hunter Harrison have ever agreed on...... ...might be something to it.

Anyone who's done any long-distance bicycling, especially on a fixed-gear bicycle, will know that it takes FAR more energy to accelerate from a dead stop than from rolling even a mile per hour. Same with cars--the car that gets the jump as the traffic light turns green is the car that never fully stopped rolling, rather than the car sitting at a dead stop.

The saying out on the main line is "You lose hours a minute at a time." That's true both waiting at sidings/junctions and working yards.

There have been anecdotes about smoothly operating yards, full of "hot shots" and "cowboys" jumping on and off cars and locos, kicking cars, etc. and then a new merger happens and the "new" bosses come in and impose all the safety rules, or more accurately enforce the existing ones. The crews start following every rule exactly (at times in deliberate, malicious opposition), and then the yard and surrounding railroad sinks into a quagmire of delays. Stuff like this was allegedly part of how the Union Pacific "melted down" in the wake of the SP merger in 1996.

Sure, if you're of the mentality that "the longer you work, the more you get paid," you won't care. But some railroaders take pride in being able to do a skilled, effective job, even there's just a bit more risk involved, kind of like the bartenders that can show off by juggling glasses and bottles while making or pouring a drink.

That's not at all what I was suggesting or asking.