Road Crew consists of 5 men:
- Conductor
- Boss of the train on the road.
- Instructs the engineer on starting, stopping the train.
- Rides in the caboose of freight trains, preparing papaerwork as needed.
- Punches tickets on passenger trains.
- Engineer
- Runs the locomotive, observing speeds, limits, and signals.
- Receives direction from the conductor.
- Fireman
- Fuels the locomotive, assisting the engineer.
- Receives direction from the Engineer.
- Sometimes Engineer in training.
- Head Brakeman
- Sets/releases brakes on forward cars.
- Receives direction from the Engineer.
- Would ride in the doghouse of the locomotive.
- Handle any switch throws required at locomotive.
- Rear Brakeman
- Sets/releases brakes on rear cars.
- Receives direction from the Engineer.
- Would ride on the caboose.
- Handle any switch throws required at rear of train.
Modeling the Road Crew Operations
In reality for a model railroad, all job functions are combined to basically one or two people. Practice has shown that
one operator performs as locomotive engineer and one as conductor. In general, dividing functions as follows is
somewhat beneficial:
Conductor
- Reviews train orders.
- Instructs Engineer when to switch train to sidings per Train Orders.
- Starts and stops train for all required switch throws (manually thrown by crewman on front or rear of train).
- Physically performs Rear Brakeman duty for throwing switches. (Note: SG trains are not required to stop to throw
switches at helix, reverse loops, or staging.)
- Follows along rear end of train, ensures that rear car remains coupled with train, and train is not rear ended
by a following train.
Engineer
- Reviews train orders.
- Takes orders from Conductor.
- Controls speed of train to operate per standaard road rules and observe clock.
- Stops train to operate required switch throws (except in non-scenic areas as noted), as Head Brakeman.
- Operates whistle signals per standard operating rules.
- Operates sound effects for braking, watering, etc., for Sound Decoders per available sounds effecets.
- Obeys signal lights (when available).
- Observe the track ahead and wary of oncoming trains.
The Engineer can concentrate on operating all the capabilites of the locomotive while the Conductor can keep track of
where the train is going, watchful of the schedule and other Train Order requirements.
