Where the Power Is
L to R: Bill Wallace, Director, Power Control & Locomotive Maintenance and Kurt Bruce, Manager, Power Control, review recent activity during a shift transfer.
Sit in the Power Control office in North Billercia, MA and watch the steady stream of dispatchers check in with information about a train's location or asking about an engine's status. Each ring of the phone brings new information or questions. Every update, every action, is carefully noted and with proper planning, the magnets, and the engines they represent, keep moving.
The Power Control Department is our business' fleet manager. They keep track of every-single Guilford Rail System locomotive on a wall-mounted magnetic board that defies modern technology. This method ensures that the department's tracking systemis never down maintenance. From one end to the other and on each branch line in between, a locomotive is moved, marked and even turned upside down to note its status along our lines.
Whether it needs to come into an engine house for a kick of the tires and a check under the hood or to move into the back shops for more extensive work, every action involving Guilford Rail's iron horses is coordinated by Power Control.
While FRA regulations and an engine's power dictate what locomotives will be used for what jobs, a shift supervisor does maintain a certain amount of flexibility in doing the job.
According to Dave Stone, Manager, Power Control, that flexibility lies in the amount of preparation he does for the next day. "Advanced planning keeps us from having to react to most problems."
Keeping Safety on Track
If the topic of safety is pushed by all Guilford Rail employees, then it is apparent that Power Control really puts its shoulder into it. Over the course of 1997, the PC department has written a total of 5,325 STOPs (Safety, Training, Observation, Procedure.)
An example of how this department keeps operations running smoothly and safely was given when a train's engineer in Ayer, MA called in after a routine inspection. The engineer found that one of the train's knuckles was dry and needed maintenance. A locomotive maintenance man was dispatched from Lawrence, MA. Within the hour the field repairman called in upon arriving at the Ayer facility to receive a briefing on the problem. The knuckle was oiled and the train was ready for service in under 90 minutes.
At first, the phone call upon arrival in Ayer appears redundant. Why not call in when the problem is solved? "It's all about safety," said Bill Wallace, Director, Power Control & Locomotive Maintenance. "Our field maintenance guys call in everywhere they go and every hour on a job so that we know that they're safe."
Any employee coming in contact with Power Control can expect to be asked about the Safety Rule of the Day, if they're wearing their safety glasses or, if they're behind the wheel, if their seatbelt is fastened.
Each move, each action ensures that the equipment and the people that work with it remain some of the safest in the business.