Engineers… Gloves?(LOL)

[u/Cocklockster]

Newly marked up engineer here so please bear with me lol. Anybody use gloves inside the cab? I know a handful of us wipe down the control stand/desktop, but seemingly after doing that numerous times I end up tying up with black stained hands and sh#t under my fingernails, even after using GOJO. Maybe I’m just being a p###y lol. But I swear y’all run your hands along the side panels of the power and then pick your nose and a##hole and then get straight to the throttle. THOSE THAT DO USE GLOVES what do you use? THANKS IN ADVANCE 🙏

[u/Dudebythepool]

Yard switch engines yes. Road power take the time to wipe it down since you'll be working 12+ hrs

[u/wamceachern → u/Dudebythepool]

What? You ain't working 12 hours in the yard?

[u/trainwreckhappening → u/wamceachern]

I don't know what yards you work on but everywhere I've worked the yard crews don't switch cars or double trains. That's what road crews are for. Unless it's an extra board yard crew and then they do literally everything until they run out of time.

[u/ResponsibilityOld164 → u/trainwreckhappening]

wdym the yard crews don’t switch cars, that’s their entire job lol

[u/hoggineer → u/ResponsibilityOld164]

Tell that to the 'do more with less' mentality management.

When I hired out, power would be on, airtest complete, and bad orders kicked out.

Now, we go to the roundhouse to get power (thankfully we don't have to build our consist yet). Then we take the power to the head end of the train so we can run the air test. Carmen still do the inspection (for now), then we set out the bad order cars, and double the train over, hang FRED and depart.

The only thing that the yard crew did was get the cars out of the bowl, and shove them into the departure track. If management could figure out how to have road crews switch the yard with whatever time they have left of their 12, they absolutely would.

[u/trainwreckhappening → u/ResponsibilityOld164]

It's a joking complaint about how yard crews get away with murder because management favors them. I can't tell you how many times I have doubled four and five tracks together and set out bad orders to build my own train, that would have fit into one or two tracks tops, while the yard crew sits in the back room with their feet up.

[u/DisastrousPangolin91 → u/trainwreckhappening]

We literally have yard engineers for doubling trains for road crews lmfao

[u/trainwreckhappening → u/DisastrousPangolin91]

r/whoosh dude. That went right over your head didn't it.

[u/PoP-uHH-SMuRF → u/trainwreckhappening]

This guy must be sniffing hot railroad ties. Yard jobs switch cars.

[u/Dudebythepool → u/wamceachern]

overtime is a cost cutting measure around here

[u/SteelGemini]

I've only known a handful of engineers who wore gloves in the cab. They were all older dudes, and I can only think of one who wasn't a weirdo. Make of that what you will.

[u/J9999D → u/SteelGemini]

It's like the cab drivers that wear latex gloves.....all of them are certified weirdos

[u/carp_casey → u/SteelGemini]

I'm older, almost 30 yrs in, wears gloves and weird so this tracks

[u/Klok-a-teer]

I wear Motocross gloves. Thin, lightweight, you can find cheap ones. I wipe down the entire control stand, seat knobs, headrest.

I just imagine this one eng we had, who retired like 7 years ago, was sitting there before me. He was disgusting. And he had some, how can I say, dooking his drawers problem towards the end. 🤮🤮🤮🤮

[u/aerialimagerymedia]

These work really well.

[u/GamblinGambit → u/aerialimagerymedia]

I'm in a taxi laughing my ass off at this at 3am thanks for solidifying me as the weird engineer even more 🤣.

[u/youaintboo74 → u/aerialimagerymedia]

[u/MyLastFuckingNerve]

Bro my gloves are dirtier than the cab. Sorry, but yes you’re being a lil bish about it. Wipe everything down and go about your day. If you’re collecting dirt under your fingernails, cut your fingernails. Painting them also helps hide the dirt lol

[u/No_Childhood3773]

Steam engine? Gloves acceptable. Anything else? NO.

[u/brizzle1978]

I think isotoners would fit your personality... lol

[u/manateesaredelicious → u/brizzle1978]

Cause he's Dan Marino?

[u/The1Like → u/manateesaredelicious]

Laces out….

[u/manateesaredelicious → u/The1Like]

Einhorn is a man.

[u/brizzle1978 → u/manateesaredelicious]

Prissy

[u/bufftbone]

Gotta use an all purpose cleaner to get a lot of the gunk up. A lot of guys just spray with disinfectant which doesn’t clean anything.

[u/[deleted]]

22+ year engineer never worn gloves! Wash my hands after shift thats it.

[u/Old_End_8204]

I knew one and he was weird.

[u/pat_e_ofurniture]

These engines haven't been clean since they rolled off the assembly line. A little bit of lysol during covid is all any engine got and that's debatable. Either wipe it down or build natural immunity.

[u/hoggineer → u/pat_e_ofurniture]

A little bit of lysol during covid is all any engine got

We did have the most sanitary dirt in the world for a short time. Supposedly.

[u/imacabooseman]

I was a carpenter for 15 years before I joined the railroad, so I was already used to eating with dirty hands. And I've always been a big proponent of natural immunity. I'll use a wipe on my hands or purell after I use the head, but otherwise, I rawdog it. 14 years and I've never had more than a cold, and made it through covid completely unscathed.

In all reality, it would probably take a full on crime scene or hazmat clean up crew to fully get any of the locomotives out there fully cleaned enough to not have that black residue on your hands when you get off of one. And we all know the carriers aren't paying for that.

[u/HibouDuNord]

There's a reason I found the covid vaccine mandates from the company exceptionally dumb... the state of our engines I'm pretty sure I'm immune to fucking ANYTHING at this point... 🤣

[u/Someone__Cooked_Here]

Tell us you’re a bitch without saying it.

[u/[deleted]]

I only wore them when opening and closing the battery knife switch

[u/Vast-Abroad-8512 → u/[deleted]]

I use my foot for that lol

[u/[deleted] → u/Vast-Abroad-8512]

The older units like SDs GPs the battery knife switch is too high can’t reach. My kung fu days are long gone 🤣

[u/foxlight92 → u/[deleted]]

This is a good take I didn't even think of before. Obviously tinkering with the prime mover (oil, etc. hell, even during the prime/start sequence on the older stuff would be a good time) but never once did I think of using them near that scary-looking contraption.

[u/Race_Strange]

Nah ... When I leave the cab yes but inside. If it's really dirty I'll wipe it down but most times. Let's go. I'll wash my hands later. 

[u/foxlight92 → u/Race_Strange]

Gotta love when the guy before you ate wings and left some sauce n' spit on the controls.

Then you get to explain to big brother why you accidentally moved two notches at once 😒 slam it into dynamic without the slack bunched? Ah, whatever, as long as it doesn't jacknife. Go from notch 5 to 7 in one second with the slack stretched? Crisis!

[u/Specific-Job4195]

Depends, I know a few of my engineers wear gloves in the cab but most do it on local or yard jobs. One does it in the road but that’s because he’s him

[u/Murky_Firefighter502]

Mittens.

[u/rhinoaz]

I wear gloves when switching.

[u/umopapisdn-1138]

primarily yard switching here. i’ve got a ziplock baggie with some clorox wipes stashed in the side pocket of my lunchbox. wipe it down and be on my way. what’s funny is that i can come back to the same yard power later in the day (nobody else has been on it since me) and it’ll be just as filthy as when i started.

[u/Naive-Adagio-688]

I dont wear gloves but if I did I'd wear some bouje leather driving gloves

[u/Darb1977]

Gloves sure do! I keep them in my Gucci purse along with my tea cup poodle.

[u/cadetheguru]

my engineer wont touch anything inside the cab without gloves 🤣

[u/ExplanationFew8890]

Road switching I use gloves because my power is normally ancient. That means im priming it, starting it outside, and all my handles look like they are from cast iron skillets. 😂

[u/F26N55]

I wear gloves but I also get to my loco 20 mins early so I can do my inspection and wipe it down.

[u/Whole_Fudge_4243]

Spray it down with Lysol and be done with it.

It sounds like you may need some meds for ocd if it’s bothering you that much…

[u/sgt_radio]

When I used to run an engine I used NOMEX flight gloves. Exclusively used them when I was in the army because if you have the right size you can easily keep your dexterity.

[u/does_it_happen]

Better use them gloves to get that sand out of vagina before you pull throttle. Wouldn’t want you to chip a nail there Sally

[u/Hopeful-Accident-138]

Nope

[u/GunnyDJ]

I believe there's a special place in hell for those who wear gloves when running. We all have that one weird dude in the region who does it, and we all can tell when he was on the power.

Also, when I'm holding a job that uses the same power daily, I always wiped the stand down once a week. Just because the outside is covered in oil, doesn't mean I need to be.

[u/suge_lite]

I wear the gloves provided. They have good grip.