Engineer Picks

[lirrengineer5012]

Does anyone know how the Long Island Railroad Engineers make their picks for routes and such...as far as i remember i know of one route from port jeff that worked one train to hunterspoint (the 707 outta stony brook) and went to Hunterspoint Ave, then ran equip to jamaica and was a 2 something out of jamaica to port jeff and that's it) anyone have any ideas to the others?

[henry6]

As with any railroad...each job is designed to be within a certain time parameter and milage perameter.  Through mostly union rules and bargaining the senior man on any given roster is given first pick for which set of runs or jobs he wants, second gets to pick next and so on down the line.  If a job is eliminated or altered, it will often be put out for rebidding and those holding the job at present may or may not keep it as one with more seniority can bid on the job and get it.  When one loses his job by being bid out or eliminated, he may bid on any other job held by those with less seniority in what is knows as bumping.  In order to bid on any given job you must be qualified for the job and have the seniority to bump.  Those in the employ of the railroad without enough seniority to hold down a regular job are put on the extra board and may be assigned jobs as needed on a seniority and rest basis or are notified of job bid openings on a regular basis.  That is a broad, general discription of how things are designed.  Each railroad, each division, each union, etc. have their own little rules and formats and differences but that's a general discription.

[diffusedmind]

Was there recently a new pick?  I've noticed that the crews on trains 822 and 813 have changed...

[henry6]

New Pick?  You mean new biddings...probably yes.  One way to tell is to look at and compare even the newest public timetable and the one it replaced.  More for fewer trains?  Changed connections or return trips?  Changed schedules for any one or more trains.  All indications of a possible need to rebid jobs.  In passenger service, unless retirements or vacations, these are the usual reasons jobs get rebid.

[When Practicable]

Yes, there was recently a "General Pick".  This pick happens twice a year.  It is basically a fresh start for Engineers and Conductors who do not have "trimming" or "bumping" rights since their jobs are never altered.  It gives them a chance to own other jobs other than the ones they're on now.  There are "bid sheets" posted between General Picks where crews can bid on open jobs, but the most moving around happens at the time of the General Picks.  Months of "trimming" can result after a General Pick, so usually the junior crews are getting moved around a lot while the senior men stay on the same job.

Everything is based on seniority (promotion date to Engineer or Conductor is used in determining seniority) and gets extremely complex with bidding, bumping and extra list ins-and-outs.

The senior Engineer mentioned in Newsday a few months ago has just retired this week.  He was promoted in 1976 to Engineer and was/is #1 on the roster.