The local trains that you see everyday hauling containers from east coast to west coast?

Question

I was wondering about those work trains that csx/union pacific run,do they have bathrooms and showers in the engine for the engineers and conductors. I know amtrak does.thank you everyone.

Answer 1

Yeah, there's a toilet in the engine. It's usually located down in the forward nose of the engine on a lower level than the engine cab deck. It's accessible through a small door with in the cab. There's often tools, headlight bulbs, and extra air hoses down there too. There was a lesser known locomotive manufacturer that had the toilet behind the cab, located between the diesel engine and the generator. It was barely big enough in there for a person, and one had to open one of the hood side doors to access it. And enter in the space backwards. I overheard some old guys reminiscing about it last week, but I didn't hear what this engine was. Oh, and the MPs and SW units (switchers) don't have a toilet in them.

Answer 2

Except for little switch engines, most diesel electric locomotives in North America have a small toilet for the train crew but no shower.  Employees get cleaned up at home or at a crew stop at the end of their run.  Railroads used to have extensive crew quarters at division points for train crews away from home, but most of them have been replaced by contracts with nearby motels.  The YMCA used to provide this service in many areas and still does in some locations.

Amtrak passenger trains have restrooms in coaches and sleepers.  The higher priced bedrooms have a private toilet, and some have a small shower.  Commuter trains may or may not have toilets for passengers.  Freight trains used to have a caboose on the end with a toilet but no shower.  At one time, freight conductors and brakemen lived in their caboose during layovers before returning home.  Pooled cabooses that ran between divisions generally ended this practice.  Now cabooses are rare.  

Work trains for track and signal construction and heavy maintenance have crew quarters that are often rebuilt from old passenger and freight cars.  This is still done in some remote areas, but much of the heavy equipment is now truck-mounted or transported in trucks to avoid tying up the railroad moving it to a siding or house track.  In these cases, the track crews are carried to a local motel in their crew truck.

As for container shipments, maritime containers can move to and from any port to any inland freight terminal and between domestic locations, but the predominant flow of loaded containers is from Pacific ports eastward.  The influx of Chinese imports has created a major traffic imbalance.  Sometimes "baretable" trains go back to the Pacific ports empty because the Chinese don't want to pay for the cost of shipping empty containers.

Answer 3

There is little restrooms in the cab of locomotives, similar to what you would find in a camper or RV.

Some companies put a tiny washbasin in their locomotives but that is an exception rather than a rule.

Locomotives are supplied with lots of paper towels and hand sanitizer for crews to use.

It is not what you might call first class accomodations but for a work environment it could be worse.

Canadian standard for their locomitives are  a lot higher, most have hot plates and some of the newer ones have a small microwave. As much as we eat sandwiches out of a paper bag it is very nice to be able to have somehtign hot once in awhile.

Answer 4

They have restrooms, but no showers.  There is no need for a shower, because the crews change every twelve hours.  For example, a train going from San Antonio to Long Beach, a crew would get on in SA and take the train as far as Del Rio, Texas, and then another crew would get on to take the train to Alpine, TX, and so on until it reaches it's destination.  The crew that got on in San Antonio would go check into a hotel in Del Rio, get rested, (at least 10 hrs, sometimes more) and then bring another train back to SA.