In my railroad career I knew of three co-workers who had trouble "reading the iron", i.e., looking at a switch and knowing which way the train would go. One of the workers had so much trouble in the yard with this problem that the "solution" was to transfer this individual to engine service. This made for some other good stories that I'll save for a later time. The other two had problems with routine procedures and split-point derails. It seems that when they were instructed by an "old head" when they were qualifying for the job, the "old head" said, "Step One is to line the derail for movement. Step Two is to then give the engineer a 'back up' or 'come ahead' sign, as applicable." These people got tripped up when, for some strange reason, the split point derail was in the non-derailing position on a particular day when they approached it. As part of the routine in which they were trained, and since they couldn't "read the iron", they placed the split point derail from the non-derailing position into the derailing position and gave the engineer a sign to proceed. KER-PLUNK. One of these incidences happened at a commuter train origination point in the morning and, when the train derailed, it fouled the other trains from being able to leave the yard and protect their schedules. It caused cancellation of that morning's whole inbound commuter fleet. Amazingly, this individual supposedly had some previous experience working for a freight road, and the engineer was in a cab car in push mode and had an excellent view of the status of the split point derail. Perhaps that engineer also had a tough time "reading the iron". The commuter agency put out a monthly newsletter for the passengers, and this incident adversely affected enough commuters that the carrier thought an explanation in the newsletter was appropriate. It was a hilarious read.

NORAC 10TH EDITION

Rule 80. Movement at Restricted Speed

Movements made at Restricted Speed must apply the following three requirements as the method of operation:

1. Control the movement to permit stopping within one half the range of vision short of:

a. Other trains or railroad equipment occupying or fouling the track,
b. Obstructions,
c. Switches not properly lined for movement,
d. Derails set in the derailing position,
e. Any signal requiring a stop.

AND

2. Look out for broken rail and misaligned track.

AND

3. Do not exceed 20 MPH outside interlocking limits and 15 MPH within interlocking limits. This restriction applies to the entire movement, unless otherwise specified in the rule or instruction that requires Restricted Speed.