I have a really big issue with sh*tty co-workers, especially those that get away with murder, yet the good guys always get the shaft. I'm an Amtrak victim of their abusive ways, still wish I was out there, because I loved my job and thought I was good at it. As Mark Meoff says, he's hardly perfect, and I agree anyone that thinks they are the sh*t has something wrong with their head. Were human, and we make mistakes, but to slam into another train and say "ah no big deal", he's lucky no one died or he'd be in worse crap than loosing ones job. I hope when #14's engineer gets better (I consider him a friend and worked many nights out of Oakland with him), that he goes on an ass kicking party for perhaps ruining his career, not for the broken arm, but the lower back issues will haunt him forever now!

This message was Spanky approved.

Yes, Cosmo will know who this is too!

Mark Meoff Wrote:
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> Hey Cosmo,
>
> Or should I say Brett, Tim is not a good guy or a
> good engineer. Good engineers don't run red
> signals AND be arrogant about it. He may be a good
> friend, but that's between you two. As for myself
> I don't like him as an employee, and substandard
> would be too polite of a description of his
> abilities as an engineer. I, like everyone else,
> am not perfect. However, when I do screw up I
> don't go walking around telling everyone that it's
> their problem and not mine. He's got student
> engineer evaluations a mile long that all say he
> should never be marked up as an engineer.
> Management knew and still knows he's a bad
> engineer but refused to do anything about it.
>
> Now, as for how the switch was lined at the time
> of the incident, yes it was lined for the inside
> track. The signal and switch was "in time" and was
> a few minutes away from lining up for 717. The DS
> had 14 lined up for departure when 717 showed up
> in his territory. The DS took the signal and
> lineup down from 14 and "ran time" on the switch
> so that 717 could be lined up. This is a normal
> operation and has been handled well by countless
> other engineers.
>
> As for the "what if" PTC would have helped in this
> situation, answer is yes. The on board computer
> would have seen that 717 was approaching the
> signal way too fast and stopped it.