Amtrak’s L.A.-San Diego Line : Rail Engineers Call Cars Unsafe

For six months, on trips between Los Angeles and San Diego, engineer William Rogers had not been allowed to ride in his locomotive. Instead, he was forced to ride at the opposite end of the train. And Rogers missed his locomotive.

Under a new Amtrak policy instituted in October, Rogers had to make about half the trips while operating the train from a recently introduced cab control car that runs the engine almost by remote control.

The cab cars, brought from Amtrak’s New York-Washington line, are useful because they allow trains to move in both directions--saving time that would otherwise be used to turn around or “wye” the train.

Trains Backed In

Most engineers on the Los Angeles-San Diego line now have to back their trains into San Diego’s Santa Fe Depot from what Rogers described as a modified coach car--and they are none too happy about it.

They say they dislike the cabs because they place them closer to the track, reduce their control of the engine and knowledge of where it is, and severely reduce visibility, especially at night.

Rogers, 42, of San Bernardino has been an engineer for nine years, yet he said he feels he did not have “precise control” of the engine when operating the train from the cab cars rather than the locomotive.

For example, he said he couldn’t see a gauge that shows the power level of the engine, nor could he judge whether one of the train’s two brake systems was working.

Rogers said he has left the cab-car position because of stress, and last week began a new position as a switch engineer in a yard in Los Angeles.

Amtrak officials deny that any problems exist with the cab control cars, eight of which are operating on the Los Angeles-San Diego line. They are safe and have no disadvantages, said Arthur Lloyd, director of public affairs for Amtrak’s western region.

Lloyd said the cars, which have been used in Chicago for 25 years and are also used in San Francisco, are as safe as they are economical.

More Suited to East Coast?

However, Rogers said the cars are more suited for use on the East Coast, where there are fewer grade crossings and track signals are transmitted by radio so engineers cannot easily miss them.

San Diegan Greg E. Luiz, 38, a locomotive engineer for 15 years, said the cab cars are “an accident waiting to happen.”

Luiz, who also works the Los Angeles-San Diego line, likened the change from 125-ton locomotives to the 55-ton cab cars to climbing out of a tank and into a telephone booth.

He said the situation is even more frightening when a 430-ton train is traveling at 90 m.p.h.

According to Luiz, most of the nearly 30 men on the line dislike the refitted cars for a long list of reasons--mainly their concern for their safety and the safety of the train.

Luiz cited an accident involving a cab car in Chicago in which a train hit a garbage truck and overturned.

“We hit a garbage truck with a locomotive and the nose gets dented,” he said hypothetically.

Delay of More Than an Hour

He recalled an incident on the 128-mile route between Los Angeles and San Diego. The trip is scheduled to take about 2 hours and 45 minutes, but a malfunction in the locomotive caused a delay of an hour and 20 minutes. Luiz, who was operating from the cab at the time, had to slow to a 20-m.p.h. crawl for 9 miles because of a problem with the whistle, which an engineer is required by law to blow at every grade crossing. Luiz said that if he had been in the engine rather than the cab, he could have patched up the whistle.

Engineers have also charged that the locks on the cab cars’ heavy doors are inadequate and swing open easily. Luiz said an engineer could fall out the side door and that passengers are more apt to bother the engineer when they can walk through the back door.