The best rail safety video of all time? | Hyce Reacts - "Getting off on the Right Foot"

This is probably the best, and most realistic, video of what it's like to be a real brakeman.
• "Getting Off on the Ri...
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[@sawspitfire422]

9:33 his name was Glen Roper and he was actually a long term employee of UP, who just so happened to be a stuntman on the side. Ironically if they'd have hired a professional full time stunt man it would've been more dangerous, because Glen had decades of experience not just with stunt coordination but with the specific dangers of working in a rail yard too. I'm not surprised this film is still used decades later, making use of Glens entire career of experience was a really unique teaching opportunity

[@rjohnson1690]

I heard he was a boxer too.

[@notmuch_23]

Yes, to think Union Pacific already had the _perfect_ man for this role already on their payroll!

[@rjohnson1690]

@@notmuch_23 they probably only paid him a basic day for his effort.

[@blackhawks81H]

Lol I just made a comment before reading this about how the guy must have been a pretty big hardass to do even half the stuff he did in this video. Now it's pretty much confirmed.

[@loco4loco]

The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world

[@Spanderson99]

They still use this video today, because they haven’t found a man brave enough to re-attempt half these stunts! Makes me flinch every time.

[@jamesTBurke]

Depending on the pay I would do it

[@Poldovico]

@@jamesTBurke Who's collecting the pay if you find out you weren't good enough?

[@jamesTBurke]

@@Poldovico a single mom and her 3 kids that I care about (no they are not my kids unfortunately

[@michaelimbesi2314]

I don’t think OSHA would even allow Hollywood stuntmen to do some of this today, let alone a guy working for a railroad

[@jamesTBurke]

@@michaelimbesi2314 fuck Osha they need to be shut down

[@MainlineThruTheRockies]

“A little bit careless is like being a little bit pregnant” is such a powerful quote, reminds me of “Oh are you pregnant with twins?” “Well only kinda”

[@EpicRails]

“What do you mean kinda” *nervously* “one kinda ate the other”

[@CountvonStaffordofVirginia1607]

What I like about this safety video is that it is scripted to where someone with no connection to the railroad industry can watch it and still understand what it is being demonstrated. Helps that there are physical demonstrations to illustrate what Glen is saying.

[@Poldovico]

"How to not die around the equipment" is probably a lesson you want to teach people before they see the equipment, so that being a consideration makes sense.

[@buckduane1991]

From my research, Hyce: Glen Roper was a UP railroader and brakeman who apparently had also done stunt work in several movies in the 1930s to the 1960s that had railroad scenes in them at behest of UP when Hollywood contacted them for help. He apparently also sometimes played the wrestler “Masked Marvel”. By the early 70s it seems he was one of the instructors for the classes for new engine service men and was by then in the upper works of the UP, but had done almost every job on the railroad before that so he literally knew it all. Having done work as a stuntman for Hollywood on behalf of the UP, he was one of the voices who suggested making the safety video in the first place and directed / setup the different stunts himself while also being in them-he believed it better he do the stunts himself than risk one of younger tender foots of the newer generation. He was tough as nails and from an even tougher generation. I also recognized music from “Last of the Giants” in the animated segment reused in this video when they’re talking about “one head, one back” and operating the brake on the flatcar. Side comment not related to the film, you’ve probably already answered this a lot and I’ve probably missed it, but the models you have in your background of 491, 20, 346, who makes them? I’ve been thinking about getting a few myself and starting a collection / layout eventually and so was curious, so I could start looking. Also, it looks doubtful but still have some hope, if I somehow manage to rescue any of my old D&RG lanterns or other old railroad equipment I’d be happy to donate it to you guys at the museum once authenticated-anything y’all didn’t want or didn’t fit the mission of Colorado Railroading I’d be glad to donate to whoever y’all recommended if could determine an origin. Far as I know, most was lost due to legal stuff between my mom and ex-step-father, but if any remains sitting in storage in Custer, South Dakota, and I can rescue it, I’d rather it go somewhere it would be appreciated than collect dust in the dark… or rusting when the snow gets into the unit.

[@rocketboysmc]

that guy is the definition of able to do the wrong thing safely.

[@greggorytame6672]

6:35 I'm not even a railroader and that scene made me sit up straight and swear out loud. The balls on that man for doing the stunts are something else...

[@destructionhome2689]

yeah like what if your foot hits the wheel and it starts grinding? and then the pain on your inner knee... and you'd be like "AHH AHHH AHH" and try to get out and might end up extending your leg into the wheel...

[@metalheadrailfan]

One old training safety video that really stuck out to me as a kid was Santa Fe's "Count The Seconds". They don't sugarcoat it. "Don't be a dummy."

[@Surkai25]

We have something similar in the electrical field to the blue light/blue flag. Lock-out/tag-out. If we turn off power to an area, we lock the breaker in the off position along with a tag saying "do not remove". Also amazing how these old school training videos, are in so many ways, better than training videos we have today. Probably goes the same for any/every field out there

[@Ronald.Golleher]

LOTO isn't just electrical, though it's probably most common, but used for anything "energized." I work in oilfield with gas compressors, and we use it in many cases. Gas compressors, when being worked on mechanically, don't get only the electric power for the motor LOTO but valves for the gas stream as well. Gas anywhere from 120 psi *minimum* up to 1700+ psi on the other side of those valves, and full of deadly H2S as well (deadly as low as 100 parts per million, or 0.0001% concentration). Well work rigs not only lock out the electric power for the motor on the pumping unit, but will lock brakes *and* chain the crank arms so that the cranks and counterweights cannot move on their own. A couple of our units have counterweights that can be up to 8000 lbs, and when suspended vertically, that's a lot of potential energy.

[@Hyce777]

We use LOTO in railroad mechanical as well. Anything that is energized, as Ronald said.

[@retr0bits545]

@@Hyce777we use it for machining too as everything in a machine shop will kill you given the chance.

[@sonsofwar9819]

We use LOTO in HVAC/R as well

[@justaguycalledjosh]

LOTO and safety zones were very big at my old school machine shop. "This cutter is designed to cut metal, it really doesn't give a flying fuck about flesh, and though it will make complaints, it will chew through bone fine as well. Here, look at this cow bone i prepped earlier."@@retr0bits545

[@jamesgroccia644]

"Being a little bit careless is the same as being a little bit pregnant" is actually a really solid bar

[@bearfoxtrot_101]

CP engineer here, yes hand closest to the car when kicking cars. Don't crosshand. We had a guy in my class get rolled up under a car and spat out in conductor training. Luckily he lived, but he couldn't work anymore.

[@157RANDOM]

Im pretty sure every railroader in NA watched this. We watched it in training at CN. Although unfortunately we aren't allowed to get on and off moving equipment anymore.

[@lucaknight_]

The fact that csx still uses this video for conductor training is a testament to its perfection lol

[@jamie6126]

My uncle is a firefighter in Roseville. He once responded to a conductor that had gotten crushed in between the knuckles. They had to call his family and friends to say their last goodbyes before they “pulled the pin” and he bled out.

[@Hyce777]

I've heard many a story like that. Horrifying.

[@andywomack3414]

B&O, 1970's a PRR brakeman got coupled, survived, lost everything below the waist, newlywed, child on the way. Such stories serve as grim reminders. I've known or knew of more than one railroader who was killed in action.

[@3ftsteamrwy12]

My Grandmothers father was a B&O engineer almost a century ago, made it all the way up to running the Capitol Limited on the district up Sand PAtch Grade...his uncle supposedly was killed coupling using the old "link & pin" couplers on a freight train sometime in the 1890's.

[@robertpeterson4900]

Lost a good friend and switchman who got “coupled up” At Hobart yard in the late 1970’s. Also a son of an engineer I fired for a few years earlier. He was lucky as he survived. Still think about it.

[@PowerTrain611]

Watching Glen's foot slip over the stirrup getting on the wrong way makes my heart pound every time I watch it. God, you think you'll never see someone lose a foot or a leg, arm, hand, anything... until you become a railroader. About the slack action - we used the indy dump on the Creek once to deal with a very... stubborn... passenger once. A teenage girl thought she knew better than me when I told her to stay seated. She ignored me 6 times in the span of2-3 minutes when I told her to remain seated. Parents ignored me too. So I gave the engineer a call on the walkie once a saw that everyone else was seated and safe, and the engineer obliged with a good WHUMP. I turned around to see the teen picking herself up off the floor, she gave me this misty-eyed puppy dog look and retreated to her seat, and I announced a little spiel over the PA about slack action, starting with "THAT'S why we remain seated on a moving train!"

[@ian.whaley]

I'm very fortunate in the fact that I have spent the entirety of my railroad career working for shortlines where getting on and of moving equipment and gravity switching or kicking were permissable. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't fun to drop or kick cars while switching, there's a lot of pride in being able to do something the old fashioned way. I can also say that I've safely done flying switches and dutch drops before, but there's a reason they are banned at nearly every operation because there's a lot that can go wrong when doing them.

[@John73John]

The railroad I used to work at had very different hand signals. I would slightly rotate my wrist clockwise for "speed up" and anti-clockwise for "slow down". But then, my railroad was about 1/87th as big as yours so that's probably why.

[@ChrisCaramia]

Sounds like an inHOuse railroad I used to run. The boss was a real piece of work too--always second-guessing the layout, screwing up the switches, constant derailing on curves...

[@andrewframe8046]

Many years ago, we had Blackie and a couple other old heads doing some switching in the yard, and they were using some wild hand signals to communicate which car was going to which track, what was being cut off, etc. No radios were even touched that day. Such hand signals died along with Blackie, I'm sure.

[@advorak8529]

You will find similar and more complex sign languages - OK, ASL and co are short range only, but military hand signals (when you need to not make noise) and ship-to-ship communication with flags or lights or guiding an aircraft on the ground with hand signals … plenty of them around. There’s even a whistle language - originating in a place where ridges were too far for shouting but within range of whistling. Today, servers there communicate with the kitchen over the din of tourists in that language.

[@anthonyj.adventures9736]

I worked for a MOW crew for a few years. We watched this. Except as part of a OSHA safety course of what not to do. His jokes are priceless.

[@bradleybarry3426]

History In the Dark covered this a while ago. Nice to get someone more familiar with railroad safety react to it. 😀

[@jrn4151]

Yes. Even flat switching on a class 1 railroad they still kick cars. Way easier than shoving the cut to the joint every time.

[@phil69881]

Handsignals are just too different in some places. In the UK "come to me" is the "go away" in the UP video, and "go away" is the rolling are motion (with the arm nearest the locomotive). At night the handsignal instructions we use are based on red/white/green lights - there's a portion of the Network Rail rule book available online, which you can read. Also in the UK "fly shunting"/kicking cars is band, as is getting on or off a moving vehicle. *this happened about 15 years ago now* (We don't have a Blue Flag, but we have Not To Be Moved boards, modern ones have flashing red lights.) When I was training as a signalman, on a heritage railway, we had a trainee guard/conductor that was doing their shunting assessment, and it was a bit of a damp day. They'd inspected the coaches they were gonna move and all was good, they called the loco on and when it went to brake it slipped, so slammed into the coaches, moving them about 2ft back. Suddenly 2 carriage and wagon fitters leap out from beneath the 4th coach (of 7), yelling at the poor trainee. The poor lad never completed his training after that and left the railway. The C&W guys hadn't told the signal box they were there and working so we had no protection set for that siding, nor had they personally protected the set of coaches they were dealing with.

[@Armageddon_71]

28:45 "Make it big, dumb and obvious! Trains are big, dumb and obvious!" That caught me off guard XD

[@motta9784]

Where I volunteer in the uk, I was always getting confused by the “move away” hand signal as my brain was interpreting it as “come towards me”. Plus at night our lamp signals closely match the hand signal and are still move relative to the signal regardless of the direction the locomotive is facing

[@Tyrope]

Not train railroad, but I'm a "tram safety officer" here in the Netherlands, we use different signals to communicate with the tram drivers and the people working in/around the tracks. Hand signals (to tram drivers): Stop: Raise track-side hand above head. Slow: Track-side hand horizontal above the rail. (Make sure you step back before they get close...) Drive forwards: Track-side hand, fingers pointing up, forwards and backwards past your ear. Reverse: Track-side hand fingers stretched and together, up and down past your entire body. STOP. NOW!: Wave both hands above your head like you REALLY CARE. Whistle signals (to ground crew): Start/continue work: Short Tram in parallel track, watch yourself: Long Stop work and leave the tracks: Long Short Long Emergency: Repeat short signals until the entire track is clear, with a minimum count of five.

[@puttentanesame6687]

Thank you for that, fellow Nederlander (2nd generation in Fullerton, California, USA) Enjoy some Stroopwafel for me...hartelijk bedankt !

[@lillian6023]

By and far the best safety video. It's still used today which is wild to me but that's a testament to how well it's done.

[@chemech]

I'm of the opinion that while it's the best *railroad* safety video, it's only the second best safety video I've ever seen. (Which is still pretty damned excellent!) The German safety video: Staplerfahrer Klaus (Klaus the forklift driver) is the absolute best which I have seen.

[@VintageRenewed]

In terms of hand signals On the sumpter valley we are always using night time signals even during the day so we can make sure that no one gets messed up and confused with the come towards or go away

[@datguymiller]

I heard a story from a railworker about how he came round a curve in a yard to see a blue flag on said car which he couldn't before, hit breaks and came close to hitting it. Luckily the guy working on the car had just gotten out cuz it "could have ended very badly for the new guy"

[@Ryan_Rail]

31:43 For RTD Denver Commuter Rail we only use Forward/Proceed, Backup, and Stop after establishing the direction of movement, we use it both in day and night operations.

[@mihami0222]

For anyone interested. In Romania the signals depend on the direction of the locomotive where the front of the loco is defined as either: 1. the smoke stack of a steam loco, 2. the long hood of a diesel-hydraulic loco, 3. the occupied end of a diesel/electric loco not tied to a set of cars or 4. the end not tied to a set of cars in case of a diesel/electric loco. All shunting signals use a yellow flag by day and a white lantern by night. Forwards is waving in a bow above the head accompanied by a long whistle. Backwards is waving a bow below the head accompanied by two long whistles. Slow down is waving a bow on the side accompanied by multiple long whistles (until the desired speed is achieved). Stop is waving a circle accompanied by three short whistles. Shove is the same as forwards/backwards, but only has a single wave (as in once from left to right) of the flag in a bow. Couple is same as forwards/backwards, only the movement is less ample and it is accompanied by two short whistles. There are more signals that are used, if someone's curious just ask and I'll tell them too.

[@2peaseinapod486]

I love how he just gets off like an absolute badass

[@granthoppel2534]

We also used this video in my brakemen class. If I’m remembering correctly, we looked up the “old head” after the video and learned he was a stunt man rather than a railroader. Nevertheless his performance was excellent. Over at my museum, we use hand signals that are closer to yours than to East coast, probably because we inherited much of our practices from the C&NW. However, we do still get on & off moving equipment, mostly during switching ops and run arounds. Keep up the great work!

[@blackbirdgaming8147]

He was a stunt man, yes, but he was also high up in the safety department for UP, and had been a railroader for a while. Accounts of people who worked with him said he was an amazing teacher that always put safety 100% before anything else.

[@Ronald.Golleher]

Someone else said he was both, that he was a stunt man who happened to work for UP. So it would help to not only be able to do the stunts, but know exactly what to do to be unsafe safely. Edit: that someone else beat me to it lol

[@rjohnson1690]

We kicked all the time, and occasionally dropped cars when I was working freight. There was quite a few things, like getting on and off moving equipment, we only did when we knew no one was looking.

[@Idaho-Cowboy]

This guy is a legend! A railroaders railroader!

[@Buynot]

The Santa Fe had a very similar training video like this that only focused on getting on and off cars, but the intro was super creepy. Just ominous music with footage of dummys getting maimed and murdered by boxcars.

[@rdfox76]

Interesting note for those who are curious--to my knowledge, the washout is a universal signal, recognized on every railroad in the world. Additionally, I've been told (though I can't quote chapter and verse in any set of operating rules) that *any* vigorous/frantic waving signal from *any* person at trackside is to be taken as a washout. That said, if you're giving it to warn of stuck brakes or a hot bearing, it's still best to use the proper hand signals for those, as it does give the crew more information as to *why* you're signalling to stop... assuming you can get into a place to give such a signal now that the caboose is dead.

[@dkbmaestrorules]

Nah, washout as shown in the video is US (or North American?) specific. Here in the UK the emergency stop signal is the same as the ordinary stop signal (both hands raised above the head); in Germany, it's one hand swung in a circle; no doubt it's different in other countries. Though I think most rulebooks in the world do say that vigorous waving also = stop.

[@elliotagnew9960]

My local transit agency (which is not under FRA regulation, well mostly), has a rule in the rule book, under signals (right beside all the other signals) that any object waived violently by any person is a signal to stop.

[@BandanRRChannel]

Wow, those stunts are something! Interestingly, the Sumpter Valley Railroad does allow getting on/off moving equipment. Probably most commonly done when flagging grade crossings on shoves so we can get back on the train. Vintage Renewed already covered it, but our railroad uses night signals exclusively. Also, the "slow" signal for us is simply to extend an arm horizontally and keep it stationary, rather than the "rock the baby" demonstrated. Much easier to see, especially with a light or orange rule book, and it can very quickly turn into a "stop" or "washout" signal by swinging the arm downward. Reading my Sound Transit ROW Safety card (which I'm sure you're also familiar with, lol) it looks like their "stop" and "proceed" signals are the same as usual night signals; "reduce speed" is the same as ours, but with a bit of vertical motion to the hand, presumably to draw attention.

[@Hyce777]

.... wow, that's really wack

[@garysprandel1817]

Not a railroader but being a railfan know enough from watching those films primarily for the old equipment and just general knowledge picked up over the years know a thing or two when going to museums to be aware of certain hazards. Buddy of mine and myself riding the caboose train out at IRM back in the 80s and were in a MILW bay window hack at the head of the cut with an 89' flat between us and the Shay at the head end. It was a holiday weekend or some soon event weekend because the train was pretty crowded and we got the bay window seats and noticed dad with his kids standing near us just hands at his sides so figured to keep this guy from falling into someone else Buddy points out he might want to hold onto something as a caboose isn't like his rides on the commuter train and slack action is a thing. Gets a bit snarky with a yeah right thanks response ( think he might have been peeved buddy and me didn't give up our seats for his spawn to ride in the BW) so we just shrug and think okay it's on you then. Shortly get two blasts on the whistle and wait for the show as we hear the slack start to run out from the flat ahead of us and as we warned slack hits and only his quick grab for one of the uprights saved him from going down.

[@aunulimansfield3277]

When I rode the Cumbres and Toltec they let me stand on end platforms so I stood directly behind the loco. Was pulling soot from my hair for months lol

[@RexAnger.]

Hand signals are funny ones. In Australia, they're pretty much universal by State, Company and Rail Infrastructure Manager. 1. 'Come towards me' is one arm waved inwardly across the body by day, and a white lamp waved horizontally by night. 2. 'Go away from me' is a hand waved outwardly away from the body in a circular motion, or white lamp waved vertically by night. 3. 'Come towards me / Go away from me slowly' is the same as 1. and 2., but with the other hand held straight up in the air. By night, you use a green lamp waved horizontally or vertically bythe wrist. I.E. small motions. These moves are meant to be 'Ease Up' or 'Ease Away' motions when you're setting up to couple. 4. 'STOP' is 2 hands held straight up in the air by day, or a red lamp or any light waved violently at night. An Emergency Stop is just how vioently you start waving your arms or lamp. Most companies specify that you shunt/switch excusively by radio. But all employees are taught the hand signals anyway. And there are always cases where hands beat radio.

[@Hyce777]

We can't go meat space railroading now... what the hell are those hand signals lmao :D

[@RexAnger.]

I speak South African Railways hand signals, too. Which are a sort of lazy (Efficient!) hybrid of American and Australian. Don't you worry about US hand signals- The first time I saw you do them on a 101 video, the only 2 that confused me were your 'Stop' / 'Cut' command (Drop your hands and wave them round your waist), and the gestures to count down car lengths. Learning to speak [West Coast] American will be a doddle. 😉

[@TwoPennyStudios]

As I am listening to the music it's clear to me that UP had a very limited sound library at the time because there's music used in this video that's also in the "Last of the Giants" video. Great video and a good reminder why Blue Flag is so darn important! As a side note: The little switcher sure can stop on a dime, but it's brake shoes and the brake shoes on the frieght cars much have been pretty sad at the end of the filming for the training video.

[@twkolejofil]

28:20 I always wonder why the American hand signals are based on the direction of circles. In Poland, Germany and I think the most of Europe "towards me" is moving hand or flag horizontally with 2 whistles, "away from me" is moving it vertically with 1 whistle and "stop" is circling with 3 whistles. Then "slow down" is slowly waving on the side with several long whistles. The night signs are the same, they only differ for "push together", which at least in Poland is like slow clapping hands in daytime and letter D (docisnąć in Polish) in nighttime.

[@anthonyj.adventures9736]

I worked for a Anthracite company as a mechanic on basically everything. Rock crushers coal crushers. Sorters conveyors all the coal processing machines. That blue flag seems like a railroad equivalent of a machine lockout tag out. As in the tech who installed the LO/TO is the olny person to remove it. When your 400ft up on a conveyor belt that dumps into a rock pulverizer you don't want anybody the start the belt or any moving equipment. Love this video.

[@RexAnger.]

Safety Whiskey ready!

[@True_NOON]

4:44 or just have short cuts at regular intervals {Blueflag} Also if a rule is that serious(wich it is) theres probly thousands of people killed by either it not being there or ignored 23:25 even true on a bus

[@lonnierh0dgejr41]

i'm not big into real world trains as much as i am a gamer. i didn't realize just how dangerous train yards could be. it's always a pleasure watching you play and talk about trains.

[@heronimousbrapson863]

In many countries, there are two handbrake wheels, one on either side of the car (they are actually mounted on the side). The brakeman can set the brake while standing firmly on the ground. This is a good system and one that North American railroads should really consider adopting.

[@EdwinsTrains]

My great great grandfather was a brakeman in the 1800s he got his foot ran over by a train once. He got put on roundhouse duties because he only had 1 and 1/2 of a foot.

[@caseythiele3044]

That's the video we watched when i took the Brakeman class at Mid Continent Railway Museum in south central Wisconsin. We do the signals that you were referring to @Hyce. The "go away from me" sign in the video is how we give car counts of how far we want the engineer to move the locomotive. The other signal that we use that wasn't in the video is the "going in" signal. After a connection has been made to connect the gladhands, or if we have to adjust a knuckle, we give a going in signal that we need to have countered by the engineer so we know it's safe to go in and so the engineer knows we're in there. Otherwise the signals are really the same. I'm also kinda surprised they even talk about reaching over the knuckles to open the angle cock, we always climb over the loco or car to do this, although we only run passenger cars and a caboose so we always have adequate and simple way to the other side.

[@rjohnson1690]

I love that video, I saw it for the first time in my new hire class 20 years ago. When I went to a different RR I got my instructor to play it for the class. Love the mini Marshall amp btw. 😊

[@bryceweeks7685]

31:59 This is why I believe that East Coast signals are superior, mainly cause its the same day vs night. None of the "come to me, go away from me. Oh wait it's night, let's use these hand signals"😂 but then again I'm biased. All in all, great video as always Mark! I hope you'll come visit the "narrower guage" up here sometime! Keep up to great work!!

[@Hyce777]

I really need to :D

[@jacobdurbin5480]

One of the old heads at my local railroad told me about this video when I first met him, and I still watch it at least once before we start the regular operating season!

[@donl1410]

Yep. One of the best safety films. I've had it in my collection for quite a while. Glen was a longtime UP employee. I believe later, he was in the PR dept. I read he was a stunt man and a wrestler(?) at one time.

[@csrailwaysociety345]

We watched this video in GCOR class because my instructor wanted us to know how to do things like getting on and off the right way, even though he could not teach us in the real world as it was banned at that time. This is a great video that really drives home the points they were making. As far as pulling the pin is pretty much the same way as it's done nowadays, you're just are not supposed to run with the cut. You almost always have to run with the cut the way things are maintained nowadays. Next time we see each other I gotta tell you about my ghost story pulling pins on the lead.

[@jaydons7602]

"Watch where you're going, remember where you been" a line in Simple ol man, i thought of that when hyce was talking about never walking where your eyes having already been

[@rjohnson1690]

The “old head” in the video lived a really long life. He was still alive when I hired out.

[@northeastartist4158]

I'm not even a railroader and I'm flinching like I've been on my fair share of trains

[@zzsquatchzz5079]

I am a heavy equipment operator and the video they showed us was "shake hands with danger" another great safety video from the 70s.

[@spagelsmegal]

Ngl I love performing the hand signals it all makes complete sense

[@brianormond6898]

Saw this video in 1990 during brakeman training for C&NW. Yeah, shows my age. I always remembered him waving at the girls, but mostly getting stuck on top of that box car in the middle of the yard. Hard to believe how much has changed out there in 34 years since I,first watched that video!! Thanks for the memories!!

[@wobblebee9575]

"Was he a railroader or a stuntman?" A little of both apparently!

[@jasonduncan69]

Glen Roper worked for Union Pacific for many years. He also was a stunt man, and a professional wrestler that went by the "Masked Marvel"

[@LunaGenYT7905]

I love watching these and going "we really did die like men before PTC"

[@themigmadmarine]

If you could do a video on east/west coast hand signals, that would be neat

[@user-xj3sm3ld1b]

looking forward to operating as a conductor at CSX, this video is very informative!

[@thegardenofeatin5965]

26:25 as a flight instructor, one of my common bits of regurgitated wisdom was "Never let the plane get somewhere your mind hasn't already been." Aka don't get so caught up in in-cockpit things like reading charts, setting radios etc. that you lose track of where the airplane is. No pilot has ever looked up from in-cockpit duties and found a pleasant surprise out the window. Related saying: A pilot needs only three things to stay alive. Run out of any one of these three, and you're in trouble. A pilot needs airspeed, altitude, and an idea. Run out of airspeed, run out of altitude, or run out of ideas, and bad things will begin to happen.

[@nathanschmidt4889]

Setting a handbrake too tight was my first write-up. I was taught to get it as tight as possible, which for me was quite a lot. Turns out i was the only one able to unlock them

[@KatyPacific382]

2:18 the part we've all been waiting for. Again, it was so unexpected which makes this clip even better! 😂😂😂

[@jackpeterson6540]

As an Engineer the most unusual sign I ever saw was when switching at a station when the Conductor was a distance away and giving a sign to a Brakeman that was pulling the pins. He jumped up and down three times and gave a cutoff sign. Later I asked him what the hell was that. He responded "Cut off three hoppers". Cheers Jack.

[@nerfspartanEBF25]

8:04 I went to school for carpentry and we've got a rule that says you need 3 points of contact on any ladder and any ladder needs to be held. THIS is EXACTLY why.

[@bobsmith2637]

When I hired on with CN about 10 years ago we watched this on the first day of conductor school

[@Lazarus7000]

I think these humorous type of safety videos are better than the sterile ones, I've heard of _Gabelstaplerfahrer Klaus_ being used by actual forklift safety instructors as part of their course because one is not liable to forget it.

[@rdfox76]

The US Navy, of all people, produced an excellent using-humor safety video, the 1970 classic "Man From LOX." It was meant to convince people of the need to exercise safety when handling liquid oxygen, and used humor very well to make the point. It actually did it a little *too* well--they had wanted a "scare" film, but this one scared people to the point of refusing to work with LOX at all. The whole thing is up on KZbin (look for the version from "manfromlox", because the other versions are shortened, censored versions that the military made over the years), and is a good one to watch. Just know that, if you're squeamish, shut it off when you see the hospital interior--because that happens right before the end, a shot of a sailor who *was* caught in a LOX fire in real life, and who had only a few hours left to live when the footage was captured. It's not pretty.

[@chemech]

Staplerfaher Klaus is in my opinion the best safety video ever produced... And, it was produced for a German state's worker safety program. It has an almost cult following here in the States, because it's just that *GOOD*.

[@advorak8529]

@@chemech _it was produced for a German state's worker safety program._ Nope, it was not. It was made as a homage to the 70s and 80s safety movies. The voice-over is from the same guy who voiced-over many other such videos, especially short traffic/vehicular safety films shown on TV - “Der 7. Sinn” (the seventh sense) ran for 39 years and about 1500 episodes of around 4-5 minutes each.

[@tatecarlson]

One of the most chilling stories I have heard about railroad couplers was when back in the 1890s in Ely, Nevada, a railroad worker got crushed by two railroad couplers and he was still alive and his family came out to say their goodbyes before they uncoupled the cars and the man just bled out once and died instantly

[@trentlewis1473]

I work for a Canadian class 1 railroad. We've been moving away from kicking cars for a few years.

[@automan224]

The boxing bag and hand coupler comparisons were the biggest takeaways from this video for me

[@sudriansignalman9387]

Im a conductor with Crash Smash eXplode, we ABSOLUTELY kick cars just like that on a daily basis

[@dogie61]

I got 3.5 minutes in and I determined the old head is the boss. Did yall see that epic slow motion walk away from the train! Smooth and calculated😆

[@YoLo-bb2vc]

i first saw this saftey video on another youtube channel when he first released it the youtuber is called History in the Dark and he is pretty good concidering he does alot of railway stuff but elves into others like ships, tanks planes and other stuff. if i remember correctly i think he sated who the old guy was in his video

[@victoriamaynard722]

25:15 I felt that, and probably the other 3 generations after me

[@StakrCZ]

I'm sweating like crazy, it's really good old safety video but it's very different to our safety in Europe (specifically Czechia) :D I would like to talk to you about the differences in American and European railroads, I have to visit the museum one day. 🙂

[@Triplex5014]

About the hand signaling, the US railroad always confused me with the motions. Europe might be different from country to country, but here is how it works in Croatia: Vertical arm movement - forward Horizontal arm movement - reverse Circular arm motion - STOP One or both arms to the side with you hands lower to the ground, about some 45 degrees - ease off, go slowly, prepare to STOP Signals can be given by bare hands, red flag or white light at night and poor visibility conditions. When shunting with a locomotive with one cab, the longer nose of the locomotive is the front no matter what or where the cars are coupled. Now this can sometimes be problematic with center-cab locomotives so there has to be an agreement between the engineer and the switch man. Now, with locomotives with a cab on both ends it depends where is the engineer. Basically the switch man is telling the engineer where to put the reverser lever. Same applies to multiple unit trains. Now there is a catch and it doesn't make sense, but it's railroading for you. Imagine for example an EMD locomotive coupled to a train with the short nose being the head of the train, not doing shunting work. Now you need the consist to move forwards. Which signal to give? You give forward even though the rule says the longer end is always the front.

[@emilpersson8250]

The way they show how to jump of a moving car is the opposite of what we’re taught in Sweden. Here you shouldn’t always jump of in directions of travel. For example If you are hanging on to a car on the left side in the direction of travel you should step of with your left foot first forward and out when stepping of.

[@Hyce777]

Weird.

[@originalsteveo]

idk who you are or why I was recommended you but I am abso-tootin-lutely glad it happened. I mean, trains are cool, but I'm not that kind of autistic person. Listening to you, though, you tell far more interesting aspects and do tend to frame it in more interesting ways. So, thank you for that and the good work so far, looking forward to more!

[@JohnTK]

I scared everyone in the break room when I laughed at “a little bit pregnant”

[@hatad321]

Man, some of those stunts are Buster Keaton levels of "if you mess up you're just dead".

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

I'm a little late here, but on the railroad I work for, we use the "night signs" like you mentioned with a couple slight tweaks: a "STOP" signal is a horizontal motion across the body, (or really anything across the body should be treated as a stop.) And we don't really use the "washout" hand signal, but rather it's worded as "any object waved frantically should be treated as a emergency stop signal."

[@leightonmoreland]

As always, the Rules are Written in Blood! Behind every safety rule is a dead body or missing limb

[@solarusthelonghaulerrailfa3226]

But Hyce there’s breakmen that believe that if you are going too fast you will lose your job but there’s another saying that if you have to get 11 switches on a 20 switch ladder some people will stop get off throw the switch and get back on thin move to the next switch very inefficient

[@solarusthelonghaulerrailfa3226]

And the local railroad that runs through my town drops cars to runaround the locomotive

[@solarusthelonghaulerrailfa3226]

And Hyce I assume that y’all use blue flags for shop maintenance

[@user-xu2vg3rn3n]

I love these old safety videos. I used to work in limestone minining. Even back in 2017, the entire company would watch a certain video during our annual training day. The video was called "Shake Hands with Danger." It was probably from the 70's or 80's. It had an old country themesong with a guitar riff that happened every time some guy got killed or seriously injured. It was pretty graphic, not only for the time, but because it was showing us a lot of the consequences of doing the same practices many if the inexperianced bosses and foremen were telling us to do despite the rules. Meanwhile, MSHA was hassling us over miniscule shit instead of adressing any actual safety issues. Anyways, I still loved the job and the good ol' boys I worked with. The company offered one of the only jobs in the area that payed a good, actual livable wage and offered jobs to many in that area. They offered jobs to the poor, former miltary, and other types of people who tried to make an "honest" living. God bless those guys.

[@jankington216]

The lick from Shake Hands with Danger would make a great channel meme

[@P_litzer]

I’ve been waiting for this video for ages. Love it!

[@paulw.woodring7304]

Very true about the changing attitudes towards getting on/off moving equipment. When I hired on CSX in '99 the rule had become "don't", and I heard the old heads complain about the extra time it took towards their "early quit" on their yard job. Personally, I am chicken about getting on or off moving equipment and took that rule to heart while I was a conductor. Also, one of the veteran conductors told me he didn't understand complaining about changes like that. He said every time they came up with a new rule that slowed things down he just remembered they were putting more money in his pocket. I believe that when Precision Scheduled Railroading became the rage they went back to allowing "safe" getting on and off moving equipment again.

[@blackhawks81H]

I like how his "Stuntman landing pad" was literally just a big tarp folded over a few times on top of pointy ballast. That old dude must have a fairly high level hardass to do half the stuff he did in this video.

[@Ian-the-real-person]

I know this is going to be dumb and funny

[@bcb0356]

Used to work at a class 1 a couple years ago, kicking is still very common and one of the most dangerous things you can do. If the train is moving too fast and the ballast is uneven it’s very easy to trip and fall.

[@SteelCowboy93]

Current class 3 railroader here. I’ve kicked cars, gravity switched, gotten on and off moving equipment. I will say that even when doing it right, it’ll still take a toll on ya after a while, but it takes longer for it too. Sad part is some things are standard practice or aren’t taught like they need to be anymore.

[@bnsfwoodvalleysubdivision9157]

I learned the techniques of balancing on flat cars because when I was in my teenage years I worked on multiple farms bailing square bales on a hay rack.

[@TheMagmaKnigh]

I work on a short line in Minnesota and we still kick cars in our hump yard. Apparently some 20 plus years ago they were allowed to kick cars where ever they felt like but there were too many accidents and the FRA regulations have changed to only on the hump, this is all second hand from some of the older guys though so I don't know what the rule actually used to say.

[@TurboMike1988]

We kicked cars all the time when I was with NS. I worked in a former hump yard, where we were just sorting cars with a remote. We kicked cars into the yard all the time. It did help that the yard had a positive grade coming out of either end, so the cars where going downhill as they were rolling into the tracks.

[@jamesTBurke]

Funny thing is I've thought about jumping on trains like this as they go by occasionally