Let me try and shed some insider details. We never called it fire
insurance, it was job insurance. You could get it through BRCF or the UTU.
What did it insure ? Working on any RR,not just the Q,was pretty much like
working in a military organisation except there were no guns. There were
mutliple rule books, the Consolidate Code,Signals & Indications rules,Safety
Rules,Air Brake and Train Handling rules,rules pertaining to current timetable
and special instructions and current Supt and trainmasters bulletins. If
you screwed up and put something on the ground one of these rules would apply.
How did I just come up with that long list.........Doug Hartman just
emailed a couple days ago the Supts letter to him,myself and a couple
dozens others that we were to prepare ourselves for the exam to Condr
promotion in 1976.
If you had any kind of a derailment,accident,incident,etc you would receive
a letter asking you to attend an investigation to "determine your
responsibility......................." concerning the incident. The end
result,if found guilty of one of the 700 plus rules was time off. The job
insurance replace a portion of your wages while you sat home for the
prescribed time off before returning to work.
Was there any other industry with this type of penalty system ?
Leo Phillipp
Former Brakeman,Condr,and local Greiver........yes I have been to a few
investigations.