Cal/OSHA affects the DRR

[Steve DeGaetano]

Apparently the Cal/OSHA folks who shut down the Matterhorn and Space Mountain had some new rule changes for the DRR as well:

CMs on the railroad (and presumably other CMs around the Park as well), are not allowed to stand on objects that are more than 30 inches from the ground. Practically speaking, this means that the trains cannot take water at Frontierland, because the crew need to stand on the tender deck. Now they take water from a water hose in Tomorrowland. It also means that sand cannot be put into the sand domes (this would require standing on the running boards--now verboten).

Additionally, operating engineers are no longer allowed to use the pits at the roundhouse.

They were also concerned about the practice of keeping pressure in the boiler all night. I can tell you that if the boilers had to be drained and cooled every night, the engines wouldn't be long for this world. The quick cooling and contraction would destroy the boilers very quickly. It sounds like they relented on this one, however.

All of this is brought to you by people who have absolutely zero understanding of how steam locomotives work.

I realize this sounds like a late April Fools post. Wish I could say that it was.

[S. Towler]

This last week was a headache for everyone. Almost every department got hit by OSHA in some way or another. It's really ridiculous

The only way I could see them working with trains is having the rules given a rewritten approval, or a special railing/ladder rig to get on top of the tender, or to reach the sand dome. (Anything over 30" requires a railing, or fall protection). Not working in the pits is ridiculous. How is maintenance performed underneath now?

[Dave Van]

Last week we had a discussion on another BB as to why GE is moving locomotive production from PA to Texas. This bled over to companies leaving CA because of what amounted to harassment.

I added my 2 cents in a story about my best friends company based in So Cal. It was a construction company and got an 'unannounced' visit from the state of CA inspectors.
The inspectors fined him, big BTW, for a battery on the shop floor. They were in the middle of changing batteries when the inspector entered. My buddy said later he heard form other business owners in the area and they were all hit with fines, many just as silly. Then one of them told him it was just a 'fee generation day' that they do now and then to keep the department viable and prove they are 'needed'. Sound like the same thing happened at Disney. My buddy ended up selling the company as he was fed up. Hard to do with DL.

[Blacksheep Uncle]

the whole thing smells like a money grab by CalOSHA....

the rule Disney is alleged to be violating is from 1992 and all the attraction involved have been inspected (or built) well after that rule was in place...now all of a sudden Disney needs to pay a 1/4 million dollar fine and not allow anyone to ever be more than 30" off the ground without a harness. (I really feel sorry of any business with product on shelves if CalOSHA going to try and enforce this on every jobsite; 30" is barely higher than a kitchen step stool.)

there are times I really wish they could disassemble Disneyland and move it out of the horribly mismanaged state...

[TFN5459]

This sounds absolutely absurd. First we get the new conductor booths and now they can't even refill the water and sand without having problems. While I don't have any ideas on the sand or the pits, is it possible for a fireman to top off the water from the ground or in the cab? I was thinking maybe you could use an extra long chain to pull down the spout or stand in the cab and use a pole to open the hatch and pull the spout down. On the railroad that I work at, we stand on the ground and pull the spout down to top off, but then again we are in 1/3 scale...

[Locoboy5150]

Ugh...and "experts" cannot figure out why businesses are leaving California in droves.

It just doesn't pay to do any business in this state if you want to make a profit.

[IDMT129]

I am fuming. That is all I can legibly write at this time.

[DeuceMan_408]

I am fuming. That is all I can legibly write at this time.

Agree. Vomit in the mouth. This state won't be happy until everything is powered with smiles and recycled farts.

[Bruce R Pier]

The watering up issue hit the CP&LE a couple of years ago. Here is how they dealt with that -
http://www.cplerr.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=606
As far as not being able to use the pits, are they going to shut down every garage and oil change shop that uses pits? Yeah right....

[DeuceMan_408]

The watering up issue hit the CP&LE a couple of years ago. Here is how they dealt with that -
http://www.cplerr.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=606
As far as not being able to use the pits, are they going to shut down every garage and oil change shop that uses pits? Yeah right....

Also agree. Didn't want to rant but will on a small scale. So many thing are done unsafe on a day to day work base ridiculous. I appreciate that they want to make sure the work place is proper and safe but they seem to pick out easy and obvious over reasonable and cause legit trouble for someone. I'm not gonna go on on and cause it would be issues for days. I'm sorry to hear about this though. Someday I would love to "retire" and be able to work on the DLR. Those unsafe duties mentioned was something I would have loved to have done.