tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1149283829854298377.post1645666978787750528..comments2024-03-28T15:12:38.709-05:00Comments on The Million Dollar Way (The Bakken Oil Blog): For Investors Only -- July 17, 2014 -- Microsoft, Minimum Wage, ObamaCareBruce Oksolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10952652803684625738noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1149283829854298377.post-57150769875146187052014-07-17T18:01:56.221-05:002014-07-17T18:01:56.221-05:00Five to three to two. That sounds about right. Five to three to two. That sounds about right. Bruce Oksolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10952652803684625738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1149283829854298377.post-30379787431361608402014-07-17T17:54:51.785-05:002014-07-17T17:54:51.785-05:00Your clear recollection of railroad history is cra...Your clear recollection of railroad history is cracking me up...back when all trains had cabooses the standard crew size was five: a conductor and two brakemen in the caboose and an engineer and fireman in the lead locomotive. <br /><br />After years of debate, by the mid-80s, railroads had by and large been allowed to eliminate the caboose and the fireman and brakemen. The fireman had mostly been made obsolete a few decades earlier when diesel locomotives replaced steam engines, while many of the historical duties of the brakemen could be accomplished with improved technology (though some trains, to this day, still do have one brakeman to make operations easier). The conductor was moved up to the front of the train, and ever since the standard crew for a freight train has been an an engineer and conductor in the lead locomotive. There is wide speculation within the industry, though, that thanks to additional advances in technology and automation, sometime in the not-too-distant future, the railroads will push to eliminate the conductor and just have one crew member on most freight trains.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com