Public Law Board No. 2083


                                                                                                                                                          Award No. 4
                                                                                                                                                             Case No. 4


PARTIES TO DISPUTE:



Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers

                and

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company





STATEMENT OF CLAIM:



     Claim of  Engineer R.  W. Sanderson  for 14  miles initial terminal  delay at  Houston on October 19, 1975.





FINDINGS:



     Claimant was  called at Houston for a trip to Temple on intradivisional train  527-S-1. He  went on duty at the Rusk Avenue  Roundhouse   at  7   a.m.,  where  he  obtained  his locomotive. He  then proceeded  3.2 miles to New South Yard, picked up his caboose there, left that Yard at 8:25 a.m. and went another  3.15 miles to Basin Yard. He obtained cars for his train at Basin Yard and departed from Basin Yard at 9:50 a.m.



     It is  Petitioner's position  that claimant is entitled to initial  terminal delay  under Article 17 (b) (1) for the period beginning with his reporting time, 7 a.m., and ending at 9:50  a.m. when  he departed with his engine, caboose and cars from  Basin Yard.  With the  prescribed deductions  and adjustments, the  amount claimed  would add  up to  fourteen miles.



     Carrier contends  that initial terminal delay should be measured from  7 a.m.  to 8:25  a.m., the time claimant left New South Yard with his locomotive and caboose. In Carrier's view, claimant's  "train" left  on its  road  trip  when  it departed New  South Yard. It points out that under Article V 1 (a)  of the  May  13,  1971  BLE  National  Agreement,  an engineer may  be required,  " after  picking  up  train  and commencing outbound  trip, " to make "an additional pick up" of cars  within the  limits of the initial terminal. Carrier maintains that  claimant's "train"  consisted of  the engine and caboose  when he  left  New  South  Yard  and  that  the subsequent pick  up of  cars at  Basin Yard was permitted by Article V 1 (a).



     Under the terms of Article 17 (b) (1), initial terminal delay is the time that elapses between the time the employee reports for  duty and the time "the train actually starts on its road  trip from  the yard track where the train is first made up."



     While  an   engine   and   caboose   may   under   some circumstances be  considered a  train embarking  on  a  road trip, we  are not  satisfied that the locomotive and caboose in question were within that category when they departed New South Yard at 8:25 a.m. on the claim date. The move from New South Yard  to Basin Yard was made to complete making up the train and  not to  commence the  outbound trip of the train. The road  trip did not begin until the cars were received at Basin Yard.  An "additional" pick up of cars could have been made after that time within the terminal.



     The contracting  parties were  careful  to  provide  in paragraph 4  of Article V of the May 13, 1971 Agreement that "rules or regulations which now provide for payments to road crews for  performing work  in excess of, or other than that enumerated herein, will not be affected by the provisions of this Article  V." A  "Note" to  paragraph  4  explains  that "Rules or  regulations not  affected include,  but  are  not limited to,  initial and  final  terminal  delay  rules  and conversion rules."



     Public Law  Board No.  1386 Award No. 5 and the Article 14 Disputes  Committee Decision  in Case  No 34-E  have been cited by  Carrier. However Award No. 5 concerns a materially different situation,  one where the engine left a yard track with 55  cars and  caboose and  not, as in the present case, with only  a caboose.  The Disputes  Committee Decision  was issued on  December 9,  1955, long  before the  May 13, 1971 Agreement was  negotiated and  does not present any facts or reasons showing  why the Committee concluded that the engine and caboose  in that case constituted a "train" departing on a road  trip. It is our conclusion that claimant's train did not begin its road trip until it left Basin Yard.





AWARD:    Claim sustained.



          Adopted at Fort Worth, Texas, May 24, 1978.





ORDER:    Carrier is  hereby ordered to make the above Award effective on or before June 23, 1978.







                              Harold M. Weston, Chairman