Expertise and Improvisation on Display at the AWRR
JANUARY 2025 – Decades of experience and of working together recently paid off when a damaged railcar passed the Austin Western Railroad’s (AWRR) shop near Burnet, Texas.
Locomotive Mechanic Ismael Mondragon starts his day at 5 a.m., which is usually around the time Conductor/Engineer Transito Pedraza is finishing his nightly run. Recently, Pedraza’s train passed by the AWRR’s locomotive shop at about 5:30 a.m. as he was delivering a rock train to a customer’s facility.
“Somehow, over the ruckus of the train passing and work in the shop, Ismael heard something that didn’t sound right. He said he thought it was coming from the last car on the train,” said Stephen Anderson, AWRR chief mechanical officer (CMO). “He notified me immediately and I radioed Transito.”
Pedraza stopped the train while Anderson and Mondragon drove to meet him.
“Sure enough, the brake rigging on the last car was dragging between the tracks,” said Anderson.
The brake rigging sits on the trucks between the wheels of the railcar. It’s a metal bar that moves back and forth to apply or release the brakes. This meant the car had no brakes on the front end, and the dragging metal debris created other hazards.
After inspecting the railcar, the team decided the car was safe to move if they could secure the rigging to the railcar.
“Transito actually suggested using his belt,” said Anderson. “We thought it was worth a shot. He took it off his pants it worked to keep the rigging from dragging long enough to get them into the customer’s plant.”
Mondragon has more than two decades of experience and served as the AWRR CMO before taking a step back. Pedraza has been with Watco for 18 years, most of which have been on the AWRR. Anderson says their experience and the trust they have in each other helped ensure this defect was addressed immediately.
“Ismael trained me. He’s trained everyone in our mechanical department,” Anderson said. “Transito takes the time every day at the end of his shift to let the mechanical team know if he notices anything we can address before it becomes an issue. They’ve been friends for years and they trust each other. So when I said, ‘Ismael heard something we might want to look at,’ Transito didn’t hesitate to stop the train.”