On the railroads, a flagman is an employee of the railroad who is assigned to protect

contractors A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...

or anyone performing work on a railroad right of way. A flagman is also assigned to protect a train that has stopped on a section of track. When a train approaches a location a flagman is posted, the train crew will have to get permission from the flagman to pass the area. Sabah Malaysia Lineman-of-Sabah-State-Railway-in-Beaufort-02

Sabah Malaysia Lineman-of-Sabah-State-Railway-in-Beaufort-02

Before the advent of automated

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...

gates, and still where automatic gates are not installed, flagmen were also assigned to protect the crossings. The flagman would stop road traffic from crossing the tracks as trains used the crossing.

Additional information

Rules pertaining to a flagman may vary depending on different railroad's operating rules. For instance on

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

a train approaching the work area is to call the flagman for permission through the work area. If workers are in the clear the flagman will advise crew to proceed and advise the crew that workers are not fouling the track. If a flagman fails to answer, the train crew is required by rule to stop short of milepost location and proceed at restricted speed. However on

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway (U.S.), Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the ...

there are no flagmen. Rather NS has a track supervisor obtain track authority from the train dispatcher to take the track out of service until it is certain that workers are in the clear and trains may safely pass the area.

References

External links

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"A mounted flagman"
''Railway and Locomotive Engineering'', April 1908 {{DEFAULTSORT:Flagman (Rail) Railway occupations Railway signalling