A subject I wish I knew more about: the railroad dispatcher:

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

In the grand scheme of railroad things, it seems like the dispatcher would rank up really high in importance. From things I read, it doesn’t seem as if he or she is given much credit for how well things run. Should they? Is it a high-prestige job in the organization? Where do they come from, and how are they trained?

(( As a side joke>>please note that this is not a global warming thread. If you have any additional global warming arguements, please seek out one of the 344 global warming threads! Thank you.[;)]))

2

Dispatching is both art and science, and poorly understood outside of the office. Good dispatchers are not always employee-of-the-month sanitized, and tend to be born, not made. One dispatcher can make a subdivision hum like a well-oiled machine while his relief turns it into rubble. Because the logic structure of dispatching is very complex it is to date not feasible to emulate it with software code, though many have spent large sums in the effort.

Here’s a simple and mundane situation to test your dispatching skills:

Two eastward trains are approaching one westward train. The first eastward train has low priority and the second eastward train has high priority. The westward train has high priority. The station progression is A, B, C, D, equally spaced. Each of these stations has a siding long enough to fit any of these trains. Eastward train 1 (low priority) is leaving Station A. Eastward train 2 (high priority) is on the approach to Station A. Westward train 1 (high priority) is on the approach to station D. Where do you meet these trains and who takes the sidings?

If you get that one, try it with this wrinkle: Westward train 1 is short on time, and turnout speed is 20 mph – best aspect for entering a siding is lunar.

S. Hadid

3

It would seem obvious that the best solution would be to put eastward #1 into the siding at B, and allow eastward #2 and westward #1 to meet at C. With the wrinkle thrown in, maybe put eastward #2 into the siding at A, allow westward #1 to blow by both of them, then allow eastward #2 to pass eastward #1 at B.

How many points do I get?

4

Perhaps outside the industry this is true. However, when you’re down in the trenches, the dispatcher gets all the credit…good and bad.

A good dispatcher is born. You can teach someone the mechanics of it, but if they don’t that that innate sixth sense, they won’t be one of THOSE dispatchers. Like yardmastering, dispatching one of the few remaining “black arts”.

Preferably, dispatchers come from within the Operations department. But if there’s a shortage of volunteers, railroads will hire outsiders. Like any other position, they go through classroom instruction, time in a simulator, and then OJT.

Nick

5

Brian: Good so far on the first one, but which train under the first scenario takes siding at C? You’ve got to have a complete plan.

Your second scenario answer won’t do much to help the westward train, but it will definitely get you a visit from the chief for hosing the priority eastward train.

Hint: which train takes the siding can make a huge difference in running times.

S. Hadid

6

Murphy, if you want to learn about Dispatching read this by TAW (Dispatchers are known by their initials). TAW was one of the best, in fact he wrote a book used to teach new candidates who seek to become Dispatchers.

TAW webpages

7

All right… I’ll take a shot. Assumption: EB2 is faster train than EB1 and will start to catch EB1’s yellows if it remains behind EB1.

EB1 takes siding at station B

WB1 passes siding D, takes siding at station C

EB2 overtakes EB1 at station B, meets and passes WB1 at station C

WB1 departs station C after clearing EB2, meets and passes EB1 at station B

EB1 departs station B after clearing WB1.

The only way to keep WB1 moving is to drop EB1 into station B and EB2 into station A for the meets, meaning priority train EB2 has to wait for WB1 to traverse three stations. Mucho delay.

If WB1 -really- has the dogs snapping at his heels,

WB1 passes station D, halts on the main short of the west switch at station C.

EB1 passes station B, takes the siding at station C while getting dirty looks from a waiting WB1.

EB2 passes station A, takes siding at station B.

WB1 departs Station C as soon as EB1 clears the west switch, meets and passes EB2 at Station B

EB2 departs Station B as soon as WB1 clears, overtakes EB1 still waiting at Station C. Note - EB1 could move ahead to Station D and take the siding there to clear EB2. Depends on the physical layout (does the crew have to manually button up the sidings upon departure?) and whether or not the crew on EB1 pissed me off on their last trip. :slight_smile:

All three trains have to take a hit, but at least WB1 will have a close meet with EB1 and can peel right out on the main afterward.

Other than keeping them out o

8

The only difference between Scenario 1 and Scenario 2 is to consider which of the two high-priority trains should take the siding at C. And the answer is the same in either case: put the west train into the siding at C.

Your answer to the first scenario got it right, but your answer to the second will hammer both hotshots. If you put that kind of a hit on the west hotshot you might as well call a van for him because he’s toast. Moral: Any time you can get rid of a drag into a siding in the face of hotshots, do so. The drag is likely going to hog out ANYWAY before the day is done, because he’s heavy and slow and crew districts are usually so long that on a good day a drag freight can barely make it over them without hogging out. So don’t fret about killing the drag because he’s already dying.

Here’s what happens. The eastward train will reach siding C about the same time the first west train reaches siding B. Under Scenario 1 the eastward train might as well take the siding at C and not delay the hotshot westward train, because he’ll have plenty of time to dawdle in and the dispatcher can make the west switch at C normal long before the hotshot west train starts seeing a flashing yellow.

Scenario 2, the eastward train will still get to C first. If the east train is held on the main at C and either west train takes the siding instead, instead of the east hotshot saving time he loses 30 minutes, because the west train has to decelerate to restricted speed and slowly pull into the siding on a lunar indication. If the east train is cleared up in the siding, then the west train will go by at maximum authorized track speed, and once the west train is off the OS, the east train can come out at 20 mph on a better than lunar indication.

The point is to consider how fast trains enter and leave sidings, and acceleration/deceleration times. Trains leave sidings faster than they enter especially if the

9

"Scenario 2, the eastward train will STILL get to C first. Why would you want to pull him down the main to the west switch – so he can watch the west train show up 30 minutes later, because he’s had to slow to restricted speed, and then spend another 15 minutes watching the west train slog into the siding?"

Not sure this is what you meant to say?. I had WB1 holding the main, not going into the siding, at C. I do agree that you’d be better putting the slower EB1 into the siding at B would be a better idea. However, WB1 is closer to C than EB2, and will still have to wait at the west switch at C for EB to arrive and take the siding. I take it that WB1 would be better off spending their wait time getting into the siding and letting EB2 sail by unmolested? So… Scene 1 would still be best?

10

I am not following you. Look at my last post again and tell me what’s not clear to you. (Also, I think you have your station order confused. A is left, D is right, by convention.) Put pencil on paper and see if you have it explained correctly because when I tried to pencil out your solution it doesn’t make sense.

11

I have been stuck on the main for hours at times. The guy coming at me needed to take the siding to do work.

Siding switches only good for 20 mph? The only non-bonded siding I come across is good for 25. Go in on a restricting. Sometimes following another guy. Once you get the light, you can go 25 until you clear the switch.

Had a decent run tonight. The switch job that usually gets in the way was in the siding, watching us go by at 50 mph.[:D]

These scenarios get much more complex when there is a switch job in the way.

12

Obviously, if all these decisions have to be made in such short order, the dispatcher must have to think on his feet. Is there any kind of notes, or written material that the dispatcher uses to keep track of things, or is it all in his head? How does he transfer all of the important info to the next guy, when his shift is over?

(Note: I’m calling the dispatcher a “he”. I realize the dispatcher could be a “he” or a “she”.)

13

Mr. Hadid, you’ve got the EB and WB trains turned around in your second post…[:D]

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Doing this is clearly easier than typing this. Fixed the typo.

15

When you’re young and unsure, penciling this out is helpful but it takes time you don’t have. Soon you will either learn to do it in your head or look for a job that better matches your aptitude. Turnovers are almost 100% verbal; the exception being any messages from Customer Service, Mechanical, Signal, etc. A good dispatcher coming in on the relief will immediately grasp the plan, if one exists. If there isn’t a plan and the dispatcher that’s being relieved has made a mess of things there’s no point in listening to him (or her).

S. Hadid

16

If that WB was short on time, it’s too bad that the 1 EB already has the RR depating A. Better if he took the siding at A, 2 EB ran past on the main and took siding at B and then the WB would have a straight shot. The meet at B would be pretty well timed, and 1 EB has time to go get a snack from the local Wawa!

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Ah yes the Dispatcher. The one who makes promises the day before and expects you to carry them out tomorrow; and woe onto the night dispatcher who knows nothing.

18

I will bet that every present, past and wannabe train dispatcher sees time as the enemy. On the other hand, be thankful that time is a dimension in our universe otherwise you would really be stuck! [:D][:D]

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I don’t know…I keep picturing Lloyd Bridges, as the air traffic controller in the movie Airplane…“I sure picked a bad day to give up sniffing glue”…[:o)]

20

OK, I see now where I misunderstood the initial problem- when you indicated the WB was short on time, I thought you meant it was late. What you meant was the crew was about out of hours.