How does it work when, for example, an accident occurs on a CSX line so they have to detour on a NS line. Do CSX dipatchers keep in touch with the train as well as NS dispatchers. Does an NS crew work the CSX train or does the CSX crew stay with it? How does all of this work???
Depends on the length of detour…(using CSX and NS)
Usually, once the CSX train is on the NS, it disappears from CSX’s radar, until NS is ready to give it back. Sometimes, the CSX dispatcher (or more likely the DTO/STO) will keep in contact with the NS dispatcher, but rarely will they communicate with the crew directly.
If the detour is short, the NS may simply “pilot” the CSX crew over the line. But in the case of longer detours, the train will be operated with an NS crew.
Nick
In most every detour case I’ve seen, the RR handling the detour train is the one that furnishes the crew. CSX for example isn’t about to let an NS crew run an NS detour train down a CSX line they’re not qualified on. Instead, an NS “pilot” (usually a trainmaster, or even a conductor) will ride with the CSX crew to make sure the train gets to its destination in one piece…NS isn’t about to let their train run completely out of sight. The same could be said when the AOE was running here on the East Coast. The host railroads (NS and CSX) would furnish the crews, and an Amtrak pilot (since the train was Amtrak’s responsibility) would ride the train wherever it went.
anb740