On the MKT they had several schedules for thier freight trains but the MKT dispatchers would run whatever train was handy at the time of the schedule. Sometimes it was the Katy train, sometimes an MP freight, sometimes a MP coal train.
They once ran a deadheading detector car on an Amtrak schedule.
NYC, in the late '60s, used a mixture of coded symbols for freights. Three examples I recall were:
For the newbies out there “schedule” does not mean the thing handed out at stations - often called the “public timetable” and really a marketing tool
The other is called the “Employee Timetable” (ETT) because it has a cover with words like “For the governance of employees only” which is very detailed and lists all trains to be operated on a given day as well as things like sidings, interlockings, signal towers, track speeds and weight restrictions, bridge and tunnel clearance and weight restrictions, company doctors, etc, etc. In conjunction with the line’s rule book, it described in detail how the railroad should be operated by timetable SUPERIORITY
When the railroad couldn’t be operated per the ETT, the dispatcher would issue train orders via operators to train crews to supercede the ETT by RIGHT to move the traffic.
Hence “Timetable and Train Order” (TTO) operation (In its pure form, also known as “Bow and Arrow” operations or territory)
If you want a thorough thrashing on the topic, Peter Josserand’s 459 page magnum opus “The Rights of Trains” is for you
“In this 5th Edition, it has been the aim of the author to set forth clearly the basic principles underlying the Standard Code and to show how the rules of various railroads differ from the Code and from each other. Printed first in 1904 and updated in 1957, this popular book has been highly sought after throughout the years and only recently reprinted. The information is not new but still highly respected in the industry. Softcover. Sections include: - The Standard Code - Operating Rules - Block Signal Rules - Interlocking Rules - Signals and Their Use - Superiority of Trains - Train Movements - Forms of Train Orders - Centralized Traffic Control - Special instructions to both Operators and Train Dispatchers.”
The RDG was using letter codes in the 1920’s.
YMMV
Kinda sorta. It lists all the trains with a timetable schedule. A railroad might have one train listed in the timetable but can run a hundred trains per day on the territory.
Bridge and tunnel clearance restrictions may or may not be listed because they are so numerous and “clearance” can depend on the shape of the object.
I would phrase it that when the railroad wanted to run a train in addition to the scheduled trains (listed in the time table) they would run them extra.
Running a train extra doesn’t “supersede” the timetable and doesn’t mean the railroad “can’t be operated by the timetable”. The entire timetable is still in effect if a railroad runs an extra.
Never heard that term before, what does it mean?
Often timetable and train order operation uses the acronym of TTTO or TT&TO also. In many/most rule books “timetable” is two words “time table” (why ETT is ETT not ET). Not being arguementative, just informative.
Fun fact : Another thing people don’t realize is that virtually every inch of every main track on every US railroad prior to the 1980’s used train orders and the timetable. It’s just that in som
Also called “Dark territory” without any signals, CTC, radio or any other means of conrol other than dispatchers and operators for TTO. I think the idea is that harks back to pioneer railroading “out in Indian Country”. Often a branch might be “Bow and Arrow territory” as normally no more than one or two trains might be expected on it, so why pay for the installation and maintenance of signals? Today it would probably operate under track warrants.
Trains has had articles on train dispatching over the years. In the article from about mid-1980s (1986 IIRC) about train order dispatching TT&TO on the M-K-T, they had about the current ETT having a “dummy” schedule on some subdivisions. It did not correspond to a specific train symbol. The reason it was put in was to ease the work load. The first GCOR rule book omitted the train order form and ability to run sections of a schedule. The dummy schedule allowed a dispatcher to use it instead of running a train as an extra.
In the 1980 article on Rock Island dispatchers at Des Moines, IA, they called the northwest Iowa grain lines, all dark and TT&TO, the “bow and arrow” country. Not because it was unsignalled and controlled by TT&TO, but because of it’s heritage. It truly was “bow and arrow” country when it was first settled.
Jeff
There was probably as much or more track miles under TT&TO WITH ABS signals than without.
Considering they had been railroading with TT&TO decades before there were significant railroads in “Indian territory”, it seems like something made up later than earlier.
Not saying it wasn’t used, just never heard of it in 37 years working for railroads in the midwest and west.
Dave:
RE, your comment about running a Shreveport-Itasca symbol. SP used to run E. St. Louis-City of Industry Trailers and Houston-City of Industry Trailers as the ESCIT and the HOCIT, back in the 1980s.
Take a look at this site it has a number of railroads and symbol books listed. A lot of variation on their practices. I think you can copy or download these symbol books. https://movingthefreight.com/railroads/
Ron High