Yesterday I had a great time sitting with fellow dispatchers in a review session and a rules exam. Participating in the rules session was the head of the rules department, the head of system train operations, and the head of dispatcher training. I related it to the Matrix movies in which Neo finds the Architect of the Matrix, and learns who the man behind the curtain is. It was a humbling experience to talk to these folks and learn all they had to offer. We are also in the process of updating our dispatching systems, and the Indy office will be totally upgraded by November. The new dispatching system is supposed to have a bunch of fail-safe’s in it to prevent a dispatcher from accidentally overlapping authorities, etc. My first territory will be Indianapolis to St. Louis, they must have faith in me to be able to run 230 miles of RR; let’s hope I don’t let them down. [;)]
Good luck Nate, I am sure you will do a good job.
BTW…how do you like Indy? How is the family?
ed
Congrats…All that I can Say Bubba is not to Jerk the Road crews around. We have some DS’s that will say that they are gonna hold us for 2 and 6 trains later we get the light. That is B.S. We do have one cat that will give us a heads up and if he is gonna put the meat to us, he will say so. We might not be happy about how they are running trains that day, but, at least he shoots us straight. Besides, most of the time the Chief DS is the one making the call anyway. It sure is nice to get the heads up before we start seeing color…
Ed,
Indy is cool and I’m really enjoying my new job. I have yet to sit in the hot seat, but I am looking forward to the challenge. Family is good, wife is working on finishing up veterinary school.
Ken,
Yes that’s right, I will have to answer to my chief. If there is a hot train to run and it cannot be delayed whatsoever then that means there’s gonna be some trains getting pooched. I’m big into communication, as I was once sitting in the engine trying to guess what the heck was going on.
Also, I’m learning that the Graniteville accident and several others may bring about some very nasty litigation that will make RR employees subject to manslaughter charges, etc. Highway crossing accidents are just about the worst thing that can happen for everyone involved, and thanks to lawyers every little aspect gets taken into account. If any crews are uncertain of whether they have a automatic crossing failure or a false/partial activation treat as the most restrictive and stop and flag the crossing. Train Dispatchers can also get charges for not doing everything they can as well. It’s a huge mess that has been visited on this topic more than once and there’s no easy way to battle through it all.