Railroad Disptaching

[BaltACD]

[quote user=“n012944”]

BaltACD

n012944

BaltACD

Subsequently all Dispatching, except for Chicago Terminal, is now done out of Jacksonville.

The 2 desks that remained in Calumet City moved to Jacksonville in September.

Wasn’t aware of that - I thought all the Class 1’s serving the Chicago area were supposed to have their Chicago area Dispatchers in a common facility to facilitate interlocking operations of all the carriers. I guess PSR kills carrier cooperation too.

CSX left the RA and the RB desks in the Chicago area so they could be moved to a common location should one ever be worked out. In the time period from when the other 4 desks moved to Jax, the NS moved their one dispatcher located in Chicago to Atlanta, the UP moved their two to Omaha, and the CN stated they had no interest in having their dispatchers in a neutral site. Neither the BNSF nor the CP have had dispatchers located in the Chicago area for years. There was no reason to keep the two desks there anymore.

As an aside your last remark is so off the mark, it makes me question your time dispatching. One does not need to be in the same building, the same state, nor does one even need to have met someone to have cooperation. In all my years in Chicago, I was only in the BRC dispatching office once, however that does not prevent myself from working with the Belt dispatchers. I have never been to the CN’s Homewood facility, even

[SD70Dude]

Presuming appropriate communications exists - it is concievable that there doesn’t need to even be a Dispatching Center - with adequate communications Dispatchers could even work from their own home. Supervision might be difficult, but think of the cost savings.

You could save even more money by eliminating the supervisors!

[BaltACD]

BaltACD

Presuming appropriate communications exists - it is concievable that there doesn’t need to even be a Dispatching Center - with adequate communications Dispatchers could even work from their own home. Supervision might be difficult, but think of the cost savings.

You could save even more money by eliminating the supervisors!

PSR probably would.

[MMLDelete]

Hey Balt, when you first started out, was it pre-CSX? Was it SCL?

I was at GARR/AWP from, IIRC, spring of '73 to early '75. At that time, we operated under timetable and train order. No train orders could be transmitted by radio. Was that the case when you started out?

[BaltACD]

Hey Balt, when you first started out, was it pre-CSX? Was it SCL?

I was at GARR/AWP from, IIRC, spring of '73 to early '75. At that time, we operated under timetable and train order. No train orders could be transmitted by radio. Was that the case when you started out?

When I started as a employee in 1965, it was as a Operator on B&O’s St. Louis Division out of Washington, IN. Working most all Operator Jobs between 8th Street in Cincinnati and HN Cabin in E. St. Louis and including WS Tower at Watson, IN on the line to Louisville and Jeffersonville. Single Track, ABS signals and TT & TO. There were two Dispatcher Desks, Storrs Jct to Shops (Washington, IN) including the Louisville Branch) and Shops to E. St. Louis including the branch from Shawneetown to Beardstown, IL through Flora.

Subsequently I transfered to the B&O Pittsburgh Division and workd all the Operator jobs on the P&W Subdivision - FY Tower to Eidenau, which incluted Etna and Bakerstown. Double Track, Current of Traffic signalling (Rule 251-252). I didn’t stay on the Pittsbugh Div. long enough to know how all the branch lines on the division were split up and which desks had their control.

Thence moved on to the Akron-Chicago Division with headquarters in Akron, working most of the B&O Operator positions between UN Tower at New Castle and Willard, including operating the drawbridge at Bridge 460 in Clevland. I became qualified as a Train Dispatcher on the Akron Chicago Division which had three desks. The Akron Main Line desk, New Castle to Willard (Rule 251-252 Double Track) and Lodi to Wooster (Dark Rule 241). The Chicago Div. desk, Willard to Pine Jct (R251-252 Willard to Sherwood, CTC Sherwood to Pine Jct). The Branch desk, Ohio Jct-

[MMLDelete]

I know there were radios in use at Atlanta Yard, on the trains, and out on the road. In Atlanta, the yardmaster was in constant contact with the switching crews by radio, and the switchmen/conductors all communicated to the engineers via radio.

And I had a radio going at Lithonia; I would rarely speak on it, but I listened all the time. I think that the dispatcher couldn’t talk to the road crews in many dead locations along the line. Maybe on most of the line. And I think maybe he could never hear them.

I vividly remember one time when there was a colossal screwup which was very nearly disastrous, at Lithonia. The train had to stop and straighten things out, which took quite a while. But first, the conductor had come running in and said to me, “Have you told the dispatcher?” I said no. (Actually I had just come back into the building myself, after running away, in fear that the train was going to derail and crash into the station.) He said, “Great. Good. And kid, NEVER report trouble that does not report itself. Never.” I said okay.

But I had recently told the dispatcher, because he had asked, that I had heard #108 getting close.

I told the conductor this. He said “$#!t.” Then he said he had a plan, and winked. “Stay tuned. … And stay calm.” He left in as big a hurry as he had arrived.

The train left Lithonia about 20 minutes late (he had been running on-time when he was approaching me).

After about ten minutes, the conductor called me on the radio. I could hear in the background that the train was going like hell. He said, “Kid, call the dispatcher and tell him we have stopped because we tripped a hotbox detector.” I smiled. He said, “We will be here for a while, checking the train. We have a big train.” I said okay. The train noise continued to roar along in the background.

That’s how they accounted for the lost time!

The dispatcher ran

[PJS1]

When I started as a employee in 1965, it was as a Operator on B&O’s St. Louis Division out of Washington, IN…

Subsequently I transfered to the B&O Pittsburgh Division…

Did the railroad cover your relocation expenses?

Why did you choose dispatching as opposed to another occupation, e.g. engineer, conductor, etc.?

[n012944]

In operations, as you are aware, there can be conflicts at Division boundries in how trains need to be manipulated at the boundry for numerous reasons - when all territories were in Jacksonville - those needed to make the decisions could resolve the conflict in face to face contact. When the territories were distributed, all such conflicts had to be argued and resolved over the telephone. As we all know - pepole act differently when involved with each other face to face as opposed to over the telephone. Body language, that is a integral part, of face to face communications is lacking, and as a result it can be much more adversarial between the parties in trying to resolve the conflict. Add in the frustrations to the party that initiates the the communication when the call either goes to ‘voice mail’ or the phone just ring and ring until the line times out.

With the exception of the IHB and CSX, no railroads shared dispatch facilities in the Chicago Area. The UP dispatchers where at Proviso, the BRC’s are in Clearing, the CN’s in Homewood, the CP’s in the Twin Cities, the BN’s in Fort Worth, Metra was down off of Canal St, and the NS were in mulitiple different locations depending on the division you were dealing with. Chicago was still managed through phone calls and faxes, all that has changed are those phone calls now have long distance charges applied to them. I get your thing is to blame everything on PSR these days, however PSR has not change how traffic is managed in the Chicago area between railroads.

[BaltACD]

BaltACD

In operations, as you are aware, there can be conflicts at Division boundries in how trains need to be manipulated at the boundry for numerous reasons - when all territories were in Jacksonville - those needed to make the decisions could resolve the conflict in face to face contact. When the territories were distributed, all such conflicts had to be argued and resolved over the telephone. As we all know - pepole act differently when involved with each other face to face as opposed to over the telephone. Body language, that is a integral part, of face to face communications is lacking, and as a result it can be much more adversarial between the parties in trying to resolve the conflict. Add in the frustrations to the party that initiates the the communication when the call either goes to ‘voice mail’ or the phone just ring and ring until the line times out.

With the exception of the IHB and CSX, no railroads shared dispatch facilities in the Chicago Area. The UP dispatchers where at Proviso, the BRC’s are in Clearing, the CN’s in Homewood, the CP’s in the Twin Cities, the BN’s in Fort Worth, Metra was down off of Canal St, and the NS were in mulitiple different locations depending on the division you were dealing with. Chicago was still managed through phone calls and faxes, all that has changed are those phone calls now have long distance charges applied to them. I get your thing is to blame everything on PSR these days, however PSR has not change how traffic is managed in the Chicago area between railroads.

In the early 90’s when CSX first thought about bringing the Chicago Dispatchers to Ja

[Sunnyland]

that story was in recent NRHS newsletter from some chapter. Our local editor emails me copies of other ones we get. Minot needed to get the job done so he did it.

In 1851, Charles Minot, a superintendent on the Erie, issued the first train order when the train he was riding was held at a certain station because an opposing train was late. He sent a telegram to the agent at the next station, instructing the engineer of the opposing train to wait there until the train Mr. Minot was riding arrived. The engineer of Mr. Minot’s train refused to proceed on his superintent’s insgtruction, and Mr. Minot ran the engine until the opposing train was met.

A treasury of Railroad Folklore, pp.82-84.