A number of layouts presented in MR have separate dispatcher “offices” where the owner-builder presumably controls the flow of traffic through signals, routing block power and communicated authorization.
My confusion is in understanding the attraction of being in a closet staring at toggle switches while your buddies are having fun running the trains through the layout that you spent the past 15 years building.
I gather that the owner isn’t always the dispatcher, that he probably just has that role during group operating sessions and at other times he runs the trains himself, but still…?
It’s all part of the modelling…the real dispatchers felt the same way, and everyone gets to play that role! Tough job, but somebody has to do it. [:o)]
Seriously, I have always wondered about that myself. I don’t think I would find it very entertaining, but perhaps it is a key role in order to get the operations session underway and keep it running smoothly.
You’re overlooking one aspect of the dispatcher’s job: He is in total control of the railroad! Nobody can move a train without his authority…a friend of mine is an AmTrak engineer and he told me he loves to be the dispatcher on a layout because he runs trains for a job and the last thing he wants to do for fun is to replicate his job. He prefers to be the dispatcher and have ultimate power over the layout railroad.
I would personally have fun, as you don’t have to worry about dirty track, rotery toggles, etc. Many people consider the dispatcher’s job to be the most realistic job on a model railroad.
You just have a different definition of fun. Some people like working crossword puzzels, Sudoku, quik-quips, word scramble, It’s your move (chess), etc. that are in the daily news papers. Dispatching is the same thing just on a more dynamic level. At the club the dispatcher’s position is the most prestigious one which everyone fights over. One also has to qualify for it. Anyone can pull a throttle and run a locomotive or read train orders and conduct a train, but dispatching is like trying to solve a constantly changing puzzle.
I operate on one layout that has telephones. One has to call the dispatcher on the phone from the station. To me the station master should do that and pass the instructions on via notes to the train crews. As we don’t have stations masters if this were real it would mean I was having to stop the train, go into the station, get instructions, and then proceed. In that reguard I prefer the radios even though they are not era correct for any of the railroads I operate on.
I wouldn’t knock it until you try doing dispatching on a large layout. You need to know the layout and every operational issue that arises. And when the timetable, is thrown off then you’d better really be on your toes and good at improvising. If not the entire operation will come to a standstill. Imagine if that happened on a real RR!
It is just another assignment on the operating session roster to which qualified people can sign up for. Usually first come first served, but if there is a real argument over it, our club has a seniority/merit system to fall back on.
[%-)] the word “seriously” from a person with PBJ in their screen name. [:-^]
Thats whats called ‘‘prototypical’’ model railroading, it’s mostly done by rivet counters and those that refuse to accept anything except ‘‘exact scale’’ on a layout. I’ve run across these individuals, [unfortunately], and they are most always so engulfed in the whole '‘prototypical’ operation aspect that they’ve forgotten what fun is. I left a club because of people like that, arguments over couplers, arguments over what roadnames should be run, arguments about incorrect loco numbers!! talk about a bunch of losers!! LOL
I enjoy this hobby, I like to play with my trains, I love to build layouts and expand what I’ve already built…I’ll leave all that ‘‘prototypical’’ BS to those that want it. I’ll just run my trains and have FUN!!
Many years ago, the then-editor of MR (maybe Linn Westcott, maybe before him) noted that there were three kinds of model railroaders. According to him, there were:
Dispatchers. Wanted to run the entire railroad, scheduling extras around the timetable-authorized trains (this was in the TTTO days, pre-track warrant and not CTC,) arranging meets and passes, dealing with problems as they came up.
Engineers (Drivers, for those who use that term). Given a locomotive, some cars to pull and a hatful of train orders, pickups and deliveries and you would have one happy camper.
Railfans. More interested in watching the trains go by than in controlling their movements. (It was noted that railfans were more likely to put a high priority on scenery.)
Note that there were no value differentiations among the designations. Just as a hummingbird differs from a falcon, the different ‘style’ model rails simply
First,One club I am a member uses a CTC board/dispatcher to control train movement on a point to point single track layout.
Fun? Tons of fun arranging meets between 2 trains,allowing local freights to go about their industrial switching work,working with both yard masters,working with the branch line dispatcher while trying to keep traffic flowing smoothing by lining blocks for various trains while using nothing but the block occupancy lights on the CTC board.
We have guys standing in line waiting to be trained as a DS as DS’ing is one of the coveted jobs at the club.After all trains can’t run across the layout with out a DS.
We use Maxon 49 SX radios…We found using radios instead of yelling was easier to understand and of course on the ears…
Well, on my railroad, the dispatcher sits at a simple control panel in the garage, we use radio for communications, and people sign up for the job they want. The dispatcher job is the exception, as owner of the railroad, I usually pick someone I know can do it, but I rotate it between sessions. Oh, I don’t dispatch, don’t care for it.
As one said, it is whatever floats your boat and our boat floats very well. If someone asks to be included in an operating session we try to accomodate.
For the gentleman who said he plays with his trains, that is his right, choice perogative, whatever, just like proto operations is ours. In fact, I enjoy it enough that I keep a session going by myself over a couple of weeks between organized sessions, running a sequence of events.
I keep having a re-curring nightmare where I aply for the dispatcher job on a giant club layout, but am handed a set of tweezers and a 5 gallon bucket of ballast and told “Dispatcher’s job is filled, but we need trackworkers.”
And tomikawaTT, before you set up permanent residence in that pulpit, re-read your response to hurricane33’s “Best Track” post. OTOH, I did like your leaking roof comment.
I operate on a friend’s basement filling layout every three weeks. There is a dispatchers’ office in a small space, and one of the operators is the permanent dispatcher. The layout is now all DCC, but when it was DC the dispatcher had to assign power to the individual cabs on each section of track and operate some of the powered turnouts as well as the signal system. With DCC he operates the turnouts and signals, and gives direction to the crews by FRS radios. Most everything works just fine, and he enjoys his work.
I’ve tried the dispatchers job a few times when we’ve had “mini” operating sessions, but didn’t really have much interest in it. I should do more so I can qualify for the NMRA Achievement Program’s Chief Dispatcher certificate. I have all of the requirements in operating, but need 10 hours of being a dispatcher to qualify. That’s about three operating sessions, and I don’t really have an interest. More fun playing with trains!
I couldn’t disagree more. I had the pleasure of running trains on a well known layout a couple of months ago that was dispatched from a small room. The layout looked great, even the whismical names of businesses named after friends. No one was rivet counting and the host was very gracious. I don’t think one can “label” people this way just because they like running a model railroad in a prototypical manner. I can difinately say I had a blast and it was fun!
There are those who say, “Don’t knock it 'till you’ve tried it.” I’ve never tried it, so, I wouldn’t knock it. Have you tried it?
Right now, all of my hobby-time goes towards building my own layout, but in future years I could see myself in a club. When I go to layout open houses, I see a well-coordinated effort run by an efficient dispatcher. I suspect it’s one of those things that some people can do well, and others struggle with, like most jobs.
Right now, I’m impressed by any layout that’s large enough to need a dispatcher.
I’ve yet to qualify for a dispatcher’s job, but I’d love to try it. You really need to know both the layout and the operational scheme.
It’s a thinking man’s job. One where you balance the flow of traffic with the number of operators and the available sidings. Two of the three layouts I run have the dispatcher in separate rooms using radios. One on a huuuuggggeeee layout uses a computer with three monitors for dispatching. The other uses a metal schematic board with magnetic representations of trains moved by hand.
The third has the dispatching office in the staging area. He still can’t see the layout, but dispatching is done by phone to an operator who relays the train orders.
So what fun is that? The fun of a chessboard or an RPG.