To be a dispatcher

[Junctionfan]

Hello everybody,

How do dispatchers keep track and remember mile post and everything like that on busy mainlines?

Is there any trick to it? What kind of codes do I need to understand or any secrets in order to be a more prototypical dispatcher at my club?

Thankyou

[Anonymous]

Dispatching is all done on computers now, at least at most railways.....

It's pretty easy to do nowadays because the computer will tell you what you can and can't do, and show everything on a screen that is going on at the time.

[Overmod]

Waiting with a Mook-like smile for certain real ex-dispatchers to read this... ;-}

[Junctionfan]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Overmod

Waiting with a Mook-like smile for Mark Hemphill to read this... ;-}

Hope to hear from him too.

[ValleyX]

Pretty easy? Are you a dispatcher? Computers simplified it? Ah, I think it brought a whole new dimension to it but it sure didn't make it fail-safe. Dispatching is very intricate and Mark Hemphill has touched on this several times on this forum. Although I can easily criticize dispatchers since I sometimes feel victimized by them (VBG), I also appreciate the difficulty of their job and I couldn't sit on the semi-dark windowless room and do it, with every decision second-guessed by engineers and conductors on one side and chief and assistant chief dispatchers on the other. Tough job and a good one is worth his or her weight in gold.

[Junctionfan]

I ask because when I here the scanner at Fostoria live, F-tower , Jacksonville dispatcher, and Toledo dispatcher seem to always be talking, co-ordinating and monitoring train and MOW traffic constantly without fail. I don't know how many trains CSX runs in its entire system a day but when it come to interchanges and crossings with other railroads particularly busy ones, it's amazing how they manage without causing accidents.

When I'm at my club, I used to dispatch the trains and sometimes I would dispatch as many as 5 on a double track and it was particularly challenging because it wasn't DCC so I had to give out blocks and tell those on the trottle where they could go and so forth. I dispatched in total about 30 trains in one night. It was a busy run too.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Overmod

Waiting with a Mook-like smile for Mark Hemphill to read this... ;-}

Haven't seen him post for a while, is he taking the weekend off or something? [:0]

[dehusman]

A dispatcher is similar to an air traffic controller (except harder). The dispatcher has either a computer display or a written system to track each train so he knows where it goes. He knows the mileposts a) because the systems provide the information and b) he/she does this 8 hours a day, five days a week for years. Practice makes perfect.

One key to being a good dispatcher are to be able to visualize how the trains are moving and what will happen as a result of the moves you line up, hours in advance. You have to be planning what you are going to do with trains that might be literally hundreds of miles away right now so the railroad is set up for them when the trains get to your territory. Another key is thoroughness. Making sure every step of a process is completed exactly as required and every detail is accounted for. Dispatchers who are sloppy, omit things, take short cuts are unsafe dispatchers and won't remain dispatchers very long. Probably the last key critical thing is to be able to be cool under pressure. Part of it is tied into the knowing what's going to happen I first mentioned, staying ahead of your railroad, if you plan your railroad and then execute it, then you are in control. A good dispatcher maintains control of his railroad even when unforseen things happen.

Dave H.

[Junctionfan]

A friend of mine is doing some recreational dispatching over the internet. He is actually doing some talking and folk take the trains out. It is a combination of Train Dispatcher 3 and Trains Simulator only closer to real life from what I have read.

Write now he is working on the Folkston "Florida Funnel". I think he will be trying Fostoria F tower and some territory called Evansville which I have never heard before.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by M.W. Hemphill

Computers made it easy! And show everything! Mac, you're just pulling my leg because you were wondering where I was. I was taking the weekend doing other things (well, they were railroad things, but the paying kind).

Computers (and the relay-based CTC machines that are functionally identical) didn't make the job any easier. They didn't make it any safer. They merely enabled a dispatcher to handle more territory with more trains with more interruptions by automating some aspects of the job. Safety comes from a human being understanding the rules, applying them correctly, thinking before acting, and protecting before authorizing.

It is safer dispatching by computer, though, isn't it?

Surely they have additional fail-safe systems in them that you wouldn't have found on the days dispatching on paper?

[?]

[Anonymous]

It helps to have a large dose of sado-masochism in your makeup. You can learn sarcasm as you go along. Never underestimate the need for it, although it's lost on most T&E people.

Having dispatched dark territories (no signals) with train orders, signalled territories with train orders, dark and signalled territories with track warrants, single track CTC and double track reverse running CTC, I can tell you that there's no substitute for familiarization trips to get over your railroad and see what's where. I feel sorry for guys who have to dispatch without ever getting the chance to do that, and some short-sighted companies require them to do that.

I had to dispatch one dark midwestern peavine with train orders, and I never got a chance to get over it. It's a damn good thing there weren't too many trains on it, or there'd have been trouble . . . Lots of folks would have spent a lot of time sitting.

Dispatching has its satisfactions, though. I found it, all in all, a fun job. I could go home at the end of the trick knowing that all the trains had gotten where they were supposed to go with a minimum of delay - well, as little as I could manage - and I didn't get anybody hurt.

And, to the child psychologists, the job has as much "play value" as anything going.

Old Timer

[ValleyX]

Old Timer, you're pretty hard on the T&E people. Nothing worse than a sarcastic dispatcher who thinks he is a humorist for a captive audience, who also knows that he's going home at the end of eight hours and and his captive audience is going to be, well, captive, as it were. I don't think the sarcasm is lost on us, it's that it's usually not much appreciated and if we return volleys, we end up paying the price for trips on end.

I think I know who you are and I've always enjoyed your writing, especially your N&W experiences.

[Allen Jenkins]

http://www.signalcc.com/train2/td2freeware.html and look for the TD2 files.
The downloads, freeware, shall astound you.

[BaltACD]

Dispatching is the process of planing and replaning the operations of your territory to fit the realities that occur. Trains stopped by Defect Detectors. Trains stopped by Undesired Emergency Applications of the brakes. Signals that won't line when requested. Switches and crossovers that won't line on demand. Switches and crossovers that won't line and cannot be hand operated by the train crews. Trains that stall because of being overloaded. Trains that stall beacuse of engine failure. Trains the strike tresspassers and fatally injure them. Trains that strike motor vehicles at road crossings. Trains that strike motor vehicles on the Right of Way. Motor Vehicles that strike railroad bridge structures. Wayside points that are full of cars and won't permit the train that is scheduled to set off to make that set off. Wayside points that have cars to be picked up by a through train. Local authorities stopping traffic in an area account of a motor vehicle accident. Local authorities stopping traffic in an area account of a structure fire close to the tracks. Local authorities stopping traffic in an area account of suicidal individuals that want the railroad to do the dirty work. Local authorities stopping traffic in an area account of chasing a criminal or account a crime scene investigation on raildoad property. Train crews approacing their hours of service time.

Most dispatchers will have at least one of these incidents if not more than one on their territory each and every day that they work. There are also thousands more incidents that will occur that cause the dispatcher to replan his railroad. In the planing all the necessary operating rules and railroad prioritis must be entered into his thinking.

The biggest difference between Rail Traffic Controllers and Air Traffic Controlers is that in the two dimensional world of a RTC (Dispatcher), the playing field does not change...you have all the rail facilities you will ever have and must operate within their physical constraints. The ATC has the thrid dimension of height to expand his operating territory when the need arises.

[Anonymous]

ValleyX - Sorry about that, but the sarcasm is usually directed at T&E folks who don't understand that they are not on the only train on the dispatcher's territory.

Hey, the T&E guy might have to stay out there four hours more than I had to sit in the chair, but I might not have minded staying in there four more hours at the Engineers' going rate of pay.

Oh, and thanks for the kind words, even if they're aimed at someone else!!!!

Old Timer

[MP173]

No thanks to the job of dispatcher!

I will keep the current job. I do find it an interesting job. I listen in on the scanner and the problems are varied and challenging.

I know the simulators do not come close to the real thing, but do those programs have "random acts" of derailments, pull aparts, dragging equipment, etc?

It seems as if that would make it a little more realistic.

ed

[Junctionfan]

QUOTE: Originally posted by MP173

No thanks to the job of dispatcher!

I will keep the current job. I do find it an interesting job. I listen in on the scanner and the problems are varied and challenging.

I know the simulators do not come close to the real thing, but do those programs have "random acts" of derailments, pull aparts, dragging equipment, etc?

It seems as if that would make it a little more realistic.

ed

Yes they do. I had a train crossing over to another track and it hit the hot box detector and had an alarm. It had to stop but it fouled both tracks and two passenger trains were coming. If you hold the passenger trains too long, you loose a lot of points and get a crummy score in the end. Kind of like real life exept its a crummy paycheck instead of a crummy score.

[tree68]

If all the CSX "NE" dispatcher had to do was run the St. Lawrence Sub, he (or she) would have a fairly easy job - usually only 4 trains, plus two locals and occasional maintenance and inspections. But I know just from listening that they have a lot on their plate. I can imagine the potential for confusion when they "change desks" from one conversation to the next (I'm pretty sure they at least cover the "ND" desk for the Chicago line as well).

I can usually picture the DS filling in the blanks on a computer screen as he issues a Form D to a crew, just based on the pauses while she is likely doing some typing.

Despite having computers and all the other tools they use, it's still daunting to consider having to "wrap your head" around as much business as they do in the course of a shift.

[Junctionfan]

QUOTE: Originally posted by M.W. Hemphill

Andrew: Now arrange to have the most annoying five people you have ever met call you on the telephone all at the same time for eight hours straight and ask you really dumb questions. Get ten phone lines so they can all be lit up at once. Then pry off some of the keys on your keyboard or break the mouse, or both, to simulate equipment that doesn't work. Then have an authority figure you detest come over every 10 minutes and scream at you that you have your priorities all wrong and demand you do two things at once that are completely incompatible with each other. Then have real people die when you lose concentration for a minute, and have your house, car, job, and family taken away from you. That will start to "simulate" the job.

As far as the annoying people go, at the club one of the "engineers" actually had the nerve to ask me where the train was going even though it was on his "work orders". I had one guy said I gave him wrong radio frequency to control the train and I didn't; in fact I had to get someone to show him to pu***he increase power button to make the train go. The guy apologied for being a jerk though.

I'm glad I haven't killed anybody though and for that I'm glad it is fictional. I don't know how you did it but kudos to you and other dispatchers who haven't gone insain from a nervous breakdown. You guys truly have my respect.

In the club I found that post-its help a lot by posting the train number on it and use different colours to indicate priority and type and than sticking it all over the map. I also write really big and use different coloured markers and pencil crayons so I don't get bottlenecking due to me suffering from a brain fart or something. Has anybody else use this technique in real life dispatching?

[Anonymous]

Andrew If you want to Give it a go, CPR is hiring 10 RTCs In calgary.. Go for it, apply and see if you get it.

I apply for these damn things all the time, and i never get it... just an e-mail saying THANKS! we'll hold your resume for one year. I'm just waiitng to recieve an e-mail saying:

Sorry Sir, But YOU ALREADY WORK FOR US!

Apparently one department doesn't speak to the other.

[Allen Jenkins]

Thanks, folks for a cool look, at a never mentioned enough job!
Human frailty is abundant, however, look how well the system works, as is, and don't worry about what could happen, or like the cajon says, "Dont't let the screen door hit you in the ***, on your way out!".

[Junctionfan]

QUOTE: Originally posted by kevinstheRRman

Andrew If you want to Give it a go, CPR is hiring 10 RTCs In calgary.. Go for it, apply and see if you get it.

I apply for these damn things all the time, and i never get it... just an e-mail saying THANKS! we'll hold your resume for one year. I'm just waiitng to recieve an e-mail saying:

Sorry Sir, But YOU ALREADY WORK FOR US!

Apparently one department doesn't speak to the other.

What basic skills would I need to get in that all dispatching positions would demand?

[Puckdropper]

QUOTE:
Sorry Sir, But YOU ALREADY WORK FOR US!

Apparently one department doesn't speak to the other.

You should try applying for the same department!!! lol

Junctionfan,

You need excellent people skills, as inferred above. You also need to be able to handle a huge amount of work. Note that I haven't had the job, but I'm just condensing some of what I've read. I have a lot of respect for dispatchers. A good one is worth his weight in gold pressed latinum.

[jabrown1971]

When I dispatched, it was fairly straight forward, move the trains over 155 miles of railroad. Well that sounds easy, but it could be harder than expected. Dispatchers know their territory by repetition, true, but I also made several familirzation trips with train crews over the railroad I worked for. I also had the advantage of working in customer service for a year before sliding into the dispatchers chair. I learned from my predecessors before me on what to say and how to move the trains. The company I worked for was busiest in the middle, between Bloomington, In., and Palestine, Il, may have had as many as seven trains at once and trying to juggle that, the CSX and Soo Line schedules and the 12 hour limit became a circus act. I found my crews were extremely helpful and patient and had great senses of humor, of course they had my respect as I knew they were the ones out doing the work. My problem was with a certain higher up, who never really cared for me and I fell victim to politics, thus my tenure was done.

[Anonymous]

Air Traffic Controllers must work in a airspace that is stacked like a giant wedding cake upside down. They sometimes can MAKE room for that one problem pilot but TIME is the enemy because those jets burn fuel and must come down sometime.

Dispatchers in trucking send you out on a schedule and you should be able to make it. I refuse to get into the potential problems that causes a dispatcher to have a bad day.

Rail dispatchers I think have the fun part of the railroads. They say this train goes from A to B and it is done. Woe betide a weakling who cannot deal with problems on the job.

Computers are all very well and good. But communication is way better.