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[quote]QUOTE: <i>Originally posted by tomtrain</i> <br /><br />The balancing act also includes yard and terminal conditions, too. I picture an entire operation as trying to keep many plates spinning on dowels in the midst of the domino effect. <br />[/quote] <br /> <br />The thing I have determined by listening to my scanner here on the BNSF Cherokee Sub (Tulsa OK - Springfield, MO) is that the Cherokee yard in Tulsa inability to accept Westbound trains from Springfield/Kansas City is the main reason trains are sitting in sidings within 30-40 miles East of Tulsa. <br /> <br />There are four sidings in the last 30-40 miles preceeding the yard. East Tulsa, Tiger, Verdigris, and Degroat. If the Cherokee yard cannot accept Westbounds, then the dispatcher has to park them in the sidings. If the local needs to work, then the East Tulsa siding isn't usually used. That moves the traffic to Tiger. If Tiger is full then next out is Verdigris and so on. <br /> <br />I can hear radio traffic on the line almost to the OK-MO statelines and those four sidings are the most used. The sidings are 8-12 miles apart. There are around 30 trains a day on the single track CTC line. <br /> <br />Throw in the numerous work windows for the maintainers and you have a recipe for long delays on the line. Just the other day I overheard the dispatcher conferring with a track foreman about a three hour window needed to clear a 10mph slow order. The dispatcher was beside himself on the delays this would cause and was trying to negotiate for less time. In the end the foreman settled for 1hr45mins. Just after the dispatcher granted the track and time, he started talking to the Westbounds headed for Tulsa letting them know they would be waiting till the track and time was up before they would continue. Next he started his survey on duty time limits for some of the crews. Next was the call to the dog catch crew to get going to meet one of the Westbounds and relieve the crew. This went on for most of the afternoon, well after the track and time was returned and trains started rolling. Keep in mind the Cherokee yard couldn't send out any Eastbounds, nor could the hot Q and Z trains that come off the Avard Sub (connects to the transcon in western Oklahoma) headed to Birmingham and the NS. This caused them to back up on the Avard Sub (which is dark, track warrant territory). So now that dispatcher is trying to figure out where to park her trains. <br /> <br />In the end, the 1hr 45mins only got the slow order raised from 10mph to 25mph. The dispatcher said he would rather have delt with the 10mph slow order, than deal with all of this and still get the 25 mph slow order. Then he corrected himself by saying "I guess this is what I get for short changing your track and time". <br /> <br />As a railfan, I like single track, but it must be a real pain for actually moving the iron. <br /> <br />Mike in Tulsa <br />BNSF Cherokee Sub
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