Just what is RR XYZ going to do if a couple dispatchers on shift A test positive for corona virus ? I cannot imagine the chaos after the shift is sent into isolation and the whole center has to be deep cleaned before anyone can start their shift to dispatch their sector. KCS is said to have decentralized their dispatch.
BALT: Would you have to be dragged back yelling and screaming that it would ruin your RR retirement ?
blue streak 1Just what is RR XYZ going to do if a couple dispatchers on shift A test positive for corona virus ? I cannot imagine the chaos after the shift is sent into isolation and the whole center has to be deep cleaned before anyone can start their shift to dispatch their sector. KCS is said to have decentralized their dispatch. BALT: Would you have to be dragged back yelling and screaming that it would ruin your RR retirement ?
Even before I retired it was possible for authorized personnel to have access to CADS screens over the internet.
I have little fear that applications have been developed that would allow Train Dispatchers to do the actual Train Dispatching function from home - it would take some work though as at home most Dispatchers would only have access to a single display terminal. In the Dispatching Center, each Dispatchers position has somewhere between 8 and 15 terminals to display their own territory as well as adjoining territories.
Where there is a will, there is a way.
I have no will to return to work, therefore there is no way I will return to work.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Heck, if E. Hunter Harrison could run the whole darn railroad from his screen [heavy sarcasm], who has need of dispatchers?
- PDN.
Paul_D_North_Jr Heck, if E. Hunter Harrison could run the whole darn railroad from his screen [heavy sarcasm], who has need of dispatchers? - PDN.
GotransThe benefit of having employees closer to the action is that they probably have a better understanding of the operating constraints such as weather, topography, traffic mix and language.
Having operated in both Centralized and Distributed forms of Train Dispatching all I can say is BS to your allegation.
Distributed Train Dispatching - with the size of territories that the CADS form of Train Dispatching permits as well as most 'new hires' coming from 'off the street' rather than having a prior railroad background doesn't engender more knowledge of the territory. Distributed Dispatching tends to create 'battleground' locations where the different Dispatching offices connect to each other where the Dispatchers have to solve their problems over the phone, rather than face to face.
Telephone 'conflict resolution' because of the inability to have the the visual cues that are present on face to face communications in many cases escalate the problem rather than resolve it. A 'voice' on the phone is less human than a individual you can shake hands with (or in the covid-19 era - bump elbows with).
NS moved their distpatchers out of the new, Network Operations Center and gave them their own desks in offices all over the building. No problem finding space since so many NS Atlanta employees are working from home now. It would be only a small leap, technologically, to be able to have them work from home.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
oltmanndNS moved their distpatchers out of the new, Network Operations Center and gave them their own desks in offices all over the building. No problem finding space since so many NS Atlanta employees are working from home now. It would be only a small leap, technologically, to be able to have them work from home.
Technologically it may be a small step to work Train Dispatchers at their home; Command and Control of them would be a Giantic Step.
I haven't heard Uncle Pete dispersing dispatchers. They have, at least at one terminal, locked up the yard masters. No one can enter their office. All contact is via telephone or radio.
Jeff
BaltACDTechnologically it may be a small step to work Train Dispatchers at their home; Command and Control of them would be a Giantic Step.
I would opine that a full-time video conference set-up (a la "Zoom" and others) would perhaps cover supervision, as well as allowing "face to face" communications between dispatchers. They could keep their mic muted to help prevent a lot of unnecessary noise.
One key component would be the suitability of a dispatcher's home (kids, etc) and whether they have high-speed internet available at their home.
Our local cable folks have their weather people working from home instead of going to the appropriate "station." When I took part in a Zoom birthday party for my grandson, I ran a "green screen," with a picture behind me instead of the dining room ceiling... Curiously, my granddaughter (5) picked up on that. But I digress.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
jeffhergert They have, at least at one terminal, locked up the yard masters. No one can enter their office. All contact is via telephone or radio.
Hope they gave them a bucket.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
tree68 BaltACD Technologically it may be a small step to work Train Dispatchers at their home; Command and Control of them would be a Giantic Step. I would opine that a full-time video conference set-up (a la "Zoom" and others) would perhaps cover supervision, as well as allowing "face to face" communications between dispatchers. They could keep their mic muted to help prevent a lot of unnecessary noise. One key component would be the suitability of a dispatcher's home (kids, etc) and whether they have high-speed internet available at their home. Our local cable folks have their weather people working from home instead of going to the appropriate "station." When I took part in a Zoom birthday party for my grandson, I ran a "green screen," with a picture behind me instead of the dining room ceiling... Curiously, my granddaughter (5) picked up on that. But I digress.
BaltACD Technologically it may be a small step to work Train Dispatchers at their home; Command and Control of them would be a Giantic Step.
I can just about guarantee every Train Dispatchers home would have to be seriously modified to set up a 'private' area, as well as seriously enhance whatever internet connectivity they may alread possess to be able to perform their TD functions as well as be in contact with their TD peers as well as the leadership of the segment of territory that they control.
Can't speak to how other carriers are configured - on CSX Dispatcher's territory will encompass 3 to 8 model board display screens - there are additional screens needed to display adjoining territory.
In addition to just telephone service, Train Dispatcher must have access to at least two radio channels and the ability of those channels to be 'toned in' by field units of both Operating and MofW personnel.
The green n orange rr is in the prosess of moving just about all paperwork to ipads and reduce paper documents. A wk ago, GTBs now are no longer sent to on duty locations by the dispatchers. Crews still have the capability to print a traditional hard copy, but the ability to use the electronic copies in the ipad, in leiu of paper, is now here. Work orders will be next. By the end of the yr, the emulator terminals, that has been in use since 1994, will be gone and all functions will be on each employees ipad. This begs a question that at some future point, will trackside buildings no longer be needed? With everything going electronic and less paper doduments, a crew can be called to duty , using the ipad they can go to work at any location to board the train and not show up at the office to gather paperwork. A topic that has been pushed around the shanty and the way tech items are gaining and the carriers desires, nothing is impossible
To what SFbrkmn said: Around here a local supervisor's company truck looks like a command center, with his radios,devices, and computers in the cab.
They put much more in the cab, he'll need two seats and an assistant.
BaltACDI can just about guarantee every Train Dispatchers home would have to be seriously modified to set up a 'private' area, ...
Our cable company has set up their weather people so they can work from home. A couple of them look like nice houses, a couple of others are pretty tight shots. And I know that one of the young ladies has two youngsters (at least), as she's been pregnant twice on the air over the past few years.
Presumably they all had cable service to begin with. Whether it was enhanced so they could work at home is unknown.
Of course, they're only on for a couple of minutes each time, and I'd imagine that some of their reports get recorded, instead of being done live.
tree68 BaltACD I can just about guarantee every Train Dispatchers home would have to be seriously modified to set up a 'private' area, ... Our cable company has set up their weather people so they can work from home. A couple of them look like nice houses, a couple of others are pretty tight shots. And I know that one of the young ladies has two youngsters (at least), as she's been pregnant twice on the air over the past few years. Presumably they all had cable service to begin with. Whether it was enhanced so they could work at home is unknown. Of course, they're only on for a couple of minutes each time, and I'd imagine that some of their reports get recorded, instead of being done live.
BaltACD I can just about guarantee every Train Dispatchers home would have to be seriously modified to set up a 'private' area, ...
I don't know how CSX has configured the Dispatchers on their return to Jacksonville. When the Dispatchers left Jacksonville each dispatching desk had the dispatchers work station separated by somewhere between 10 and 15 feet - it takes a lot of space to arranged the 8 to 15 model board display screens as well as the actual pair of CADS operating screens and keyboard, the Main Frame Display terminal and keyboard as well as the Avtec computerized radio and telephone touch screen terminal. I will assume that each dispatchers work location will be similar today.
At Jacksonville, a number of 'Branch Line' dispatching desk were housed in offices on the 3rd level of the round building - generally two or more desk would be housed in a single office - That would be problematic in the covid-19 world.
I have not heard any complaints from my contacts that are still working as Dispatchers in Jacksonville.
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