ATLANTIC CENTRALAnd, when it comes to operation, I do prefer the CTC approach for mainline operations.
Ironically, I worked with many prototype dispatchers who preferred a TT&TO territory to a CTC territory because the CTC was more work. A good dispatcher in TT&TO can get the railroad lined up and then all they have to do for the next 3 hours or so is take OS's.
I have found myself that if I work as a dispatcher, I have more time for railfanning on a TT&TO model railroad than on CTC railroad.
The difference between TT&TO and the more modern systems (TWC, DTC, CTC, etc) is the planning horizon. In TT&TO authority is granted for the whole run and then if necessary tweaked. In the more modern systems authority is granted incrementally and then things can be replanned as often as the dispatcher wants. The dispatcher only has to think ahead a move or two. Modern systems work better if the crews and dispatcher are "twitchy", they want to replan everything everytime something happens, every time the railroad twiches. With TT&TO the dispatcher has to figure out a plan over the trains's whole trip and then execute that, changing it only if the situation changes significantly.
One of the big problems with TT&TO layouts isn't the time it takes to write the orders, its poor communication with the yards. The yard waits until the train is ready, then tells the dispatcher, so that leaves the crew waiting on orders. If the yardmaster had told the dispatcher 10-15 min earlier that they were going to build the train, the dispatcher could have been writing the orders while the train was being built and the two would be ready at the same time.
Two completely different mindsets. Neither is right or wrong, just different concepts.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com