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[alloboard]

Are trains operated in a way that they don,t meet up with each other in flat junctions by schedule patterns, or does it depend. i.e. Northbound train approaching junction; southbound train about to junction off the 4 tracked mainline into 2 tracked mainline, a 2 into 4 track flat junction. Isn't this what the CTC system is for? Is any of it automated, or does the person at the CTC screen have to monitor everything.

[ndbprr]

A very complicated issue.  

Case 1 Junction of the same railroad - Railroads used to rate trains by classes with class 1 being the highest priority and it had superior rights of all other types and hence would get the green first.  Today a smart dispatcher would schedule Amtrak first followed by time sensitive freight like intermodal or produce then coal and minerals

Case 2 Junction of two competing railroads - The railroad to arrive the latest to the junction is the one that has the responsibility of maintaining the tower (if one still exists), and the interlocking.  Again Amtrak is supposed to get superior running rights but I saw a situation where a towerman allowed a coal drag to pass in front of the Broadway Limited while it made a staion stop only to have the coal drag pull a knuckle and block the crossing for an hour.  I have also seen them hold the competing lines trains until theirs has passed,  In one case this was an hour and a half.

Running rights are a whole different bag of concerns but the general rule from my railfan perspective is my railroad goes first then I may allow you to continue at the time I decide.

[al-in-chgo]

A very complicated issue.  

Case 1 Junction of the same railroad - Railroads used to rate trains by classes with class 1 being the highest priority and it had superior rights of all other types and hence would get the green first.  Today a smart dispatcher would schedule Amtrak first followed by time sensitive freight like intermodal or produce then coal and minerals

Case 2 Junction of two competing railroads - The railroad to arrive the latest to the junction is the one that has the responsibility of maintaining the tower (if one still exists), and the interlocking.  Again Amtrak is supposed to get superior running rights but I saw a situation where a towerman allowed a coal drag to pass in front of the Broadway Limited while it made a staion stop only to have the coal drag pull a knuckle and block the crossing for an hour.  I have also seen them hold the competing lines trains until theirs has passed,  In one case this was an hour and a half.

Running rights are a whole different bag of concerns but the general rule from my railfan perspective is my railroad goes first then I may allow you to continue at the time I decide.

 

 

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"First come, first served" is definitely the rule at the Rochelle (IL) Xing, where BNSF double tracks cross UP double tracks.  Once in a great while the other RR might get a "special dispensation" to cross out of turn, but that is rare.  Generally the crossing of trains under normal protocol proceeds efficiently.  With today's heavier traffic (especially on UP), I can't imagine this practice occurring without CTC, which both lines have. 

al-in-chgo