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Who names control points?

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  • Member since
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  • From: Ely, Nv.
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Posted by chad thomas on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 10:27 PM

I name controll points.... me all alone....nobody else but me...Just me....Big Smile [:D]

 

Sorry, couldn't help myself. Evil [}:)]Smile,Wink, & Grin [swg]

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Posted by Railway Man on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 10:17 PM
I thought so. Tongue [:P]
  • Member since
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  • From: Valparaiso, In
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Posted by MP173 on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 10:15 PM

RWM:

You must have enjoyed assigning names.  Were the names appropriately named for the railroad in question?

ed

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Posted by mudchicken on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 10:13 PM
Surveyors name their control points all the time, they just usually are not railroad related.Smile,Wink, & Grin [swg]
Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
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Posted by Railway Man on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 9:55 PM

Someone with a lot of authority at the railroad gets to name timetable stations and their respective CPs, that's who.  Names might be suggested by the minions responsible for designing the signal system, but the proposal always goes to higher authority for approval. 

On a railroad with a computer-supported CTC system, no two control points can have the same name, because that would create a computer code conflict.  It wouldn't know which address to send the command to.  It's not a good idea even without that issue to have two CPs with the same name anywhere near each other -- certainly not on the same subdivision or in the same dispatching office, as confusion creates risk, and risk creates dead bodies.

Railroads now like to use CPs that are numbered based on mileposts.  As a result of mergers railroads have many lines with the same milepost scheme.  Even railroads like SP with 0.0 at the Ferry Building in San Francisco, and everything further away counted upward (with a few exceptions), there would be multiple "milepost 212" locations.  So an alpha character is added to the mileposts to give each line a unique scheme.  Thus, for an imaginary scheme on a fictional SP, CP A212 would be on the Overland Route, B212 on the Shasta Route, C212 on the San Joaquin, D212 on the Coast Line, and so forth.

Many timetable stations are named for retired or deceased officials to commemorate their dedication to the service.

I recently named, on paper, several timetable stations on a railroad line that is proposed to be built.  I'm waiting to see if they stick all the way through construction, or beyond it.  Probably someone More Important Than Me will realize that the names I chose are by no means etched in stone and think of something more to their liking than the long-ago railroaders I chose to commemorate with my naming scheme.

RWM

  • Member since
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  • From: Valparaiso, In
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Who names control points?
Posted by MP173 on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 9:37 PM

Railroading is a fascinating business combining engineering, mechanics, marketing, geography, geology, and tons of other sciences and arts.

To me one of the more fascinating aspects of the industry is the number and types of maps and charts.  As a kid who liked National Geographic for the maps as well as the photos, railroading was an early attraction.

A couple of questions about control points.  On certain railroads these are assigned an alpha code and other railroads the points are assigned a numerical identification (based on mileposts).

What are the benefits and advantages of both assignments?  and, who gets the authority to name the control points. 

For instance, in Decatur there is a Control Point where the St. Louis line diverges from the Hannibal line.  The Control Point carries my last name, which is not a common name, but has some local representation.  How could one find out who named that point and the significance of that naming?

Closer to home the NS line here in NW Indiana has a siding called Nickel, which is an interesting name, being the original line was the Nickle Plate...note the difference in spelling.

ed

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