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"19 East, Copy Three - 2
showed how to set up a timetable and apply TT&TO to a model
railroad. This book combines both sets of articles into one vol-
ume and improves some of the writing and illustrations. It is
loaded with useful graphics, examples, forms, and good color
photos.
Timetable and train order operation came into being on North
American railroads in the late 1800s and was commonplace
until the mid-1970s. Only in the past few months has the Long
Island Railroad phased out the use of traditional TT&TO. The
system relied on a printed schedule, a dispatcher, a network
of train order stations and operators, telegraph to pass along
orders, a system of rules, and railroaders well-schooled in
operations.
“19 East” will not tell the model railroad hobbyist precisely
how operations were handled over Marias Pass on the Great
Northern in the 1920s, or the SP's Santa Cruz branch in the
1960s, or any of the very specific situations modelers like to
replicate, but it will give a very good grounding in the system
that most U.S. railroads used for a very long time.
Previously, people interested in TT&TO were advised to read
Peter Josserand's “Rights of Trains,” a professional manual
intended for working railroaders. The information was there,
but it was tough for an amateur to plow through put the dis-
patching system into practice. “19 East” uses numerous exam-
ples, from simple to complex, to show how train orders work
in the real world. Chapter 10 is a useful “Dispatcher Shortcuts,
Timetables and Miscellaneous Items,” the kind of things you
might learn if you were lucky enough to know an experienced
dispatcher – not the sort of information printed in a manual.
Here is an excerpt from "19 East, Copy Three"
“19 East” makes frequent use of examples and a question-
and-answer format in explaining TT&TO operation. In Part
II, Steve King's series on adapting timetable operations to a
model, he spreads a series of situations across several chapters,
showing how orders are used to get a train across the railroad.
In this case, Extra 463 has gone on duty at 6 am, to run from Delta
to Alpha with a setout and pickup at Charlie. Here's just a taste:
Situation 11
All of you who have accounted for all of the superior trains
and are now ready to depart, raise your LEFT hand. All of you
who plan to sit in the yard and wait, raise your RIGHT hand.
Keep them up and read on. Hint: One of you is in trouble!
Since 7:15 pm yesterday, only two scheduled trains were due
to
arrive – First Class No. 3 and Second Class No. 65. No. 3 registered
in, arriving at 10:31 pmNo. 65 registered in, arriving at 12:53 amon
January 2nd – a bit late. So, according to the register, both of the
superior opposing trains due in the past twelve hours have arrived.
The next superior train due at Delta is No. 1, scheduled to arrive at
9:30 am. It's only 7:15 am now and we've got until 8:45 am to make
the 40-60 minute run to Charlie and clear up for him. No problem.
No. 67 is the next superior train and he's scheduled behind No. 1.
Q. So we are ready to go?
A. Those of you with your LEFT hand up are … dead.
Those of you with your RIGHT hand up are … still on the payroll.
Look again at the train register. Look specifically at No. 65's arrival
at 12:53 am on January 2nd. Number 65 arrived at 12:53 am with
green signals – indicating section(s) following. Until all sections
are accounted for, the Extra 463 East doesn't go anywhere.
MRH-Apr 2013
