Once thedispatcher acknowledged the call byanswering
“Dispatcher,” the stationagentwould say “No. 2byat 7:27
a.m.”This formkept the call asquickaspossiblewithout any
misunderstandings. Thedispatcher then recorded this informa-
tionon the train sheet for that day. By lookingover the sheet,
adispatcher could see if certain trainswere running lateor if a
trainordermight beneeded tokeep thingsmoving.
Filled-in train sheets canprovideanenormous amount of
detail and insight into theoperationsof aparticular prototype.
TheYosemiteValleyRailroadwas a favoriteof the late railfan
Al Rose.When the railroadwasbeing scrapped, Alwas able to
savenearlyall of the train sheetsusedby the railroadduring
its 38-year life. Fortunately,manyyears agoAl gaveme full-
sizephotocopiesof all of the train sheets forAugust 1939, the
month that Imodel.
Adetailed look at a typical sheet
Anew sheetwas startedeach
daybeginningatmidnight.
Thisparticular sheet (3) is for
August4, 1939. Thedateand
dayof theweekwas recorded
by thedispatcherat the topof
the sheet alongwith thenum-
berof thetimetable ineffect
thatday.
Theweather atMercedand
El Portalwas recorded in the
upper left corner of the sheet,
while thedispatchers logged
their shifttimes in theupper
right corner of the sheet
MRH-Apr2014
