MercedandEl Portal Locals left their respectiveyards some-
wherearound5:30p.m. to6:00p.m. eachday (14). Their train
orders specifiedadefinitemeetingplace, typically the siding
atDetwiler (atMP40.9, very close to themiddleof the line).
The locationof themeetwasbasedprimarilyon theamount
ofwork requiredbyeach crew. However, thedispatcher also
specifieda sidingwithaflat or very slight rulinggrade toallow
the trains todepart themeetwithout problems.
After themeet, thecrewof theeastboundMercedLocal
boarded thewestboundEl Portal Local and thecrewof thewest-
boundEl Portal Local tookover theeastboundMercedLocal.
Eachcrew thus returned to theirownhomes for thenight.
The set-outs andpickups for the two locals, theMerced Local
andEl Portal Local,were recordedby thedispatchers along
the right sideof the train sheet (15). Since conductors could
not call thedispatcher about each set-out andpickup in real
time, I’massuming that the conductors recorded this infor-
mationandprovided it to the stationagent at El Portal or the
dispatcher inMercedupon their arrival after the run. The
dispatcher thenentered it on the train sheet for the record.
At least on theYV, thedaily train sheetwas thusmuch likea
“policeblotter,” keepinga recordof everythinghappeningon
the railroad fromextras, crewassignments, delays, etc.
I amvery fortunate thatAl Rosenot only saved the train sheets
when theYVwasbeing scrapped, but that healso realizedmy
passion for this railroadandprovidedmewith copiesof the
train sheets for all of August 1939plus thedispatcher’s journal
of trainorders. Together, theyhaveprovided real insight into
how thedispatchers ran this railroad.
GettingReal Column - 11
MRH-Apr2014
