Work-between track warrant
Q.
On simplified Track Warrant Control papers I use on my lay-
out, box 4 says:
Work between _____ and ____ on ____ track.
Say I am the dispatcher and I have a train crew who needs to
work a couple of spurs connected to the mainline through a
siding. The crew needs to get out of town A with a turn and
asks for a track warrant to work the spurs at A and B. The
crew needs to work both sidings’ turnouts as they have to per-
form some runarounds to actually spot cars. Should I (the dis-
patcher) issue the following track warrant?
Work between
A
and
C
on main track.
Or should I issue this?
Work between
A
and
B
on main track.
A.
The warrant’s purpose is to grant authority for occupancy
and protect the safety of that train and other trains. The sec-
ond choice, “X box 4: work between A and B on main track”
is the better one. The train has been given authority between
A and B, so it can make forward and reverse moves between
those limits in safety, including runarounds, and no other
authority can be given within those limits until the warrant
is released. Extending the warrant to C ties up track the local
doesn’t really need.
There are some big “buts” for the dispatcher to consider. The
track covered by the A and B limits has to be long enough to let
the train crew carry out its work. The occupancy granted should
not be so vast that it interferes unnecessarily with other traffic.
Byron Henderson offers some help: “What can help in the
model where you need to give the ability to do a runaround,
without tying up track all the way to the next town, is to name
an intermediate point. On Rick Fortin’s fabulous 4th District
