| Posted by on March 25, 2014 | |
I dont understand that concept. Isnt that what dispatchers are for? Is MRL trying to do stuff on the cheap? Seems like something a 2 bit shortline would do...
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Interesting traffic control system. I didn't know John C. Reilly was not only an actor but a railroader too.
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Over the years, the railroads have always tried to choose the method of traffic control and movement authority that's the most appropriate for the territory and traffic level in question. The methods vary from yard limits, manual block, direct traffic control, track warrant control, or centralized traffic control, or block register territory, each method providing the traffic control methods that prevent collisions.
Not every traffic control method involves a train dispatcher, and not every territory NEEDS a train dispatcher. A train's registration in the book provides it with the movement authority to operate on the line in question. A train operating jointly with another train (with both operating at restricted speed) is not under very different constraints than a train with "work between" authority under track warrant control.
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Must be Fun filling out the Register when the wind is howling and the snow flying !
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| Posted by Sport! on March 26, 2014 | |
"and we will need to see some form of identification and method of payment..."
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Registers have been around eons. It is a simple, effective system to run a branch that gets very little traffic.
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Another system that doesn't require a dispatcher is the train staff/token/key system. This system is common in the United Kingdom and former British Commonwealth nations, but only had a small presence in North America.
These systems worked basically the same way: there was a physical object (which could be a wooden or metal staff, a metal token, or a metal key), the possession of which constituted movement authority between the two stations engraved on the object.
Cheap, simple, and unambiguous.
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| Posted by Andrew on March 27, 2014 | |
Jon, it was some times a "loop or hoop" and on steam locos with a driver and fireman one of the footplate crew would exchange them with the signalman 'on the fly'
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On MetroLink in St. Louis we ran a manual block by using a metal tube which was given to us at the last Missouri station by a supervisor and carried to the supervisor at the first Illinois station across the Eads bridge for single tracking. The tube was then passed off to the next westbound train to carry back to Missouri. Worked perfect!
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