by Watchman318
Cowford wrote:Of the four MERR employees offered positions with CMQ, the dispatcher/asst. general manager was not one.No-one seems to remember that the ME was owned by a short line, albeit a moderate sized one that probably offered similar synergies re billing, etc. And I'm figuring the Rockland dispatching center roster hasn't changed.
To the best of my knowledge, the former office in the Rockland station is vacant.
I'm not sure who owns the radio repeaters at Thomaston and Bath, but I believe those are MDOT's. I haven't heard radio traffic for awhile, so I'm not sure what's being done now for communication between dispatch and trains/track cars. Radio contact with the Carlton Bridge operator could be done on the simplex channel, if necessary. Cell phones might still be of some use for contact with dispatch ("railroad-supplied electronic devices") as long as they're used within the FRA rules that became permanent in March 2011. I suppose train crews could use hand signals, but I'd bet they have new radios for switching, etc.
There's not much activity on the line right now. As far as I know, the last time steel wheels were on the rails was 01/15, when the signal maintainer's truck patrolled from Rockland westward.