Crash Course in Railroad Ops

Three weeks ago we took a very enjoyable round trip on the Auto Train. The trip triggered a strong interest about a technology I know little or nothing about. It has been fascinating over the past few weeks reading and learning about locomotive control, slack, braking, HEP, FREDs, etc., but there is something I could find little detail about that I would really like to understand better.

Obviously the Engineer does not steer a train with a road map in one hand. Especially over a long trip, someone(s) and something(s) must know where the train is going and appropriately position all the many switches at the appropriate time to get the train to its destination. The many switches, after the train passes, must then be repositioned for the next train. Exactly how is this organized, coordinated, and executed over a very long distance? It seems like it would entail a huge and very complex network of controllers and instrumentation. For example, somehow it must determined exactly what route the train will take and this must be communicated to whoever is controlling the switches. The controller must also know when the time is right to reposition the switch. This must entail some system to know what particular train is approaching as the destination and routing of every train is probably different. It appeared to me the corridor from Sanford to Lorton hosts a huge amount of traffic, so this must be a very difficult task. How is this all done and how does the Engineer know he is indeed on the right track?

I'm going to move this to railroad operations since it's not high speed rail related.

Most mainline train operations are controlled by centralized dispatchers who use computer representations of the line to monitor train movements, and control them. Track side equipment detects and relays train positions, controls signals, and can automatically move switches. These controls are done either using radio control equipment or with track side communications lines.

This is an example below of what a dispatcher's screen might look like.

Thanks for the reply.

Does the train have a transponder so it can electronically identify itself to the track side sensors? It also seems every train must also file a travel plan with the centralized dispatching agency prior to departure so their computer can know the destination of each train. Alternately, I would guess the engineer radios the dispatcher every time he is approaching a decision point. Does that mean the engineers have to be so well trained they know where every switch is located so they can assure it is aligned properly before they arrive at it? I imagine chaos would result if the central dispatcher and his computer did not have knowledge of the travel plans for every train in his sphere of control. Obviously, from my questions, I know nothing about RR Ops.

The Dispatcher control the route that a train takes in CTC territory. No trip plan is filed. The Dispather lines the route by aligning the switches for the route and the signal system will display the appropriate signal indiacation for the route once the Dispatcher enables the route. The Engineer authority to move is a Release from the Dispatcher or Signal Indication. The Dispatcher is in complete control of the route. Engineers are required to be qualified on the territory which means know all Control Points (Interlocking), the Movement Authority for the Territory, and all other characteristics of the territory. I have gone many trips without speaking once to the Dispatcher only going on Signal Indication.

railman616 wrote:... No trip plan is filed. ... I have gone many trips without speaking once to the Dispatcher only going on Signal Indication.

Thanks for the effort to answer my questions.

If no trip plan is filed, how does the dispatcher know where you are going?

How does the dispatcher know exactly where you are at unless there is something to identify the location of your train and also differentiate your train from other trains on a real time basis? Some roads host a large amount of traffic so it seems to me the dispatcher probably must have to reposition switches just before you get to them and again after you pass to accommodate the unique routing of other trains.

What is "CTC Territory"?

I hope asking these questions are not offensive but my recent trip triggered a big interest on how it is all done. I also cannot imagine how this was all coordinated in the days before computers. I assume there was even much more traffic in those days (1930s & 1940s) so it must have been especially difficult.

Thanks again

CTC is Centralized Train Control. It evoled over many decades as the railraod system grow. Interlockings Control Point (CP) have many safety feature built into them in order to prevent opposing movements accidents. The signal system is linked to the Control Points also to control train speeds approaching a CP. The signal system also provide block occupancy to the Dispatchers computer system. All train are enter into the Dispatchers computer system with a profile of the train route. As the Dispatcher lines a route for a train he will enter the train into dispatching system and the system will track the train on his displays. If the route needs to be changed i.e. you will run on track 2 instead of track 1 he will stop you at a CP burn down the interlocking timer to change the route. This timer is one of the safety features that prevents him from lining you into on coming traffic until the block is clear. He then changes the route and enables the the route for you. The Dispatching System has many safety features that help prevent accidents. The next generation of safety features is the Positve Train Control that is suppose to prevent all collisions by automatical stopping the train when a collision is indicated. There are many books available that explains Rail operation. One I would recoommand to from Simmons-Broadman books titled The Railroad: What it is, What it does. This will give you a general idea of railroad operations.

railman616 wrote: One I would recommended to from Simmons-Broadman books titled The Railroad: What it is, What it does. This will give you a general idea of railroad operations.

I just ordered the book you suggested from Amazon plus four others.

You can all be relieved now because I will wait until I receive the books before I post more questions.

Thanks for all the responses.

Another very useful book from Simmons-Boardman, if it's still in print, is "Railroad Operations and Railway Signaling," which really goes into the nuts and bolts (and, having been written decades ago, has been overtaken by developments in technology), and may have more detail than you want, but you can always skip over what you don't want to go into. What it does do is show where we came from to get where we are now.

Thanks for the suggestion. I think I even saw the book you referenced on signaling. However, the books I ordered earlier today are collectively costing almost $200. I think I need to wait until after I explore these before I order more.

And here are links to two sites which can tell you just about all you'ld ever want to know about the fine art of rail traffic control:

http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/railway/railhom.htm

http://www.lundsten.dk/us_signaling/

One other point that hasn't been touched upon is that the railroads, albeit informally, maintained an effort to keep operating and dispatching practices among the many companies relatively uniform. Two gentlemen long departed, Harry Forman and Peter Josserand, maintained and promoted this endeavor for many years. Although the handful of remaining major players rewote the rules in the wake of thw work rule and crew size changes in the 1980's, a system with a much stronger pedigree remains codifed in the reference book Rights of Trains, also avalable from Simmons-Boardman, (but you might be able to find a copy in a good unversity or engineering lbrary).