Section A

On numerous occasions, I have heard LIRR dispatchers sign off their transmission to trains as "LIRR Section A out" I believe that Section A is the Port Wash. branch. Does anyone know how this section became know as Section A?

My second question is I have heard Amtrak dispatchers say the same to their trains. What are the limits of their Section A?

"Section A" is actually a Train Dispatcher in the Movement Bureau (204) that controls the Port Washington branch. His office is in the main Jamaica corporate headquarters.

The sections are the different train dispatchers in the movement bureau, generally lettered west to east.

Clem

My first job with the LIRR was the midnight clerk up in the Movement Bureau. I learned a ton of operational stuff as a brand new employee that I never would have had I started anywhere else.

Clem maybe you can answer this one. Sometimes when I talk to one of the section dispatchers, they refer to those above them as "the bridge." Why do they call them that?

Jay

In the Movement Bureau there Is a Chief Train Dispatcher and 4 dispathers that work for him; Sections a, b, c, d, each covering a specific portion of the RR and having their own cubicle. The chief sits at "the bridge" also manned by some underlings that answer phones, the police and others at times. All calls to 204 go to the bridge. The sections have their own #'s. The bridge gets real crowded by upper mgmt when things hit the fan on the RR. They do not realize the chief and his/her disps handle this daily but they feel the need to show up to show face. Thank goodness they only LOOK like they are calling the shots!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, I'll bite. One of my LIRR-friends couldn't answer this question for me the other day.

On Metro-North, we have "RTC's" or Rail Traffic Controllers. In the "old days" we had a Harlem RTC, Hudson RTC, New Haven RTC, and maybe a couple of desks to run Grand Central. In the last few years, the railroad went to "districts." For instance, Hudson Line up to MP 33 is "District C RTC" and above that is "District D RTC." In the OLD old days, you called the "Hudson Electric dispatcher" below MP 33.

ANYWAY.

So why is it called the Movement Bureau? And what is 204? If I'm the engineer and I need to contact the dispatcher, is his name "Section A" or wherever? Are they all in Jamaica? All the MN dispatchers are now in GCT.

-otto-

204 is a reference to the room number it used to be in years ago. It is also the contact number on the railroad internal dial phones. As a Conductor or Engineer, we usually talk to the tower in controll of the section of the railroad we are operating on. For example, Ronkonkoma would be divide. Mainline east of jamaica would be queens, nassau, divide, montauk would be babylon and PD. The only time we usually talk to section A is to get permission in and out of Port Washington, since section A controlls the switches there. The rest of the time we just call 204, we are not aware of what section of 204 we are talking to, just 204.

Otto, Movement Bureau is a holdover from the PRR era. The Transportation Department is the whole entity, and Movement Bureau is essentially a subsidiary of the Transportation Department. The name remains because of tradition. 204 was the railroad phone extension from when the LIRR had 3 digit extensions, a 1917 era telephone switching system and an ancient operator who was very crabby. The LIRR, unike MNCR, is an old company that was never a combination of several roads so they retain many of the past historical names, terms and operating principals that they have always used. The only "outside" influence on the LIRR was the PRR. And it shows in its' form numbers like ADL..., CT..., the lingo, signals and structure. Actually, if a person was a Pennsy purist, they would probably find the LIRR as close to the old PRR than most other former PRR roads. The LIRR was immune and not disturbed by the mergers, abandonments and so forth that the national railroad industry has experienced. So until recently, it really was a small PRR.

Jay, When a Condr or Engr calls "204" they are talking to the Chief Train Dispather or his Asst. The term "bridge" is basically the Chiefs' area and since he is in charge of the Movement Bureau he is essentially "Captain" of the ship and well..where do you find the Captain on a ship?

Form 19, as always, is on the money.

"204" was the extension for the old railroad step-by-step PBX telephone dial system. Even before that was installed in the 1940's the Movement Bureau's telephone number was JAmaica 204. The railroad's switchboard, vintage 1917, was sent to tha Library of Congress as an exhibit when the system was replaced around 1992. Maybe the operator went with it.

Up until perhaps five years ago, the Bureau was in Room 301 on the Third Floor. When it moved downstairs a floor, to join with the power directors, the room was numbered "204".

Trivia Time: Does anyone know the telegraph calls for the dispatchers? What was ORIGINALLY on the 4th and 5th floors of the Jamaica building?

Clem

Dispatcher's calls, when in L. I City were "X".

When they were moved to Jamaica, I'd have to think they kept the same call.

Also, regarding the phone system . . as late as the mid-1970s (and perhaps later, but I wasn't around) the phone system was the old magneto-crank style. A certain number of rings from a certain number of cranks indicated if the call was for your block station or not.

The block operator's "dispatcher's phone" was the old "flexi-phone" style that pulled out towards the operator or pushed back out of the way when done.

Also, the phones in the old "T" boxes were also the old magneto-crank type.

Here's an example of the "Flexi-Phone." The hand set on the corner of the desk was also a 'crank job." the dial had been removed and the cranking box was behind the phone, out of the photo.


In this shot, you can see the old, wooden bell box at the ceiling level, above the train order lantern and flags at the upper left. This would ring when you had an incoming call:


Here's another view of the handset, sitting atop the crank box. You can see the crankhandle below:


And .. . another view. A "modern" dial phone is visible to the left on the desk!


Dave

Clem:

Forgot the other part of your trivia question: There was a restaurant up there.

Dave

Clem..was it a bowling alley?

Dave..they still have a magneto crank style block phone system. Same operation, one long crank is one tower, two long cranks is for another and so on. If you flip the toggle switch to "C" (central) and crank until your arm falls off, the Railroad operator will pick up and connect you to Pakistan if you give her your emplyee number.

[quote="My second question is I have heard Amtrak dispatchers say the same to their trains. What are the limits of their Section A?[/quote]

Amtrak Section A controls from Bergen to Hudson on the NEC, Empire to CP 12 on the westside and Gate to CP 216 on the Hellgate. Section A also controls The Loops and Subs in and out of Sunnyside Yard and is also responsible for both Q and R towers. The Loop tracks run from F to R with Loop interlocking in between. (It is just East of the car wash) and the sub tracks run from Q to F. PSCC lets the trains in and out of the loops and subs.

Yes, a bowling alley with restaurant and...

a YMCA.

But I know we still use X for Long Island City, so perhaps another call for dispatchers in Jamaica?

Clem