|
  |
|
|
We try to maintain a civil and courteous working relationship with the other roads. We really do. But sometimes it becomes, well, just plain difficult. Last Friday was a prime example.
I arrive at the tower optimistic that the wrongs of the world have been righted and I will have a marvelous evening. The clue that this might not be the case is when I cheerfully ask Bob how the night has been and with a look of maniacal dread he turns to me and remarks, "Not too good". HMMMM. So I go through my safety and job briefings with optimism, all the while thinking about his comment. So now comes transfer time.
For the unfamiliar, this is the time when the dispatcher being relieved briefs the relieving dispatcher on all the fun and excitement going on as well as the joy to come. I describe this in carnival terms, but it is actually a very important time for obvious reasons. In fact, a number of the UP accidents have happened during this time and are partially attributed to interruptions in the turn over process.
So Bob begins weaving the ugly tale of a railroad in chaos. Well, no crying over spilled milk I tell myself, and climb into the captain's chair now only semi-optimistic about tonight's little journey into the unknown. So I look over the train sheet, sign in, and begin the odyssey.
As Bob is departing, he comments, "Look at that 241 up around Dolton. He goes dog in 3 hours and the IHB says he'll take him but take a look anyway." OK, I'll do that. So I go about my business cleaning up the Latta Sub the best I can. And for the most part things are going pretty good. Things are falling in place fairly well, and so a certain level of smugness begins to seep into the tower. Well, just about that time Mr. Murphy makes a visit.
As I'm glossing over the train sheet I remember the comment about that 241 train up in Chicago. So I call the IHB dispatcher. He answers in his own charming way. So I inquire as to the location and immediate future of this 241 train. I was expecting something down the lines of "Coming into CP Rose and looking good." What I get is "He'll die at Argo. Get a recrew." What??? 2 hours and some odd minutes ago he was at Dolton and in good shape. Now he's at Argo and belly up? How can that be? He goes dead in less than 1 hour, so I guess there isn't much point in worrying. I call the taxi outfit and arrange a ride from Argo to the hotel. I have a rested crew at the hotel, but I'm sure they want them for 240 in the morning.
So I call the caller and inform him of my needs. He says he'll get a recrew out of Terre Haute and that's that. Good, another emergency put to rest. So I start getting the pieces in place for this recrew. Now about an hour has gone by and the phone rings. Any call at 2:30 am is never a good one. Well, it's the Harbor dispatcher. He's wondering about moving that 241. I tell him the bad news: 2 hours on the call plus 4 hours in the taxi, so it will be with Mr. Sunshine high in the sky before that train moves. He sort of hems and haws around, and finally cuts to the chase: he wants to move the train because it's "in a bad place", and he has a crew just around the corner to do it and move it on to Norpaul.
Well, every time the Harbor touches a CP train, it costs something like $2500 in "puller charges". A while back the Trainmaster put out a memo stating that under no circumstances will the IHB be allowed to move a CP train without the consultation and permission of the manager in charge. So what it says is if the manager wants to move it they can authorize the IHB to pull it in but otherwise it sits. So I convey this info to the IHB dispatcher, and he apparently didn't agree with the intent of this letter. So I tell him that if he would have informed me sooner this might not have happened. He becomes a little bit agitated and hangs up. So I go about my business, and at 2:55 am I call the IHB to let him know that the crew would be coming on duty in 5 minutes and I would be sending them to Argo. Oh, don't bother he says. Bensenville gave him permission to move the train. What? Under whose authority? All he could say is Bensenville.
So I call the manager on duty and inform him as to what is going down. He's not really happy to hear from me at 3:00 am. I next call the manager on duty in Minneapolis and inform him that we did not give the IHB permission to move that train and if they try to hit us with puller charges they can insert those charges where...well, you know where. In the mean time this relief crew calls and asks where this train is. I tell him the IHB moved it and their services might not be required. To my surprise the crew is relieved. They really didn't want to get out this early and go north anyway. So as the manager in Minneapolis is looking into this, I get a call from the manager on duty for the Latta Sub. He wants some info for his conference call in the morning. So I give him all the gory details. After I hang up with him the other manager from Minneapolis tells me to send the relief crew home. I ask him who authorized this and he says the chief in Bensenville. OK, now it's his potato to eat. It just goes to show that even with all the variables accounted for, there are still things that can mess up a good evening.
The planner tells me that in the next couple of weeks, they will be closing down the loading facility at Lewis Dock and reopening Davco down on the south end of the sub. I kind of like that idea but the chief didn't. Being that far from Latta is a plus because they don't get in the way of all those road switchers. The bad point is being that far from Latta they have a tendency to die on hours is the sub becomes congested. So it becomes a delicate balancing act to keep the whole mess fluid and still keep everyone on task and on time. I guess the loading facility at Davco and the mines it represents has something like 10 million tons of coal in reserves. Now that's a lot of dinosaurs. So this will be a new adventure. I hope they keep the siding at Lewis Dock so we will have a place to meet big trains. That would be nice.
Otherwise, the sub has been just moving right along. It's been kinda quiet lately and that is a pleasant relief from the hectic pace of this last winter. And with this miserable tropical heat I am really glad to have an air-conditioned tower to go to. I watch those section and signal guys out in the heat digging cable and setting signals and I really feel for them. Not a whole lot of fun busting your butt in 95 degree weather and 90 percent relative humidity.
The automation of the plant at Spring Hill is moving right along and all the appliances are delivered. The hold up now is the CSX and getting together with them to put in the new crossover switches. These new crossovers will allow CP trains to enter the CSX main track directly without having to use the siding. That means if the siding is blocked with a T540 or something like that we can just enter the main and go. And since the switches will all be motorized the moves will be much quicker than in the past. Then the plant will be ready for automation. In one respect I really hate to see the tower go, but on the other hand having a modernized plant will be nice. We will be able to get trains out of the hill much faster than we do today.
Last night we had the usual conglomeration of trains and just not quite enough track. So here we play that never ending juggling game, trying to keep all the movements going and still work with that limited space. And of all times the folks in the Information Services department decide it would be a good idea to take the entire CP computer system down for maintenance or something like that. And of course that would be the time when things get just a little hectic.
So now I have to clear all trains over the fax machine, which is a much slower process. The service center cannot generate train lists because they don't have access to the yard data as well as the AEI readings. The callers cannot call the crews out in the computer correctly because it doesn't work. And I cannot work on the Integrated Train Management stuff because it too is down. So things get very interesting indeed. Sometimes it makes you wonder if all that computerization is really better.
The signal people have been hard at work installing the necessary lights so that this automation thing will work. Now CP likes to buy Safetrans equipment, which in and of itself is nothing earthshaking except that Safetrans makes some very interesting signals. The ones CP buys are all the "traffic light" style approach lit, but the traffic lights themselves may have as many as 5 lights on them. Talk about your high priced Christmas tree. The first time I ever saw one I had to look at it for a long time. Very unusual looking to say the least. I guess I'm just used to your basic 1952 H2 Searchlight head and not this 21st century stuff. I guess the planners and all of those people at Latta have moved their offices into the new building and are settling in. So as usual we'll be the last ones to see the benefits of all of this. Oh well...
The boat trains 782 and 783 are officially done. The outfit that was buying the coal has opted for Powder River coal instead. So now we have the NIPSCO 781's and 780's that move via the IHB to the CSS&SB to NIPSCO Bailly generating station. They are loading those trains about one every 4 days, and they are in 60 car cuts. I don't know if they are permanent additions or just temporary but we'll take the business for sure. Maybe with this opening of Davco we can begin to run Merom trains over the INRD. Now that would be a nice addition indeed. And I am sure that the possibility of that has been tossed around.
The ADM trains (785/784) have been a scarce commodity lately. They were running them at a rate of about 1 a week for a while there but now they have evaporated too. But not to worry, for the road freights have been getting bigger and bigger. Last night 241 left the hill with 75-34-9866 and about 5500' long. Now that's a healthy specimen. So these land barges make their way across the steamy Indiana countryside. And the added plus of the matter has been that as of late the success rate of these critters in making Bensenville or Louisville is a lot better. In fact, something like 2 out of every 5 makes the trip completely, and 1 of the 5 usually makes it very close. Not terrific by any means but a lot better than the 7 and 8 crew fiasco's from this past spring. And with the slow orders and so on coming to a close for the season maybe that success rate will improve.
The Hoosier Sub has been a LOT better since they have removed a ton of slow orders. Crews will regularly make it to and from Louisville on their hours. Of course there seems to be a few of their dispatchers who do everything they can to make sure our trains don't make it. Oh well, I guess you can't keep everyone happy.
We were talking in the tower the other day and the whole subject of moving CSX trains over the Latta Sub to Louisville came up. I would venture a guess that the first one that would try it might need, oh, perhaps several recrews. I feel quite confident that numerous signal and switch problems might develop over the route. Of course, I would never be a party to any dirty dealings you understand, but when problems develop I guess you just have to live with them.
The NS people have been pretty good about getting our trains out of Louisville. I guess crews tell me that their yard is really congested the bulk of the time. Kinda sounds like UP type of things, and for the NS and our own sake I hope not.
Van Yard Engine: SOO 4452 (GP38-2)
Farmersburg Power: CP 5722 - CP 6016 - CP 5537 (SD40-2s)
Maysville Power: SOO 4509 - SOO 4648 (GP38-2, GP40 both ex-MILW)
Kindill Power: SOO 2066 - SOO 2036 - CP 3018 (GP40, GP40, GP38-2)
XL Power: SOO 789 - CP 5717 (SD40-2s)
Road Switcher Power: SOO 4428 - SOO 4442, etc.
How to Look Busy and Really Do Nothing
I'm eating dinner with RLK and he imparts upon me this rather funny story:
Back in Milwaukee, RLK worked the clerk job at Stowell Yard. This yard's primary responsibility was to tend to the needs of the car ferries. Now about the time of reorganization, the Milwaukee brought in all kinds of managers and so on to help the company regain profitability. So the TM at 5 Rings calls the island to inform the clerks and so on that some "high priced talent" would be making the rounds and it would be wise to look busy.
So not to be put in a compromising position, Bob goes all out. First he loads a dummy IBM tape into the card machine. This was used to generate a list of the trains before PCs and the like. Next he calls the C&O clerk on the island and instructs him to call him every 2 or 3 minutes after he gives him the word. Next, he finds a bunch of dummy train lists and sets them up to print. So now the stage is set. He monitors the windows closely, and when the infamous PFI truck pulls up he begins the charade.
First the call to the C&O. Next, begin the printers printing these dummy train lists. Next, fire up the IBM tape machine and let it punch to its heart's content. So these guys step in the office and they are greeted with utter chaos. Machines of all types pumping out their useless drivel. Next, the phone begins to ring constantly...
"Yea, we'll get someone there to switch it in a couple of hours."
"NO the GT isn't loaded yet, but when it is I'll call."
"How many cars? Oh, not until much later. I've got 200 cars to spot
before 10."
"We only have the one PM crew right now, so it'll be later tonight
or tomorrow."
These guys introduced themselves and just stood in the doorway awestruck at the sight they were beholding. Of course, a simple investigation into the end product would have revealed nothing, but that was immaterial. They stood there in the door silent, taking in this whole scene. After about 10 minutes of this chaos, they decide to tour the rest of the yard and facilities. And as the TM was walking out he discretely gave Bob the thumbs up. Now that's the way to look busy.
Back to the Latta Laments index
Editorial content (C) 1998 Mike Dettmers
