|
  |
|
|
The north end is still the usual messy affair that it has been for oh these many weeks. I was looking at the gross ton/mile report that we do and the ratio is almost 50/50 in terms of road crews and relief crews. This essentially means that each train needs 2 crews to make it to Bensenville: some more, and some none. And since we do not "see" these trains like we "see" those on our own rails, it really is quite a difficult task in predicting where they will die and when it will occur. But we are getting better (I guess).
The other day I had a train coming off the IHB at Dolton. The tower operator calls me and says the UP will move the train provided there is relief coming. I tell him relief is on the way and that I had just talked to the about 10 minutes ago and they were at Danville headed north. They would call me from Kentland and I would find out at that time where the train was. OK. Now this crew calls me from Kentland wondering where the train is. I try calling the Unorganized Problem but no luck: the phone just rings busy. OK, so I try Dolton. No answer there. HMMMMMM. I smell conspiracy here. So I try calling CSX. The phone rings busy there too. OK, enough is enough. I call the CSX on the block phone ... Hey, where's my Z453? STILL on the UP. Where? North of Yard Center. HMMMMM. OK.
So I tell this crew go to Momence and then backtrack north until you find them. OK. Now I have the usual insanity to deal with so I go about my business. The CSX calls me (maybe I shouldn't answer the phone and see how they like it!), and asks me if I can take this Z453 right away. I say yes, when will it be here. Oh, about 1 1/2 hours! Wow! That choo choo really snuck up on me. Call the outbound and get the goodies together. The fax machine belches out one of my all time favorite documents: the delay report. Oh joy. I just love transcribing those onto the train sheet. About as much fun as watching paint dry. I look and it is for this crew that got relieved, magically, at Momence! They show a 5 minute delay in the crew change!!! Now that's the way I wish they would all be!!!
Lately the 241 trains have all been land barges coming out of Latta. For example, counts of 84-25-12,386 and 7322' are not uncommon. The first boat coal train of the season ran Friday. 783-001 departed Latta and headed north to the BRC with 120-0-14,490 and about 6800' of choo choo. So the train gets up to Spring Hill and his marker dies. The crew that brought it up thinks the battery is dead and leaves a message for the outbound to get batteries and try breathing life into this 35 lb brain of a device. So the outbound calls and asks if there are batteries at the tower. I look downstairs and yes, there are 3 on the charger. OK. So they come to get them. Meanwhile the CSX is asking where this fossil fuel express is, since he has his hot tote trains coming. So I tell him they're changing out the brains on their marker. OK. Now if the marker is not working, they are restricted to 30 mph on the CSX and he probably won't touch it for several hours if it's going to run that slow. So now the race is on to bring back this miniature tin man back from extinction and get going. The tension is thick. Somewhere on the radio I hear the theme music from "Mission Impossible". The marker won't arm. They try again. Still won't arm. The conductor tells the piggy to dump the air and then try. Bingo! It comes to life! He hops in the cab and migrates in Speed Racer fashion to the head end and gets switches in position.
Meanwhile, the engineer informs the SB in Jax that the marker is a go and they're ready to go. They have a 10 minute hole, and they must be ready to MOVE. They throttle up 15,000 HP of EMD 645 muscle and depart down Baker siding in a cloud of dust. I go out to get the switches for them since they can make a quicker departure. It's a strange feeling standing about 5 feet away from 100 ton hoppers as they go racing by you. The CSX has already lined up one of his tote trains and it came blasting by the tower. So here I am between the two trains. Not especially close to the CSX but enough to know that if any one of them had a boo boo I would be reduced to sandwich spread. Not a particularly joyous thought. But the 783 made it out and I was happy.
Just last night I got a real education in planning meets and the inherent dangers therein.
I have this 241 train at Crane with a relief crew on it waiting to come north. Number 1 rule in dispatching is keep trains moving. The longer they sit the more they come to be like little time bombs waiting to go off. I also have this Gibson train coming out of Farmersburg waiting to take about 100 loads south to the ISRR. I call the ISRR and they say they got a crew called to taxi to the stub track at Beehunter to meet my guy and take the loads. Good! One less thing to worry about. I also have a Maysville at Latta waiting to get cars at Linton and go south to Maysville for loading. So this Maysville goes on his way, the 241 crew calls and wants to come north so I fix him up to Latta.
Now the Gibson train calls and is ready to go south. I look at my on hand sheet to see what tracks are clear at Latta. OK. I have Lewis Dock clear so I can meet this Gibson there. Now they try calling in a few times and come to find out they have a bad order radio. So after I give them their warrant I tell them hold up at Lewis Dock and call me before taking them into Latta Yard. OK.
Now the 241 gets up to Latta and lo and behold the clear tracks that my sheet shows are not clear! About this time my sphincter bonds me to my chair in suction cup fashion. So I try getting the Gibson to let them know not to go by the North Switch Lewis Dock before talking to me. 241 begins his work at Latta and finally after some nervous moments the Gibson calls me to tell me they're all stopped at Lewis Dock. Yes! But now the dark side. The siding has cars in it! Oh no!!!!
Now what? I tell 241 the predicament and they wiggle themselves into the clear at let this Gibson by. Whew! OK. So after this Gibson goes by I think the world is righted. But there is a time bomb lurking. The Cayuga train is sitting at Spring Hill and the CSX calls T501 for 0210. Good. Get this Cayuga out of here and then I can bring 241 up and the world will be OK. Birds will sing happy songs or praise. The sun will shine rays of joy on my little tower. So I go about my business doing my reports and so on. I was happy. I was whistling. And then the bubble burst.
CSX calls to inform me T501 is out and running. I look at the clock. Yikes!!! 0445!!! So I decide to patronize IPL and Motorola and investigate the progress of 241.
"CP Indiana Dispatcher to 241's train the SOO 6007 North over."
"6007 North, over."
"How long you figure it will be before you're ready to take a pull on them there at Latta, over."
"I figure about an hour, maybe more. We still have to line up our cars and then do our air test, over."
Now I am once again bound by my butt to this chair where just minutes ago I was thinking sweet summertime thoughts. Thoughts of happiness and joy monstrously transform into apocalyptic visions of a dispatcher being slowly put to death by an angry corridor manager. Dark demonic visions of an RTC meeting his demise at the hands of lots of guys with ties on. Rivers of blood flowing from a tower where not just minutes ago a dispatcher was humming the tunes of "California Dreamin'" while contentedly finishing reports.
"OK thanks. Dispatcher out."
I now see this version of dispatcher death in crystal clarity: 241 has the main blocked at Latta. I had let 240 go to Latta to meet him, and while he was in the clear at the yard he needed to come out to do his work. The Gibson train had returned from Beehunter and was caught in behind this 241 and couldn't get out ahead of him to clear out the siding at Lewis Dock. I cautiously ask the CSX about taking this 241 before the Cayugas. He sounds like he doesn't really have anywhere to go with 241 and says he would prefer to move it after the Cayugas. I have no sidings and nowhere to put this monstrous 241 away, My only alternative is to bring him to Spring Hill and put him away north of the tower. Not a good move with a 5500' train! But I looked again at the clock and now it's almost 0630 and my relief is coming in soon! I hate to leave him with this mess, but now there's no alternative. He comes in and I kinda beat around the bush for a while. It doesn't work...He knows there's a problem. OK, so I bare my soul for the whole world to see.
He's...well, not entirely thrilled with the proposition but what can you do? I left feeling kinda like a prisoner on death row just waiting for the time to go by... I guess this is one of those situations that's supposed to build character.
The south end has begun to be a problem again, especially with the CSX conducting track enhancement with their track gangs. I say this rather loosely because they use this (or so it seems) as an excuse to shaft our trains in a big way. I look at the delay reports and I see 55 and 60 minute delays for Foreman Smith here and Foreman Jones there. Not good.
So here I am sitting in my chair minding my own business when the CDRC II chimes up out of Bedford. OK. Who is this? Track gang? Train? Ronald Reagan? Well, it must be a track gang or the likes since my 241 train is probably 2 hours or more away. So I finish up my Ho-Ho and take a drink from the Dew.
A quick word about proper railroad food. The concept of nutrition and a balanced diet are in fact notorious lies propagated by hospitals and doctors. Railroad food is lumped into very different groups. First and foremost, you have the caffeine group. Very important when working those strange hours. Next you have the sugar group. This also works well for that quick pick-me-up. Next comes the quick or instant group. These are edibles that require little or no preparation ability and yield some kind of satisfactory results. Chips, Twinkies, cold sandwiches, and so on fall in this group. Actually, the Twinkie falls in both the sugar and the instant groups so it is an "optimum" railroad food. The last is the warm (or even luke warm) group. Things like luke warm Spaghettios out of the can fall in this group. And you can classify all foods as "finger foods' depending on your location and need for intake. So as you examine my "meal" you will find it fits into the sugar group twice, the instant group twice, and the caffeine group once. This kind of five star rating makes this a near perfect meal.
So anyway, I finish my meal and answer the radio.
"CP Indiana Dispatcher Bedford radio, over."
"Dispa........this is......and.......Ogg.........time...."
"Whoever is calling you're breaking up. Try again, over."
"Thi.......1.....com......to.....we.........time......cab..."
Now my deciphering abilities come into play (aided by the Ho-Ho's). It sounds like 241 is trying to tell me he doesn't think he has enough time to make Latta and is looking for a cab. But he should be way down there on the CSX. Before I can test my decipherment of the message, he tries again.
"Dispatcher, can you hear me now?"
"Yes I can. Go ahead over."
"This is 241. We're coming into Fogg and we have blocks to Bedford but there's a train ahead of us and a track gang at Mitchell. I don't think we can make it. Do you have a cab called for us yet, over?"
This scenario happened earlier in the week too. Must be something in the air.
"No, last I heard from CSX was you were about 2 or 2 1/2 hours out, over."
"Yeah, well we moved better than expected, over."
"I guess so. OK, I'll get you a cab. Do you figure Crane will work, over?"
"Yea, I think we can make Crane, over."
"OK. Have the cab meet you at Crane. Keep me posted if you get delayed any more. CP Indiana Dispatcher out."
"241 out."
The planner had been listening and was hoping to get him to Latta so he could get 240 switched and out without having to delay him for a meet. OK. So I call the CP section guys working down by the tunnel and tell them to get in the clear and then I call the CSX and ask him for a figure into Bedford. Oh, the section gang at Mitchell just released and is done for the day! 241 should move right along. The planner hears this and says get him to Latta. OK.
Now how do I motivate this crew to get somewhere they really don't want to get to? As I was contemplating this, a vision came to me. Now believe it or not, railroad workers do get visions too. Not Mother Theresa in a Cinnabon or anything like that. These are darker visions. Extortion. Bribery. You know the kind. So anyway, I have one of these visions. If I have the cab at Latta for them, they will be motivated. Kind of like the carrot on the end of the stick. So I call the taxi company ... Can I get a cab pronto to Latta for 241? OK. Thanks. Now to sell it.
"CP Indiana Dispatcher to 241's train the CP 5848 North, over."
"241, over."
"Well, I have a dilemma here. I can't get a cab right away, but I have
one at Latta you can use if you can make it there, over."
"Can't you send him to Crane?"
"He doesn't know where it is and is afraid he might get lost, over."
Now this is pretty lame on my part but it's all I can think of. There is an ominous silence. Before they reply I lay it out for them.
>"I spoke with the CSX and his gang at Mitchell is gone now. I have our gang at the tunnel getting in the clear and you have, what, almost 3 hours to work. I think you can make Latta, over."
More silence.
"OK, we'll head for Latta"
"Thanks, CP Indiana Dispatcher out."
The planner chimes in. Good. Bring him to Latta and we'll have one of the roadswitchers take the train to the hill. So now I'm pondering this monster I have made. I think -no, I'm sure- the crew knows I'm railroading them (no pun intended). How do I justify this? As I'm deciding my fate, the phone rings. Right now all I see is an angry crew with a sharp object cornering me in the tower and screams emanating from said structure. I pick up the phone. Who? Oh, the cab driver. OK. New guy you say? Does he know where Latta is? Think so. OK! Bye. I guess some things just work out by accident. In the words of an esteemed colleague, there is no replacement for a genuine lack of preparation! Whew, dodged the bullet again!
The INRD experiment has been put off now until April some time due to computer problems and other such things. I guess they'll probably end up doing this on one of my shifts, but for now I'm still free...
Power:
Hawthorn Power: SOO 4512 - 4443 - 4435 - 4442 - 2041
Maysville Power: SOO 2032 - HATX 402 - SOO 4405
Farmersburg Power: CP 5848 (from 241) - CP 6411 - CP 5864
Van Yard Engine: SOO 4603
Roadswitcher Power: SOO 2036 - HATX 111 - SOO 4648
XL Power: CP 5789-CP 5604
One note of interest: the Soo 737 had a bad round tripper the other day. First, on the way to Louisville at Williams MP 249 it hit several cows on the tracks. Now this makes a big mess. Then at Louisville it hit a car. Now the other night I see it went north on 241 dead and drained. Not too good. Then just this past Wednesday it seems CP 5719 was loading at Farmersburg and hit the loading chute, smashing some of the roof apparel of the unit and putting it out of commission, not to mention the loading chute which is still not 100% pending repairs...
Back to the Latta Laments index
Editorial content (C) 1998 Mike Dettmers
