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Transcriber's note:
Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
A carat character is used to denote superscription. A
single character following the carat is superscripted
(example: 2^d). Multiple superscripted characters are
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THE TRAIN WIRE
A Discussion of the Science of Train Dispatching
by
J. A. ANDERSON;
With an Introduction by B. B. Adams, Jr.
Second Edition--Revised and Enlarged.
Published by
The Railroad Gazette, 73 Broadway, New York.
1891.
Copyrighted, 1891,
bY
J. A. Anderson, Lambertville, N. J.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION v
PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION ix
CHAPTER I--Train Dispatching 1
CHAPTER II--The Dispatcher 17
CHAPTER III--The Operator 23
CHAPTER IV--The Order 25
CHAPTER V--The Manifold 33
CHAPTER VI--The Record 35
CHAPTER VII--The Train-Order Signal 37
CHAPTER VIII--The Transmission 45
CHAPTER IX--Rules 59
CHAPTER X--Forms of Train Orders 97
Form A 101
Form B 104
Form C 106
Form D 114
Form E 115
Form F 117
Form G 119
Form H 120
Form J 127
Form K 128
Form L 130
CHAPTER XI--General Remarks 135
CHAPTER XII--Conclusion 143
INDEX 147
INTRODUCTION.
In the first edition of this book, issued in 1883, Mr. Anderson, then
Superintendent of the Belvidere Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad,
modestly disclaiming perfection for his work, ventured the prediction
that the science of which he wrote would be greatly advanced as time
went on. In one sense this prediction has not been fulfilled. The eight
years which have passed have witnessed little or no change from the
principles then laid down by the author of The Train Wire, but he has the
satisfaction of now seeing their widespread adoption and a consequent
great improvement in the practice of this important science; and while
probably none at the present time know how to handle trains by telegraph
better than the dispatchers of the Pennsylvania road did when the
prediction referred to was made, the requisite knowledge and training are
now possessed by many more men than were numbered among the experts of
the earlier period.
The author's disavowal of exhaustive treatment is proper in view of the
fact that a complete treatise on the subject would include much relating
to the operation of the train rules and to points of discipline; but it
must be agreed that the first edition of this book was the first thorough
and precise essay on the subject which had appeared, and that it stated
the principles of dispatching in substantially the form since adopted by
the General Time Convention, a body composed of the General Managers and
Superintendents of practically all the important roads of the country
east of the Missouri River.
The inception of this book resulted from the author's work, several years
earlier, in revising the rules of the company under whom he was employed;
and in preparing his book he naturally took care not to trespass upon the
prerogatives of that company; but it is no more than right to say that
outside observers regard his work as one for which his own road and all
others are as much indebted to him as he can be to any road.
During the preparation of the Rules on Train Dispatching, formulated by
the eminent Managers and Superintendents composing the Time Convention
Committee, Mr. Anderson acted with that Committee, and his suggestions in
The Train Wire, with his other work in that line, were largely used as
the basis for this portion of the Time Convention rules. The deviations
in these rules from the lines laid down in the first issue of The Train
Wire are chiefly in the nature of compromises as to methods of practice,
made necessary to effect an agreement among railroad officers of
different needs and opinions. The Standard Code avowedly falls short of
perfection, but chiefly because of this necessity.
The duplicate form of order is presented by Mr. Anderson as a vital
feature in the science of dispatching. When he first wrote, this form
of order was in use on few roads. Many officers were ignorant of it,
and most others knew of it only in a vague way or looked upon it with
disfavor as impracticable for roads doing a heavy business. Now, the
requirement that all trains concerned in the execution of a specific
movement should receive the order in the same words, is widely recognized
as an axiom, and rules based on this principle are fast coming into
general use.
The first part of the book treats of general principles, while the latter
part takes up the rules which embody those principles and give them
effect, the Standard Code being taken as the basis of the discussion. It
might at first seem unnecessary, in view of the wide acceptance of the
Standard Code, to enter into a discussion of its rules, and some of this
discussion may appear to be needless repetition of matter presented in
earlier pages; but as there are still those who have not taken the most
advanced position, and probably many who, having adopted good practice,
are not thoroughly familiar with the reasons for it, the author has done
well to retain this feature of his earlier work, in connection with the
statement of principles. These comments serve to point out to those not
thoroughly acquainted with the subject the relations of the rules to the
reasons for them, and this must be useful to beginners in the science and
to men on new roads. For officers of experience, whose positions remove
them from personal contact with the telegraph work and yet require that
they have particular knowledge of it, a book of this kind should be both
elementary and full; and all readers will find in examining the rules for
practice that there is an advantage in having attention directed to the
conformity of the rules with the principles before enunciated.
One of the most interesting and original paragraphs in the first edition
of The Train Wire was that describing the scheme for numbering switches
and using those numbers in train orders, to facilitate the movement
of trains at meeting-points. This plan has since been put in use to
some extent and has given great satisfaction; and in connection with
"lap-sidings" it has been found of marked benefit in handling a heavy
traffic on a single-track road.[A]
[Footnote A: A description of the use of lap-sidings and numbered
switches on the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad was published in the
_Railroad Gazette_ of December 26, 1890.]
The author of The Train Wire is no longer connected with the Operating
Department,[B] and has undertaken this revision reluctantly, but his
interest in his former work is still lively, and this is an enlargement
as well as a revision; so that both reader and author are to be
congratulated. The superintendents and dispatchers, the operators young
and old, among the million railroaders of the United States, have a
better handbook than ever before, while the author can justly take pride
in the fact that the individual views expressed by him in 1883 are now
generally accepted truth. The introduction of the Standard Code on 70,000
miles of American railroads is one of the important steps of recent
years in railroad operation, resulting in greater security to life and
property; and The Train Wire should be credited with a liberal share of
the honor of the reform.
[Footnote B: He is Superintendent of the Voluntary Relief Department of
the Pennsylvania and allied roads, with office at Trenton, N. J.]
B. B. A., Jr.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
The views on train dispatching here offered have been arrived at during
an experience of some twenty years, including a recent connection with
the preparation of a set of rules for the company on whose road the
writer is employed. While his agency in the formation of the rules
referred to accounts for the existence of a general similarity and
no radical difference between them and the present treatment of the
subject, the latter is not to be taken as an authorized commentary upon
those rules, but as an expression of individual views for which, with
any additional matter or variations in arrangement, the writer is alone
responsible.
With his first experiments in train dispatching the writer became
convinced that the method of issuing train orders in the same words to
all concerned in each transaction afforded greater security than that
supplied by any other form of order. Another early conviction was that
each step in the process of preparing and issuing train orders should be
carefully and minutely arranged for by specific rules.
In here undertaking to impress these views, it is also sought to set
forth the general principles upon which rules should be based, and to
recommend methods of procedure for all ordinary practice. The methods
proposed have been tested by the writer, and the most of them by others.
If they are not found to apply to all existing circumstances, they may at
least serve as guides in devising other plans.
It is not assumed that this consideration of the subject of train
dispatching is exhaustive. The theme is a fruitful one and of growing
interest and importance. Much remains to be said of what has already been
accomplished, and the future will doubtless show advances in this science
far beyond the best practice of the present.
1883.
THE TRAIN WIRE.
CHAPTER I.
TRAIN DISPATCHING.
The telegraph, as a means of directing the movements of trains, is
a necessary railroad fixture. But for its agency the moving of the
heavy traffic of some of our railroads would be impossible without
large additions to the tracks and consequent increase in the cost of
construction and transportation.
The train wire is thus a promoter of both economy and facility of
operation. Under the supervision which it permits, the products of
industry are rapidly and cheaply exchanged between distant points, while
the traveler, unimpeded by the slower-moving trains, goes swiftly on
his way. Steam is the noisy giant that shoulders the load and gets the
praise; but the silent man, in some quiet place away from the rattle
of the wheels, with his finger on the key, controls the ponderous and
complicated movements, which proceed so harmoniously that one may almost
imagine them to be the result of natural law.
Although the value, however, of the telegraph as a railroad appliance
is daily becoming more fully realized, its capabilities for usefulness
have not been developed to an extent commensurate with its importance. A
well-informed writer has justly said: "Telegraphy as a handmaid of the
railroad has not assumed any enduring form peculiarly adapted to this
business."
This is still true in a measure, although not to so great an extent as
when uttered. The circumstances must be very exceptional in which the aid
of the telegraph will not be of important advantage. Machinery breaks,
steam fails, connections are late, storms and floods disturb the roadway;
a thousand things cause delays. The difficulties may not be great or
numerous where trains are few, but they increase rapidly with the growth
of traffic, and vexatious delays can only be avoided by adequate means of
promptly controlling the movements of the trains. Hence the importance of
securing not only the best telegraphic appliances, but the best method as
well of rendering them useful in the service in question.
In arranging a system of train dispatching, its relations to safety and
economy require that careful consideration be given to the principles
on which it should be based. Some of the methods in use indicate this
careful study and a growing sense of its importance is shown in the
recent general acceptance of rules on the subject, prepared with the most
scrupulous care.
These rules, as will be seen, are in conformity with what was urged in
the former edition of this work, and the present intention is to direct
attention anew to some of the underlying principles, as well as to the
practical bearing of the rules referred to.
The means of instant communication afforded by the introduction of the
telegraph seemed to place at command a method of directing distant train
movements with ready facility; but it soon appeared that the use of the
new implement involved risks which must be carefully guarded against;
hence the various "systems" which have arisen having this in view.
The distinctive feature of the "American" system of train dispatching is
the issuing of orders from a central office, directing train movements,
supplementary to those provided for by the time-table and "train" rules.
This method is in general use, and is recognized as better adapted to our
circumstances than that of moving trains by the "staff" or other means
from station to station, as in European practice. In considering the
application of this mode of issuing telegraphic orders for single-track,
some of the methods will be seen to apply as well to roads having more
than one track.
A printed time-table, showing the regular times and meeting-places of
trains, may be prepared at leisure and studied by all trainmen, and
is full notice as to all regular trains on the road. With rules added
directing how the trains are to proceed with relation to each other,
understood by all alike and faithfully observed, collisions cannot occur.
If, however, it becomes necessary to issue special orders for trains that
are not on the time-table, or for the forwarding of any, otherwise than
by the operation of the ordinary rules, new precautions become necessary.
The conductor or engineman receiving such an order must know _that it is
given by competent authority_.
It must be understood _that others concerned have corresponding orders_.
These orders should be _so clearly expressed that they cannot be
misunderstood_, and they should be forwarded and delivered _under such
safeguards as to insure their certain and correct reception by the proper
persons_.
As these orders are to be acted upon at once, without opportunity for
careful study, _their form, and even the paper on which they are
written, should be such that they may be easily and quickly read and
comprehended_.
It is now generally agreed that _orders of this kind should be issued by
a designated dispatcher_, acting by the authority and in the name of the
superintendent. For two persons to engage in this work at the same time
for the same piece of road involves serious risk, and to insure safety as
well as confidence on the part of the trainmen this should never occur.
It may be taken as an initial principle that _the success of a system
depends largely upon the assurance upon the part of the trainmen that
every source of danger has been carefully considered and guarded against,
and that the rules adopted are strictly adhered to_. If it were known,
for instance, that orders were issued by the superintendent and one of
his assistants alternately, as might be convenient at the moment, it
would excite distrust. The author must confess to such feeling when, some
years since while on a delayed passenger train at a way station, he saw
the superintendent take a bit of paper from his pocket and write against
the side of a building an order for the train to proceed to a certain
point, regardless of another designated train. It came out all right, but
the incident did not inspire confidence in the telegraphic system of that
road. Within the knowledge of the author a disastrous collision resulted
from an oversight in regard to the delivery of an order where a skilful
official undertook to assist a dispatcher in an emergency. Between the
two an important point was omitted; each thought the other had attended
to it. Extreme care is necessary to carry out exactly the methods fixed
upon for the proper preparation and issuing of these messages, and
confusion is likely to result from interference with those charged with
this duty.
In issuing a time-table in advance of the date upon which it takes
effect, means can readily be used for making sure that it is received by
those who are to be governed by it. The means are more complicated and
subject to greater risks whereby we can be assured that a telegraphic
train order reaches correctly and surely the hands of those for whom it
is designed. After preparation by the Dispatcher it is transmitted in
telegraphic language by mechanical agency to a distant point, there to
be retranslated into plain English and written out without mistake, for
record and delivery; and all this in the shortest possible time.
The details of this process should be so arranged as to guard as far
as possible against every risk arising under the several steps, and
_nothing should be left to mere personal care that can be provided for
by fixed methods of proceeding_. To one who is an expert and can see in
his own case no occasion for extraordinary safeguards such precautions
may not seem important; but a consideration of the risks involved, of
the many steps to be taken, and of the number of agents engaged in the
process, many of whom are often not greatly experienced, must lead to the
conclusion that _a methodical following out of a carefully prepared mode
of proceeding_ is a most valuable means of providing against many of the
chances of failure.
Two general methods or "systems" of constructing train orders are in
use. They have been distinguished as the "single order" and "duplicate
order" system. The latter is accurately described by its title. The other
title is not a strictly accurate designation, but sufficiently so for our
purpose.
Although the "duplicate" method is now widely recognized as the best, the
other is still in use. For purposes of comparison of these methods we
will take a telegraphic order providing for the meeting of two trains at
a designated point beyond which the one has, by train rules, the superior
right of track as respects the other. The order is to limit the superior
right, and permit the inferior train to run to a point to which it could
not otherwise go without trespassing on the right of the other. If by
any error or misunderstanding the superior train fails to stop at the
proposed meeting-point, while the other proceeds upon the assumption that
it will thus stop, the result may be a disastrous collision.
Under the "_single order_" system, when two opposing trains are to
meet by special order, arrangements are usually first made to stop the
superior train by a "holding order." An order is then given forbidding it
to go beyond the designated point, and then another order is given to the
inferior train authorizing it to go to that point. The holding order is
addressed to an agent or operator whose station the superior train will
pass, and reads substantially as follows:
_Hold train No. 5 for orders._
The person receiving this is required to display a signal to stop the
expected train if it is not already at the station, and not to allow it
to proceed until the meeting-order is duly forwarded and delivered. This
order to the superior train is usually addressed to the conductor and
engineman in the following form, or its equivalent:
_You will not pass Alton until train No. 4 arrives._
The corresponding order to the conductor and engineman of the inferior
train, sent to some station to be passed by it, will read:
_You will run to Alton regardless of train No. 5._
or perhaps--
_You will meet and pass train No. 5 at Alton._
The holding order is dispensed with by some, and with some it is the
practice to issue orders to inferior trains while a superior is held by a
holding order until its movements can be determined on, when it receives
an order covering all that have been given to trains against it.
Under the "_duplicate_" system the holding order may be used, but such
has not been the general practice, and it would not under this system be
used in the manner above described. This system, as its name implies,
requires that _the order given to each train shall be a duplicate of that
given to every other train_ concerned in the movement provided for in
the order. For the simple movement above described an order is addressed
to the conductor and engineman of each of the two trains, _in the same
words_, as follows:
_Trains No. 4 and No. 5 will meet at Alton._
This, being in the same words to each, may be transmitted over the
wire to both at the same time. This is usually done, and offers one of
the chief advantages of this form of order. The trains are stopped by
signals, which are required either to be displayed when an order is
sent, or to stand normally in position to stop trains, which are only
permitted to pass on the signal being changed or on getting proper orders.
Objection has been made to the "duplicate" form that it does not
distinctly order a train to proceed farther than its schedule rights
permit, nor in definite terms direct the other not to go beyond the new
meeting-point. The objection has no weight, as an order to meet can
only be construed as authorizing each train to go to the station named,
and not beyond it until both are there; and it is easy and proper to
provide a rule which shall definitely settle the point for those who are
unaccustomed to this form, if it should be deemed necessary.
The fatal defect in the "single order" system is that the orders to the
two trains, written separately and differently expressed, are subject
to the grave danger of inadvertently giving in one a meeting-place
different from that given in the other. This liability is greater if an
interval of time occurs between the preparation of the two. The risk
is very much increased by the usage under this system of including
several meeting-points in one order, and becomes still more serious
if meeting-points are to be made for several trains moving in each
direction. The schedule for these must be rapidly made up and written
out in parts, giving to each train its part, differing in form from all
the others. There is nothing but the care and skill of the Dispatcher to
prevent the opposing orders from differing in some particular. When we
consider the care necessary in preparing a time-table, to properly show
the running time and meeting-places of the several trains, we must see
that the risk, in the process described, of getting something wrong, must
far outweigh any supposed convenience in a train having an order showing
a continuous schedule of its meeting-points for several opposing trains.
Those unacquainted with this work would be astonished at the extent to
which the skill of some dispatchers in this direction has been developed.
To the uninitiated the mental operations would be simply bewildering,
which are required of a brain from which issue for hours, without
apparent effort, the instructions under which the trains on a busy road
are moved expeditiously and harmoniously. It is not to be denied that
many men have moved traffic of huge dimensions safely and with entire
satisfaction by the "single order," but this does not at all prove that
the system possesses inherent principles of safety. Great personal
ability and skill have, with it, achieved marked success where in less
able hands its defects would have become apparent; but that some have
developed this remarkable ability is no reason why we should depend upon
this in a matter of such vital importance. The prevalence of methods
which require exceptional skill has doubtless interfered with the more
extended usefulness of the railroad telegraph which would probably have
resulted under a system more readily operated by men of less experience
and ability.
Men who have successfully worked under the "single order" method have
stated that the mental strain is very great, augmented by anxiety born
of the fact that a single error may be fatal to property or life. Now, a
mode of constructing orders which may be operated with safety by men of
moderate skill, which relieves them of the mental strain, and _which in
itself provides against the most serious chance of error_ must at once
commend itself. The "duplicate" would appear to meet these requirements;
and that such is the case is the abundant testimony of those who have
used it.
In preparing this order the Dispatcher cannot possibly give different
meeting-points, as there is but one message for both trains, and when
transmitted to both simultaneously each must get the same as the other.
The mental anxiety arising from the other method is absent in this. An
experienced Dispatcher under the "single" system has stated that in
visiting an office where the "duplicate" was used he was surprised that
those engaged there appeared to have so little on their minds. He found,
on himself adopting the "duplicate," that it was readily explained. Each
transaction is at once complete. On the preparation and transmission of
the order in precisely the same language to both trains, and with no
necessary connection with any other transaction, the mind is at once
prepared to dismiss that and go on to the next. In the transmission of
two separate orders for the one meeting, there is ever the feeling that
an error may be or may have been committed. But where the one sentence is
prepared for both trains and, as is usually done, transmitted to both at
one sending, the Dispatcher may rest secure that _no collision can occur
from any oversight of his in preparing the orders_, and superintending
officers may, if necessary, commit this work to comparatively unskilled
hands, with the assurance that so long as the prescribed methods are
adhered to the proceeding will be _at least safe_, however great may be
the delays arising from unskilful movements.
The power of combination and of quickly calculating the probable
movements of trains and determining what shall be done is an entirely
distinct matter. This power is largely the result of experience. It
is essential to the full development of any system, but is exercised
with much greater facility under the relief which the "duplicate"
affords, it has been alleged that this method requires more telegraphing
than the other, and that trains cannot be moved by it so promptly. It
has, however, been for many years in use on roads where only the most
expeditious methods would serve; and superintendents moving a heavy
traffic, who have changed from the "single" to the "duplicate" state
that the amount of telegraphing is reduced one-third. Those who have
grown up with a system may have reasonable hesitation as to making a
change. It is not easy to give up methods of practice in which one has
been trained for those which are new; and it may seem difficult, perhaps
unsafe, to undertake to re-educate operators and trainmen in so critical
a matter. Nevertheless, those who have tried it have found these supposed
difficulties to quickly vanish, and have discovered the result to be
in every way satisfactory, and that this form of order is much to be
preferred. Some officers who were with difficulty induced to change are
now among the most enthusiastic supporters of the "duplicate" method.
In arranging for the issuing of train orders, experience has shown that
forms may be simplified and improved methods adopted by which the work
is facilitated and the orders rendered clearer to those receiving them;
and disaster has taught the necessity for precautions not before thought
of. These points will be considered in detail with reference to the
"duplicate" system of orders, although much that follows will apply to
the other.