The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-01-31
TRAIN DISPATCHING.
How the Timetables Are Prepared, and the
Vast Network of Lines Worked.

|
How the Timetables Are Prepared, and the
| Vast Net Work of Lines Worked.
Chicago journal.
every few know how much they must know in
| order to know how little they know about rail
roading Superintendent Murray, of the Galena
| division of the Northwestern railway, therefore,
leaned back in his Office chair and looked a little
| surprised, if not amused. wien the
journal reporter presented himself and asked
method of train manipulations. Especially did
the scribe seek light on the worst kinks" in the
| business of time-eard making and its natural
| sequence, train -dispatching. Through Superin-
| tendent Murray and his assistant Mr.. Miller,
| former expert at the dspatcher's key. the whole
ihsides" were made clear to the q1estioner, and
may. perhaps, be revealed to the reader through
glass darkly.
'The whole thing" began the superintendent,
| lis IN the heads of men, What to outsiders
| looks like mystery is to US simplicity itself"
| Then leading the way into a rear Office, he
pointed the reporter to huge chart half as large
| as the side OF the room, covered all over first
with vertical lines, heavy and light then with
horizontal lines at irregular distances, and
stretched over the surface on which these
lines were traced were silk threads, red, blue
and yellow, running dagonally in almost all CO..
ceivable shapes and angles. At first glance it
| looked like great cobweb disarranged by some
monster which had been entangled in it. An ex-
| PLANTATION followed. The vertical lines divided
the great chart into the twenty-four hours of
day; these spaces again in half hour and quarter
hour spaces and the latter still into 6ve-minute
| spaces.
The horizontal lines were less numerous and
less regular Commencing at the top line, which
represented Chicago, each horizontal line repre-
sented town on the Northwestern between
Chicago and Clinton. the latter being the bottom
| line of the chart. Thus all the hours and min
utes of the day were shown by one set of lines
and all the stations of 100 miles of road
were shown by the. others: .Now,
as to the silk threads" said Mr.. Miller
they simply represent trains. The red threads
represent passenger, blue threads freight, and
yellow threads Sunday trains. Trains running
west are shown by threads drawn over this chart
| from left to right downward, while trains run
ming east are shown by threads drawn from left
| TO right upward" Thus it will be seen that the
| two sets of threads must cross each other some
where on the face of this chart This, then, is
| the key to the whole scheme, for wherever
| two threads cross there two trains meet
Now. it has been fully demonstrated that it is
| injurious and dangerous for trains to meet be-
tween stations on single track; so it becomes
necessary fer the expert in arranging these
threads to make them cross each other over hor-
iZontal line, which, remember, indicates town on
the railroad This is done by means of common
pins. A blue thread freight train) is pinned
fast to the chart at some town, and is then
pulled little to the right or left. or up down,
to make it cross the the next red thread (passen
ger) over horizantal line Ia town. In the
yellow-are continually diverged from their
| course by means of these pins. These pins are
used until the one hundred or more threads, the
trains of day, are made to intersect each other
directly over some of the forty or fifty lines in
dicating the stations, large and small between
Chicago and Clinton.
This chart then, after being entirely arranged
is the basis of the familiar time-card or table.
The contents of the timetable for all regular
trains are written from this chart by consulting
the hours and minutes at the top and the stations
at the side The work of preparing this chart is
not arbitrary, nor is it guess work. The 'pins
are stuck" by one who has almost perfect knowl-
edge OF the line of the road, the topography of
the country the grades and curves, the watering
md coaling stations, and all other things that
tend to affect the speed of trains"
Where does the train dspatching come inl"
asked the reporter.
The expert replied that theoretically. all
trains were supposed to be governed by the time
| card only; that, if there were no outside Incl
dents, the trains could all be started on given
| day and would run like clock, with every train
in its place such is largely tn case with our
| passenger trains said Mr.. Miller. .Ther
regularity is such on this division that,
| excepting severe storms, the trains
| exact with the time-card at all points-exact
| enough SO that clocks and watches may DE set
| by their arrival, and not vary more than two or
three seconds Wild trains also run without
| aid from the wires conductor ordered to run
wild train from Chicago to Freeport. for in.
| stance does so on MS KnOWleQge or the Wherea-
bouts and movements of all other trains on the
line between those points" The rules which are
| observed between trains are as follows:
| AS between passenger and freight, the former
| always has the right of way AS between two
| passenger trains, the east bound toward Chi
cago has the right of way. AS between two
freights, the one headed toward Chicago like
wise has the right of way. This leaves the
freight going west with fewest rights of any
| train on the road. 1t is in the hand
ling of the freight trains. largely, that
| the train dispatcher finds his work
Every day finds fully double as many
| freights on the move the line as are
on the time card These start at irregular times
| and various places. They need help. The dis
patcher lifts them along little by little. When
| a wild freight or belated regular freight lacks
| perhaps two three five minutes time to
make a certain meeting point dispatch goes
along the wire-"No IL wild will meet sc at
Dixon" This dispatch goes to both train con-
| ductors and is repeated back to the central
| Office by both, and is then wired 20. K" by the
| dispatcher.
| Thus the train that wanted few minutes help,
received it, and but for that aid would have stood
| on the side track hour. and perhaps would
have been unable to get along at all. The train
| dispatcher's Office is very important one. He
| handles trains entire division player
would handle his pieces of chess He
| expert with pen and key Must have the
entire working of all trains in his mind at all
| times be able TO locate any and every train in
| an instant. His duties often require dispatch
every two or three minutes, and each order in
| wolves lives and property of great value On
| his judgment, and good sense, and accuracy de-
pend the successful running of three-fourths Of
| the trains on the companys tracks
l