NORFOLK - Two More Questions for Mr. Bundy

[NW Mailing List]

For question 1, there is a world of difference between the control a dispatcher and the control a yardmaster have. A dispatcher gives formal authority to occupy a main track and other track as specified in the timetable (except generally within yard limits, no authority is required to occupy a main track unless it within interlocking or CTC limits - interlocking and CTC rules supersede yard limit rules).

On the other hand, while a yardmaster tells a crew where to put a train, there is no formal authority behind those instructions (as none is needed). Occupying a main track which requires formal dispatcher authority without that authority is a serious rules violation. Yarding your train in a different yard track than the yardmaster said will get the yardmaster upset but no formal rules have been violated.

Main Track rules apply on any designated main track. What those rules are depends on whether or not it’s in yard limits, has ABS, has CTC, or is within interlocking limits. It is entirely possible for there to be main track within yard limits that no one is actively controlling.

Note that when I say CTC, I mean whatever name N&W and now NS used for their CTC equivalent.

-- 
Larry Stone
lstone19 at stonejongleux.com





> On Sep 21, 2024, at 4:57 AM, NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
> 
> Aytsch -
> 
> 1. At Norfolk, where was the split-point between control of tracks by the Train Dispatcher, and control of tracks by the Yard Master ?
> 
> Which is another way of asking, Where did Main Track rules begin? (In the 20th Century world of the N&W, this change would normally have been made at an interlocking.)
> 
> 2. When the crew for a westward train went on duty at Lamberts Point, where did they Register their train and get their Clearance Card and Train Orders?
> 
> Thanks for your time, Sir. It is nice to have the experts around.
> 
> -- abram burnett
> .
> Detox with our Magic Turnip Elixir :-)
> .
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