Dispatcher

“ The burden of keeping things moving and of getting the trains over the road in the shortest possible time, falls principally upon the dispatcher at headquarters, but every operator along the road bears his part, and an important part. He must keep awake and alert for any orders the dispatcher may wish to send him; he must note the passage of every train and report to the dispatcher the exact moment at which it passed; and he must be sure that the station signals are properly displayed, and that all orders are properly delivered. ”

“ The official who is an old dispatcher has to fight in himself the temptation to be the whole cheese. He has to learn to trust subordinates with details. Every position entails some inherent temptations. The absolute, unquestioned authority given a dispatcher in train movements breeds a temptation to be autocratic and unreasonable, to put out too many orders, to give too many instructions. Therefore, try to get your dispatchers in touch with your crews. If the former are in a skyscraper uptown, get authority to build an office for them at the terminal where most of the crews live. ”

“ Your chief dispatcher is a fine fellow and understands the art of getting away. He didn’t wear out his welcome but broke away while making a good impression. You have to unlock the switch for some men before they can couple their crossings and get out of town. The dispatcher has to send the operator outside with a clearance. Acquaintance is one of a young man’s most valuable assets, and a two minutes’ interview may grade the way for a lifelong run. Before the world was as good as it is now, men rather prided themselves on the number of enemies they had made. ”

“ Too often it has happened that the experience of the new dispatcher, a telegrapher specialist, was limited to the office end, with no first-hand experience in train service. The telephone, fulfilling the immutable laws of evolution, will take us back to first principles. The dispatchers of the future will graduate from the train, engine and yard service, through the dispatcher’s office to higher official positions. The man who gives the order will be a man who has once carried out such an order himself. ”

“ This is the problem which confronts the dispatcher every time he sits down before his desk.
All this flashed through Allan’s mind in that moment of reflection. And yet he did not really hesitate. He knew that the only road of advancement open to him lay through the dispatchers’ office. There was no way around. If he faltered now, he must remain an operator always.
“Of course I want the job, sir,” he said. “The only question is whether I’m good enough.”
“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” said Mr. Schofield, grimly. ”

“ The reader of such items never thinks the engineer and crew are mere mechanical agents, small cogs in a huge machine. They do their part well, but the little office of the train dispatcher is a red-hot place where they have a red-hot time, where one tap of the sounder may cover the fate of numberless extras, specials and delayed trains. ”

“ If you are looking for talent to run a yard, consider some ambitious dispatcher. Too few dispatchers have become yardmasters. The same cool head, the same quick judgment, the same executive ability are needed in both positions. ”

“ Reform has to begin at the top, and if the division is to be the unit the superintendent must be something more than a high-class chief dispatcher finding flaws in train sheets. It is not enough for him to be a star division engineer, a boss yardmaster. He must remember that his holding of any of these positions is ancient history, not to be forgotten, because valuable and instructive, but nevertheless a thing of the past. As the yardmaster and the dispatcher must scatter their trains, so the superintendent must keep his staff doing different things. ”

“ The induction of a new dispatcher is something of a ceremony, for the welfare of the road rests in his hands for eight hours of every day, and everybody about the offices is always anxious to see just what stuff the newcomer is made of. So on this occasion, most of the division officials managed to have some business in the dispatchers’ office at the moment the new man came on.
He glanced over the train-sheet, while the man « 41 » he was relieving explained to him briefly the position of trains and what orders were outstanding. ”

“ With headquarters at the hub, one superintendent and one chief dispatcher may comfortably handle three or four sets of dispatchers. An outlying division with thin traffic may require only one set of dispatchers. When it becomes necessary to locate a set of dispatchers away from division headquarters, it is time to appoint another superintendent and create a new division, perhaps with only a light staff of all 'round officials. ”

“ Within the knowledge of the author a disastrous « 6 » 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. ”

“ So the fireman bends to his task, the engineer stares absently out into the night, his hand on the throttle, the front brakeman dozes upon the fireman’s box, and back in the caboose, the conductor and hind-end brakeman engage in a social game of seven-up—
In safety, this time; for the dispatcher is one who knows his business and takes no chances. Proceeding on the theory that the train has got past, he keeps the track clear and holds up the road’s traffic until the missing train can be found. ”

“ For the dispatchers are the drivers; they crack the whip over the heads of the trainmen by means of terse and peremptory telegraphic orders, which there is no answering, and which no one dares disobey; and the driver, however well-meaning, is seldom popular with the driven. ”

“ A superintendent who is not himself particularly informed respecting the rules and methods of his telegraph department, the character and capabilities of the men employed, and the manner in which their duties are performed, cannot expect to secure the advantages which the telegraph is capable of giving. Perhaps the first public intimation that anything is wrong may be a series of so-called "accidents" on his line. Investigation points to the carelessness of some operator or dispatcher as the cause. ”

“ With all proper consideration for hard-worked and conscientious train dispatchers, I am compelled to confess that train orders are seldom if ever sent “slowly and firmly.” Operators will bear me out in the statement that orders are transmitted by dispatchers as fast as the men can handle them. That is to say, between veterans in the business they are rattled off at the highest limit of speed. The men concerned in the accident at West Canaan were veterans. ”

“ The Dispatcher's duty is not simply to direct each movement as the exigency arrives. He should be constantly on the alert to provide as far as possible in advance for the arrangements necessary for keeping his trains moving, and his mind should be free from anything that may interfere with this. ”

“ They thought the sheriff was at their heels when the Fast Freight came thundering after them, but hailed, with amaze and joy, the signal from the tender, and, feeling sure the train would await them here, had spurred on to the station.
"You'll send the horses back for us, will you, sergeant?" he finished. Then eagerly, "Now, conductor, shall we pull out for Summit?"
"Pull out for nothing," was the astounding answer. "You know perfectly no Time Freight on this road takes a passenger of any kind, and it would be more'n my job's worth to take you!" ”

“ The operator's responsibility is limited to the correct reception, transmission, delivery and repetition of his orders and messages; the despatcher's to the correct conception of the orders and their transmission at the proper time to the right train; but the chief despatcher's responsibilities combine not only these but many more. A despatcher's work is cut out for him, just as the tailor would cut his cloth for a journeyman workman, and when his eight hour trick is done, his work for the day is finished and his time is his own. ”

“ When a Passenger or Luggage Train comes to a stand on the Main Line, or is only enabled to proceed at a very slow pace, the Senior Guard is to send back notice by the Junior Guard to the nearest Policeman, if within distance for prompt communication; but if too far, then the Junior Guard will remain stationary, not less than 600 yards in rear of the Train, showing his Red Signal until recalled. Should the 600 yards terminate near a curve in the Line, he is to continue on until his Red Signal can be well seen round the curve ”

“ The copy operator is generally the man next for promotion to a despatcher's trick, and his relations with his chief must be entirely harmonious.
The working force in a well regulated despatcher's office consists of the chief despatcher, three trick despatchers, and two copy operators, with the various call boys and messengers. The chief despatcher is next to the division superintendent, and has full charge of the office. He has the supervision of the yard and train reports, and the ordering out of the trains and crews. ”

“ Now, a listening patrol, which is what I began [Pg 318] to tell you about, is a patrol generally consisting of four men, under an officer, which creeps out on No Man's Land during the night. By approaching near the enemy trenches, listening with their ears to the ground, the men can hear if there is any one at work under them. The earth—as you ought to know, being a telephonist—is a good conductor of sound, and if there's any tricky business going on, a listening patrol can find it out. ”

“ Each Guard, Policeman, and Pointsman, not at a Station, and all Enginemen, Gatemen, Foremen of Works, Gangers of Plate-Layers, and Tunnelmen, will be provided with packets of Signals, which they are always to have ready for use whilst on duty; and every Officer in charge of a Station will be provided with these Signals, which are to be kept in an unlocked drawer or shelf in the counter, in order that they may at all times be easy of access to all on duty at the Station: and every person connected with the Station shall be made acquainted with the place where they are deposited. ”

“ So the lieutenant of police sent after him and fetched him to the assessor, who, when he saw him, said to him, “Get thee to such an one, her with whom thou marriedst me, and cry out upon her, and when she cometh to thee, demand of her the contract and take it from her and bring it to us.” And he signed to him, as who should say, “Bear me out in the lie and screen me, for that she is a strange woman and I am in fear of the lieutenant of police who standeth at the door; and we beseech God the Most High to screen us and you from the trouble of this world. ”

“ On a Goods or Coal Train stopping at a Station, the Policeman on duty is to ascertain from the Breaksman at which Station the Train is next to stop, that he may inform the Engineman and Guard of the following Train. ”

“ Won't you have a little drink, officer? Just smile on the gent in the front seat; he's right there with the distillery. Wilbur, chase the roof off a jug of suds for the Lieutenant. I tell you, Captain, on my honor as a lady, we are not going more that six miles an hour. Must take us to the station! Why, you low-down, monkey-faced excuse for a sparrow cop, would you have the crust to stand up in front of a judge and tell him that we were going faster than ten miles an hour? If you want to get us to the station it's a cinch you will have to push the machine. Walk! ”

“ You will have one little difficult point that you must keep an eye on; when you are trying to lead the Patrol and at the same time to show them the way, don’t forget that you must not do the work of other girls. Give each one her job and see that she does it, but don’t do it for her, or else she will always be leaning on you and expecting you to do it.
A Patrol can specialise, that is, all members to take one special badge, or a bit of ribbon will do, that a Patrol may be a Despatch Riding Patrol, or a Signalling Patrol, First Aid Patrol, a Home Helping Patrol, or even an Entertaining Patrol. ”

“ Later Chick, a little dishevelled, had a consultation with the Chief of the Police.
"I fear that by this time they are on their way to Brussels," said the policeman, shaking his head. "We could overtake them in an aeroplane, but we haven't an aeroplane. We could stop the train and arrest them, but there, again, how shall we know your lordship's dispatches are intact?" ”

“ Patrolling can not be learned merely by reading books nor by work indoors. Thoroughness comes only by actually going out in the country and acting as a patrol.
In carrying out this idea the following scheme is recommended:
Let four or more men and a noncommissioned officer act as a patrol. They assemble at a certain time, at a convenient point on some country road. An officer, whom we will call Captain A, acts as the director; the noncommissioned officer, whom we will call Sergeant B, acts as patrol leader; and the others (Privates C, D, E, etc.) act as members of Sergeant B's patrol. ”