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WHISKEY SIERRA CHARLIE's
Trinidad desk: Tuesday, November 20, 2001.
What you see here is a bit of a traffic jam on the BNSF Twin Peaks Subdivision between Des Moines, NM and Trinidad, CO. The time is
17:20 MST on Tuesday, November 20, 2001. Track welders had been working between Branson and Trinchere, and had run into trouble when
one of their welds didn't exactly work out. They ended up staying on the track two hours longer than they had originally expected,
delaying the first eastbound loaded coal train at Trinchere. With five westbounds coming out of Texline and two more eastbound
coal trains called out of Trinidad, all the trains ended up meeting on the 5 sidings between Folsom and Barela.
Return to WSC's Dispatching Stories
All photographs, illustrations, and text on this web page © 2002 by Wes Carr.
DISPATCHING STORIES
"Busy day on the Mountain"
or
"What happens when the welders overstay their time by 2 hours and 8 trains are coming?"
>From west to east, here's what's happening:
At Trinidad, the main track, Pass 1, and Pass 2 are all clear. Not visible on the CTC screen are two trains on duty at Pueblo.
They will travel over the TWC (Track Warrant Control) portion of my territory between Walsenburg and Trinidad, on the
Spanish Peaks Subdivision, but it will be a while before I'll see them. I will also
issue a track warrant to westbound UP train MAAPU (Alamosa to Pueblo) which will arrive at Walsenburg around 2000 and will run from
Walsenburg to Pueblo on Main 1 (the Spanish Peaks Sub consists of two main tracks between Walsenburg and Pueblo, with the UP
dispatching Main 2 -- the eastbound main -- and BNSF dispatching Main 1).
At Barela, an eastbound coal load (CBKMOKO-092, Buckskin Mine, WY to Oklaunion, TX) is between the switches to meet westbound
HFTWLAU (Fort Worth, TX to Laurel, MT), which met the first load at Branson and the second load at Trinchere. I could have let the
CBKMOKO follow the second load, but with four more westbounds coming behind the HFTWLAU, I had to let the first westbound run.
There wasn't much point in pushing the other westbounds, because (due to the steep eastbound grade) an eastbound load can usually only meet one
train each at Branson and Trinchere. Letting a heavy eastbound get stopped between the switches at Branson or Trinchere is
usually just an invitation for trouble. Trains may not be able to get started again once they stop, or worse, they may
be able to get the train started, only to experience a train separation (failed knuckle or broken drawbar) while
trying to pull out unassisted.
At Trinchere, eastbound CNRMAMH006 (North Rochelle mine, WY to Amarillo - Harrington Plant) has just departed after meeting the
westbound HFTWLAU. At Branson, EAMHNRM005 (Empty coal, Amarillo Harrington plant to North Rochelle, WY) will get in the clear
to meet the CNRMAMH006, which will then head over to Alps to meet the XALGDEN118 (empty grain train, Algoa, TX to Denver) which
is already in the siding and facing every bit of 90 minutes' delay.
Leaving Alps is eastbound CBKMHAF082 (Buckskin WY to Halstead, TX), which has just met two westbounds -- the EAMHNRM005
and the XALGDEN at Alps. Since both westbounds would not fit in the siding, the XALGDEN was left hanging out the east switch onto
the single main while the coal load pulled down the main between the switches, allowing the EAMHNRM to depart. XALGDEN will have
to wait at Alps for the next coal load, while the CBKMHAF heads east to Folsom to meet two more westbounds: the MAMADEN119
(manifest freight, Amarillo to Denver) and the EIOGCRM062 (coal empty, Iola, TX to Caballo Rojo, WY), both of which are already at
Folsom. Again, both westbounds will not fit in the siding, so the coal load will have to pull down the main between the switches before
the MAMADEN can depart, allowing the EIOGCRM to clear the main. The MAMADEN will then head over to Alps, going in behind the
XALGDEN to meet the CNRMAMH, but I'll be holding the EIOGCRM at Folsom to meet the 2nd load.
Not visible on the CTC screen is another westbound, the JFTWMUK (Boeing high-wide special, Fort Worth to Mukilteo, WA) with just
one engine and one car, on duty at Texline but not out yet. He will run over TWC territory from Texline and will enter
CTC at Des Moines. He won't cause me much trouble, as he'll be short enough to fit behind another
train in most of my sidings to meet the eastbounds.
Some explanations of the DIGICON CTC screen:
Station names (usually the "station" is just a passing siding) and the corresponding milepost of the station
sign at each station appear in white at the top of the screen.
The
green
letter "
M
" above each station name signify that the corresponding
control points are in Manual control (as opposed to Automatic control, which the dispatcher has the option of using.) A
green
number
1
next to the letter M indicates the presence of a stacked, or stored route, which will execute after the presently lined route is used. Stored
routes are also indicated in
orange
on the track diagram. A dispatcher may "stack" or "store" multiple routes at a control point, but only the
first one will be displayed in
orange.
On the track diagram, the main track, sidings, and dual-controlled switches (ones which a dispatcher can control remotely from his desk,
or which
can be operated locally "in the field") are displayed. Other tracks, such as industrial spurs and back tracks, are not displayed, nor are the
hand-operated switches which allow access to these tracks.
Blue
labels (L1, etc) on the screen serve as informational tools to alert dispatchers to speed restrictions and other conditions.
A dispatcher can protect a newly-placed speed restriction by making the label a
RESTRICTIVE label, illustrated in
light blue
(not shown in this example)
which will prevent the dispatcher from lining a route over that track section until he confirms
that the train has been informed of the restrictive condition.
Other types of blocking devices (signal blocks, switch blocks, and a "Quick Block"
feature) are available as well.
Cleared signal routes appear on the screen in
green
.
This does NOT indicate the signal aspect displayed to crews "in the field" ; it merely indicates to
the dispatcher that a route has been selected and cleared. The signal indications displayed to train crews
may be green, yellow, lunar, etc.,
depending on the signal system and "field" conditions, but on the DIGICON screen, all cleared routes appear green.
I haven't illustrated it, but requested route that hasn't been cleared in "the field" yet
will appear on the screen as
.
Once the route has been established in the
field, it will become
solid green
on the dispatcher's screen.
Trains are represented by a
red
indication (with an arrow designating the direction of the train's movement into that track section) on the
track diagram. Normally displayed as white, an unoccupied section of track will turn red when a train enters it, breaking the signal circuit.
A section of track may also turn red in the event of a broken rail, broken bond wire, or when a shunting device is placed on the tracks.
The resulting indication on the dispatcher's CTC screen may be referred to as one of several different terms: "track indication",
"track light", "BK", etc. Occupied, or shunted sections of track which are protected by track and time authority, will
show up as
lavender
(not illustrated in this particular example.)
In this example, there aren't currently any Track and Time authorities (a form of
main track authority for maintenance of way workers) in effect, but if there were, the sections
of track protected by Track and Time
would appear
blue
.
The two digit symbol above each train on the track diagram is merely an abbreviated DIGICON symbol; the corresponding
BNSF train symbol along with each train's identifying locomotive appear at the bottom of the screen in the WESTBOUND and
EASTBOUND columns. Since space on the graphic display is limited, the screen cannot display the ID's of two or more trains
occupying the same track section (as illustrated by the two trains in the siding at Folsom). In such a case, the computer will assign
both trains the same two-digit ID (in this case " 39 "), and the dispatcher must consult the bottom of the screen in order to identify the trains.
This will also happen when a train passes over a track section which has a label on it (such as the XALGDEN in the siding at Alps,
which had a 10 MPH label on it). Train ID's may be one of several different colors; the colors usually represent the trains' schedule adherence
according to the following guidelines:
green
- on time or ahead of schedule;
yellow
- less than an hour behind schedule;
red
- more than an hour behind schedule.
ID's for some of the "hottest" (highest priority) intermodal trains will often appear
silver
, as do the ID's
of empty coal trains being rerouted to a different coal mine than the train's point of origin.
Train ID's may also appear
lavender
if the train leaves CTC limits within the middle of a track segment, such as clearing
the main through a hand-throw switch.
At the far left of the screen is the former BN "yard" at Trinidad, Colorado. In reality, the yard only consists of three tracks: the Main,
Pass 1, and Pass 2, with a short spur track at the west end of Pass 2 (the West Spur) and another short spur the East Spur) at the east end
of Pass 1. Notice that at the west end of the yard, the control point consists of a switch from the main to Pass 1, and another from Pass 1
to Pass 2. There is no corresponding power switch from Pass 1 to Pass 2 at the east end; that switch must be hand-operated by
crews on trains leaving or entering Passes 1/2 at the east end of the yard.
You may notice some other interesting inconsistencies in the display: note that the distance between sidings varies (almost 16 miles
between Barela and Trinchere, for example, while the distance from Folsom to Des Moines is only 8 miles), yet the distance between each
siding on the DIGICON display is always the same. By the same token, sidings appear to be almost as long as each section of single track,
when in fact, the lengths of each of the sidings is 8,600 feet or less. Obviously, track curvature and grades are not represented. The
CTC screen is just a representation of the tracks and trains of which the dispatcher has control. It should be considered "not to scale."
In the bottom right corner of the screen, note the number and dispatcher's initials. Each BNSF dispatching desk has a unique 1-, 2-, or
3-digit number. Most of the former Santa Fe dispatching desks are identified by these numbers ("BNSF DS-6", for example), while the
former BN dispatching desks have, for the most part, retained the names by which they were known prior to the merger (Trinidad,
Alliance East, Fort Worth West, etc.) The dispatcher's initials appear below the workstation ID.
Lastly, the white arrows and white boxes containing train information (locomotives, loads, empties, tonnage, etc.) do not actually appear on
the screen; I have placed these on this graphic for informational purposes only. Dispatchers have access to a second DIGICON
screen which provides this information, as well as other information relating to the train's crew and their time on duty, the time
of the train's most recent O.S. (movement through a control point), the train's schedule adherence, and several other things.
WSC
All rights reserved.
The opinions expressed are the webmaster's and do not represent the
opinions of the BNSF Railway.
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