Allen Dee
Lead Service Attendant
It has been years since the last time I traveled on an LD train while listening to a scanner.
Several years ago the communications between the dispatchers and the train crews were very slow and deliberate.
The transmission would go like this:
(Location of Dispatcher) Dispatcher to Amtrak (train number)
You are authorized to proceed (number of blocks) from (name of block) to (name of block). Authority given (time of day in the AM or PM).
The engineer or fireman would then relay the information back to the dispatcher in the same slow manner.
On my most recent trip I noticed that this procedure had changed. The dispatcher identifies himself/herself with a 2-digit number. The authority is given like this, in rapid fire like the communications between air traffic controllers and pilots.
The communications went like this:
X Box CP (milepost numbers)
X Box CP (milepost numbers)
X Box CP (milepost numbers)
Track Warrant number (xxxxxxxxxxxxx)
The full date (month, day, and year), military time, and the dispatcher's name.
Within a few seconds the engineer would rattle the same information back to the dispatcher at the same rapid pace.
I would assume that the engineer has a check-list form that he/she uses instead of the old time-honored form.
Could someone on the forum explain to me exactly how this works?
The talking trackside detectors still gave out the information in a slow manner.
As the head end passed the scanner, it would identify itself. After the last car passed, it would tell track number, any defects (always none), number of axles, speed of train, and in higher elevations the ambient temperature.
Several years ago the communications between the dispatchers and the train crews were very slow and deliberate.
The transmission would go like this:
(Location of Dispatcher) Dispatcher to Amtrak (train number)
You are authorized to proceed (number of blocks) from (name of block) to (name of block). Authority given (time of day in the AM or PM).
The engineer or fireman would then relay the information back to the dispatcher in the same slow manner.
On my most recent trip I noticed that this procedure had changed. The dispatcher identifies himself/herself with a 2-digit number. The authority is given like this, in rapid fire like the communications between air traffic controllers and pilots.
The communications went like this:
X Box CP (milepost numbers)
X Box CP (milepost numbers)
X Box CP (milepost numbers)
Track Warrant number (xxxxxxxxxxxxx)
The full date (month, day, and year), military time, and the dispatcher's name.
Within a few seconds the engineer would rattle the same information back to the dispatcher at the same rapid pace.
I would assume that the engineer has a check-list form that he/she uses instead of the old time-honored form.
Could someone on the forum explain to me exactly how this works?
The talking trackside detectors still gave out the information in a slow manner.
As the head end passed the scanner, it would identify itself. After the last car passed, it would tell track number, any defects (always none), number of axles, speed of train, and in higher elevations the ambient temperature.