Railroaders' Nostalgia > The Audition

I have mentioned in other articles/posts that when I started, learning to be a train dispatcher was an (unpaid) apprenticeship. Back then, nobody applied for a train dispatcher position. Candidates were chosen from among the operators by the train dispatchers. If someone was chosen, that person was invited to participate.

I was working the extra board, mostly 49th and Western. John Jenkins, The Chief, knew all about how I learned railroading at McCook and Tony Franicich knew that I was well along in learning the list of prerequisites I described in http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,3995849,3996408#msg-3996408 Date: 03/28/16 11:28 Re: If you were the King of Chicago.... Tony had given me a trainsheet to learn and practice on. He told me about Peter Josserand and Rights of Trains and knew that I had gone right to Owen Davies, Bookseller on North LaSalle Street to get a copy. We had already had lengthy discussions on some of the contents. On my days off, I'd go to C&A and spend hours with him, learning more about running a railroad. Tony had a 1936 date but preferred the day job at C&A, a short walk from his house, and dispatching extra to the stress of commuting downtown and dispatching full time.

One day, Tony called me and asked me to come to the office then next day, on my day off.

I showed up, went through the empty Chief's office and into the dispatcher's office. Tony was working. He said that they knew I was interested and that the dispatchers all had nothing but good to say about my work (including IHB legend Vern Boyer, one of my idols for lack of a better description, whom I often worked with when I caught C&A or McCook from the board). He asked if I'd like to sit in the chair a couple of minutes and maybe take an OS or a call (the condr, engineer, on duty, engines, and cars of a pending train) to get the feel and see if I might still be interested after trying it out.

Sure!

Tony gave me a quick rundown of what was out there and gave me the chair (and his fountain pen! In those days, that was a big deal). A couple of trains went by towers and I put the OSes on the trainsheet. Then - Dolton asked why the west man was stopped in his plant. Immediately afterward, the head man on the B&O stretched out in the plant, but not all the way through, hit the phone. Dispatcher, this is the Westerner at Dolton. The units are all out of fuel.

Uh oh. I looked to my side. Tony wasn't there. Tony, John? (the Chief) No answer. I went into the Chief's office. Nobody was there. I went out in the hallway - empty! I called them again. No answer. I knew that this was going to get bad quickly. There was a B&OCT job behind the Westerner. There was a 97 coming by Pine. Not only was there a lot of traffic on C&EI at Dolton, C&EI had a passenger train around that time.

After an excruciating minute or so since the Westerner dropped dead, I went back to the chair. Tony left me with his railroad. I had to do something.

Hello Barr (ring) Riverdale (ring) Dolton block west a detour order, Westerner got something to write a detour order on? (we would typically call the name of a station we wanted before ringing to see if the operator or yardmaster was already on)

Yes sir, I do.

Dolton block west (I have put a blocking device on the lever for the westbound home signal so it can't be inadvertently cleared)

Riverdale (answering)

Barr (answering)

Barr, the Westerner is dead in the water in the plant at Dolton out of fuel. I need an engine right now to haul 'em in. Send it out the North Open. Riverdale detour order three (copies)

I cut out the switch job on the trainsheet (mark the limits of the trip with, in this case am, below the bottom station and above the top station of the run, write identification, in this case "BOCT" on the line for "Train"), put the train order book down on the trainsheet and started the scariest thing I had ever done in my life.

Riverdale (acknowledging that he's ready to copy)

Barr what engine?

90__ Jones and Smith 7am

I wrote that on the sheet as the yardmaster was saying it, in the column I had just cut out.

Order No _ Dolton to Extra 70__ Inbound, the operator, Riverdale Extra 90__ Outbound the operator period Extra 90__ Outbound may run against the current of traffic Riverdale to Dolton JFJ. Westerner (Westerner repeats first) (in train orders, the dispatcher said/transmitted period at the end of the last address, signifying the order starts now, then in the body, period meant start a new paragraph)

Yup, sure was scary. At first, I was shaking so hard it was hard to keep my foot on the (push to talk) pedal. I calmed down after a few seconds and just did my thing. It started to feel natural at the same time as I was very conscious of the enormity of what I was doing.

The Westerner, the Dolton operator, and the Riverdale operator repeated

1010am Riverdale out the North open let's go. Westerner be ready to tie on. Walk up to the home signal and flag them to your train. Dolton that guy's in your plant so this works for you?

Yeah.

Riverdale 90__ east at 1012.

I put the OS on the sheet with a red (wrong main) pen.

Awright North Open when they come back.

Whew! That was it. I just spent a lifetime dying a thousand deaths.

I looked up from the sheet. Tony and John were standing there. I told them what happened and what I did.

Tony told me that they knew all about it.

We were in the PBX room listening to see how you'd do. We didn't expect the Westerner to run out of fuel, though. The dispatchers all agree that we'd like for you come up to the office and start breaking in. Come in on 3rd trick with Ronnie Truffa.

That was it. I had been invited. It was the start of a long, sometimes rewarding (for a few years) sometimes aggravating and frustrating (the rest of it) journey.

Given a do-over, I'd do it again in a flash (provided the do-over occurred in the 60s, not after 1980).

TAW

 

Throw ya in the deep end, didn't they?  Not only did you swim, but sounds like you set an Olympic record, TAW! 

Thanks, 'spatch!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/19 15:09 by roustabout.

A drawback to Trainorders.com is that there is no obvious "like" button that one can hit or type.

Great personal history, TAW.

Best regards,

Rob L.

Fantastic story!  I always go to your posts as soon as I see them.  I have never been disappointed!

Same here, he oughta write a book.

rob_l Wrote:
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> A drawback to Trainorders.com is that there is no
> obvious "like" button that one can hit or type.
>

I'm hitting the invisible "like" button also!  Nice glimpse of what it was like to have "been there."

I see a "Tales from the Towers, surviving a Cook(ed) county" book coming from Mr. TAW before all is said and done.

I can't get enough of these stories.  Ever consider doing a book?

Great story!  If only this type of management and leadership had a catchy name and coule be made trendy at B-schools.

If that had been me, they would have rolled me out on a gurney with a toe tag.

I must agree. Train dispatching always looks to me like a combination of chess, Russian roulette and the Kobayashi Maru, but there are people like TAW who can do it without losing their minds.
We had a family member who was an air traffic controller. He also had my somewhat stunned admiration.

Rebecca Morgan
Jacobsburg, OH

OHCR1551 Wrote:
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> I must agree. Train dispatching always looks to me
> like a combination of chess, Russian roulette and
> the Kobayashi Maru, but there are people like TAW
> who can do it without losing their minds.
> We had a family member who was an air traffic
> controller. He also had my somewhat stunned
> admiration.

A buddy of mine in the Air Force was about to be discharged after serving his enlistment. He applied to the FAA to train as an air traffic controller
and was told in the interview process that a "normal" person could not do what controllers do. Controllers, and I suppose by extension train dispatchers,
must be able to conduct three or four conversations at once while maintaining control of their territories. I know I couldn't do that. 

Charlie

rantoul Wrote:
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> ...On my days off, I'd go to C&A and spend hours
> with him,...
>
> What is C&A?

There were two towers in Argo. Argo was the IHB tower near Archer Ave. C&A (Chicago & Alton) (which GM&O called Argo) was the GM&O/IHB crossing.

TAW

Wow, awesome story! Talk about getting thrown into the deep end, a real sink or swim break in.

Posted from Android

Had a similar situation in the Army. I reported to my FIRST duty station.  I walked into the building and someone let me in the room where I was supposed to go.  There were interlocking doors that I wasn't even aware of.    They other guys on my shift hadn't arrived yet.  The on duty shift walked out and left me there.  I had never even seen a working system.  Now I'm the controller of a multi-million dollar communications center.  The other guys showed up after about a minute.  That job had about a 2 or 3 month OJT period before they would leave you alone.

I think we need to buy "TAW" one of these shirts.  He does tell some great stories.

John

 

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