Railroaders' Nostalgia > First Day as a Train Dispatcher on SPRR!

A milestone occurred for me on September 22, 1971.  This was my first day as a Southern Pacific Railroad Train Dispatcher on the Los Angeles Division.  The office was located in the old Pacific Electric Building at 610 S. Main Street.  I was told I would be filling the 1st Trick Coast Dispatcher's job, which handled all the train orders for the Coast Line between Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo, the "dark" (no signal system) Cutoff route between Colton and Palmdale and the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railroad between San Diego and El Centro.  Boy, was I nervous!  I took the turnover about 730am from the 3rd Trick Dispatcher and began my busy day.  Attached is a photo of the first three train orders I issued that day from the Coast Dispatcher's Train Order "book", which was the official record of the dispatcher's activity (I "borrowed" this book later in my career on the SPRR).  When orders were fulfilled, superseded or annulled, the Dispatcher would place their initials over the order indicating it was no longer active.  When a page of orders in the Train Order Book was filled with orders that had been fulfilled, superseded or annulled, then the Dispatcher put a big "X" on the page.  On the Southern Pacific, this was done with a large blue crayon.  As you can see in the photo, my first job was to get the Guadalupe Switcher from Guadalupe up to San Luis Obispo against regularly scheduled trains.  On the Coast, eastward numbered trains were Second Class trains, and westward numbered trains were Third Class trains, except for First Class Trains which operated in both directions, with westward First Class trains having right over trains of the same class in the opposite direction.  Numbers 99 and 98 were the "Daylight" in this part of 1971, having not been changed yet by Amtrak.  A "Register Check" order was necessary for the Extra 2452 West to insure the Conductor and Engineer knew that all Regular Scheduled Trains had arrived and departed Guadalupe.  If there was an exception in the opposite direction, then there had to be an order that provided some right of track for the Extra 2452 West to move west.  In this case, No. 830 was issued a "wait" order for the Extra 2452 West.  The third train order was a regular First Class Train Register Check for all of the engines working at Gemco that day.  Since it was Yard Limits at Gemco (and between Burbank Jct. and Chatsworth) the only regularly scheduled trains the various jobs had to clear were First Class Trains.  Interesting to note that one of the jobs that day had one of the rare for SPRR GP-20s (4073).  I'm sure many others who frequent the TO site have fond memories of their first day on the job like I did as the First Trick Coast Dispatcher!

Pete Baumhefner

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Very cool momento! How many orders did you issue that day?

Congratulations! That's terrific that you saved the train order books.  I rescued some train sheets out of the dumpster in San Bernardino back in the day. Some of them were from shifts I had worked, so I dug around some more and came up with a couple train order books that went with the sheets. Sadly I still have the sheets but the books have disappeared. I considered the books more interesting than the sheets.

I ended up issuing about 40 train orders on that first day.  Anything over 30 orders was considered a busy day on the Coast Train Dispatcher's desk.  Unfortunately, I only have 1 train sheet from those days.  Those were destroyed prior to my rescuing some of the Train Order books.

Nice post, thanks for sharing it.

Considering how busy you could be with dispatching SP trains on your territory,
what all was involved with dispatching trains on the SD&AE?

Were you still dispatching SD&AE trains in 1976 when Tropical Storm Kathleen
did all the damage to the SD&AE?

Thanks in advance!

Mike

You have good penmanship, and very typical of old hand Operators and Dispatchers.
Only these last couple of years, as I am coping with mild arthritis, have I changed from printing to cursive writting for most of my notes etc.  
It is really easier on my hand.

Zephyr Wrote:
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> A milestone occurred for me on September 22, 1971.
>  This was my first day as a Southern Pacific
> Railroad Train Dispatcher on the Los Angeles
> Division.

I started in Bakersfield about a year later. At some time, I probably listened to you on the monitor speaker in the Saugus district office.

TAW

Thanks for the compliments regarding my penmanship.  8 years of parochial school and the unconscious need to please all my teachers helped produce it!

As far as the SD&AE dispatching goes, there was not that much to take care of on a daily basis, but it did all occur on First Trick.  Two scheduled trains (Nos. 451 and 452) operated between San Diego and El Centro on a daily basis.  Since they were the only scheduled trains on the route, they could operate according to their scheduled authority and make a "timetable meet" at the point designated by the timetable.  However, as was often the case, one or both of them were operating late and the Dispatcher had to determine where they could meet.  This was most often accomplished by speaking with the Campo Agent/Operator who had a good handle on when No. 452 would be some place after crossing the border and entering back into the USA.  Based upon the Campo Agent/Operator information, we would issue a meet order for the trains, usually at one of the few sidings between Campo and El Centro.  Then there was the Plaster City job that originated El Centro and operated west on the SD&AE over to Plaster City and returned to El Centro with all of the gypsum products.  I've attached the one order issued on that first day that took care of all the necessary meets, rights and authorities between the three trains.  Order No. 67 establishes a meet between Nos. 452 and 451, and authorizes Engine 1208 to operate extra out to Plaster City with right over No. 452.  What about No. 451 and Extra 1208 East you might ask. Prior to departing El Centro the Extra 1208 West will have checked the Register to determine that train No. 451 of that date had departed El Centro ahead of the Extra 1208 West.  Also note that the old telegraph symbols for stations was still in use as an indicator of which station the orders were issued to.  In this example, "KA" is Campo and "CR" is El Centro.

Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case may be, I was no longer a Train Dispatcher in 1976 when the SD&AE washed out and was basically damaged beyond repair.  I had been promoted and was an Assistant Trainmaster at Tweedy (South Gate) at the time "wrestling" with auto parts and spotting the GM plant located there. 

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Very nice writing. I’ve seen some serious chicken scratch in these books on the Niles sub and over Donner in the late 50s and early sixties

WAF Wrote:
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> Very nice writing. I’ve seen some serious
> chicken scratch in these books on the Niles sub
> and over Donner in the late 50s and early sixties

When you hold a pen in your hand 8 hours a day, writing as fast as you can, your handwriting deteriorates. (personal experience)

TAW

Pete, do you remember when the Colton-Palmdale Cutoff dispatching was changed from the Coast to the Saugus dispatchers?  When the line opened in 1967, the Coast had it, and it seemed as though the Cutoff wasn't a priority.  I can remember sitting in the siding at Hiland on an eastbound hearing the train we were to meet making an air test at Beaumont!  At the time, there were no open offices on the Cutoff, and no rulebook authority for tsaking a helping order over the radio.
Unfortunately, such meets weren't  isolated incidents.

Brian Black
Castle Rock, CO

tehachcond Wrote:

> At the time, there were no open offices on the Cutoff, and no rulebook authority for tsaking a helping order over the radio.

"Tsaking?" 

 

tehachcond Wrote:
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> Pete, do you remember when the Colton-Palmdale
> Cutoff dispatching was changed from the Coast to
> the Saugus dispatchers? 


I do. I got out just in time. It was added to the Saugus job. Nobody had a chance to even see the railroad. It was easy to be completely buried on that job. When I left, West Colton traffic was still bypassing the bypass, going through LA because West Colton was straight across. Noi train order stations between Saugus and Palmdale was a challenge. Palmdale-Mojave was too. There were too many trains for the amount of track. Then add to that the Famoso-Fresno line that would be busy in fruit seasons.

>  I can remember
> sitting in the siding at Hiland on an eastbound
> hearing the train we were to meet making an air
> test at Beaumont!  At the time, there were no
> open offices on the Cutoff,

They closed Hiland? It was still open when I left.

TAW

The Coast Dispatcher handled the train orders for the Cutoff at least through 1976 and maybe even later.  Maybe TAW remembers the year a portion of the old Bakersfield Dispatching office was moved to Los Angeles, which included the old Saugus line and the Cutoff, as well as Mojave to Bakersfield.  Without an operator at Hiland, it was very difficult to rearrange authorities and move trains if one got in trouble over on Beaumont Hill.  I remember issuing orders to "stuck" eastbounds via the helper engineer of a westbound in the effort to get things moving on the Cutoff.  Later, when Hiland was added, operator Rosie made a ton of overtime by answering calls on second and third tricks when there was not a regulary assigned position for those hours at Hiland.

Zephyr Wrote:
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> The Coast Dispatcher handled the train orders for
> the Cutoff at least through 1976 and maybe even
> later.

Hmmm. I left in 1972 I remember the Saugus trainsheet changed to include the bypass. We were told it was coming. By that time, I was working other jobs without getting called for the Saugus. I wasn't looking forward to it. However, I'm pretty sure that Hiland was open when I left, or at least the last time I worked the Saugus.

TAW


 

I worked in the LA Division Dispatcher's Office until 1974 and I thought the Cutoff was handled by us the entire time, but my memory gets a little hazy almost 50 years ago.  I do remember some shifting of San Joaquin Division vs. Los Angeles Division responsibilities during that timeframe, so you could be correct in the timing.

Zephyr Wrote:
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> I worked in the LA Division Dispatcher's Office
> until 1974 and I thought the Cutoff was handled by
> us the entire time, but my memory gets a little
> hazy almost 50 years ago.  I do remember some
> shifting of San Joaquin Division vs. Los Angeles
> Division responsibilities during that timeframe,
> so you could be correct in the timing.

Now I remember. https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,1077953,1078926#msg-1078926 Date: 01/14/06 10:28 Re: More about Hiland and train orders... Author: TAW

Spatch was a Bakersfield colleague one below me in seniority. We were being told to do too many shady things. I wanted out before I got caught in something. When I quit in 73, I was carrying green for him. I think he went to the Rock, maybe in El Reno.

TAW

Wow, super information here, and really enjoy seeing the sample trainorder copies--thanks very much!