KPMF16@a... wrote:
>
> Leo and Russ,
>
> Thank you very much for your replies. This has made things much clearer.
> My next question would be is when did radios start to become a factor
> dispatching wise? Was it "legal" to receive a train order or clearance by
> radio? I know in the early 80's this was done to some extent on the Katy.
> Also. The station at Yates City received semaphore train order signals
> sometime in the late 60's. Later sometime in the 70's these were changed to
> search light type order boards. These continued in use until at least 1984
> or 1985. I'm assuming that track warrant control took over at this time.
> What was the reasoning behind the installation of the order boards?
>
> Ken
>
Ken:
A train order transmitted by radio did not need a clearance. I was not
working a train order job in the early 70's so I don't know when radio
transmission started up but I think that is the right era. It was an
awkward process. The order was supposed to be relayed to the train by
an Operator. If the Dispatcher had a radio that could reach the train
he/she might do it them self but that involved a time slip for the nearest
Operator.
I would say the reasoning behind the installation of order boards at a
place like Yates City was the abolishment of 24 hour a day operators.
At times and in places they covered this with Special Instructions that
advised when an Operator would be on duty but order boards was the right
way to go. You could not always rely on every Operator being there at
the right time, which in the case of Yates City, resulted in a fatal
head on collision at Maquon, IL on 24-May-72.
Russ
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