As a train dispatcher we also got involved with signal testing. Some times the Train Master would call in and have us hold a signal on a train and then talk the train by to see if both the dispatcher and trainman/engineer did the right thing.
Some times the Train Master would call in and tell us where they were testing and some DS would have the train crews call him on the side phone (At the time there was not enough recorders to tape the DS phone, Radio etc. so the side phone was not taped and we could tell the train crew the "Weed Rats" were out.
So then the TM would just go out and put down his jumper cables which gave an indication on the CTC panel. That meant you had track trouble so you moved the trains to the other track to get around it and called the signal maintainer to go out for the track light. IF you knew your territory you could just about tell the maintainer where to look for the trouble. And IF the maintainer was smart he would listen and there by cut his travel time in half or more. Then there was the time I called the maintainer out for the track light and on his arrival he found the battery jumpers and removed them and headed home. So the TM calls in and chews me for doing my job. He was just pissed because he lost a good set of jumper cables.
Computers did away with all the joy of using a good CTC machine as the indication on the computer screen went from a desk that filled the room to just a couple screens with not enough detail to tell anything. Course then it was cool to run trains with out the id's that showed where the trains were at. The TM could not pull your screen up and tell where the trains were at.
After all you got to have a little fun in your work
Steve in SC