This article is about rail industry occupation. Train Dispatcher

Train Dispatcher (computer simulation)

Train Dispatcher is a train simulator of centralized traffic control systems. It was originally developed in the 1980s as a training tool for a commercial railroad and was then made available to the public...

 is also a computer simulation by Softrail.

A train dispatcher is employed by a railroad to direct and facilitate the movement of trains over an assigned territory, which is usually part, or all, of a railroad operating division. In Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 the train dispatcher is known as the rail traffic controller

Rail traffic controller

Rail traffic controller is a person or group who are responsible for the safe and efficient operation of the railway within an assigned operating territory. RTCs are also responsible for ensuring train delays are minimized in their operating territory through the application of effective planning,...

 (RTC). In New Zealand and Australia they are known as Train Controllers.

History

Charles Minot, a Division Superintendent on the Erie Railroad

Erie Railroad

The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in New York State, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, originally connecting New York City with Lake Erie...

 is credited with the first effort to control the movement of a train beyond the rule book and operating timetable

Public transport timetable

A public transport timetable is a representation of public transport information to assist a passenger with planning a trip using public transport. A timetable details when vehicle will arrive and depart specified locations and may be organised for by route or for a particular stop...

, when, in September 1851, he sent a telegram to a railroad employee at another location directing that all trains be held at that point until the train Minot was riding could arrive.

From that beginning, a system of train dispatching evolved. The operating rule book, later standardized for all railroads, contained the basic rules for the operation of trains, such as the meaning of the all fixed, audible and hand signals

Railway signalling

Railway signalling is a system used to control railway traffic safely, essentially to prevent trains from colliding. Being guided by fixed rails, trains are uniquely susceptible to collision; furthermore, trains cannot stop quickly, and frequently operate at speeds that do not enable them to stop...

; the form, format and meaning of train orders; and the duties and obligations of each class of employee. The operating, or official, timetable established train numbers and schedules; meeting points for those trains; showed the length of passing tracks at each station as well as indicating the locations where train orders might be issued and contained a variety of other information which might be necessary or useful to train crews operating trains over the territory covered.

Train orders supplemented the timetable and the rule book. They were addressed to a particular train or trains and directed that train or trains to do whatever the train dispatcher had decided needed to be done: meet another train, wait at specified locations, run late on its published schedule, be cautious under the circumstances described or numerous other actions.

Train dispatchers are required to be intimately familiar with the physical characteristics of the railroad territory for which they are responsible, as well as the operating capabilities of the locomotive power being used. Experienced train dispatchers learned the idiosyncrasies of the locomotive engineers and train conductors and melded that knowledge into the operating decisions made. An efficient train dispatcher could utilize the rule book, timetable, train orders and personal experience to move a large number of trains over the assigned territory with minimal delay to any train, even in single-track territory.

Initially, train dispatchers issued train orders using American Morse code

Morse code

Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...

 over telegraph wires. Later, after the telephone was invented in 1876 and became common, most railroads constructed their own telephone systems, for internal communications, which the train dispatchers used to issue train orders. The last train order known to have been issued using Morse code was copied at Whitehall, Montana

Whitehall, Montana

Whitehall is a town in Jefferson County, Montana, United States. The population was 1,044 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Helena Micropolitan Statistical Area.Newscaster Chet Huntley graduated from Whitehall High School in 1929.-Geography:...

, on May 6, 1982, on the Burlington Northern Railroad

Burlington Northern Railroad

The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996....

.

Beginning before World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and accelerating after it, most major railroads installed centralized traffic control

Centralized traffic control

Centralized traffic control is a form of railway signalling that originated in North America and centralizes train routing decisions that were previously carried out by local signal operators or the train crews themselves. The system consists of a centralized train dispatcher's office that...

 (CTC) systems to control train movements. Using CTC, a train dispatcher could align track switches anywhere on the territory so that trains could move into and out of sidings without having to stop and hand throw switches. The train dispatcher could also control the trackside signals governing the movement of trains. Satellite radios enabled train dispatchers to communicate directly with train and engine crews. These capabilities eliminated the need for most train orders, but still required the oversight of a train dispatcher.

See also

• Vince Coleman (train dispatcher)
  Vince Coleman (train dispatcher)
  P. Vincent Coleman was a train dispatcher for the Canadian Government Railways who was killed in the Halifax Explosion...
  
  
• American Train Dispatchers Association
  American Train Dispatchers Association
  The American Train Dispatchers Association or Train Dispatchers is an American trade union representing railroad workers. The Train Dispatchers belong to the AFL-CIO as one of the organization's smallest members.-Jurisdictions:...
  
  
• List of railway industry occupations