Western Midland engineer Andrew Hutchinson (left) receives a train order and clearance from Black Mountain operator Dave Manzer (center). PHOTOS BY JOHN GREEN UNLESS NOTED
Train dispatching on the Western Midland
A ex-dispatcher adds some realism to layout operating sessions/John Green and Mike Chandler
s trackwork and wiring neared completion a few years ago, Mike Chandler’s thoughts be- gan to turn to operations on his 1938- era, HO scale Western Midland Rail- road. At the time he had no idea what it would eventually lead to.
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As a career railroader (now retired) with Canadian National, Mike was ini- tially reluctant to introduce formal dis- patching procedures with all the asso- ciated paperwork it would involve. After all, this was supposed to be a hobby, not a job, and, furthermore, the Western Midland would be operated by model railroaders who, unlike profes- sional railroaders, could not be expect- ed to have a good knowledge of operat- ing rules and rights of trains. However, a card system for freight car forward- ing on this wayfreight-oriented short- line did seem like a good idea. Since it wouldn’t involve any writing, paper- work would be kept to a minimum. With this in mind, a card order system was established based on Doug Smith’s
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
system, which he popularized some four decades ago in Model Railroader maga- zine. It worked well from the outset, and the randomness of the waybills has served to make every operating session unique. On occasion a few forgotten cards have traveled home in a guest’s pocket after an operating session, lead- ing some to joke that they should be pre- printed with the notation: “Drop in any mail box. Return postage guaranteed.” As time progressed, it became obvi- ous that with as many as five trains operating over the mainline at one time some form of dispatching system was required. However, with dispatch- ing, communication became a problem, since a double-sided backdrop through- out most of the layout effectively di- vides it into four separate sections as far as visibility and communication are concerned. Inspired by successful tele- phone system applications Mike had seen on other layouts, such as Jim Providenza’s Santa Cruz Northern, he installed what has come to be known
as the “Western Midland Telephone and Telegraph System.” The WM cur- rently has eight phones at key posi- tions, but since none of the crew know Morse code, it is unlikely that any tele- graph keys will be installed. Current operating session positions
include a train dispatcher, four station agent-operators who generally handle more than one station, two yardmasters and four train crews. Train crews gener- ally consist of one person, but occasion- ally a second person may be added. Operating sessions are based on the traditional timetable and train order system, which is appropriate for the 1938 era of the Western Midland. As on the prototype at that time, train crews do not talk directly with the dispatcher and instead rely on station operators to report passing trains in the form of an “O/S.” (“O/S”–on sheet–indicates the train has registered or has been called in to the dispatcher and it has been written on his daily work sheet.) Operating in- structions from the dispatcher to train
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