Dispatcher
To qualify for the Chief Dispatcher certificate you must:
A.
Have
participated in the operation of a model railroad, either home or club, for not
less than fifty hours. A minimum of ten hours each must have been served in
three of the five categories listed below, one of which must be #5, Dispatcher:
This
experience shall be accumulated on one or more model railroads having at least
two mainline trains plus yard switching in simultaneous operation. Some system
of freight and passenger car movements, including road switching, shall be used
for controlling train activity.
The following descriptions are not designed to list ALL of the things
that a particular job must involve - they list things that are typically
involved in each job. Naturally, jobs, duties, and overall operating complexity
will vary from one model railroad to another.
- Engineer:
a. Mainline Passenger or Freight Engineer:
Shall
run their train in a manner that simulates the prototype, following the rules
of the model railroad being used, and operating according to the signal system
(if present) or by direct instruction of the Dispatcher.
b. Wayfreight Engineer:
Will
meet the requirements of Mainline Engineer. In addition, he or she shall
perform all required switching with approval from the Dispatcher in a manner
not to adversely affect the overall railroad schedule or operations.
Operating in a prototype manner includes no 'jack-rabbit' starts or
sudden stops during normal operations.
- Yardmaster:
a. Yardmaster:
Runs
the freight yard. He or she makes up trains with the appropriate cars in the
desired numbers to have trains ready when the timetable or Dispatcher requires
them. Generally, the Yardmaster operates the switch engine, but in a large yard
could direct other yard engineers.
b. Station master:
Is
in charge of the passenger station and all passenger switching. He or she makes
up trains with the appropriate consists so that the trains are ready when the
timetable or Dispatcher requires them. Terminating trains are broken down
appropriately and the cars are serviced and stored as needed. Through
train switching is accomplished.
- Hostler:
a. Hostler:
Shall
run the engine facilities. He or she shall have each locomotive facing the
correct direction, double-headed or lashed up, ready for the Engineer to easily
leave the engine area. Service to locomotives shall be simulated. Returning
locomotives are placed in their appropriate stalls or tracks. On layouts with
advanced control systems, the Hostler can handle assignment of locomotives to
the appropriate engineer' s throttle.
b. Power Desk:
Decides
what is the correct motive power for each train. Assigns throttle control to
the motive power. When assignment is finished, he or she returns control of
that motive power to the Hostler, or to off.
- Towerman:
a. Towerman:
Operates
one or more towers (control panels) on a layout. He or she sets up appropriate
routes at the correct time under direction of the timetable or the Dispatcher. Reports
train passings to dispatcher if required.
b. Traffic Manager:
Determines
which cars come and go from each industry, and the amount and location of
traffic, and specifies the route. May create a computer program to do this
automatically.
c. Road Master:
The
operating trouble-shooter and repair person. He or she keeps things moving
smoothly. Can take track in or out of service.
- Dispatcher:
Coordinates
all train movements, either by sequence, timetable and fast clock, or other
operating system.
- Documentation
The
applicant shall also do the following: (please note that the use of a computer
to accomplish these requirements is acceptable)
1.
Prepare
a schematic drawing of a model railroad layout meeting the operating conditions
described in (A), and indicating all pertinent simulated distances.
Normally, this would be a diagram of one of the layouts you put in your
qualifying time on - but there is no requirement that it must be. The drawing
must be neat and readable, but it does not have to be in ink.
2.
Develop
a timetable appropriate to this model railroad, simulating prototype time,
covering a period of eight hours or more, during which at least three scheduled
mainline trains move in each direction.
3.
Develop
an operating train chart (graph) which interprets the above schedule for
timetable operation of the model railroad. Indicate at least one train meet on
the schematic drawing required in (B-1) above. Show the position of the trains
involved and describe the action, giving pertinent time and movement data to
effect the meet.
4.
Develop
or adapt a system of operation for the layout in (A), including all the
necessary forms and explanations for their use for controlling car movements,
train makeup, and operation in a prototypical manner.
Members of the same club or home layout operating group who are applying
for the Chief Dispatcher certificate can use copies of the same paperwork for
requirements 1 and 4, but each must develop and submit their own timetable and
train chart (even if they are all copies of the same one). Another possibility
would be to have all the members who qualified submit their application at the
same time. and just use one set of the paperwork for #'s 1 & 4.
***
From 1995 until 2009 I had regularly participated in operating sessions at various FREMO modular layout meetings and served in the different categories:
Engineer - Mainline Freight: 21 hours (1997-2009)
Engineer - Passenger: 15 hours (1999-2009)
Engineer - Wayfreight: 31 hours (1995-2009)
Yardmaster: 36 hours (1996-2009)
Dispatcher: 18 hours (2000-2009)
Most of these jobs were served under the auspices of Wolfgang Dudler MMR
The following charts and timetable are from my home layout
To complete all the requirements for this certificate it is important to document all the jobs you did on a layout, be it club or own and to get it certified by a qualified NMRA member. This may take several years to collect all the time units necessary. If you operate on your home layout, take care that someone on your operating crew is qualified to sign off your accumulated time units and the different jobs. It took me some headscratching to backdate some of my time units but fortunately I operated always on FREMO meetings, so at least this was retraceable more or less.
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