![Isleta order hoops](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Isleta_order_hoops.jpg)
A train order is "an order issued by or through a proper railway official to govern the movement of trains". Train order operation is the system by which trains are safely moved by train orders. It is distinguished from other forms of train operation in which the authority to move trains is given by fixed
signals
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
or
Cab signalling
Cab signaling is a railway safety system that communicates track status and condition information to the cab, crew compartment or driver's compartment of a locomotive, railcar or multiple unit. The information is continually updated giving an e ...
.
Train order operation, or more accurately timetable and train order operation, was the standard operational system used by the railroads of North America before the days of
centralized traffic control
Centralized traffic control (CTC) is a form of railway signalling that originated in North America. CTC consolidates train routing decisions that were previously carried out by local signal operators or the train crews themselves. The system cons ...
,
direct traffic control
Direct traffic control (DTC) is a system for authorizing track occupancy used on some railroads instead of or in addition to signals. It is known as "direct" traffic control because the train dispatcher gives track authority directly to the train ...
, and the use of
track warrant
A track warrant is a set of instructions issued to a train crew authorizing specific train movements. The system is widely used in North America. The warrant is issued by the train dispatcher and delivered to the train crew via radio. The train cr ...
s conveyed by radio. The system used a set of rules when direct communication between
train dispatcher
A train dispatcher (US), rail traffic controller (Canada), train controller (Australia), train service controller (Singapore) or signaller (UK), is employed by a railroad to direct and facilitate the movement of trains over an assigned territory, ...
s and trains was limited or non-existent. Trains would follow a predetermined operating plan, known as the
timetable
A schedule or a timetable, as a basic time-management tool, consists of a list of times at which possible task (project management), tasks, events, or actions are intended to take place, or of a sequence of events in the chronological order ...
, unless superseded by train orders conveyed to the train from the dispatcher, through local intermediaries. Train order operation was a system that required minimum human
overhead in an era before widespread use of technology-based
automation
Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...
. It was the most practical way for railroads with limited capital resources, or lines with limited traffic, to operate. To this day, many short lines, heritage railways, and railroad museums continue to use Train Order operation.
On major railroads, train order operation has been almost completely replaced by more modern operating methods. The
Long Island Rail Road in
New York is the last major railroad in North America to use a "traditional" Train Order operating practice on its
Greenport Branch, as well as Train Order forms for non-standard operation on the remainder of its system. While the last traditional long hand train order form was issued on September 3, 2012, timetable and train order operating practices remain in effect. The second to last train order user, the
Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad
The Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad , also known as the South Shore Line, is a Class III freight railroad operating between Chicago, Illinois, and South Bend, Indiana. The railroad serves as a link between Class I railroads and loc ...
, had retired its system in 2011.
The process of modernization in the 19th century was a transition from a spatially-oriented world to a time-oriented world. Exact time was essential, and everyone had to know the exact time, resulting in clock towers for railway stations, clocks in public places, and pocket watches for railway workers and travelers. Trains departed on time (they never left early). By contrast, in the premodern era, passenger ships left when the captain had enough passengers. In the premodern era, local time was set at noon, when the sun was at its highest. Every place east to west had a different time and that changed with the introduction of standard
time zone
A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude, because it ...
s. Printed time tables were a convenience for travelers. More elaborate time tables, called train orders, were essential for train crews, maintenance workers, station personnel, and repair and maintenance crews, who knew when to expect a train. Most trackage was single track, with sidings and signals to allow lower priority trains to be sidetracked. Schedules told everyone what to do, where to be, and exactly when. If bad weather disrupted the system, telegraphers relayed immediate corrections and updates throughout the system. Just as railways as business organizations created the standards and models for modern big business, so too the railway timetable was adapted to myriad uses, such as schedules for buses, ferries, airplanes, radio and television programs, school schedules and factory time clocks. The modern world was ruled by the clock and the timetable.
North American usage
Timetable and train order operation was widely used on North American railroads that had a single ''main track'' with periodic
passing sidings. Timetable and train orders were used to determine which train had the
right of way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
at any point along the line. A train which had the right of way over another train was said to be the ''superior train''. Trains could be superior by right, by class or by direction. While a
train dispatcher
A train dispatcher (US), rail traffic controller (Canada), train controller (Australia), train service controller (Singapore) or signaller (UK), is employed by a railroad to direct and facilitate the movement of trains over an assigned territory, ...
could establish "right" via train orders, the operating timetable established scheduled trains, their class and the superior direction. The "class" designation of a train equates to its priority, with passenger trains having the highest, freight trains having less and Extra (unscheduled) trains having the lowest. In case of trains of the same class meeting the superior direction would then apply. On
single track
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
rail lines, the timetable specifies (explicitly or implicitly) the points at which two trains would meet and pass. It would be the responsibility of the inferior train to clear the main track a safe time before the superior train is scheduled to pass. The timetable thus provides the basic framework for train movement on a particular portion of the railroad. However, variations in traffic levels from day to day, unforeseen delays, the need to perform maintenance, and other contingencies required that railroads find a way to deviate from their established schedules.
Deviations from the timetable operation would be enacted through train orders sent from the train dispatcher to
block operators. These orders would override the established timetable priorities and provide trains with explicit instructions on how to run. Train orders consisted of two types, ''protection'' and ''authority''. Protective train orders would be used to ensure that no trains would be at risk of colliding with another along the line. Once the protective orders had been delivered to block operators (who might pass them to train crews), an authority could be issued to a train to move over the line where protection had been established. Normally the timetable established both protection and authority for scheduled trains so train orders were only used for extra trains, which were not in the timetable, and scheduled trains moving contrary to their normal authorities.
Timetable and train order operation supplanted earlier forms of timetable only and line-of-sight running. The ability for a single dispatcher to issue train orders was enabled by the invention of the
electric telegraph
Electrical telegraphs were point-to-point text messaging systems, primarily used from the 1840s until the late 20th century. It was the first electrical telecommunications system and the most widely used of a number of early messaging systems ...
in the 1840s. The earliest recorded usage of the telegraph to convey train orders in the US came in 1851 on the
Erie Railroad
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Er ...
and by the time of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
, nearly every railroad had adopted the system. Gradually the telegraph was supplanted by the
telephone
A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...
as the preferred method of communication. By the 1970s this function was carried out primarily by
two-way radio
A two-way radio is a radio that can both transmit and receive radio waves (a transceiver), unlike a broadcast receiver which only receives content. It is an audio (sound) transceiver, a transmitter and receiver in one unit, used for bidirection ...
.
With the advent of radio communications, timetable and train order operation began to fall out of favor as
direct traffic control
Direct traffic control (DTC) is a system for authorizing track occupancy used on some railroads instead of or in addition to signals. It is known as "direct" traffic control because the train dispatcher gives track authority directly to the train ...
and
centralized traffic control
Centralized traffic control (CTC) is a form of railway signalling that originated in North America. CTC consolidates train routing decisions that were previously carried out by local signal operators or the train crews themselves. The system cons ...
(CTC) became more common on major carriers. CTC enabled dispatchers to set up meets remotely and allowed trains to proceed entirely on
signal indication. Where signals were not present, DTC and the related
track warrant control
A track warrant is a set of instructions issued to a train crew authorizing specific train movements. The system is widely used in North America. The warrant is issued by the train dispatcher and delivered to the train crew via radio. The train cr ...
allowed dispatchers to directly inform trains what they were to do instead of needing to work through intermediaries or have the train crews figure things out for themselves.
Train order
The ''train order'' provides the means to deal with changes in operating conditions as they arise. Orders modify the established timetable. Among the functions a train order can perform are:
[Pennsylvania 1956 Railroad Rulebook Rules pg43-50]
* Creating a train not provided for by the timetable (an "extra")
* Annulling a train provided by the timetable
* Creating ''sections'' of a schedule (in essence "cloning" a train's schedule and class when, for example, too much traffic exists to be handled by a single train)
* Setting meeting points between extras since they have no timetable schedule
* Altering timetable meeting points (for example when one train is late and adhering to the timetable meeting point would cause delays for other trains)
* Altering the schedule of a train to allow other trains to run with respect to the altered schedule rather than that given in the timetable
* Giving a train rights over another train that ordinarily has timetable superiority
* Conveying warnings about temporary conditions such as temporary speed limits, track conditions or hazards which might affect the safety of trains or train crews
Train-order station
A train-order station is a control point at which trains can be stopped and controlled through the use of train orders.
A station has a distinct name, and may have any of the following:
* A
siding or other track by which trains can pass each other
* A communications means for an operator to receive train orders
* A
signal
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The '' IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing' ...
to indicate to trains whether there are train orders to be picked up
A train order station need not be at a passenger or freight
station, nor does such a station have to handle train orders.
In isolated areas, train order stations may be required where there are no towns, to facilitate smooth operation. In denser areas, passenger stations may be spaced more closely than train order stations.
A station may staffed by an operator who receives train orders and gives them to trains as they pass. Operators also record the passage of trains by their station. Upon receipt of an order, the operator makes copies and sets the signal to indicate to approaching trains that orders are to be picked up. Some train-order signals had three positions:
; Proceed (green light or vertical blade) : No orders; train may proceed
; Receive orders (yellow light or diagonal blade) : Pick up orders without stopping
; Stop (red light or horizontal blade) : Stop to receive orders or to wait for another train to pass
Dispatcher and operator procedures
Train orders were issued by the dispatcher responsible for the portion of railroad concerned. They were conveyed to operators at outlying stations along the railroad via telegraph or telephone. The receiving operators would copy the order onto
onionskin
Onionskin or onion skin is a thin, lightweight, strong, often translucent paper. Though not made from onions, it superficially resembles their thin, papery skins. It was usually used with carbon paper for typing duplicates in a typewriter, for ...
(multiple-copy) forms designed for that purpose, and would repeat the order back to the dispatcher.
This permitted the dispatcher and other operators concerned to confirm the accuracy or the order. As each operator correctly repeated the order, the dispatcher would give a complete time, along with the initials of the designated railroad official for that territory.
After the order was completed, it was delivered by the operator to the concerned trains as they arrived or passed the delivery point.
The operating timetable indicated locations at which train crews could expect to receive train orders. If that same timetable did not require that a train receive a "Clearance Form A" before departing, then a train order signal of some type was provided to advise train crews whether or not train orders were to be delivered.
Delivery was accomplished by hand, if the train stopped, or posted trackside to be grabbed by a crew member while the train continued to move past the station. With the latter, the paper order was placed in a train order fork or hoop, either held by the operator as the train passed or mounted at trackside.
The train and engine crews addressed by the order were required to observe the instructions provided in the train order, the details of which were provided by the railroad's operating rule book to be acted upon.
Australian usage
Train orders are also used in Australia, but differ a lot from their North American counterparts. There is no need for block operators, as there is direct verbal communication between the dispatcher and driver. Authority to occupy a track is received directly from the dispatcher, with the train crew filling out the details on a form, similarly to as in
Track Warrant Control
A track warrant is a set of instructions issued to a train crew authorizing specific train movements. The system is widely used in North America. The warrant is issued by the train dispatcher and delivered to the train crew via radio. The train cr ...
. At the end of their authority, the crew "fulfills" the order, after which another order may be issued for another train to occupy that track. An order can be "cancelled" if the train cannot continue for any reason (stalled, broken down, etcetera), allowing another train to occupy that line as well.
Most notably, the
Trans-Australian Railway
The Trans-Australian Railway, opened in 1917, runs from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, crossing the Nullarbor Plain in the process. As the only rail freight corridor between Western Australia and the east ...
makes use of the system on most of its length.
Some of the other lines that use it are: Orange - Dubbo, Parkes - Broken Hill and
Joppa Junction - Canberra.
See also
*
*
Procedural control Procedural control is a method of providing air traffic control services without the use of radar. It is used in regions of the world, specifically sparsely populated land areas and oceans, where radar coverage is either prohibitively expensive or ...
– A similar system used in early air traffic control, which was adapted from train order techniques
References
Further reading
Articles on North American prototype and model railroad operation
{{Railway signalling
Rail transportation in North America
Railway signalling block systems