In support of Funnelfan, the railroads have a bad habit of moving dipatchers around from time to time and these people have little or no knowledge of the division they are working.
knowledge of the length of the sidings, can I get the train to the next siding in time for a good meet...And how many times have trains been held at a siding for no reason at all???
Also, how many dispatchers are afraid to make a move and have the supervisor come down on them when its a good move???
Another big problem is the length of todays trains which are getting longer, which there are very few sidings to make a meet....the rule of train length use to be the longest train was the length of the shortest siding and every thing moved, but no more as trains are now reaching 6,000 to 12,000 in length and most siding are in the 5,500 foot length...the railroads have been extending the size of the sidings, but the desire to make more money on one train, by making it longer and saving the cost of calling out another crew for a second train just defeats on time service....Just look at how long it takes to put together a freight, by todays standards by using the Belt pack/RCE..a two man crew can work 100 or more cars in a single shift verses on about 60 by a one man crew or even less. The railroads could do far better if Wall street would stay away from operations and the disire to make more money at the cost of the men who work the railroads....