Re: Manned helpers?
Author: 8 and sand
Date: 04-03-2019 - 07:12
BNSF Dispatchers on former ATSF lines usually answer as "DS", but on the former BN lines, in my experience at least, they nearly always answer as "Dispatcher" or for instance, as "BNSF Trinidad Dispatcher" or "BNSF Boise City Dispatcher", depending on their territory.
DS 101 covers the Transcon through Amarillo. For a while, one Dispatcher refused to say "DS 101", and always answered the radio as "BNSF Hereford Split Dispatcher". Train crews on the Hereford and Panhandle Subs wondered why he did that, so I had to explain that he was former BN, and there was no way that he was going to call himself a DS.
When the ATSF and BN merger occurred, the Santa Fe DS's were not union, as they had chosen years before to become exempt. This caused quite a bit of animosity, as the BN Dispatchers were still union. Now, I believe all are union; but you know how it is on the railroad--it will be years--if ever--before some habits disappear.