Positive Train Control - Again!

Port Townsend, Today. Previously I wrote about my involvement with the short-lived “National Association of Train Order Collectors” back in the late 50’s. This classic train order was passed along to us by one of the club members.

For those of you too young to recognize the strange brown paper, it was copied on a thermofax machine. As the onionskin-like copy paper passed through those machines on its carrier sheet, things got hot! The copy would be passed to you all crinkly! Do you remember those machines?

And there was imminent danger of your paper catching fire if you turned up the contrast too much, slowing the paper through past the heaters. Especially if you were making overhead transparencies on them!

Anyway, this is an actual train order issued to six trains crews, three of them double-headers.


Chicago and North Western Ry Co. Train Order No. 5, issued on Form 19, March 14, 1911, reads as follows:

“To Engines 1169 Smith, 82 Brown, 559 and 460 Henry, 549 and 522 McCune, 56 and 1225 N Strawhorn, and 1221 Yates, will run extra Belle Plaine to South Iowa Jct and return to Belle Plaine. Extra 1169 North Smith will meet extra 82 South Brown at South Iowa Jct, meet Extra 559 South Henry and Extra 549 South McCain at Wright and meet Extra 56 South N Strawhorn and Extra 1221 South Yates at Tioga. Extra 82 North Brown will meet Extra 559 South Henry and 549 South McCune at Wright and meet Extra 56 South N Strawhorn and Extra 1221 South Yates at Tioga. Extra 559 North Henry will meet Extra 549 South McCune at South Iowa Jct, and meet Extra 56 South N Strawhorn and Extra 1221 South Yates at No. 9 yard. Extra 549 North McCune will meet Extra 56 South N Strawhorn and Extra 1221 South Yates at No. 9 yard. Extra 56 North N Strawhorn will meet Extra 1221 South Yates at South Iowa Jct. Brown will not pass Smith, McCune will not pass Henry, Yates will not pass N Strawhorn South Bound.”

There are several remarkable issues here. First, the movement was carried out accident and incident free. Second, greatest delay to any train was 10 minutes. And third, how in hell could anyone decipher the handwriting! This is a table topper simulation script if ever I saw one. If you work on it, let me know how it turns out.

And you figure out how many copies had to be created and verified between engineers and conductors!

I dunno. Those fellers knew how to run a railroad. Like I mentioned in a earlier posting concerning computers taking over Positive Train Control, what happens when the engineer looks down at his computer screen, only to see the dreaded “blue screen” or worse ...