Tracking trains at sidings

Can't believe I stumped the experts and real railroaders here!

On most CTC lines, track indications will show trains are in the siding. In track warrant territory, dispatchers will block the siding on the display and record the train symbol.

Dispatchers and manager will track the train to ensure they aren't lost.

 

On your question three.  The engines in the refer cars use a different fuel than the locomotives. The refer car company's have their own servicing facilities where they service and fuel the refers.  The refers hold more than enough fuel to get them over their entire trip plus a large reserve. The load on the engines varies with the load and weather. Refers in the north at this time of year are probably doing very little refrigerating. Depending on the load, they may be heating. 

 

On question two.  Everyone on the railroad has access to the train consist and car content.  It would be marketing and transportation department personal, not the dispatcher, who would be keeping track of special loads.  

I just saw this question...

 

Every train on the railroad is accounted for in a computer and on paper. The most advanced train control systems will actually show the train ID on the computer screen, right on the track diagram. They don't get lost between shifts.

 

Those reefers can run for weeks between refueling.

Not trying to Hijack the thread... but how about in the days prior to computerization?

 

Was it common to "lose" cars or even have them stolen and repainted?

 

Ron

 

Lost cars were an annoyance in the days before electronic reporting of set outs and pickups, as well as scanners that keep track of cars on the move.  I would not call it common, but there was a list of lost cars issued daily, and sooner or later they all showed up somewhere and were moved to their proper destinations.

 

Now, repainting -- in effect, stealing a freight car -- no.  It's not as easy as stealing an automobile, repainting it and swapping the VIN number.  Where would you sell a repainted and re-identified car?  If you wanted to use it yourself, how would you get it into the master list of freight cars which was used before UMLER was created?  We used to have a publication which listed every freight car that could be interchanged and had all the data on dimensions, weight, capacity, and equipment.

In the early 90's my dad worked for the Wheeling & Lake Erie and one of his favorite stories was that someone  spotted a set of 3 GP35's at the West end of the yard in the B part of the yard were they store there MOW Rail trains and they didn't spot them in the right location the engine shop couldn't find the power. They didn't find them for 2 days and found them out of fuel.
( I promise this is no April fools joke)

Losing cars still happens. It's part of why the company I work for is in business (railcar tracking).

What makes things really interesting is when a shop replaces one or both of the AEI tags on a car and inadvertently applies the wrong tags to the car. 

 

I recollect back in the late '70's, I was working along the Ship Channel in Houston and called our local SP agency in Galena Park, TX to ask about three missing cars.  The clerk pecked away on his computer and then advised "oh, those are in track 8801".  Where is that I asked.  "That's the lost car track" he replied.  This exemplifies one of the things I have always found fascinating about railroading; even when they had no clue where a car was, it still carried a track assignment.  Everything in its place.

 

Curt