came into this session with determination. The day before we’d operated over at the Virginia Southwestern. Some of the operators were new, some timid, and some.. well, “some”. At one point we had four L&N trains in the CTC-controlled shared trackage, and two more snippy Southern trains trying to get through. Since I controlled the turnouts from the panel, I set up a pretty neat lap siding pass for two long coal trains to get around Kyle’s mine shifter. But the two crews were timid – even with warrants all the way to Atlanta staging, even with all turnouts set, they timidly poked around the pass, stopped, backed up, collided, then literally shook a train apart. I could only watch on the cameras, thinking “WTF?”

I wanted to run Doc’s layout the way layouts should be run, especially with a seasoned crew. This explains my obsessive disorder.

The first item: I forgot that 999 needs to wash loads at Pasco. The superintendent told me this while it was hammering through Cheney. I realized I needed to do it and, with him coming up fast and various language problems, I needed to tell Pasco Yardmaster to route him through the washer. And I would have. But Doc started discussing the why’s and where’s of Pacific Northwest coal operations. I  eventually had to tell him to shut up so I could get it done, not just talk about it until he was well past. I was a bit sharp – I like Doc and he’s eager to please (or appease, maybe) so it felt like kicking a puppy. But I guess, if you are going to kick a puppy, it’s best to do it in a veterinary clinic. I apologize for that.

The second item was Greg. I don’t apologize for this one. As Zach pointed out in debrief, this session is really forward-loaded. I had something like nine trains crossing the division. And Greg, playing the roll of Robert T. Ironside (look it up) in his remote room, started to bitch that he was the “high priority” army train and why was he waiting. First off, I have two priorities on the railroad: Amtrak (sorta) and everyone else. And since we were not at war with Canada (yet) I have to move you (and everyone else) as best I can. I have to take into account that getting your train into the siding (since you are remote) takes an act of congress (these days, an executive order). So you need to hold the main and I have two LONG trains running against you. Half the sidings have locals working. And I’ve got several other trains OSing and needing clearances. I don’t have time to explain myself to you.

When it comes to communications on a railroad, this pre-World War Two comic from Bill Mauldin, below, says it best.

All of the above put me about three hours in the hole (yes, if a dispatcher has any time at all, he’s looking at the timetable). With all the “administration” tasks behind me, I could finally take the reins, crack the whip and get the team moving. And the operators were sharp. I don’t think I ever had to call twice for anyone. The trains ran hot and did their work quickly. Crews were willing to set aside their current work to clear other trains out of needed arrival tracks (well, then there was Leonard (you knew this was coming) who moved the wrong train out of staging for a meet. I thought I was going to have to take a handful of Valium at that point. Doc came back and told me to give him five minutes – he backed the train back into Spokane and then ran the correct one out. By that time, more trains were coming into Cheney (Lumberjack and a manifest east, against the replaced train and two manifests west) so it was a five train meet at Cheney. Andy told me later that he thought it was going to be a massive cluster (which, I suppose, it was) and fearing another puppy-kick, he kept quiet. But the crews were on the ball, running elephant-style down the siding, and we got everyone out of town in about five real minutes. It was really fun to watch go down.

View from the “cab” as Amtrak rides in for the platform stop and Walla-Walla. (Photo: Dan L)

The rest of the session ran sharp and sweet. We climbed back from four-hours down (the low point, just after the excessive-dialog phase) to an hour ahead. Truthfully, I checked the Amtrak schedules and they were 45 minutes ahead. Looks good for me, but it sure pissed off a lot of last-minute travelers who found an empty platform and the clerks gone home. Then again, ever since the superintendent had me abandon a passenger train in an industrial yard, ridership hasn’t really come back.

So the session wound down, the last three trains fussing about with the stacks wobbling and uncoupling. It was nice to see the Lumberjack actually get home by session end, and all the locals get recovered. I don’t think tomorrow’s locals sortied but that’s fine. We hit most of our goals with the session. It was a fast-paced session that shows that the WAZU can actually get through most of its efforts in the allotted time. The new radios proved to be a good investment and Doc marking long trains with a flag on the ops board really allowed me to spot problems with siding lengths before they became issues (you can ask the US Army what they think about it. Whatever). As mentioned, the crews ran the railroad hot and unlike most sessions, we had 100% participation all the way through.

The smug dispatcher watches the final trains clear. Note the clock: an hour to go. (Photo: Chris S)

I’ll announce it here – John Wilkes of the Virginia South-Western has agreed to host an ONT session, probably in May sometime. I’ll finalize a date with him for this. Kyle and I were talking that we’d like to see that railroad run with a crack team (not a cracked-team, as it had been run). I’ll finalize a day and we’ll put out a crew call for it. It’s over in Polk City, but we can maybe put together a caravan for this. Should be fun.

Again, thanks, everyone, for giving the WAZU one of its best sessions yet. Kinda ironic that the guy with the Zen shirt lost his shit – I’ll try to do better next time (unless Doc bans me). And I still have a bunch of photos to post, which I’ll do after my beg-for-book-sales.

>>>BEG-FOR-BOOK-SALES<<<

This could easily not end well. Just another Wazu-Barbecue (Photo: Leonard “wrong train” J)

Heavy traffic at Horse Butte. When wasn’t there? (Photo: Zeus H)

A view down Pasco, the flash-point washers in the background. To the right, a grain train tops out of Goblin’s Gulch. (Photo: Zeus H)

The WAZU elves hard at work, making a session happen (Photo: Dan L)

Hinkle works Klauck. Or Klauck works Hinkle. Not sure which. (Photo: Dan L)