Handy checklist

Here is a basic checklist for TT&TO.  just work down the list and if you don't hit a "stay" you can go.  Once you figure out what's due and where you are you can skip some of the questions.  If the next superior train is an hour away then you don't have to worry about that for an hour.  If you don't have any orders giving anybody right over you, then you don't have to worry about whether somebody has right.

Mark Amfahr produced a much more complete and detailed checklist, mine is pretty basic.

1.  Who am I?

- Class, direction, location and time

2.  Are superior class or same class in superior direction schedules due (overdue)? 

- At origin or register station, check register

3.  Do I have superiority over them (right or meet orders)? No = Stay

4.  Do I have running and clearing time to the next station? No = Stay

5.  Do any inferior trains or extras have superiority over me (right or meet orders)?  Yes = Stay

6.  Do I have departure time constraints (wait or schedule departure time)?  Yes = Stay

7.  Are there following first class schedules I have to clear?  Yes = Stay

8.  If no “stays”, then go

Advancing a train

In reality there are only three common ways to handle opposing trains in TT&TO.

The first is the schedule.  Once you learn how to read it, all the info is written right there for you.

The second is a meet order.  That's pretty simple.  It actually has more information than a track warrant and as opposed to verbal instructions, its written down so you can't forget.

The third is right over with waits.  A little trickier, but its very similar to a schedule (its NOT a schedule), if you can figure a timetable out, you can figure out a right over with waits.

Most of the time people get in trouble with TT&TO is not that they can't read and understand the orders, its that they either forget to read the timetable and orders or they don't pay attention to what they say.

Types of orders

There are only four "types" of orders:

1. Orders that create a train (section, extra, work extra)
2. Orders that deal with how trains proceed (meets, right over, time/waits, passing)
3. Meta orders, orders that deal with other orders or schedules (annulments, superseding, time/run late)
4. Orders that deal with track and safety conditions (slow orders, gang protection orders, wide loads, safety issues, tracks in and out of service.

If you want to keep it simple, don't run sections or work extras.

If you want to keep it simple, don't worry about passing orders.

If you want to keep it simple, keep meta orders to the minimum.

If you want to keep it simple, don't use the track and safety orders.

That narrows things down to about 4-6 basic, straight forward orders and the timetable.  Don't intentionally make things more difficult.

I have a basic question on TT&TO.

The register stations where located mostly at passing sidings? What about junctions? I am assuming every point where there is a control point would have a register so the train crew can see whether they are clear of superior trains? I am considering doing TT&TO or simulating it somehow on my smaller layout. 
 

Registers

No, registers are not found at passing sidings - no need.

Registers are at junctions and initial terminals so trains can determine if other trains have arrived/left. Only places where a scheduled train begins or ends its run on a subdivision. They're how you can verify that a train you didn't actually see has arrived.

When you leave your initial terminal, you need to check that superior trains have arrived before you leave, so you don't run face-first into no. 25 that was supposed to arrive two hours before you came on duty but is running four hours late. Once you've determined that all superior trains that were due (or overdue) have arrived, you head out onto the line. There's no need to check any other registers unless you arrive at a junction where an opposing superior train might disappear. At all other locations the way you know a superior train has past is you waited for it and physically WATCHED IT GO BY.

E.g. You're no. 1 travelling from A to E, with sidings at B and D and a junction at C.

(Assume the opposite direction is superior and all opposing trains we're to meet are superior in this example.)

The timetable shows no. 2 was due to arrive at A before you leave, so you check the register to make sure it actually did. If it's not listed as having arrived, you must wait until it does.

From A to the junction at C, you know that if you run against the time of an opposing train to A that you must clear it. If you have a timetable meet with no. 4 at B, you take the siding and wait at B until it arrives. It's single track so there's no way it can pass you without knowing about it.

Once you arrive at C, you're supposed to meet no. 6 there, which leaves the main track and goes up the branch at the junction. But you're running late by the time you get to C. How do you know if no. 6 has arrived and cleared the junction, or you still need to wait? Check the register. If he hasn't checked in, you have to wait until he arrives before continuing further on to D and E.

Likewise, any trains coming off the branch will need to check the register to make sure any trains on the main line that were due have passed, since they would not have seen them while on the branch.

Registers

Registers were mostly located at crew change points or major junctions.

Registers were not at sidings unless it was a station that was a crew change or a junction and had a siding too.  Crew changes are located at major terminals and about 75-150 miles apart during the steam era and 125 and 250 miles apart in the modern eras.

The crew would come on duty, check the register to see what had arrived or departed prior to them coming on duty.  If there was a superior train due or overdue, they would have to wait for it.  After departing the initial terminal,  they would use the timetable to keep track of any trains after that.

At sidings, junctions and stations where there wasn't a register, they would refer to the timetable, train orders and their watches to figure out what superior trains were due or overdue

At junctions where there wasn't a register, the train dispatcher could issue a form V, check of trains, train order, which would read something like ;

Regular trains due  (station/junction) at or before 347 pm have arrived

or ...

Regular trains except No 759 Eng 1022 due (station/junction) at or before 347 pm have arrived

Some railroads also had a spot on the clearance or a special clearance that was a check of trains.  It had verbiage like a form V train order on the clearance.  Instead of a form V, the train would get that part of the clearance filled out.

In addition some railroads allowed trains to register by ticket.  Instead of stopping to register, they would fill out a "ticket" with their train info and the passing time and throw it off at the register station be an open train order office.  Then the operator would transfer the information from the ticket to the train register.

Depending on how far down in the weeds you want to go there are additional exceptions for registers and extra trains, but I won't go into that unless you really want to.  You have to write train orders to force those exceptions to come into play, so the easiest way to avoid dealing with those exceptions is don't write those orders.

Thanks Guys.

I have read a lot about TT&TO but that isn’t the same as experience. I will be keeping it mostly simple as I am modeling a short line. 

Short lines were simpler

Most shortlines didn't have that much traffic, but back in the steam era it wasn't uncommon for them to run a passenger train "into town" in the morning and "back home" in the evening.  They had carded schedules.  Had to.  Otherwise how would the passengers know when to be at the depot?  Freight trains run as extras and stay out of the way of the passenger train.  If two freights are out there give them a meet order.

Another way to handle trains, especially on stub ended lines like many shortlines, is a staff system.  To have authority to occupy the main track you have to have the staff.  No staff, no go.  Union Pacific used staffs on some branchlines into the '80s if I recall correctly.

Scott Chatfield

  "When you leave your

What if no 25 never shows up? Would you just wait there all day then go home? .or would you walk around the aisles til you find it and ask what's up? ........DaveB 

Phantom train

You won't have to wait "forever", schedules are only in effect for twelve hours, so the longest you'd have to wait is 12 hours.

Practical answer is if the train is really late:  

1.  The dispatcher would issue an order to advance you.

2.  If the dispatcher hasn't noticed, then you might ask the dispatcher.  Then go back to #1.

3.  If the dispatcher hasn't noticed, and you are jamming up the yard, then the yardmaster might ask the dispatcher.  Then go back to #1.

4.  Maybe there is something jazzed up up line and the dispatcher has a "good" reason to stab you.  You might have to wait.

One of the last TT&TO session I operated at there was a train with rights over us, but it was wadded up at the station before due to two other trains getting balled up with a worker and train trying to get out of the way of the hot train.  End result was an extensive delay to my train.  However by the time the dispatcher could have copied orders to fix it and got them to all the trains involved, the 15-20 minute real time delay would have been over.

Waiting on #25

Yes, if the dispatcher doesn't care that you ever get to leave, you have to wait.  Trains that are really late generally get "run late" or "wait at....until" orders that let inferior trains move up against their schedule.

Walking around the aisles is frowned upon.  So is "smoking over" to the next siding.

Scott Chatfield

No no. 25

If for some reason no. 25 wasn't running at all that day, you would have received a copy of the order annulling 25's schedule when you got your initial clearance so you'd know not to wait for him. ("No 25 due to leave E [date & time] is annulled E to A")

If the dispatcher knows in advance that 25 is running late, he can issue an order to both your trains to change the meeting location ("No 1 meet No 25 at D instead of C"), or a run-late order to No. 25 ("No 25 run 2 hours late") with copies to everyone else affected (including you).

However remember that the system was based on not necessarily being able to directly contact a train, so orders like this can only be put in play if both trains can have them delivered at a train order station. The dispatcher can't necessarily radio up the train to give orders.

However a stopped train can phone the dispatcher for information - there's a reason why employee's timetables have a section in the back showing the arrangement of lineside telegraph/telephone poles showing which wires are the dispatcher phone. The conductor can clip on a field phone and call in. If an order can still be delivered to no. 25 at a train order station, the dispatcher could in theory issue new orders. If no. 25 has already passed the last TO office and can't be stopped for orders, you'll just have to wait.

Otherwise, yes, you'll just wait until he comes. But in reality if you're waiting the full 12 hours for his schedule to expire, something seriously bad has happened (no 25 is wrecked at the bottom of a canyon), and/or the dispatcher isn't even doing his job at all. A train doesn't get 12 hours late all at once, so you should have orders advancing you along the line to a different meeting place.

Options

This is a case where yes, TT&TO gets complicated.  That order would be correct, but only if the train being delayed was not at origin and already had a meet order.  If its at the initial terminal (the original scenario) or the delayed train is waiting on the schedule time of the late train, the form of order issued would be different.

This option is the opposite of the first option, it will work if the delayed train is at origin or waiting on the schedule time on line, but won't work if there was a previous meet order.

This is the weak spot of TT&TO, the first pass is fairly simple but when things are changed, it gets complicated fast.

Complicated

On the other hand, a lot of the burden in that case falls on the dispatcher to be able to figure out how to create and get out orders - once a train actually has them, the forms are (mostly) fairly simple.*

But yeah, if everything is going more or less to plan, TT&TO is quite simple - you just follow the times on the timetable, and little or no other paperwork is actually required. Train orders are only issued by the dispatcher when the situation requires a change to the published timetable - directing meets at different locations due to late trains, removing trains from the timetable, or adding extra trains. The "TT" part of TT&TO is simple; the "TO" part can introduce complexities and nuances and potentially get into the weeds, if you create certain situations.

And sometimes the simplest approach is to just let the situation play out and not write any orders (even if one guy has to wait for a bit) unless things are going to be seriously divergent from the original timetable, with one delayed train causing a significant knock-down effect on others.

*(So there's different levels to the discussion - how does a train crew need to know to learn TT&TO on a layout; what does a dispatcher need to learn and know, and what does a layout owner/designer need to know in order in order to build a layout for ops, or to add ops to a layout.)

Some form of TWC can be therefore less complex, since the dispatcher just gives incremental authorities to whoever is out there, explicitly directing them how far to go and what track to go on. Crews don't make any decisions at all. On the flip side, it can require a lot more back and forth communication and writing of orders.

Layers, like a parfait

A lot of the complexity isn't on the train crew end, its on the dispatcher end.  As long as the train orders are straight forward, concise and clear, the just have to follow them.  The complicated part about what order to use when to do what the dispatcher wants belongs to the dispatcher.  There are multiple train crews and only one dispatcher.

Part of the problem with discussing train orders is that we tend to get wound up in the dispatcher end of things, discussing things that a train crew doesn't need to worry about.  The train crew doesn't need to worry about rules prohibiting issuing meet orders at an origin station and what the alternatives are.  They will just get one of the alternatives and deal with that.

Layers

Yup.

And that's where the two questions:

"How do I introduce a newbie operator to the system?"

"How do I apply this system to my layout as an owner?"

Are very different discussions.

I took this on a side discussion.

You are trying to introduce newcomers to a seemingly complicated situation. 
 

A smaller layout could be an introduction to the principles of TT&TO on a large layout. You are trying to teach someone how to follow the system of rules. 
 

Thanks Scott for the staff idea.
 

Register check at initial terminal

As a rule, the crew doesn't have to check the register where they go on duty.  The dispatcher and operator issuing their orders do that for them as part of filling out their clearance form.  No clearance, no go.  You don't have to have a train order to run your train in TT&TO, but you do have to have a clearance form.

In my experience, TT&TO works best on layouts with slow or no fast clocks.  3:1 or less, and preferably less.  Any fast clock ratio over 3:1 just turns the slightest actual delay into a major delay.  And major delays are just an absolute migraine headache in TT&TO on our typically short layouts.

Another detail is most lines with moderate to heavy traffic controlled by TT&TO tried to only run true extras in one direction.  Sections would be used in the other direction.  In fact, the use of sections was a lot more common than people realize and they are very underused on layouts operating with TT&TO.

Scott Chatfield

Fast Clock

I'm not sure I really agree... clock ratio really isn't relevant. A "fast" clock doesn't make time actually go faster or slower. It's akin to measuring in centimeters instead of inches. Your operation takes the time it takes, and your schedule should allow for the actual time it's expected to take.

Any actual delay is the same whatever clock you're using, whether it's 5 real-minutes or 15 "fast"-minutes. It doesn't actually change anything about how long it takes to do anything.

A fast clock is purely a cosmetic conceit.

Dispatcher = Coach?

Dear Dave, Chris, TT/TO luminaries,

For those of us who are desperately trying to overcome our own flight-or-fight response, and stay with the conversation, I think the "train crew VS dispatcher Roles" point is important in terms of breaking thru this "start 'em slow, get 'em involved" current-issue.

Is it to simplistic to say:

"train crew is to TT/TO RRing,

as Players are to Football game,

TT/TO Dispatcher is to RRing

as Coach is to Football game"?

I mean, it kinda looks like it...

- Coach has the Core long-view strategy/goal, the "in the moment" situational overview, and the "what each player is capable of" sets of interacting knowledge, 

and issues orders to the respective/relevant team players in order to (hopefully) work around/thru "whatever variables today will throw at us", with the aim to executing (as near as possible) the Long-view strategy.

From a model RRing perspective, I therefore see the "Dispatcher" role on a layout as being the "Rockstar Coach" position, with the weight of responsibility to match.... 

...and they don't get to run a train.... 

...which is exactly the situation the vast majority of model RRers _don't_ want to find themselves in...

(Max effort/responsibility, Min "seat time" driving a train")

Sooooo, if the above holds true, I see two possibilities.

1- create a TT/TO system that does not require a human Dispatcher (IE automate the bit that no-one wants to do, and involves soon much simultaneous-equation data and rule/algorithm assessment as to be deemed "scary")

And/or

2- write a "lightweight TT/TO how-to" article from the perspective of/as a primer for the train-crew "role" in the game IE the Role that both "Newcomer-to-ops" and "common Max Seat-time-wanted" modellers are much more likely to relate to, and "want to do/be"...

(once said players....oops, I mean "train crew", get enough Seat-time to start to genuinely wonder "where does those TOs that we get occasionally come from? How does the Dispatcher know where #25 is? How did the DS get that wise about the whole overview situation, and our traincrew-role in it?", then maybe they are ready to "level up" their TT/TO game and "step behind the curtain"?)

Happy Modelling, 

Aiming to "know the audience" and pitch the level of informative accordingly, 

Prof Klyzlr

Unwanted position?

Actually there's enough guys out there that are glad to take on the challenge of the more strategic/coordinator positions like dispatchers and yardmasters, even though they're "desk jobs". (My usual spot at club operating sessions is the yard office.) But you definitely need an experienced guy in those positions.

Departure

Actually the rules require them to do that.

UCOR 1968 Rule 83a (Rule 83 is train registers)… A train must not leave its initial station on any subdivision, .. or register station,.... until it has ascertained that all superior trains due have arrived and left on single track....

This information must be ascertained in one of the following five ways:

1. By checking the time table and  train register.
2. By use of the time table and train order form V.
3. By use of the timetable and register check on prescribed form filled out by the conductor.
4. By proper identification.
5. In ABS territory only by verbal information from the train dispatcher.

Nowhere in there does it say that the receipt of a clearance is evidence that all superior trains have arrived, UNLESS the clearance is one of those (not used in the UCOR) that has a check of trains on the clearance (such as the B&O).  On the old MP the standard was to have the train cleared before the crew came on duty so they orders would be ready for them and the train would not be delayed waiting on orders.

ONLY if the clearance has that provision.  Many railroads did not.  Its not the dispatcher or the operator's job to determine where the superior trains are, its the train crew's job.

Correct, but if its a register station, its the crew's job to figure out what's due.

Dispatching

My dear Professor, you are quite wrong about "nobody wants to dispatch, they only want to run trains."  In my experience, most layouts that need a dispatcher have no problem finding someone to be dispatcher, if they have a regular crew.

It's when _all_ the operators are new to the layout that you might have a problem filling the dispatcher's job.  Partly because of not knowing the layout and partly because you do want to see the whole layout if you're a first time visitor.  Been there done that.

In fact, I have a story to share about that.  One such fine day I found myself at a layout well known to operating junkies but not to the general model railroading public because scenery was not a priority to the owner.  In fact, before our arrival, the owner had covered most of the mountains with a fresh coat of plaster.  No paint or ground cover though, just bare plaster.  You had to wear shades in the train room.

So when it came time "choose up sides" so to speak, nobody volunteered to be dispatcher.  I made the mistake of saying I'd do it if no one else wanted to.  Boom, the crowd parted, and I found my butt in the dispatcher's chair.  Now keep in mind I am a qualified dispatcher, so it wasn't a disaster in the making.  Unfortunately not all of the other visitors were quite as well versed in TT&TO, or basic reading comprehension for that matter....

About half way through the session we had to run a coal train up a branch.  I knew another train would be going up there later so I gave this train an order to run extra the length of the branch, Alpha to Dora or whatever.  (I don't recall the town names now.  It was 24  years ago.)  When it came time to run the second train I cut him an order to do the same thing.  For all I knew the first train was still working the mines at Dora.  A few minutes later I get a call from the second train saying "you lapped us up!  There's a headlight coming at me."  No, I didn't lap them up, that is, give two extras the authority to occupy the same piece of track at the same time.  The first extra thought that "run extra Alpha to Dora" meant he could run from Alpha to Dora _and_ return to Alpha without so much as giving me an O.S. that he was leaving Dora.  Everybody in the room heard me explain the error in his thinking, no phones or radios needed.....

As they say, "reading is fundamental."

Scott Chatfield

I think the toughest thing to

I think the toughest thing to overcome with TT/TO and newcomers is the compression of time. Using fast clocks makes the model railroad more realistic, but makes TT/TO more challenging, and even discouraging. The real world of railroading does not function with 1:3, 1:4 or 1:6 fast clocks. (Could say tongue in cheek that sometimes it seems like 2:1 etc.) So for newcomers and even steady pros operating on a TT/TO layout, they are being asked to perform cognitive processes out of sync to real life. Think about it. A train crew in the real world might have taken 15 minutes to brief about a Form 31 order just signed for. And that's with experience railroaders with previous experience over the subdivision. A newcomer on a TT/TO model railroad is being asked to assimilate, understand and act correctly on that Form 31 in say 3-4 minutes, sometimes by themselves while managing a stack of waybills too. That's stressful, and that's not fun for many people. The time it takes the typical brain to process new information doesn't compress to fast clocks. That's a fact and it's something I've never seen addressed. Maybe I missed the memo.