LIRR train orders..........

....... probably made obsolete by that new IBM card system computer complete with tape backups. Welcome to the 80's!.

Welcome to the 20th Century

Next week we'll tell them what a "mouse" is.

Mice

Wreaths from IBM punch cards.

I am remember taking old IBM punch cards from my college courses and making gold painted wreaths for Christmas.  That is all they were good for after the program ran.  I know,  totally off topic. 

Den

South Shore

The Chicago,South Shore and South Bend RR used TT&TO until 2010, if you're looking for another railroad that used TT&TO more recently...

Train Orders

Wow,

  Train Orders were replaced about 20 years ago by Track Warrants.  To be quite honest, those IBM card computer systems were not used for train operation.  They did billing and printed car lists.  And back in the 50's railroads started using IBM 'Grey Iron' card systems(reproducers/sorters/etc..) for Yard Office activity.  By the 80's, most of the railroads had gone to 'Key to Disk' entry via 3270 type CRT screens.  I was an IBM Customer Engineer back then, and remember the Soo Line requesting service on an old 557 - They actually wanted me over there for the party to celebrate the last of the old card units being retired!  I used to retrieve the smaller 5496 'round' card 'chads' for making flocking for HO trees(long before Woodland Scenics).

  TT&TO operation sort of came to an end as station operators were replaced with '800' numbers for ordering a freight car.  Without an operator, making meets on single track usually became a rather long process, and many time a train would not be released from a division point unit another train arrived(C&NW's old Huron line).  After early experiments with 'Radio' train orders, the Track Warrant system came into being.  One of the reasons this took so long to happen was the lack of radios on all trains, and the poor radio reception in many areas.  As the cost of the radio systems(including repeater towers) dropped, the advantages of the Track Warrant system became apparent.  It's hard to believe that LI was still using train orders, but then again it is a government owned operation.  I am surprized that the FRA was not pushing them to update...

Jim

Time Table Authority

For a commuter railroad, it would make sense to use timetable authority, with train orders to move things if the time table blew up.  For day-to-day operations, the dispatcher would only have to issue clearance cards, and everything else would follow the time table.

Did the LIRR have Automatic Block Signals (ABS)?  ABS does not convey authority, but would provide safety when used with Time Table authority.

Interesting question about why LIRR stayed with train orders so long.  Perhaps they did not have CTC? 

Entering Dark Territory

From reading about LIRR operations, their main line is Automatic Train Control (ATC) which was required after the Newark Bay disaster of 1958.  This combines features of Cab Signals with Automatic Train Stop (ATS).  Several branches of LIRR are not signaled, "Dark Territory".  This dark territory was operated with train orders and timetable authority.  Timetable authority would be easier to dispatch, rather than having to issue and clear track warrants.

It is all something to think about when selecting model railroad operations and controls.