August Dispatcher’s Report
John A. Nawn, Chief Dispatcher
Our HO scale August operations session was conducted on Saturday, August 12th. The session started slightly after Noon due to an intermittent electrical problem in Parkersburg High Yard. Once started, the session lasted 4 hours. There were 19 operators present including the Superintendent, the Dispatcher, the Parkersburg High yardmaster (PH), the Parkersburg Low Yardmaster, and Chillicothe yardmaster (CH). This left 3 operators for the Ohio River division, 1 operator on the Weiland and Port Charles and 10 mainline operators. We welcomed three first timers on the mainline this session, with operations conducted by 4 two-man crews, engineer & conductor, and two single operators.
For the fourth month in row, we again started at the top of the schedule. The electrical issue was
traced to a blown reverser that precluded the use of the east leg of Parkersburg High yard. This meant that all outgoing eastbound trains were required to back out of Parkersburg onto the mainline on the west leg of the wye and then proceed east. Likewise, all westbound trains into Parkersburg had to pull past the west leg of the wye and back into the yard. Plans were put in place to replace the failed equipment before the next session.
Despite the challenges, 43 trains were dispatched on the mainline, 23 westbound and 20 eastbound with 519 cars moved between Grafton, WV, and Cincinnati, OH, including the Portsmouth sub. 140 cars were moved on the Ohio River Subdivision, with 7 trains containing 57 cars moved on the W&PC. This gave us a grand total of 719 cars moved during the session; once again, the most cars moved in any session so far this year. Four trains were annulled. No Form 19s were issued, and no crews died on the law.
We will again be starting at the top of the schedule for our September session. As the railroad has been running well, the fun factor continues to escalate, so why not join us. Our September session will be Saturday, September 16th. This will be the next to last session of the year as we focus on the Open House season after our October session. All are welcome. I hope to see all our past operators again and, if you have not joined us yet, come out and join the fun! All scales, gauges, interests are welcome.