MBCR Dispatcher was Thinking This Morning

Train 804 from Providence had a mechanical this morning prior to Mansfield. A swift-thinking dispatcher asked 831 to do a quick turn at Mansfield, and pick up 804's passengers and run on 804's schedule inbound (Sharon, 128, then BBY and BOS). Then the 804 got moving, and took up 832's schedule from Mansfield inbound (all local stops). This creative thinking minimized the impact on passengers; it was only 804's pax from Providence to Attleboro who ended up being 30 minutes late. Nice work!

it was really the Amtrak dispatcher, not the MBCR

Ah, of course you're right! I guess with ten fewer roundtrips (the Acelas) to worry about, they have some time on their hands. Does Amtrak consult with MBCR in such situations? Or do they just try to make the railroad work on their own?

Diverging Route wrote:Does Amtrak consult with MBCR in such situations? Or do they just try to make the railroad work on their own?

The decision probably came from the Amtrak Boston Chief Dispatcher as well as the MBCR Chief. Yes, it's Amtrak's turf, so they tend to make the call in most cases.......... FYI: The MBCR dispatchers are still in the same room at South Station with the Amtrak dispatchers.

FYI: The MBCR dispatchers are still in the same room at South Station with the Amtrak dispatchers...

CSX - The Southside MBCR dispatchers are still at CETC...The North boys (and girls) are at Cobblehill!!!!

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I meant CETC Dave, as we were discussing a south-side operation. I suppose I should have worded it that way though, sorry.

Are boston east/west in the same office?

To add to the "who makes the call" discussion, the mbcr chief has the final word because even though amtrak controlls the territory, the MBTA still owns the equipment.

For example, flatspots are founed on a train from worcester to boston. The train terminates in framingham and reverses into nevins yard. passengers are transferred to the next framingham train, and the NA dispatcher tells the crew to tie down in nevins and take the next train in. They call the MBCR chief to confirm this (its againts MBCR rules to tie down and leave your equipment), and the chief and NA discuss the situation. Final call is for the crew to wait on their train for management to come out and make the call on what to do.

(This has occured to P524 twice in the past year)

Except that they most likely would put it on the 4th Iron, not ine Nevins yard.

CSX Conductor, If i say a train was put in nevans yard, it was not put on the 4th iron. If i didnt know where it went, i would not have said where it went. The train was put in nevans 3, to be more specific.

One of the two times this happened they were put on the 4th iron, but on the instance i was speaking of they were not.

Uh-oh, that's notgood then, because according to the CSX Timetable, Nevins 3 and Nevins 6 are FRA Excepted Track.

It's not a big deal, they just sat there waiting for management. They never left it and nothing happened to it.