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From: Daniel McFadden dan DOT mcfadden AT gmail DOT com
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2016 15:46:45 -0400
Subject: Re: (erielack) Operational questions on the EL
"DenvilleTower-JimmyMorris-OCT1963.jpg" - image/jpeg, 2628x1877 (24bit)

Paul,

Having spent an unconscionable amount of time in the Denville Tower while a student at Drew in the early sixties, I will give my non-railroader observations. This will leave most of your detailed questions unanswered but might give some flavor for an earlier period.

First and fore most as you surmised, there were few surprises if any for a towerman. Everyone was on the same page and that includes towermen, train crews, and dispatchers. The fan friendly Denville Towerman I knew was Jimmy Morris and he knew well in advance what was in store for the coming hours. So for example Jimmy might relate that BH-8 is going to make Greendell to pass Number 5, this maybe two hours before the train would make Denville. With the road crews having radio, everyone knew what they needed to know. The one exception on the surprise factor might have been the local drills. It is not clear to me that Jimmy knew the Boonton Drill was coming west back to Port Morris.

The coordination between crews and Towerman could be impressive at time. One example burned into my memory is BH-8 and Number 5 converging on Denville within minutes and of course with conflicting routes. An additional complication was a westbound MU that was scheduled through Denville just ahead of Number 5. On several occasions, Jimmy let BH-8 come east between the MU and Number 5. He would use the radio to let the crews know exactly what he was up to, BH-8 for the purpose of being sure they were on their toes, Number 5 possibly to ask them not to set a speed record coming west. After radioing the crews on one occasion, the conductor on the MU had a lengthy station stop talking to a customer on the platform. The MU conductor of course was the one person who was not clued in not having radio. That might have been the only time I saw Jimmy’s blood pressure go up a bit. But with the MU cleared, he lined up for BH-8 and was again on the radio to let the crew know. With the tower windows open, almost immediately you could hear sound come across Estling Lake from the accelerating freight. Finally, with BH-8 through and Number 5 already on the bell, he was free to line up Number 5 and get back on the radio to let them know they had the road. To illustrate how tight this was, here is an example from Friday August 4, 1961, with the times as Jimmy recorded them:

West bound MU 649 at 8:49
BH-8 at 8:53 (with 6014-6022-6012-6011 and 75 cars)
Number 5 at 8:56 (with 811-823-822 and 15 cars)

This was all pretty interesting for this teenager. Jimmy did this orchestration on his own but I suspect a more junior man might have not had that leeway.

Another interesting aspect of operations was the dual direction possibilities for traffic between Denville and Dover. That involved two towermen, some strange whistles in the tower, with precise description best left to someone who knows more than I.

I do wish I had observed the tower operation with more attention to detail, but I do seem to remember that trains were not lined up until they hit the bell. It is also the case that trains were usually not OS’ed immediately – it was more of a batch operation. Paul – long ago I gave you several audio clips from those days, one with the Dover Towerman and the other with Jimmy. I cannot find those links you created and it might be interesting now to repost them.

A picture of Jimmy at work is attached (which may well have also been posted long ago).

Dan



On 10/12/16, 10:30 AM, "Paul R. Tupaczewski" wrote:

Hi folks,

I'm hoping some "operational experts" on the actual EL can answer a couple of questions I have...

As I'm a bit too young to have hung out in an EL tower, I'm not sure of the mechanisms involved here. I'll frame my questions around
the New York Division, but I assume these apply to ANY EL division...

When a train is approaching the tower (I assume when it hits the approach circuit for the home signal?), it fires off a bell in the
tower to alert the towerman. I assume the towerman is not completely unaware of this train's approach - but since most EL freights
were "extras", they can't rely on a timetable to determine what train is approaching. Does the dispatcher call the towerman ahead of
time to alert them of what train(s) they should be expecting? And at what point would they contact them?

Using my beloved Boonton Line in 1975 as an example: For a westbound freight out of Croxton, the dispatcher would tell the
yardmaster the freight has clearance to leave and "follow the signals."

* Did the dispatcher or (as I seem to remember hearing) the yardmaster contact "DB" Tower to alert them that a train is heading
their way out of the yard?

After the train gets past DB Interlocking, the train is running on ABS signals to Great Notch where the train will hit TCS
territory.

* Does the DB Towerman "OS" the train to the dispatcher?
* I assume the dispatcher gets a bell before the train hits its TCS panel?
* Where would the train be "OS'ed" in the ABS area? Only at interlockings?

The train reaches the end of TCS just prior to Denville. Now the dispatcher needs to "hand off" the train to the tower.

* Does the dispatcher call the Denville towerman to tell them "Train XYZ" is approaching?

The bell rings at Denville tower, the towerman lines the train up, and it flies down the Morris & Essex towards Dover.

* Does the Denville towerman OS the train back to the dispatcher?
* Does the Denville towerman call the Dover towerman and inform him of the approaching train?

The train approaches Dover. The bell goes off, and the towerman lines the train through.

* Does Dover OS the train back to the dispatcher?
* Does the Dover towerman call the Port Morris towerman to inform them of the approaching train?

The train approaches Port Morris, the last interlocking tower in NJ on the DL&W side. The operator lines up the train for the
Cut-Off

* Does the Port Morris towerman OS the train to the dispatcher?
* The train will now be heading into the Scranton Division. How does the handoff take place? Does the Port Morris tower operator
inform the East Stroudsburg towerman of the train? How does the Scranton dispatcher get informed of the train entering his
territory?



OK, I think that's enough for this round. :)

Thanks in advance,

- Paul



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