Operation Observations Alabama East End / Georgia Division

[NSSpike]

The NS Alabama Birmingham East End continues to struggle with "Auto-Router" issues. In the mornings it seams to be a bigger issue due to Amtrak 19's departure out of Atlanta. Just this morning it routed NS 24E (DALLAS, TX (KCS IDAAT2) - ATLANTA, GA) through the siding at Carroll/Winston for a meet and Amtrak 19 hadn't even left Peachtree Station as it was running 38 minutes behind. The dispatcher let it be known to the crew her feeling on this system and proceeded to tell them to head in to Ben Hill for Amtrak. Given the number of early morning east bounders it gets rather interesting listing to the dispatchers frustrations. Add to this the traffic within the Georgia Division from Austell to Inman and the East End has a big handy cap if the Inman dispatcher can't or doesn't want to take traffic off the east end. Since I am able to pick up several Atlanta based dispatchers including Greenville,  I have yet to hear any of them refer to the "Auto-Router" so I am not sure Atlanta Division is even using it? I would be interested if anyone knows differently?

Speaking of Amtrak last nights #20 was running 2 ½ hours late into Atlanta. A check of status table indicated delays were caused somewhere between Meridian Mississippi and Tuscaloosa Alabama. Having looked before, this seams to be a common problem area?  The Amtrak web site allows you to review on time performance by train ID, the current month and year to date and it is a sad, very sad picture. I can only imagine just what affect PTC will have on this operation.

On another area of late, several west bound intermodal trains have been contacted by OSS due to required corrections to their load consist paperwork. And we are not just talking about car positions but more so container positions. So much so, that the crew asks that OSS forward new paperwork, depending on where they are located, to either the Douglasville or Bremen stations. One conversation recently took up the better part of 20 minutes advising of all the corrections and several were hazardous material.  Ten minutes in I locked out channel 2 as I was missing out on too much road channel activity.

Finally, I haven't heard or are aware of any re-routed west bound Scherer empty coal drags over the East End of late so the Georgia Division must be running well and have plenty of crews available.

[lwjabo]

I have been told the line from Birmingham to Meridian was double track under AGS and when Southern took control the double track was removed by order of Bill Brosnan. There was talk when Whitaker Yard was built for them to build a spur over the swamp to the Alabama Div. If they did it would be a lot of bridges. The Atlanta side when I retired almost 9 years ago should be double track to Hiram and Dallas. I'm also told the Austell to Birmingham line has many curves with speed restrictions. I understand the line was built 150 years ago but seems someone should have thought about upgrading the line. Same for the Atlanta North. It's amazing how a strait stretch will have curves in it. Shannon south is that way. I can understand a car reducing to 50mph saving fuel but don't see how it would work for a train? Any thoughts?

[blacksheep]

Well I have a couple of thoughts.

I've looked up some info on a wreck that happened a couple of miles from the house here between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. Back in the early 1950's a north bound passenger train ran through the switch at the passing siding onto the single track and stopped. The fireman ran to the call box but it was to late. A south bound passenger train head ended them and killed a lot of folks.The right of way is wide over here but it was single track about 1953.

Fuel savings can add up quick. If one man can make a run and save a couple hundred gallons of fuel that's not much but if all crews could save a couple hundred a day that would add up. Some where there is a bean counter in a dark office waiting for a chance to make a name for himself. When he screams " fuel costs are to high" they will look for ways to say money. They may go to cuttin off folks.

There was talk on here a couple years ago about unit trains not being allowed to run over notch 6 without the OK from a dispatcher. I don't know how that worked out, haven't heard anything else about it