FV&N DISPATCHING OFFICE

First-Time Dispatcher Guide

A practical first-call manual for the person sitting at Flagstaff Dispatcher. Your job is not to drive trains. Your job is to keep the railroad understandable, protected, and moving.

Protect the main line

Know which trains may occupy controlled track, where their authority ends, and what must stay clear.

Package the work

Turn the superintendent's plan and Railroader car work into clear train jobs crews can actually execute.

Maintain the picture

Keep radio reports, the Dispatcher Desk, and the physical railroad telling the same story.

BEFORE THE FIRST MOVE

Take the desk methodically

Five quiet minutes here saves thirty noisy minutes later.

✓

Read the session packet and active bulletins.Know the intended trains, special conditions, and any railroad-wide restriction before you start issuing instructions.

✓

Join Discord voice and identify yourself as Flagstaff Dispatcher.Active engineers, the dispatcher, and the yardmaster should be reachable by voice during the session.

✓

Check telemetry health.Green data is useful. Stale or unavailable telemetry means radio reports and visual confirmation become your operating picture.

✓

Review the opening snapshot.Look for open waybills, equipment already out of place, derailed equipment, and the physical state the session started with.

✓

Confirm the crew board.Know which operator belongs to each job before assigning power or releasing a train packet.

✓

Talk to Flagstaff Yardmaster.The yardmaster owns the yard workflow. Coordinate anything that will foul or enter the main line.

FIRST TEN MINUTES

From crew call to moving railroad

Report to the desk

Open the published session packet, join the operating voice channel, and answer as Flagstaff Dispatcher.

Read the railroad

Review bulletins, the opening railroad snapshot, telemetry health, open waybills, planned jobs, and anything already abnormal.

Verify the crew

Know who is engineer, yardmaster, and other operating crew before releasing work. Confirm any qualification warning with the superintendent.

Build job packets

Attach the right car work to each planned train, check its route and special instructions, then assign suitable power.

Release deliberately

Send the finished job to the Crew Tablet only after the crew and power are ready. Releasing a packet does not itself grant mainline authority.

Start the railroad

Issue movement authority by radio and record the same authority at the Dispatcher Desk. Keep the board matching what crews were actually told.

JOB RELEASE

Build the packet before you call the train

Plan first, movement second.

1Choose the job

Start from the predefined session train whenever possible. Create an extra only when the operating plan actually needs one.

2Attach car work

Assign pickups, deliveries, and transfers to the job. Railroader tells you the physical facts. You decide which train handles the work.

3Check the route

Make sure the route, customer sequence, and special instructions make sense with the current railroad.

4Assign power

Consider locomotive condition, fuel, water, physical location, and whether the power fits the work.

5Send to Crew Tablet

Release the completed packet to the assigned operator. The engineer now has the train plan, but still needs authority for controlled movement.

AUTHORITY

The part that must never become casual

The dispatcher controls the FV&N main line. Do not let a train enter controlled track without clear authority.

Issue authority over the radio first-class: identify the train, state the limits, state any restriction, receive a complete readback, and correct any error before movement.

The website records authority. It does not replace the spoken radio exchange.

When replacing or releasing authority, make the change clear to the crew before relying on the screen.

If the railroad picture is uncertain, stop movement, establish where everyone actually is, then rebuild the plan.

Important

Railroader controls the physical train. The FV&N website records the operating authority. Discord voice is where the dispatcher and crew communicate that authority. All three should agree before movement begins.

RADIO DESK

Sound boring on purpose

Clear beats clever every time.

CREW CALLS“FV-1 to Flagstaff Dispatcher.”

“Flagstaff Dispatcher, go ahead FV-1.”

AUTHORITY“FV-1, authority Flagstaff to Coconino.”

Add the specific limit or restriction needed, then require the engineer to read it back completely.

HOLD“FV-1, hold your position at Coconino.”

Say why when useful, but never bury the actual instruction inside a paragraph of chatter.

RELEASE“FV-1 clear of authority limits.”

Confirm the train is physically clear before releasing or reusing the track.

Open full Radio Guide Operating Rules Trackside-sign guide

WHEN THE PLAN CHANGES

Meets, delays, and stale data

MEETS

Protect the conflict first

Choose the hold point before either train reaches the conflict. Tell both crews what matters to them. Never depend on both engineers independently guessing the meet.

YARD FOULING

Coordinate with the yardmaster

Flagstaff Yardmaster manages the switching plan inside the yard. Mainline fouling or departures still need coordination with Flagstaff Dispatcher.

STALE TELEMETRY

Go back to radio

If the telemetry banner turns stale, freeze your assumptions. Ask crews for position reports and treat the last screen position as historical until fresh data returns.

CAR WORK & HANDOFFS

Keep every unfinished car accounted for

REMOVE AN ASSIGNMENT

A dispatcher changes who handles the car

At the Dispatcher Desk, expand an unfinished car and open Remove car from assignment. Enter the Dispatcher reason, confirm coordination with the crew, then choose Return car to unassigned work.

The game waybill stays open. The crew must report its actual location and agree who takes responsibility before the packet changes. Completed work and staged handoffs retain their history; use the staged backlog for accepted deferrals.

INDUSTRY FULL

Stage the car, then request acceptance

Ask dispatch for an available holding track. Move the car there in Railroader, secure it, and keep clearance points clear. In the Crew Tablet, expand the car and open Industry full — defer delivery. Enter the exact staging track and reason, confirm securement, and choose Report staged car.

Awaiting acceptance still belongs to the crew. A request alone does not resolve the move or complete the game waybill.

DISPATCHER ACCEPTANCE

Transfer responsibility explicitly

In Awaiting industry space, verify the physical location and securement, choose Accept staged car, enter a dispatcher note, confirm the check, and choose Save dispatcher decision.

Accepted work is deferred for the original crew and remains in the backlog. Rejected requests remain the crew’s responsibility.

Read dispatcher changes

The Crew Tablet shows Car added, Car removed, and Instructions changed notices. Read each change, review the current packet, then choose Acknowledge change. The notice remains unread until the assigned crew acknowledges it, and dispatch can see its status. Acknowledgment does not issue movement authority.

Review the session debrief

At session closeout, review completed moves, manually recorded completions, deferred deliveries, unresolved incidents, and outstanding work. Closing the session saves that record. The FV&N operating report and the closed rehearsal dispatcher board retain the saved debrief even after later uploads.

Final delivery

When space opens, select a released Final delivery job and choose Assign final delivery. The new packet starts at the recorded staging location and carries the original destination, staging report, and dispatcher instructions. Check the car and route before moving.

Close out job

When all assigned waybills are complete or dispatcher-accepted deferrals, the Crew Tablet’s Close out job section becomes available. Follow tie-up instructions, stop and secure the train, report clear of authority, enter the Tie-up location and required report, confirm the physical checks, and choose Close out job. Pending acceptance still blocks closeout.

Find completed work

The tablet opens on Remaining. Use Completed, Deferred, or All moves to review resolved work. A closed job does not erase the dispatcher’s staged-car backlog. Closing a job is separate from the superintendent closing the session.

Plan industry room

Consult the customer’s Capacity & staging plan. Design targets and proposed holding tracks require confirmation. Verified capacity applies to the recorded car size and inspected tracks; current room still depends on what is physically there. Stale or partial map counts cannot establish an available spot.

Car-work quick reference Capacity & staging book

COMMON FIRST-CALL TRAPS

Things that make the railroad unravel

Releasing a job and assuming that equals movement authority.

It does not. Job release gives the crew work. Authority governs controlled movement.

Watching the screen instead of listening to the railroad.

Telemetry helps build the picture, but the crew's current radio report wins when the connector is stale or uncertain.

Trying to pre-plan every move.

Build enough structure to keep conflicts controlled, then adapt as switching time and customer work unfold.

Forgetting the yardmaster relationship.

A good dispatcher does not micromanage Flagstaff Yard. A good yardmaster does not foul the main without coordination.

TIE-UP

Leave a clean railroad

Before closeout, verify trains are tied down, active authority is released, important incidents are recorded, completed work matches Railroader, and the superintendent has the notes needed for the permanent session report.

Open Dispatcher Desk Qualification Center