NS Pocahontas District: Dispatchers & Freqs.

[RadioDitch]

Greetings all:

I know countless things have changed over the years, and I was hoping someone could please verify this is correct for the Norfolk Southern Pocahontas District between Williamson, WV and Bluefield, WV, and the associated desks.

Kenova Dispatcher
Star Yard, WV to Delorme, WV (exclusive): 76/76 - 161.250MHz

Pocahontas (Pokey) Dispatcher
Delorme, WV (inclusive) to RD (Bluefield), WV (inclusive): 36 / 36 - 160.650MHz
Buchanan Branch: 72/72 - 161.190MHz

New River Dispatcher
Gilbert Branch: 22/22 - 160.440MHz

Any corrections or adjustments? Thanks, and appreciate you all!

 

[wa8pyr]

Greetings all:

I know countless things have changed over the years, and I was hoping someone could please verify this is correct for the Norfolk Southern Pocahontas District between Williamson, WV and Bluefield, WV, and the associated desks.

Kenova Dispatcher
Star Yard, WV to Delorme, WV (exclusive): 76/76 - 161.250MHz

Pocahontas (Pokey) Dispatcher
Delorme, WV (inclusive) to RD (Bluefield), WV (inclusive): 36 / 36 - 160.650MHz
Buchanan Branch: 72/72 - 161.190MHz

New River Dispatcher
Gilbert Branch: 22/22 - 160.440MHz

Any corrections or adjustments? Thanks, and appreciate you all!

Star Yard is in Portsmouth OH, not WV.

The Kenova Dispatcher actually covers up to CP Craft (east end of Rickenbacker Intermodal Yard) on the Columbus District, using 161.190 from CP Star Yard to CP Craft.

 

[RadioDitch]

Star Yard is in Portsmouth OH, not WV.

The Kenova Dispatcher actually covers up to CP Craft (east end of Rickenbacker Intermodal Yard) on the Columbus District, using 161.190 from CP Star Yard to CP Craft.

Awesome, thanks Tom. I know they combined a bunch of desks when they mothballed the east end of the Princeton-Deepwater and moved everbody to Atlanta, and there aren't may resources for what changed between Ohio and Bluefield.

 

[wa8pyr]

Awesome, thanks Tom. I know they combined a bunch of desks when they mothballed the east end of the Princeton-Deepwater and moved everbody to Atlanta, and there aren't may resources for what changed between Ohio and Bluefield.

Not many resources anywhere, for any of the desks. Since NS started getting away from the old Southern radio scheme in the former Southern area, and finally decided that maybe they needed dispatcher channels separate from the road channels for everybody (they do; 161.190 is sometimes hopelessly clogged in the Columbus area with both the Kenova and Sandusky desks using it), I've been compiling a list of the new road channels and dispatcher channels and combining that with lists of dispatcher territories. I get the impression that most people are keeping the info on which desk where, and radio channels, to themselves for some reason.

As an example of the congestion, the maintenance desk was working with 28N the other day on a hot wheel alarm. Over a period of nearly two hours, the maintenance desk dispatcher was bloviating endlessly on the road channel, keeping others from using it. Had he moved off to the Kenova dispatcher channel (which we still haven't confirmed), it would have made life so much easier that day. The PTC desk isn't much better.

It would be easier with relatively recent employee timetables, but since NS discontinued printed timetables, that source has dried up.

 

[RadioDitch]

It would be easier with relatively recent employee timetables, but since NS discontinued printed timetables, that source has dried up.

Not just that, but they divided the electronic timetables up into modules by creating subdivisions of divisions to compartmentalize information. An example would be the Pittsburgh Line between Harrisburg and Altoona, which is now the Pittsburgh Line of the Harrisburg Subdivision of the Keystone Division. Which would be a whole separate file from the Allentown Subdivision of the Keystone Division with the Lehigh Line, Cement Secondary, etc, etc. Guess the KISS method is dead.

I did manage to get a hold of somewhere who gave me some answers, so feel free to add this to your notes. Thanks to Mr. Mike Sullivan on Facebook!

Kenova Dispatcher on 76/76
Kenova District: Star Yard, OH to Prichard Street (Williamson), WV
Pocahontas District: Prichard Street (Williamson), WV to Delorme, WV

Pocahontas Dispatcher (Poca Dispatcher on the radio) on 36/36
Pocahontas District: Delorme, WV (inclusive) to RD (Bluefield), WV
Delorme Branch, Tug Fork Branch, Sand Lick Branch, South Fork Branch, and Gilbert Branch in their entirety.
Buchanan Branch from Devon/Ought-One to Woodman D0.7
(Alma, Mate Creek, and Lick Fork Branches are physically gone.)

Mon Valley Dispatcher on 72/72
Buchanan Branch: Woodman D0.7, KY to CONSOL, VA
Levisa Branch and Dismal Creek Branch in their entirety.

East Tennessee Dispatcher on 92/92
Clinch Valley District, Dry Fork Branch, and Jacobs Fork Branch in their entirety.

West Virginia, Kentucky, and Virginia databases need an update. Just trying to figure out the best way to do that without confusing the hell out of any non-railfan admins.

 

[wa8pyr]

Not just that, but they divided the electronic timetables up into modules by creating subdivisions of divisions to compartmentalize information. An example would be the Pittsburgh Line between Harrisburg and Altoona, which is now the Pittsburgh Line of the Harrisburg Subdivision of the Keystone Division. Which would be a whole separate file from the Allentown Subdivision of the Keystone Division with the Lehigh Line, Cement Secondary, etc, etc. Guess the KISS method is dead.

I did manage to get a hold of somewhere who gave me some answers, so feel free to add this to your notes. Thanks to Mr. Mike Sullivan on Facebook!

Kenova Dispatcher on 76/76
Kenova District: Star Yard, OH to Prichard Street (Williamson), WV
Pocahontas District: Prichard Street (Williamson), WV to Delorme, WV

Pocahontas Dispatcher (Poca Dispatcher on the radio) on 36/36
Pocahontas District: Delorme, WV (inclusive) to RD (Bluefield), WV
Delorme Branch, Tug Fork Branch, Sand Lick Branch, South Fork Branch, and Gilbert Branch in their entirety.
Buchanan Branch from Devon/Ought-One to Woodman D0.7
(Alma, Mate Creek, and Lick Fork Branches are physically gone.)

Mon Valley Dispatcher on 72/72
Buchanan Branch: Woodman D0.7, KY to CONSOL, VA
Levisa Branch and Dismal Creek Branch in their entirety.

East Tennessee Dispatcher on 92/92
Clinch Valley District, Dry Fork Branch, and Jacobs Fork Branch in their entirety.

West Virginia, Kentucky, and Virginia databases need an update. Just trying to figure out the best way to do that without confusing the hell out of any non-railfan admins.

If you let me know what the changes are (besides the above) I can change it for you; working on the rail databases is my personal hobby horse (apart from managing the overall picture).

 

[iceman977th]

If you let me know what the changes are (besides the above) I can change it for you; working on the rail databases is my personal hobby horse (apart from managing the overall picture).

I just sent you a submission to correct the NS frequencies. CSX and KNWA looked correct but NS needed updating

Mike