Modern railroad dispatching systems and movement controls have evolved by trial and error into a two-tier system of centralized dispatching and trackside signaling.
But while the physical means of controlling traffic converged on a few types of lineside signal equipment – semaphores, position-lights, searchlights, etc. – the colors and arrangements (“aspects”) they presented, and the messages (“indications”) they conveyed, continued to vary enormously from road to road.
This was no problem as long as crews stayed on home territory. But as roads merged, split, and spun off new short lines, and tenant operators such as Amtrak and regional commuter systems came into existence, train crews could find themselves on several different properties in the course of a work week.
The creation of Conrail in 1976 out of the remains of a half-dozen bankrupt railroads only made things worse. It was hard enough to rationalize the systems of the constituent companies, let alone interact with other operators over the dense Northeastern U.S. rail network.
After several years, the situation had become intolerable. Training costs were getting out of hand, because crews had to qualify separately on each road over which they might operate. Having to consult half a dozen rulebooks increased enormously the potential for a disastrous mistake.
So at the urging of Conrail’s Allen Fisher, representatives from six railroads – Conrail, Amtrak, Metro-North, New Jersey Transit, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, and Delaware & Hudson – met in Newark, N.J., in January 1985, to find a way to bring order out of the confusion. Like most first meetings, this one ended with little more than an agreement in principle to develop a common rulebook, and a date for the next meeting. The representatives at the meeting comprised the Northeast Operating Rules Advisory Committee – NORAC for short, which would become the name of the common rulebook.
Eight railroads were represented at the second meeting, in May 1985: five of the original six (Metro-North had withdrawn, and remains outside NORAC), plus Providence & Worcester, Long Island Rail Road, and Boston & Maine. The members created a formal committee structure, established some general goals, and elected officers.
NORAC’s was not the first attempt to rationalize operating rules. Most Western and Midwest U.S. railroads were using a common rulebook called the General Code, while Canadian roads adhered to their own Uniform Operating rules. With these models as a guide, NORAC set itself the following goals:
– To develop a uniform set of rules for train movements, protection, and communication.
– To prepare a common training program so that crews could take one course that would qualify them to operate anywhere in NORAC territory.
– To establish general norms for employee conduct.
– To rationalize traffic controls and speed limits as much as possible without causing massive capital expenses to rebuild signaling systems.
The first section of the rulebook was put into effect January 1, 1987; the rest came out seriatim over the next year. The book includes a glossary of terms, rules of conduct both general and job-specific, rules for using radios and telephones, and inspection procedures. But most of the book deals, naturally, with the movement and protection of trains.
NORAC’s achievement is most striking in the section on signals. The wide variety of position-light, color-position light, and searchlight signals presents more than 150 aspects, but they reduce to only 15 principal indications, which in turn conform to just four in-cab signals. Track types, speed limits, and movement controls have been similarly codified.
Originally, NORAC defined three principal types of train control: automatic block, manual block, and voice. An automatic block system (ABS) is governed by track circuits, and can accommodate all kinds of automatic controls, including CTC and automatic train stop equipment. The manual block (MBS) and voice control (VCS) systems were both governed by NORAC’s well-known Form D, on which a conductor records the instructions given by the dispatcher. In essence, Form D is a directly transmitted train order. The difference between MBS and VCS proved to be negligible, so the fourth edition of the rule book, released at the beginning of 1993, combined the two into a single “Form D Control System” (DCS).
These rules govern operation on main lines, defined as those with some form of block control system. On “running tracks,” yard tracks, and other lines that typically see only one movement at a time, the member railroads may use any convenient means, including simple voice dispatching by telephone or radio.
NORAC has now firmly established that its rules enhance safety, reduce costs, and promote operating efficiency. Even roads that don’t run over NORAC territory, such as tourist line New Hope & Ivyland, have adopted the NORAC rulebook for its simplicity.
