THE OPERATING DEPARTMENT

Hundreds of trains were operated over the trackage of Southern Pacific every day. Imagine the complications of assembling train crews, moving through trains from division to division and through terminals, coordinating train movements with terminal railroad companies and other railroad companies, arranging for the lodging of crews at away from home crew change points, deadheading crews when necessary, ensuring there were sufficient locomotives to power trains and for helper service, dispatching trains efficiently so that crews of through trains did not “die” under hours of service regulations, training and testing crews, and so on.