THE ORDER.
There are some general considerations which it is important to bear in mind in the preparation and issuing of train orders. Some of these have been already pointed out. The circumstances under which they are to be acted upon render it of the utmost importance that there shall be nothing in their form or matter to obstruct in any way a clear and prompt comprehension of their intent. No instructions should be included that are not strictly running orders. Directions to take on or put off cars, or to change engines, or general instructions as to the management and stops of a train with reference to its traffic, are not properly included in such orders. Again, the language in which the orders are expressed should be simple and unmistakable. Simplicity implies brevity. Superfluous words or ambiguous terms or expressions should be carefully excluded. To avoid the use of anything of this character the precise form of expression should be determined on beforehand for all cases that can be anticipated, and strictly adhered to. This also renders the work of the Dispatchers uniform, and enables them to perform it with facility, especially if not greatly experienced; and the trainmen become accustomed to the forms, and comprehend them at sight.
There are differences of opinion among practical men as to the propriety of including more than one transaction in the same order. Some reasons have been before urged against this practice. As men generally favor the practice to which they are accustomed, it is not easy to settle this question. A number of meeting-points may be given in succession in one order more readily in the "single order" system than in the other; and this is claimed as an advantage, and as better than giving the same on as many different pieces of paper. With an order, hastily and perhaps poorly and closely written on flimsy paper, to be read by a conductor in a storm or by the dim light of a hand-lamp, there is a good deal of risk that in a long order for several meeting-points something may escape notice; a line may be skipped and a meeting-point missed. In the "duplicate" order the same danger would exist, and, in addition to the matter affecting the train receiving an order, it would get matter not at all affecting it. Thus, if A is ordered to meet B, and B to meet C, and both orders are included in one for the benefit of B, the duplicate to A would include matter for C in which A has no concern, and that to C would have matter for A which he does not require. Circumstances might make it of some use for A to know where C is to meet B; but burdening the order with this extraneous matter will be found usually to be a positive disadvantage and to cause much more work in transmission than giving each operation singly. The latter has been found to work entirely well in practice, and is theoretically the safer method. The conductor or engineman holding several of these orders arranges them in their proper succession, and each one as it is fulfilled is laid aside. It may be desired to change a meeting-place ordered, and, if this is included in an order containing several others, the change is not so readily made. The reasons would appear to be important for insisting that each order should be ordinarily confined to a single transaction, with slight exceptions, some of which are elsewhere adverted to.
The following is a sample of "duplicate" order actually and frequently given in practice on one of the principal divisions of the Pennsylvania Railroad. It is given to illustrate perhaps the least objectionable method of combining several movements in one order. It is compact, and is alleged to serve a good purpose. The principal objections to it are those above given.
An order must not be taken to allow more than it expressly authorizes. As, for instance, a train authorized by order to run in the time of another is not on this account to assume that it may run within the time of any other superior train which may be understood to have to keep out of the way of the train whose right is curtailed. Each train must be governed in all respects by train rules with relation to every other train, excepting as distinctly provided in the special orders; and as a necessary consequence of this, no train should be permitted to run under the authority or protection of an order given to another.