January Operator-Agent Post

For this first Operator-Agent Post of 2026 Larry talks about the telegraph procedures used when receiving a train order from the dispatcher.

73
Enjoy

You can start from the beginning of Larry's series with Part 1 here.

The job of the Train Order Operator 

and

Timetable and Train Order Operations

by Larry Isenor

Part 4

Receiving Train Orders:

Procedures are in use to ensure that train orders are delivered in a proper fashion and to prevent any confusion. As we are only doing this as a demonstration, the train orders have no effect but they demonstrate the method of train control during the park’s time frame.

The dispatcher will first send the station code to the receiving station:

MN for Midnapore

R for Laggan

SA for Shepard

BO was originally used for Bowell but this office was closed before WW1

Station addressed will reply with the station code

Dispatcher will give type of order and number of copies:

19 West cpy 5 - 19 order West 5 copies (for engineer, conductor of 2 trains and operator)

If 3 copies are required number of copies is not necessary as 3 is assumed.

The operator will set train order signal to stop (we only have 2 aspect signals)

and reply SDR West - signal displayed red west

The dispatcher will then dictate the order - for example:

ORDER NO 13

TO EXTRA 2023 WEST AT MIDNAPORE

EXTRA 2023 WEST MEET EXTRA 2024 EAST AT SHEPARD

EXTRA 2024 EAST TAKE SIDING

KWA

The initials are those of the dispatcher.

The operator will repeat the order back to the dispatcher who will reply with

COM 1245 KWA

Operator will write complete, the time and their signature on the bottom of the order.

A clearance should also be started for the train listing the orders. The clearance will be requested from the dispatcher as the train approaches:

MH CLEAR EXTRA 2023 WITH ORDER 13

The dispatcher will reply OK with the time and his initials:

OK 1145 KWA

The operator will enter this on the clearance with the last train ahead and staple the clearance to the train orders.

The train orders will be attached to the train order hoops and delivered to the engineer and conductor as the train passes.

The time of passing should be noted and added to the train register once returning to the station.

If no further orders are held for delivery the train order signal can be set to proceed. (We usually leave it at stop as we try to hoop up orders to each train. If no orders are needed a clearance with nil can be issued.

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Next month will a massive post dealing with the infamous "Rule Book" that every Operator-Agent needed to be familiar with.

From the Chief Dispatcher

Happy New Year everyone. Welcome to 2026!
An update from me is long overdue.

MTC Calgary finished 2024 with just over 30 members and our finances in good shape.

Early in January 2025 we received an official version of our chapter charter from the MTC international office, some 25 years after the Calgary chapter was first formed. Better late than never I suppose.

In March we held our annual general meeting where discussions ranged from membership to incorporation to goings on at Heritage Park to the MTC line project. The level of interest was great to see. We also submitted our application to be incorporated as a not-for-profit under Alberta’s Society Act. Incorporation will give us formal standing and help in obtaining grants to fund expansion of the line project.

In April we attended Supertrain, Calgary’s premiere annual model railway show. It was held for the first time in the Olympic Oval at the University of Calgary. It was well attended and the new venue was enjoyed by all.

We commenced our efforts at Heritage Park in May under our alter egos as the Heritage Park Morse Telegraph Club, working Tuesday’s and Saturday’s. In September we attended Railway Days, the parks annual railway extravaganza. We continued to support and steward the junior telegrapher program as well. We had a busy summer and when the regular season ended at Thanksgiving we had worked over 300 shifts, a truly amazing feat! We finished the year at the park by working several days during their Once Upon A Christmas event. In the end we had handled over 140 telegrams to Santa.

We joined the Historical Society of Alberta and the Canadian Pacific Historical Association as corporate members as part of our networking efforts.

On the outreach front we did a dozen presentations to various groups from BC to Alberta to Saskatchewan, spreading our words on a wire, so to speak.

On the advertising front we appeared in print more than a dozen times in various publications from Dots and Dashes to Canadian Rail to the Summerland Museum newsletter.

The Alberta MTC Line continues to be a defining project of MTC Calgary. We received substantial donations of telegraph equipment from several people and purchased a few surplus items from the CRHA/Exporail museum. We added 5 new stations to the line and ended the year with 10 stations, 7 in Alberta and 3 in BC. Soon we will be welcoming the Grande Prairie Museum and Archives to the fold.

On the membership front we welcomed three new members and said so long to two others. On a sad note two other Calgary chapter members, Clifford Hine and Carmen Wallace, passed away.

As we head into 2026 we look forward to our upcoming annual general meeting. While the date has not yet been determined, I expect it will be held once again at the Nichols public library.

Planning for our booth at Supertrain 2026 is underway with the show scheduled for Saturday April 25 and Sunday April 26, again at the Olympic oval. As I write this I heard that there is 106 exhibitors registered asking for over 70,000 square feet of space which might make this the biggest model train show ever held in Calgary.

In conclusion I want to thank all Calgary chapter members for your continuing interest in and dedication to Morse telegraphy and in particular my fellow Board members for the countless hours of time you put in to keep it all running so smoothly. Well done!

And that’s it for now. All the best in this new year.

73
Ken Ashmead, President

Morse Telegraph Club, Calgary “CG" Chapter

Happy New Year!

 Wishing you all a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous, and Safe 2026!

 “Of all the marvelous achievements of modern science the electric telegraph is transcendentally the greatest and most serviceable to mankind … The whole earth will be belted with the electric current, palpitating with human thoughts and emotions … How potent a power, then, is the telegraphic destined to become in the civilization of the world! This binds together by a vital cord all the nations of the earth. It is impossible that old prejudices and hostilities should longer exist, while such an instrument has been created for an exchange of thought between all the nations of the earth.”  

-- Charles F. Briggs and Augustus Maverick  in their 1858 book “The Story of the Telegraph”