Train Order Operation

Train order operation, or more accurately Timetable and Train order operation, is a largely obsolete system by which the railroads of North America conveyed operating instructions before the days of centralized traffic control, direct traffic control, and the use of track warrants conveyed by radio. The system used a set of rules when direct communication between train dispatchers and trains was limited or non-existent. Trains would follow a predetermined operating plan, known as the timetable, unless superseded by train orders conveyed to the train from the dispatcher, through local intermediaries. Train Order operation was a system that required minimum human overhead in an era before widespread use of technology-based automation. It was the most practical way for railroads with limited capital resources, or lines with limited traffic, to operate.

Train order operation has been almost completely replaced by more modern operating methods. The Long Island Rail Road in New York is the last major railroad in North America to use a "traditional" Train Order operating practice on parts of its Greenport and Montauk Branches, as well as Train Order forms for non-standard operation on the remainder of its system. While the last traditional long hand Train Order form was issued on September 3, 2012, timetable and train order operating practices remain in effect. The second to land train order holdout, the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend, had retired its system in 2011.