Train dispatcher

[1][full citation needed] Charles Minot, a Division Superintendent on the Erie Railroad is credited with the first effort to control the movement of a train beyond the rule book and operating timetable, when, in September 1851, he sent a telegram to a railroad employee at another location directing that all trains be held at that point until the train Minot was riding could arrive.

The operating rule book, later standardized for all railroads, contained the basic rules for the operation of trains, such as the meaning of the all fixed, audible and hand signals; the form, format and meaning of train orders; and the duties and obligations of each class of employee.

Train dispatchers are required to be intimately familiar with the physical characteristics of the railroad territory for which they are responsible, as well as the operating capabilities of the locomotive power being used.

The last train order known to have been issued using Morse code was copied at Whitehall, Montana, on May 6, 1982, on the Burlington Northern Railroad.

Most train controllers are employed by such Australian State and Federal Government organisations as the Australian Rail Track Corporation, the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia, Queensland Rail, and Sydney Trains.

The mining giants BHP, Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals Group and Roy Hill, all operate their own networks from Remote Operation Centres and employ large numbers of train controllers.