Handing orders on to moving trains, especially at night, was a challenge. We were still doing it by hand when I was with the B&O Railroad. The engineer and conductor had to receive a copy or the train stopped. When two engines were powering the train both had to receive a copy as well as the conductor. The manual hoops were in two sizes, long and short handle the long being for the engineer. Standing so close to the track at night was concerning because you couldn't see if anything might be sticking out of a boxcar.
One night the dispatcher gave me orders for a freight train. I displayed the order board which alerted the engineer to slow down, put copies in a short and long handled whoop and went down under the flood light to hand them on. When the engines came into view I realized it was a double header and I only had two whoops. I managed to hit both engines ran back up the steps grabbed another copy of the order placed it in the whoop while running back down the steps. I managed to get there just as the end of the train came in view. Unfortunately I got the whoop to close and hung the order on a boxcar door handle. It fell off about ten feet, I picked it up and the conductor took it out of my hand. Thank goodness it was a long train.
One night the dispatcher gave me orders for a freight train. I displayed the order board which alerted the engineer to slow down, put copies in a short and long handled whoop and went down under the flood light to hand them on. When the engines came into view I realized it was a double header and I only had two whoops. I managed to hit both engines ran back up the steps grabbed another copy of the order placed it in the whoop while running back down the steps. I managed to get there just as the end of the train came in view. Unfortunately I got the whoop to close and hung the order on a boxcar door handle. It fell off about ten feet, I picked it up and the conductor took it out of my hand. Thank goodness it was a long train.
