Dispatching in Hürth–Kalscheuren
Return to Manual And Tips Sp Dr S 60
Before you get your approval to run the service on a signal box, you need to find out about the local characteristics. After training as a general trainee signalman, dispatchers were always paired with a person skilled in the signal box. This chapter is the brief introduction to the area. Read it carefully. It contains very important information.
The text is "peer to peer" written as if you are in the signal box, the first day after training.
Bahnhof Hürth-Kalscheuren
The station of Hürth-Kalscheuren is actually two junctions bonded together. On the left side, the North Side you can go to Köln-South with all passenger trains and to Köln-Eifeltor with all freight trains. This is the actual spot where the freight is separated from the passenger trains to go through the Rhine-counties and the Ruhr-District.
For you as a dispatcher it means that if a train comes from the South from Brühl, you immediately must take a decision where the train goes. So it’s really about reading the timetable!
In the other direction, you have the same issue! On the South Side you can go to Brühl, along the busy Left Rhine Line and to Erftstadt into the Eifel Region. And don’t do it wrong. There is no way to correct your error!
The majority of traffic is between Köln-Süd and Brühl. Especially the IC Trains run through with 160 km/h (100 mph). So this means that you have to ensure that the level crossings are closed by setting routes early enough! And you don’t have much time to ponder around! It takes about a minute to close the crossings. So be aware!
The switches/points/turnouts for both junctions can be passed with 100 km/h in reverse position. So that keeps the trains running!
The spur to Degussa is served regularly during the day. The spurs to Sumana and Barley Factory are rarely used.
Abbreviations
| Short Name | Full Name |
| KAS | Hürth-Kalscheuren |
| KS | Köln-Süd |
| KE | Köln-Eifeltor |
| BR | Brühl |
| EST | Erftstadt |