History of Form 19 Train Orders
by Dave Keller

     The Long Island Rail Road has finally reached the end of an era. . . an era where train movements were ordered by lightweight, onion-skin-style paper train orders nicknamed "flimsies" which were issued to the conductor and engineer of a train.

     These orders originated first at the Train Master's office in L. I. City and later from the Superintendent's Office at Jamaica station and were sent via telegraph and in later years telephone to the various block offices.  The telegraphic calls were sent over the wire or the phone rang a set number of times in the block office to identify which office needed to pick up the phone. 

     The block operator would answer by identifying his office and the dispatcher on the other end would say "Copy 3" and the operator would pick up his pad which held sheets of loose carbon paper between the Form 19s with a hard piece of cardboard after the last form required and proceed to copy what was sent to him.  In the effort to save time, and as most orders were in triplicate (Engineer copy, conductor copy and office copy) or quadruplicate, he'd keep two separate pads ready with the carbons already in place for a "copy 3" or a "copy 4" and grab whichever one was required.

     These orders were delivered either by hand if the train stopped at the train order office (later block office) or on the fly by means of, at first, a hooped stick and later a Y-shaped stick.

     The order was rolled up, usually with a clearance card, and clipped to the train order hoop and later on, tied with string to the train order stick.  The engineer and conductor would stick their arms out and aim for the opening in the stick and catch the orders in the crook of their arms.

     This method of train movement dated back to the days when the railroads encountered problems with two trains running on the same track, discovering the principle of two objects being unable to share the same space at any given point in time.  Signals and train orders were the result of numerous disastrous "oopsies".

     This system of train orders, which has worked so well for so many years, has gone the way of the strong-arm and electro-pneumatic levers as well as the many manned signal / interlocking towers and block offices which once existed at nearly every station and points in between and which are, today, just about all gone on the LIRR.

     Per General notice GN 4-16, effective 12:03 am on Tuesday,  September 4, 2012, a new train movement form "L" will replace train movement form 19 (train order).

     As befits a long history of train orders, I've posted some early samples of LIRR Form 19s that are still in existence today, preserved in my archive. I hope you enjoy them.