B737 AT ATL TAXIES INTO POS AND INITIATES TKOF AFTER BEING ISSUED A CLRNC TO TAXI INTO POS AND HOLD. CTLR ABORTS TKOF ROLL.

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TAXIING E ON TXWY E; TWR SAID 'ACR X; TAXI INTO POS AND HOLD RWY 26L.' MY FO OR I ACKNOWLEDGED AND READ BACK THE CLRNC. AS I WAS TAXIING THE ACFT THROUGH A HDG OF ABOUT 080 DEGS; THE FO REACHED UP AND ARMED THE AUTOTHROTTLES. (I DON'T NORMALLY DO THIS ACTION UNTIL I AM XING THE HOLD SHORT TIME.' I SHARED THIS WITH THE FO. THIS IS ONLY THE SECOND DAY I'VE FLOWN WITH THIS FO. A LOT OF OUR FLYING PROCS BECOME 'ROUTINES.' ARMING THE AUTOTHROTTLES IS NORMALLY A CAPT PERFORMED ACTION. WHILE I WAS TAXIING OUT ONTO RWY 26L; I HEARD OTHER TWR XMISSIONS/CONS. AS I LINED UP THE ACFT; I THOUGHT I HEARD; OR ASSUMED; WE WERE CLRED FOR TKOF; OR THOUGHT THE FO ACKNOWLEDGED OUR TKOF CLRNC. I ARMED THE AUTOTHROTTLES AND TURNED ON THE LNDG LIGHTS. I THEN SAID TO THE FO; 'IT'S YOUR AIRPLANE' (FO'S LEG). THE FO STARTED TO ADVANCE THE THROTTLE WHEN I HEARD THE TWR CTLR SAY 'ACR X; CANCEL YOUR TKOF CLRNC.' WE WERE ABOUT 60 KTS WHEN I RETARDED THE THROTTLES. I ASSUMED CTL OF THE ACFT AND ACKNOWLEDGED THE CANCELLATION OF THE TKOF CLRNC. I SLOWED THE ACFT AND TURNED R OFF THE RWY AS PER TWR'S INSTRUCTIONS. AS I TURNED OFF RWY 26 ONTO THE TXWY B10; THE CTLR SAID 'ACR X YOU WERE CLRED POS AND HOLD ONLY.' WE ACKNOWLEDGED THIS XMISSION. THEY SAID CONTINUE ON TXWY B FOR TKOF SEQUENCE. I BELIEVED WE HAD BEEN CLRED FOR TKOF. THE FO THOUGHT ABOUT ASKING FOR VERIFICATION; BUT DIDN'T. WHEN I RETARDED THE THROTTLES; I SAW ACR Y (I BELIEVE) HOLDING AT B4 WAITING TO CROSS RWY 26L. I AM AWARE OF THE SERIOUSNESS OF THIS ASSUMPTION. UNDER LOW VISIBILITY; THIS COULD HAVE BEEN A PERFECT SET-UP FOR A COLLISION. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: MOSTLY FATIGUE; LACK OF ADEQUATE REST. THIS WAS THE BEGINNING OF SECOND DAY OF A 3 DAY TRIP. ALL 3 DAYS ARE EARLY RPTS. THE NIGHT BEFORE DAY #1; I KNOW I GOT ONLY 4 HRS OF SLEEP. THE NIGHT BEFORE DAY #2; ABOUT THE SAME; BECAUSE I COULD NOT FALL ASLEEP EARLY ENOUGH AND HAD TO WAKE UP AT XC30 ATLANTA TIME WHICH EQUALS XA30 DENVER TIME. WE WERE CLRED FOR TKOF. THEN DEP OR CTR CALLED US AND REQUESTED WE CALL ATL TWR AFTER ARR INTO DENVER. SO THEN THE MIND GAMES STARTED. FOR 3 HRS; WE WONDERED; ARE WE GOING TO GET VIOLATED? ARE WE GOING TO GET PULLED OFF THE TRIP? TO ADD FROSTING ON THE CAKE; ABOUT 120 MI E OF MEMPHIS; WE HAD TO DEAL WITH AN INFLT MEDICAL EMER. WE WERE ABLE TO CONTINUE TO DENVER. UPON ARR IN DENVER; I CALLED ATL TWR AND DISCUSSED THE CLRNC INCIDENT WITH THE TWR SUPVR. HE SAID HE REVIEWED THE TAPES AND SAID; 'IT LOOKS LIKE YOU FOLKS NEED TO LISTEN MORE CLOSELY.' I TOLD HIM; 'I AGREE; AND THIS WILL NOT OCCUR AGAIN!' HE SAID; 'OK; AND WE WILL END IT WITH THIS CONVERSATION.' I UNDERSTOOD THIS TO MEAN NO FURTHER ACTION OR RPT OR VIOLATION TO FOLLOW. ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTING FACTOR: THE FO ALSO MENTIONED SUFFERING FROM FATIGUE DUE TO LACK OF SLEEP AND RECOVERING FROM THE FLU. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR SAID HE SAW A COUPLE OF ACFT ON THE FAR END OF THE RWY BUT DID NOT REALIZE UNTIL THEY STARTED THEIR TKOF ROLL THAT THE TFC WAS XING THE RWY. HE SAID THE CTLR HAD NOT ISSUED THEM ANY TFC. HE ALSO SAID AS ROUTINE PRACTICE; AS SOON AS THEY CROSS THE HOLD LINE GOING TO THE RWY; HE TURNS HIS LIGHTS ON; INDICATING TKOF CLRNC. IN ADDITION; HE WAS ALSO TURNING THE ACFT OVER TO THE FO FOR THE TKOF; WHICH WAS SOMEWHAT OF A DISTR.