any train nerds?

"Joe_Limon" (Joe_Limon)
02/10/2014 at 14:38 • Filed to: None

I was wondering, are cargo trains fully autonomous? Or are they controlled remotely from a central station? Or is it a hybrid mixture of everything?

DISCUSSION (8)

Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ > Joe_Limon
02/10/2014 at 14:42

I think they still have an engineer on board for safety reasons.

Mercedes Streeter > Joe_Limon
02/10/2014 at 14:43

There are some autonomous rail lines out there (mostly small scale passenger rail systems) but AFAIK, U.S. freight rail systems are still old school human controlled.

There are automatic safeguards (deadman switches, automatic signal breaking, etc) in place though that can stop a train without human input...

Joe_Limon > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ
02/10/2014 at 14:46

Do you have any idea what their level of involvement is? I thought the onboard people were simply to help connect cars and as a fail safe.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > Joe_Limon
02/10/2014 at 14:51

I am fairly certain they have to check in at regular intervals, much like security guards with those batons they have to swipe at specific checkpoints.

Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ > Joe_Limon
02/10/2014 at 14:52

It is mainly as a fail safe for avoiding collisions, as sometimes the computer cant see whats going on. All functions could theoretically be controlled by computer but its the same reason Google has people ride along in their driver-less cars, computers can fail to detect whats going on so someone needs to be there to stop it.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Joe_Limon
02/10/2014 at 14:52

I believe American cargo rail uses a manned autopilot type of system, where there is an engineer on board to oversee things, make adjustments, and take over in an emergency if necessary. I'm not sure about other countries though.

Dusty Ventures > Joe_Limon
02/10/2014 at 17:12

They're still pretty involved for the most part. All speed changes, along with starts, stops, whistling at crossings, etc are typically done by the engineer. Also every x minutes they need to hit the dead man's switch (usually a button) to let the train known the engineer is still awake and at the driver's seat, otherwise the train will emergency stop.

There are two major reasons trains aren't more automated. First is the safety factor. A good engineer can recognize more potential issues than an autonomous system and respond to them better. Also there are so many engines out there, especially in larger fleets like UP, CSX, and BNSF, with many of them of older generations, that for now it's cheaper to still pay an engineer to do things manually than it is to retrofit the engines with cutting edge autonomous systems.

Dusty Ventures > Mercedes Streeter
02/10/2014 at 17:13

Bullseye