Western Railroad Discussion > BNSF to monitor it's railroad using drones??

Info out of Ft. Worth as quoted from a reliable source:

"BNSF Railway Company is submitting a request to the Federal Aviation Administration for exemption from multiple regulatory
provisions allowing the use of drones to assist in the safe supplemental inspection of railroad property."

We'll see how true this is but I'm thinking it is. Hard not to see railroads doing this, especially on high density main lines.



Allen



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/14 11:17 by bradleymckay.

It would make sense as an addition to the existing remote control cameras in yards and terminals. I don't see hunter-killer drones roaming the mainlines on auto-pilot searching for sleeping crews or camera toting hobbyists.

Maybe next year.

Don't let UP in on this one - "drone discipline" will be coming.

I would love to see what BNSF is planning to do with this thought. If the military can launch Hellfire attacks in Iraq from an office in Arizona using drones why can't the railroad replace broken knuckle on the Sheep Creek trestle in Montana from the Control Center in Ft Worth? <G>

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Wait, don't they already use drones to make sure that trains
do not roll past photographers until either a cloud rolls in
or the railfans leave for a bite to eat?

It's can't be just luck, right? Lol.

Wonder if the drones will have railroad livery? ; )
Maybe the next big thing will be getting shots of drones on
lease and captured off native airspace? Hah, ha ha ha.


/Mitch

It's nice of BNSF to provide flying targets for the rednecks to use for target practice.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Railbaron Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Don't let UP in on this one - "drone discipline"
> will be coming.


Actually, the UP is a few weeks ahead of the BNSF. I can't recall where but I read about it a while ago.

Missiles from drones aimed at trespassing railfans

WAF Wrote:
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> Missiles from drones aimed at trespassing railfans

Expect a trespassing citation from the railroad police to arrive in the mail much like photo radar is done!

Dick Samuels

Railbaron Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Don't let UP in on this one - "drone discipline"
> will be coming.

Going from "weed Weasels" to "flying weasels"

Mgoldman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wait, don't they already use drones to make sure
> that trains
> do not roll past photographers until either a
> cloud rolls in
> or the railfans leave for a bite to eat?
>
> It's can't be just luck, right? Lol.
>

Nice! Explains the history of my railfan life. I knew I couldn't have had such misforture, makes sense now. Guess I'll sell my camera equipment too...

JG

Pipeline companies have already requested a similar exemption. Many pipelines and electric power line companies now use helicopters and fixed wing aircraft to patrol their properties. It's one way to observe encroachments, leaks, wire wear, etc.

Moving from a piloted plane to a drone is a relatively easy step, in the pipeline company's view, I'd think.

My guess is that this has to do more with getting the permission to be able to use drones for business activities.

As the rules are written right now...I can fly a drone over my neighbors house...no issues.

I use the same drone as a real estate broker to get 360 degree view of a house and make money selling that house...and it's illegal.

Eric

But if you sell the photos of your neighbor to a celebrity website, you have troubles.

If your neighbor has a National Forest in the background, you've got Smokey the Bear coming to collect his fees!!

-------------------------------------------------------
>
> As the rules are written right now...I can fly a
> drone over my neighbors house...no issues.
>



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/14 16:59 by TCnR.

UP brass got a drone demo this past spring.

Bloomberg had a story about it. A UP big shot teased the tech guy because the drone wasn't wearing UP livery.

Google "Union Pacific Railroad drones" and the Bloomberg story will pop up.






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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/14 18:29 by walstib.

One of the things several railroads are considering is the use of drones to inspect underneath bridges.

While our Phantom Vision 2+ is a hobby level drone, it is used widely by agriculture to check out fields and orchards as we have been doing for the past several months. There is great room for all sorts of violations of privacy etc with this gizmo and recently the San Jose PD was slapped smartly for using a big commercial sized one for "bomb demolition" etc. LAX went on record last month prohibiting them within a radius of 5 miles because if you can imagine a jet engine sucking up one of these things, you can imagine the destruction that would be caused. If our legislators ever get their noses out of calorie counts of soft drinks etc they will probably turn to regulating these gizmos. OTOH, resident "pilot" opined during one of the football games that he could see these gizmos making the GOodyear blimp obsolete--------having just returned from taking our grandkids out to a field to play with it and leaving a whole buncha squirrels cringing in their holes and wondering what in the HELL was THAT!!!! :-)
C.

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA

I'm pretty sure that when UP said they wanted to use drones to inspect their property they were referring to switchmen.

Okay, I get the "weed weasel" references and understand them. And yes, checking out
the mains is a good idea. But, what about the yards?? How many times have I heard
that a yard bowl is a dangerous place. It seems to me the use of drones to check
yard tracks would be a boon to rail safety and prevent a lot of injuries.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

Wish they would test them in Spanish Lake , MO. Had kids crossing thru my stopped train and had another point a possible pistol at the train passing us, City Police and RR police always hours behind.

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