Western Railroad Discussion > How much does HQ really know?

It is my understanding that there is a place called a "power desk" that keeps track of locomotives; where they are and what they are doing. For example, somebody at Omaha can tell you which locomotives are on a given train. Can this place also tell you which way a given locomotive is pointed? When it is due for inspection? What parts need to be swapped out and when? Airlines are pretty good at keeping mnx records - are the railroads on par with airlines on the data that they keep on a particular piece of rolling stock? And who has the data?

John Gezelius
Tustin, CA

Yes, yes and yes on all counts, however the information is not for public consumption... === === = === JLH

They can tell you everything, and on anything built by GE and EMD in the last 15 years (at least) they can download unit status/performance remotely wherever said unit may be.

Bill Miller
Galt, ON



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/12 16:42 by CCMF.

It is truly fascinating to watch some dude call up a random locomotive and look at what it is doing in real time, throttle position, speed, defects, you name it. You can also see it's location on a map if GPS equipped.

Bill Miller
Galt, ON

a couple of years ago i was standing at the Septa Crum Lynn station on Amtrak's NEC watching some MW guys doing a bridge replacement ... a fella came out of one the houses across the street and i struck up a conversation with him ... turned out he was the yardie for the Conrail Stoney Creek yard in Marcus Hook,Pa and was not too pleased to get a phone call from HQs that GPS'd the yard crew's unit and told him about his yard crew's engine not moving ... he was pissed that he had to go over to the yard on his day off saying i told them "mudder fudgers" to move that damn engine every 1/2 hr

Out_Of_Service Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> a couple of years ago i was standing at the Septa
> Crum Lynn station on Amtrak's NEC watching some MW
> guys doing a bridge replacement ... a fella came
> out of one the houses across the street and i
> struck up a conversation with him ... turned out
> he was the yardie for the Conrail Stoney Creek
> yard in Marcus Hook,Pa and was not too pleased to
> get a phone call from HQs that GPS'd the yard
> crew's unit and told him about his yard crew's
> engine not moving ... he was pissed that he had to
> go over to the yard on his day off saying i told
> them "mudder fudgers" to move that damn engine
> every 1/2 hr

Yes.

There are three former cops in NJ who were busted when the GPS on their separate police cars showed hours of inactivity on the overnight shifts. One guy's cruiser was located in the garage of his girl friend's house when the chief went out looking for it and him. The chief became suspicious when the cruiser had almost no additional mileage on the overnight.

Anybody who works in an office knows that their phone calls, computer site activity, even keystrokes are visible to management.

Anybody who receives a pay check should be prepared to earn it.

If all that information is possible today, how much of a technological leap to engineers as "systems managers" rather than the operators of the trains? And what would be the fate of the conductor?

mustraline Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If all that information is possible today, how
> much of a technological leap to engineers as
> "systems managers" rather than the operators of
> the trains? And what would be the fate of the
> conductor?


Not much of a leap at all, really; not a pleasant prospect for the workforce.

I keep mentioning all those antennas along the UP and people blow over it like "so what?", well,
previous post pretty much sums it up. Prospects of long term engine service are mixed, won't
happen overnight and won't happen everywhere but it's just like the tripe about self-guided cars,
it'll enhance traffic flow.

<<< Not much of a leap at all, really; not a pleasant prospect for the workforce.>>>>>

That future is not good for workers.

mustraline Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> <<< Not much of a leap at all, really; not a
> pleasant prospect for the workforce.>>>>>
>
> That future is not good for workers.

The future is not good for workers who expect the future to look a lot like the past. In particular, the unskilled, minimally educated but hard working individuals.

Even the Chinese are finding that the cost of THEIR unskilled labor is pricing the out of the market against Vietnam, Bangladesh, etc.

Skilled labor with significant value added will do quite well in the US. A five years experience railroad dispatcher who decides to move to systems design will do extremely well, for example. A tool and die maker with significant math background will so well. Etc.

(Getting workers to pass drug and criminal background checks is a whole different story, though.)