Western Railroad Discussion > New name I kinda like

Everyone knows DPU stands for distributive power unit. But I heard a U P signal maintainer call them drone power units. Sounds cooler and more 21st century. I like it, maybe it’ll catch on.

Posted from iPhone

I understood the "D" stood for 'Distributed'.

James R.(Jim) Baker
Whittier, CA

Drone is already closely associated with airbourne vehicles.

A drone has complete freedom of movement in 3 dimensions while DPU is restricted to movement in 2 dimensions controlled by physical connections on one or two ends.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/06/19 11:54 by fbe.

          Won't work, NOT a drone.

But they are being controlled from somewhere else.  To the average person on the street they might be considered drones since they're operating and nobody's home.

The-late-EMD Wrote: > ... maybe it’ll catch on ...

I will PASS

Survey says--2 thumbs down.

When you think about it, I have to agree with the "drone" concept. After all, they are being remotely controlled from another location, making them a drone.

Distributed power simply means the power is distributed throughout the train. There is nothing in the moniker "distributed power" that indicates it is remotely controlled; manned helpers can be distributed throughout the train also and that would make them "distributed power units". 

Yes, I realize "distributed" has become synonymous with remotely controlled but it could apply to manned as well. Having said that, I doubt I could bring myself to refer to them as "drone power units" even though that's what they are.

Not to stifle your creative mind, but I heard the term drone used to describe 'slave' units years ago. 

P Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not to stifle your creative mind, but I heard the
> term drone used to describe 'slave' units years
> ago. 

Yep, nothing new.