MCL1981 wrote:One per day is not changing anything then, and is not currently feasible. Given the technology requirements and operational factors of procuring and operating a UAS like this, which is current completely illegal anyway, once per day, it would be a non-starter. Send a guy down the line in a hi-rail truck. Done.As I said before in the above linked article, drones are already legally in use by at least one Class 1 Road:
http://fortune.com/2015/05/29/bnsf-drone-program/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
After years of accusations of foot-dragging on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) regulation, the Federal Aviation Administration has recently been speeding exemption approvals and announcing new regulatory programs. One beneficiary is BNSF Railway, which has gained approval for a pilot(less) program to use drones to inspect its far-flung network of rails. The inspections could help reduce derailments and other safety problems—and though BNSF isn’t saying so, lead to lower labor costs in the long run.Ron: the truck is cheap enough, not the crew. I’m not saying I want people out of a job either, but to be honest BNSF is saying exactly that.