BlackDog wrote:Well Boardman is the only one then. Here on the CN we can't get them to lower high mounted handbrakes so conductors don't have to climb up ice encrusted ladders to release them, 'cuz they don't have to. There is a reason they have 3 commas in their earnings reports, and they are not going to do anything that might imperil that.Question about the handbrakes, loco or rail car? I read about rail cars being privately owned. It seems to me that whoever writes the standard for railcars (or Loco's ) in North America is the authority that needs to address the standard height above the rail.
I am curious what the standards and settings are going to be....a 14,000 ton coal train @ 50 mph , will the system trigger it to stop a mile from the red absolute or will it initiate a stopping action after the train passes the red? If they are serious about this, bye-bye 2 man crews, hello running solo.
Running solo would be a serious safety issue for the person that would need to do the job of two people. No one in a hazardous situation works alone, OSHA would have a field day with this. GPS based systems would not see debris on the tracks, or fouled crossings, and I am sure that the roads would not take kindly to having trackage tied up because someone needs to address natures call. I seriously doubt that Hoggers would agree to a toilet at the control stand to operate from.
