Operator A is down message

Hi;
I was listening to CSX on 160.980, the River Line road channel from Teaneck, NJ and i heard this message that kind of spooked me for a minute.
"CSX 1317 operator A is down", repeated 3 times, with a tone at the beginning of the transmission, and another at the end.

I heard absolutely no follow-up messages, nor was there any talk in relation to this. Everything continued normally.

After Googling the message text, I found on another forum that this message is common from remote controlled locos, which frequent the yards.
Since I live about 10 miles north of North Bergen yard, and about 13 miles from Oak Island yard, I guess it could have come from either location.

Has anyone heard this message, and if so, what does it mean?

Thanks

FW

It's the control box the RCO's use. If it's tilted more than 45 degrees, for more than 5 seconds, it give that message. You heard them doing a required test to make sure it works. The message is transmitted from the engines radio, that's why you can hear it so far away.

Thanks. I had never heard it before.

FW

And if you're in Selkirk when the message is broadcasted, don't be surprised to hear people put their 2 cents in over the radio about the dam remotes.

How do they test the remotes to achieve the 45deg tilt? Do they have a crane or some other machinery that actually tilts the locomotive, or do they just tilt the detector unit in the loco?
I have yet to see a remote anywhere. Are they used mainly in the yards?

FW

CPSK wrote:How do they test the remotes to achieve the 45deg tilt? Do they have a crane or some other machinery that actually tilts the locomotive, or do they just tilt the detector unit in the loco?
I have yet to see a remote anywhere. Are they used mainly in the yards?

FW

That's what they tilt. It's a remote control used by crews outside the locomotive.

I know it is years after this thread was posted but just wanted to see what I would find in regards to the "Operator A is Down" message here. When I read the question on how they accomplish the test and if they tilted the locomotive I realized that when I was reading the explanation of what was triggering the message, my brain was filling in the blanks because I have seen Remote Operators working the CSX Moncrief Yard here in Jacksonville, FL. I can see how a person unfamiliar with this specific operation would have a weird "mental picture" based on the description.

Therefore, to the benefit of anyone in the future who happens upon this thread, I hope to paint a better overall "mental image".

In the yards there are switchers which have been converted for remote use. A device (previously pictured) is worn by an operator. This person is able to maneuver that specific locomotive with those controls. This allows that individual to connect/ disconnect cars AND operate the engine. As a safety measure should the remote control user fall or move into the aforementioned parameters of stance the unit sends a signal which is activated in the radio of the locomotive which in turn transmits the "Operator A is Down" message. I hope this makes it more clear in a bigger picture kind of way. If someone comes along and has more specific information, by all means, please don't hesitate to set me straight.

What exactly is the purpose of remote control units? I get the idea that it acts like a giant remote control car, and an engineer can operate a loco from a distance. But I still don't see the value of having a remote control over an actual train crew aboard the engine.

airman00 wrote:What exactly is the purpose of remote control units? I get the idea that it acts like a giant remote control car, and an engineer can operate a loco from a distance. But I still don't see the value of having a remote control over an actual train crew aboard the engine.

Why, it saves money! Look, it works like this...

Let's say you are paying a crewman X dollars a year. You go out and buy a remote control set-up for maybe X dollars. Then you install it and test it, and set up limits within which it can be used, and that costs maybe 1/2 X dollars more. Then you have all the employees who may use it in for training and certification to use it, and that costs another X dollars. Then you put it to use, SAVING THE WAGES OF ONE CREWMAN, or X dollars. Then the operation is down because something is wrong with the unit, so everything is tied up until a guy can come fix it. Then it corners something because the guy using it is trying to do the thinking of 2 or 3 people and gets himself in a jam. So now it costs X dollars to fix the damage. You fire the guy of course, hire a greenhorn off the street, spend 2X dollars to train him/her to become a conductor and eventually an engineer and start remote training all over again. Meantime the remote unit goes on the fritz again and you have to ship that box back to the manufacturer for calibration and use another box in its place.

See - you have saved X dollars wages of that one crewman you got rid of. Of course it cost you 6X dollars to save 1X dollars but never mind that! Simple, isn't it?

I hear that all the time at Selkirk. I have also heard "Operator B is down".

BTW, Conductors operate the remotes, not engineers.

airman00 wrote:What exactly is the purpose of remote control units? I get the idea that it acts like a giant remote control car, and an engineer can operate a loco from a distance. But I still don't see the value of having a remote control over an actual train crew aboard the engine.

Lower labor cost.

Rather than having a Conductor and Engineer on a job, you can just have a RCO-qualified Conductor do it. You do make a bit more money on a RCO job, but not nearly as much as the savings from having a 1-man crew rather than 2-man.

EVerytime you link up a remote to the loco, you have to do your tests, one of them being a man down test. And as stated, it's all about saving money. In my yard, they now have saved paying 5 engineers every shift. Less cars move, more accidents and derailments happen, but it's all about the saved money...

supernova1972 wrote:EVerytime you link up a remote to the loco, you have to do your tests, one of them being a man down test. And as stated, it's all about saving money. In my yard, they now have saved paying 5 engineers every shift. Less cars move, more accidents and derailments happen, but it's all about the saved money...

They tried doing RCO at my yard but got rid of it not too long after. Tore too much up. With very few exceptions, ALL our yard jobs do industry work of some kind, not just switching on the yard... and the terrain these industries are on just doesn't lend itself to RCO without doing a bunch of damage.