WRECK OF THE REMOTES, STRIKES AGAIN

A few nights back, another engineer on our road, was pulling from Clovis yard, onto the Carlsbad Sub. After stopping at the Wye, lining everything up, and beginning to pull, the train went into emergency, after jerking to a stop. The Engineer advised the CNDR, to walk to the rear, as he was sure they were on the ground, at one of the facing point switches. (at the east end, of the 300 yard) Nearing the hind end, the CNDR observed a car on it's side, and another train "inserted" into his train, where that car used to reside. Yep, the remotes did it, again. Blindly shoving, with no regards for anyone elses lives, or property, they rammed some cars out of the train, and turned over one, in the process. Wonder how BNSF will spin this one............
I will reiterate my point, as touted by the carriers: Remote control operations are completely, and totally safe. Regards

How can this be fixed?

Who controls remotes?

Thanks,

Robert said "how can this be fixed?"
They can be thrown into the trash...............

GOLDEN-ARM wrote:Robert said "how can this be fixed?"
They can be thrown into the trash...............

But how do remotes work?

Thanks,

GOLDEN-ARM wrote:A few nights back, another engineer on our road, was pulling from Clovis yard, onto the Carlsbad Sub. After stopping at the Wye, lining everything up, and beginning to pull, the train went into emergency, after jerking to a stop. The Engineer advised the CNDR, to walk to the rear, as he was sure they were on the ground, at one of the facing point switches. (at the east end, of the 300 yard) Nearing the hind end, the CNDR observed a car on it's side, and another train "inserted" into his train, where that car used to reside. Yep, the remotes did it, again. Blindly shoving, with no regards for anyone elses lives, or property, they rammed some cars out of the train, and turned over one, in the process. Wonder how BNSF will spin this one............
I will reiterate my point, as touted by the carriers: Remote control operations are completely, and totally safe. Regards

Doesn't that company that you are/were employed by also provide RCL training? I'm positive you'll correct me if I'm mistaken.

GOLDEN-ARM wrote:I will reiterate my point, as touted by the carriers: Remote control operations are completely, and totally safe. Regards

Everyone knows that remotes are dangerous, except on Montana Rail Link and the Tex-Mex. Or so I've read.

Realistically speaking, we all know that the fatalities and wreckage will have to really pile up for the carriers to admit their shortsightedness regarding RCL.

So was this a case of the Conductor not knowing how many cars fit on a certain track and shoving through the other end or was this an actual RCL malfunction? How many men were on this crew?

Remotes are safe, its the nimrods that operate them , that are not.
If every operating rule would be adhered to, there would be no accidents.
Im sure there was no person on leading end of move, a requirent in every rulebook but overlooked by every RCO.

DutchRailnut wrote:Remotes are safe, its the nimrods that operate them , that are not.
If every operating rule would be adhered to, there would be no accidents.
Im sure there was no person on leading end of move, a requirent in every rulebook but overlooked by every RCO.

Once again you're more than ready to offer your uneducated opinion on a subject you know absolutely nothing about. To what degree have you been exposed to remotes Mr. Nut? Do they operate on Metro North? Do they operate anywhere in your immediate vicinity? Does the requirement to have an employee on the leading end of the shove apply in remote control zones? Who has the authority to de-activate remore control zones? Can this authority be relayed by another employee? If so, what employees are authorized to relay the de-activation of remote control zones?
Realize your limitations Mr. Nut. Stick to commuter ops. and you'll do just fine!

I have heard from a railroader that remotes can be perfectly safe.
Otherwise they never would have been approved.

So, what happened here?

It was either equipment malfunction, or human error.

steemtrayn wrote:It was either equipment malfunction, or human error.

Probably human error.
I certainly hope the equipment is failsafe.
I would expect it to be if approved by the FRA and everyonelse.

We can't always prevent human error.

This is not in any order, but rather what I know about remote control. IF radio contact is lost the locomotive(s) keep doing what they were doing for sixty seconds. Remote control isimilar to driving to a remote control car. Hope this does help a bit.

Steve Irwin
February 22nd 1962 - September 4th 2006

Mr Greenwood since your big uneducated mouth opened up again, I have been exposed and kept up with technologie and practical exposure to railroads in Europe when Remote control has been in Service since time you were still exposed to your Lego train.
Every switching move in port of Rotterdam has been done with Remotes since early 60's by people obviously smarter than you.

U-Haul wrote:This is not in any order, but rather what I know about remote control. IF radio contact is lost the locomotive(s) keep doing what they were doing for sixty seconds. Remote control isimilar to driving to a remote control car. Hope this does help a bit.

That sounds horrible!
I would expecthem to brake and STOP
until otherwise instructed or signal recapture.
Maybe allow a 5 second signal drop, but no more.

I will answer as many, as possible. Yes, JG, TCS does offer remote training, to interested carriers. (I am not qualified, have never operated it, myself)
Are remotes safe? Yes, as long as they are not used.
As far as the "Nut" offering his opine, if you worked around remotes, you would realize the rules are sketchy, at best, dismal, at worst. Most rules pertain to other people staying away from remotes. Remote operators are not required to protect shoves, inside of the "zone". This 2 man crew , with several years of remote experience, between them, knew the "rules" the "zone", and the perils of running remotes. This is the second major derailment, from a remote crew ramming into another train, I have known about, since I came to Clovis.(6 months ago) The last one was back in May, and the same thing happened, only there were a lot of cars, on their side, for that one. DRN, "flaming" someone with the skills, years and experience, that JG has, makes you look stupid, at best, possibly mentally retarded, at worst. No one gives a rats a&&, how some people switch in some tiny little country, on the other side of the planet. This thread is SPECIFICALLY about what happened in Clovis, a few days ago, not some second world country, a decade ago, or longer.
Robert, that railroader lied. The railroads knew going in, that the technology was mostly untested, outside of some steel mills, or small industrial application. Their main concern, was CREW REDUCTION, and the savings derived from that.
The crew didn't "lose control", there was no malfunction, no technical issues, involved. THE CREW SIMPLY FAILED TO PROTECT A SHOVE, regardless of the "zone", or not. Those with no railroad experience, or no freight/remote experience, are welcomed to make guesses, but please don't attempt to pass of what you "think", as "knowledge". You will only cloud the issues, being discussed.

Regards