BNSF Remote Control?

[Anonymous]

I've been observing some activity of a prototype BNSF line here in Tulsa.  The trains on this particular section of track move pretty fast- maybe 50 mph or so.  Anyway, there is a sign warning traffic at the crosspoints that the locos used on this train are remote control operated.  I've never heard of this before.  Anybody know when they started doing this or how it works?  It sounds kind of interesting.  I'm kind of new and getting back into the hobby after being "dormant" for the last 6 years or so.  Maybe this is a new thing- or maybe not.

[ericsp]

The remote control locomotives are the those that are switching the industries. I am sure the crew is in the cab when traveling between industries, unless they are right next to each other. Remote control on US class ones has been going on for a few years now.

[route_rock]

  Must be near a yard? Our remotes are not used in road or switching service. Only for trimmer moves and hump jobs. Also a lot of BNSF yards have dumped remotes.

  All road trains  have a conductor and engineer, Road switchers have a conductor brakeman and engineer.

[Anonymous]

What's a dumped remote?

[GN-Rick]

A "dumped" remote is one no longer used by it's owning railroad. "Dumped" as in tossed in the trash.

[youngengineer]

I believe all BNSF remotes are restricted to 10 mph no matter where  they may be running, A few yards have the remotes actually go out on the mainline but usually within close proximity of the yard no more than a mile, 2 at the most. Remote jobs generally consist of a foreman and helper, a road switcher crew would be engineer conductor brakeman. The other problem with running remotes on the mainline is with dead spots due to radio control. There is not an infinite range, rather a very finite range, in Denver we had problems sometimes with the remotes running out of range of the radio tower and having to rescue the enigne with a conventional unit wth an engineer.

[route_rock]

  Hell young we have that in flat land G Town!! The remotes must be in range of the tower where the signals get bounced from beltpack to remote on the loco.if not call a tow truck lol.

  Yes dumped is as in trashed gotten rid of scrapped. Velocity is a big word here for us.

  10 mph is tops here for trimmer motors hump motors are at 8 mph tops.

  

[Mimbrogno]

Velocity isn't always a big word for UP. I read about an incident several years ago where a UP remote controlled switcher putting a car onto the back of Amtrak's Sunset Limited tried to couple onto the car at 30 mph. The car they were switching was apparently an older single level car, (probably a private car now that I think about it), and it devistated the whole car. Equipment was knocked off the underframe, windows were smashed, walls were shifted, cabnites and furniture were wrecked, just a real mess. I saw the car still sitting in the yard at Tucson right on the same spot where it was hit about 8 or 10 months after it missed it's appointment with the Sunset.

I've never trusted remote controlled locomotives, just too much power to let run around without a man on board. Too much risk...

Matthew Imbrogno
Mechanical Vollenteer, Arizona Railway Museum
www.azrymuseum.org