I can recall seing pre-merger UP crews working a local using the bulky side shoulder lunch box radios in 1985. That would have been toward the end that equipment being used
Perry Babin When (in general) did railroads switch from communication by lamp to 2-way radio?
An interesting question -- when did RRs start giving the guy on the ground a radio? How many years after radios started appearing on engines and cabooses?
There was an article around 1947 about a 28-pound trainphone for the guy on the ground to carry on his shoulder -- you're familiar with the PRR trainphone system? Some might say it's not strictly radio, but...
Were lunchbox-size radios the first in wide use, or were there bigger VHF radios to lug around, circa 1950?
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timz Perry Babin When (in general) did railroads switch from communication by lamp to 2-way radio? An interesting question -- when did RRs start giving the guy on the ground a radio? How many years after radios started appearing on engines and cabooses? There was an article around 1947 about a 28-pound trainphone for the guy on the ground to carry on his shoulder -- you're familiar with the PRR trainphone system? Some might say it's not strictly radio, but... Were lunchbox-size radios the first in wide use, or were there bigger VHF radios to lug around, circa 1950?
Another form of communication change is the useage of employee Ipads that have done away w/traditional rulebooks & timetables as these are now in the hand held device. This now has expanded to train lists & GTBs. At some locations, printers have either bn turned off or removed from the premises. At my home terminal, the ability to print trip documents is still available (provided the printer is not broke down). I prefer to use hard copies and will thus do that. At the AFHT, all crew printers are gone. All trip "papers" now have to be entered into the Ipad. About the only hard copy you can obtain is a short list of the train that is done by asking the on duty TM.
[quote user="SFbrkmn"]
railfanjohn SFbrkmn Another form of communication change is the useage of employee Ipads that have done away w/traditional rulebooks & timetables as these are now in the hand held device. This now has expanded to train lists & GTBs. At some locations, printers have either bn turned off or removed from the premises. At my home terminal, the ability to print trip documents is still available (provided the printer is not broke down). I prefer to use hard copies and will thus do that. At the AFHT, all crew printers are gone. All trip "papers" now have to be entered into the Ipad. About the only hard copy you can obtain is a short list of the train that is done by asking the on duty TM. I thought "electronic devices" were not permitted in the locomotive cab? So how can a conductor or engineer consult the timetable and/or rule book if he has to use an 'iPad' ["electronic device"] in order to do so?
SFbrkmn Another form of communication change is the useage of employee Ipads that have done away w/traditional rulebooks & timetables as these are now in the hand held device. This now has expanded to train lists & GTBs. At some locations, printers have either bn turned off or removed from the premises. At my home terminal, the ability to print trip documents is still available (provided the printer is not broke down). I prefer to use hard copies and will thus do that. At the AFHT, all crew printers are gone. All trip "papers" now have to be entered into the Ipad. About the only hard copy you can obtain is a short list of the train that is done by asking the on duty TM.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACDPersonal electronic devices are still prohibited from being in operation.
My Fitbit gets stowed when I'm operating...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
railfanjohnI thought "electronic devices" were not permitted in the locomotive cab? So how can a conductor or engineer consult the timetable and/or rule book if he has to use an 'iPad' ["electronic device"] in order to do so?
Here's a handy dandy flowchart (pdf). , courtesy of the FRA.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
Never mind electronic devices (tablets, etc), an engineer can't copy a directive on paper from the radio in the same circumstances.
I have no problem believing that paperless will be a fact of life for many railroad applications.
tree68Never mind electronic devices (tablets, etc), an engineer can't copy a directive on paper from the radio in the same circumstances. I have no problem believing that paperless will be a fact of life for many railroad applications.
Engineer can not copy a mandatory directive on paper - WHEN THE TRAIN IS MOVING. Engineers CAN copy directives on paper if his train is STOPPED.
SOP in attempting to transmit Slow Orders and other mandatory directives to Amtrak or other carriers that operate with ONLY a engineer in the control compartment of their train is to request the Engineer get the Conductor to the control compartment so that THEY can legally copy the madatory directive to paper and perform the necessary repeating process for the directive.
When transmitting Mandatory Directives to MARC or VRE movements, it was common to have the Engineer copy the directives while their train was stopped at one of their many Station Stops.
The future will see changes.
BaltACDEngineer can not copy a mandatory directive on paper - WHEN THE TRAIN IS MOVING. Engineers CAN copy directives on paper if his train is STOPPED.
Definitely true - left that part out. I've had so sit and wait for the conductor to copy a Form D then bring it up to me in the cab.
Here is where the 'catch" is on this. These Ipad devices are issued by the carriers, and not are of personal property. Phone rules are stil same as you CANNOT use a phone w/the train moving. I cannot say about other carriers, but on the orange & black, the carrier-issued Ipad can be used to look up any information in the four rule books, the timetables, track charts and station/yard "playbooks" w/the train moving. We no longer have hard copy printed rule books--they are all electronic. Most of the work reporting on these devices simply are clicking a line or two. An example is say you have scheduled work to s/o or p/u an eng. Once you hit "arrive" at that station, the work reporting is completed w/normally nothing else to do, other than the pyhiscal work outside. The devices are programmed for certain functions that cannot be activated when the train is moving--such as the van taxi enroute to your location or the wind gauge speed indicators. Those can only be turned on when the train is stopped. Crossing warning speed restrictions and updates to Form A's are issued through the PTC screen which the condr copies on paper provided, of course, if the train is PTC equipped. The first usage of Ipads I want to say was like five yrs ago but it only has been this yr where the iron fisted militant style, like turnimg off printers, has been forced on us. I do not agree w/any of that. We still need printing functions. This is where, like many other industries, the IT deptartment has taken over operation of the business; just like auto control/TO locomotives and now newly introduced automated dispatching. Enough typing for today. Thanks for listening.
Sam
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