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Mookie- First off, I think we are a LONG ways from unmanned trains over the road. Even if you have a RCL train over the road, there would be an Engineer or RCO in the cab except when the train is performing local switching. The FRA won't stand for anything else. I can foresee a time when a single person runs a road train, probably with some assistance from others in some shape or form. This would mean there would be an employee at the controls. I can't say what kind of employee the way things are going right now. If you haven't already, take a look at what has started to happen at some short lines. The Indiana Railroad now runs some road trains and local switch jobs with remotes and a single Engineer, no conductor or trainman onboard. IRR has put in a new "state of the art" Dispatching system that allows the dispatcher to know where the locomotive is at all times within a couple of feet through GPS technology. The DS also can control certain locomotive functions (horn, bell, lights) while the Engineer is not in the cab. This in threory allows the DS to cover backup moves even across public crossings. Am I comfortable with this, heck no, but it may well be the wave of the future. Because trains are large and unable to stop in a short distance any means of control has inherent risk whether it be the reaction time of a human Engineer or the response of an RCO. The difference is the RCO may not be able to see as much as the Engineer in the cab. Of course, I can envision circumstances where it could also go the other way as well. There is no easy answer to this issue. I enjoy my right hand seat and hope to keep it for the length of my career, but who knows about the next generation. LC
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