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[quote user="cacole"] If the UP crew had fallen asleep, shouldn't the alerter have automatically applied the brakes?   I always thought that was the purpose of the alerter.[/quote] This link should open page 14 of the thread below called One year later (sleep thread).  Look at the two pieces I posted in blue on that page.  The first one gives a detailed account of what is referred to as “sleeping on the alerter” or “alerter naps.”   The more technical description is resetting the alerter “reflexively.”  In the described incident, the engineer resets the alerter several times while failing to respond to various wayside conditions calling for a response until he finally collides with a train.  Basically the resetting is so unobtrusive that a person can do it without hardly waking up.  The second piece is the NTSB asking the FRA to redesign the alerter so they cannot be reset reflexively.  Then the FRA assigns the task to a contractor and the contractor tells the FRA that there is no market for such an improved alerter.  I have no idea why the contractor would get to make that call.     The link: <a href="/trn/f/111/p/217591/2402565.aspx#2402565">http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/p/217591/2402565.aspx#2402565</a>
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