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Norfolk Southern Offers New 6 Point Plan to Address Safety Concerns

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Posted by Convicted One on Monday, March 6, 2023 3:05 PM

n012944
 It is just the mainstream media post you linked didn't tell the whole story.

 

Thanks for the additional source. Star

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Posted by n012944 on Monday, March 6, 2023 2:55 PM

Convicted One

I think that it's great they are being proactive.   And my "200 in 20,000" observation was not intended to be critical.  It just looked to me to be a "derived in the board room" type figure, intended to demonstrate commitment, such as how big of a commitment will sell as an adequate response? sort of thing.

If I was in their shoes I'd be in the same boat.  I think the improved analytics will be a tremendous help too.

 

 

Well not quite.  It is just the mainstream media post you linked didn't tell the whole story.

http://nscorp.mediaroom.com/2023-03-06-Norfolk-Southern-announces-six-point-safety-plan

"Norfolk Southern is evaluating the distance between hot bearing detectors, which currently averages 13.9 miles on its core network.  The company will examine every location on its core network where the distance is more than 15 miles and develop a plan to deploy additional detectors where practical due to terrain and operating conditions.  The company anticipates adding approximately 200 hot bearing detectors to its network, with the first installed on the western approach to East Palestine."

An "expensive model collector"

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Posted by ns145 on Monday, March 6, 2023 2:51 PM

Overmod

 

 
Convicted One
200 additional detectors in a 20,000 mile system

 

Bet your bippy more will be mandated soon... 

 

But the real thing that needs to be accomplished is something I haven't seen carefully discussed -- the linking of detectors proactively to be able to sense things like evolving trends.  The current detectors, and the 'network' structure, involve standalone installations, and the new NS incentive as I read it calls for more autonomous locations.  On the other hand, there was evidently a monitoring capability that determined the critical location and temperature rise, and if that is remoted, it would not be "that" difficult to compare data, 'sensor-fuse' received results, and use a little AI/ES to analyze trends and determine potential actions, including the avoidance of heavy dynamic or brake transitions.

 

Pretty sure NS is already doing data trending and big data analytics on the data collected by their HBD's.  When I hear the Wayside desk stop a train in Springfield, IL in less than six miles of distance past the detector east of town, they have 1) identified the car or cars with wheels or axles that are trending hot and, 2) analyzed the temperature reading trend profile to give the crew a fairly accurate guess as to what sort of problem they should be looking for when they do their inspection (e.g., handbrake, sticking brakes, bad bearing, etc.).  Can't do all that in that short amount of time without some sort of automated, networked system.

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Posted by Overmod on Monday, March 6, 2023 2:23 PM

Convicted One
200 additional detectors in a 20,000 mile system

Bet your bippy more will be mandated soon... 

But the real thing that needs to be accomplished is something I haven't seen carefully discussed -- the linking of detectors proactively to be able to sense things like evolving trends.  The current detectors, and the 'network' structure, involve standalone installations, and the new NS incentive as I read it calls for more autonomous locations.  On the other hand, there was evidently a monitoring capability that determined the critical location and temperature rise, and if that is remoted, it would not be "that" difficult to compare data, 'sensor-fuse' received results, and use a little AI/ES to analyze trends and determine potential actions, including the avoidance of heavy dynamic or brake transitions.

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Posted by Convicted One on Monday, March 6, 2023 1:11 PM

I think that it's great they are being proactive.   And my "200 in 20,000" observation was not intended to be critical.  It just looked to me to be a "derived in the board room" type figure, intended to demonstrate commitment, such as how big of a commitment will sell as an adequate response? sort of thing.

If I was in their shoes I'd be in the same boat.  I think the improved analytics will be a tremendous help too.

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Posted by tree68 on Monday, March 6, 2023 12:10 PM

Convicted One
200 additional detectors in a 20,000 mile system

There's apparently only 1,000 on the system now, so there's that...

The acoustic detectors might be a better focus.  I'd opine that such a detector might have caught the problem at East Palestine much sooner.

LarryWhistling
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Norfolk Southern Offers New 6 Point Plan to Address Safety Concerns
Posted by Convicted One on Monday, March 6, 2023 10:32 AM

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/norfolk-southern-derailment-safety-plan-springfield-east-palestine-ohio/

 

"Four of the six points in Norfolk Southern's safety plan relate to bearing detectors, which are installed on rail tracks and provide real-time warnings to train crews. The company said on Monday that it will develop a plan to add additional detectors "where practical," noting that it expects to add about 200 hot bearing detectors, with the first installed near East Palestine. "

200 additional detectors in a 20,000 mile system

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