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9/10/2024
Compiled by Pat Foran, Editor-in-Chief
For railroads, moving rail cars through yards quickly is critical to reducing dwell times, maintaining transit times, increasing yard efficiency, improving worker safety, controlling operating costs and serving customers.
A range of technology solutions — from switch control products and systems to automatic shunting to event recorders to a variety of digital offerings — is available to help railroads keep their yards operating safely and efficiently.
One example: Trainyard Tech LLC recently introduced the SWITCHMASTER™ Control Box, which is designed to control any switch and interface seamlessly with any track circuit on the market, company officials said in an email.
For ease of installation, the switch control box can be inserted into the company’s weatherproof box or modified to fit in existing switch control boxes.
“The most popular method of installation is to consolidate many panels into one High Double case, which offers the ability to run fiber if available,” Trainyard Tech officials said.
The flexibility of the switch control panel to communicate using various protocols from the switches and track circuits enables the company’s CLASSMASTER™ and ROUTEMASTER™ systems to line routes through large or small processing plants or NX plants.
That means customers can “experience the benefits of a single point of coordinated support from the engineers at Trainyard Tech for not only the hump yard, but the receiving yard and the forwarding yards, as well,” company officials said.
Meanwhile, TekTracking offers its own take on a coordinated approach to customer support with the Commander Terminal Automation (CTA) system, a yard control solution designed to use open-source technology, TCP/IP protocols and off-the-shelf wireless devices.
“With full open-source hardware, CTA empowers railroads to take control of their own maintenance ... with CTA, you have the ability to purchase off-the-shelf components that can be supported with in-house personnel,” company officials said.
CTA is a direct replacement for legacy control and communications components. A new CTA installation retains and adopts all existing power switch machine and OS circuits.
The system is easy to set up and maintain; replacement components are open source and “readily available,” so the system can be “easily supported by trained railroad personnel,” TekTracking officials said.
Other system benefits include:
CTA is in operation at multiple Class I yards and port facilities, with several new installations planned for 2025, TekTracking officials said.
Worker safety is top of mind for every railroader. To help sharpen that focus in yards, Miller Ingenuity offers the patent pending ZoneGuard yard protection system, which is designed to warn workers within a rail yard of any incoming track vehicles or cars being pushed into the facility.
ZoneGuard’s train detection modules (TDMs) and train alert modules (TAMs) are mounted throughout a yard to form a communication network. The TDMs and TAMs are configured based on the customer’s specific track profile such as line of sight, maximum allowable speed, curves and other factors.
Once a train is detected, the system sends a signal to the worker’s wearable devices that will alert them of the approaching track vehicle with an audible, physical and visual alarm.
The system is designed to only alert rail yard workers if there is movement coming into their facility; it will not alert workers if they are performing their own switching operations or if rail traffic is leaving the facility.
“This technology is unique in its ability to detect directional motion while also preventing detections of non-track vehicle movements such has animals, pedestrians, weather events, cars and detections in multi-track environments,” Miller Ingenuity officials said.
Additionally, workers are protected throughout a yard. The radio signal from their wearable device stays with them and connects to the nearest TDM or TAM, company officials said.
In the meantime, the rail yard technology evolution continues. For more yard-related product, equipment and system solutions, see Progressive Railroading’s 2024-25 Communications & Signaling Product Information Directory, which was published in the August issue. Or visit: https://www.progressiverailroading.com/railproducts/cscomponents.aspx
Email comments or questions to prograil@tradepress.com.