Belt Railway boots up simulators to bolster remote-control operator training
7/6/2022
By Jeff Stagl, Managing Editor
All railroads are increasing efforts to recruit and hire more people of late. But many of those new hires need a lot of training and time to get up to speed with handling their assigned tasks.
The Belt Railway Co. of Chicago (BRC) recently adopted a technological training tool to help switchmen learn remote-control locomotive operations more quickly and develop skills as a remote-control operator (RCO) in a shorter amount of time.
Earlier this year, the short line installed five RCO simulators in its general office building in Bedford Park, Illinois, near Chicago. Seven new hires recently were the first to use the new training tool, which is designed to provide switchmen hands-on experience as RCOs in a no-safety-risk environment.
BRC Senior Director of Safety and Compliance Jason Charbonneau stands next to a table holding two of the remote-control operation simulators. Belt Railway Co. of ChicagoThe simulators are a gamechanger, BRC leaders say. They are a vital training tool because the railroad is almost entirely RCO-equipped, with only one regularly assigned local locomotive engineer, said BRC Senior Director of Safety and Compliance Jason Charbonneau in an email. The short line also maintains a small roster of locomotive engineers to handle extra transfer assignments.
“When we moved toward RCO operations, the hands-on training was all done out in the field with a contractor. This required some locomotives to be utilized for training instead of for switching operations,” said Charbonneau.
BRC worked with PS Technology (PST) to create the simulators. PST developed the software, which was customized to train RCOs. The simulators feature operator control units (OCCs) that are used in the field.
A BRC trainer and manager reviewed simulator scenarios to help tailor the software for the short line’s operations. The software can be customized to simulate hump operations and train employees for specific scenarios, such as pullbacks and operating within the BRC’s Clearing Yard, said Charbonneau.
Trainers now use the simulators to grade employees based on preset parameters, which helps to identify enhancement opportunities in RCO’s performance. One advantage of the training tool: introducing remote-control operations to new hires in a classroom so they can more efficiently and intently learn the basics of OCCs, said Charbonneau.
“It gives new hires a feel for how the operator control units work and allows for mistakes to be learned in a controlled environment before going out in the field,” he said. “Once they are out in the field with live training around the big locomotives, new hires have a higher comfort level operating the remote-control units.”
Although the simulators currently are being used exclusively to help train newly hired switchmen, the BRC is working with the Federal Railroad Administration to gain approval to use the tool to recertify veteran RCOs.
