The introduction of Portable Locomotive Control Technology (PLCT), also known as remote control technology, is under way on CSX Transportation and all other Class I railroads. The implementation began last month and comes after other North American railroads have used this technology successfully over the past several years to improve safety and productivity. Contained on this page are a letter from Al Crown, CSXT Executive Vice President-Transportation; Fast Facts and Frequently Asked Questions, which cover much of the information currently available about remote control technology. If you have additional questions, please e-mail us and you will get a reply within two business days.
Posted by conrailkid (Member # 1898) on :
yeah, for those of us who work with the garbage, its a joke. only thing they (CSX) accomplished was taking a productive 3 man crew (eng, cond, brkmn) and reduce it to 2 man by taking the engineer away. the only reason these "toy" trains are so productive is that the crews aren't given the same work load that the old 3 man crew gets. if csx can divert non-essential freight to non-remote yards, the number of cars in the remote yard is less, and the remote looks like it does real good. also, keep in mind- more run through switches, runaways, grade crossing incidents- yeah- its a real smart idea. the only good thing i find with ns is that they don't use it!
Posted by CSXFANDAN (Member # 1844) on :
OUCH!!!!!!
Posted by Andybuzz2u (Member # 2008) on :
I work for the BNSF in Houston, Tx though we dont have any yet there a comeing to a rail yard near you..they have one up in Temple,TX out crew change point and it falls so far behind in the yard that they have to call a extra job with a normal crew to catch it back up...and it runs three tricks a day. So they keep there extra boards a turning!
Posted by conrailkid (Member # 1898) on :
that's been the norm here in baltimore on csx. the railroad has diverted as much non-essential freight away, and the remote crews play through their shifts. more often than not, there isn;t a qualified remote crew available, the remote engine is broke down, or no qualified extra men to fill vacancies on the remote job. it's so bad here that they've been calling a utility engineer to stand by in case the remote fails, then the run as a regular switcher!