What In The H E Double Hockey Sticks? ... anyone? The airhorns and lights make me think some kinda MOW... but what???!!!??? I NEED TO KNOW!!!!
Nice Catch, no idea what they are; but Nice Catch! :tb-confused: :tb-confused: :tb-confused: :tb-confused:
I believe these are receiver/controller cars that can be MU'd with any locomotive so that the loco can be operated by an engineer on the ground. These cars save the expense of having a separate stable of specially modified locos that are only used for remote control operations.
Those are RCO (remote control operator) platforms. They can basically make any loco remote control capable. Engineers do NOT use RCO. It is conductors that you see on the ground running these things.
Steve is quite right about that! That is a very touchy subject between the BLE & T and the carriers! CT
Hey, no problem:tb-biggrin:. Nothing was directed toward you. As Charlie stated, many of us are bitter about the whole remote control thing. It means that I've spent 9 years on an extra board and 28 more to go with no hope of a yard job or regular job for my entire career. I'm sure the same was felt when defect detectors and FREDs came around. If an engineer messes up we get fired. If it is a remote job it just gets swept under the rug.
Very interesting information for those like myself whom are just learning the many things that constitute the Railroad industry. Always sorry to hear a portion that's going to cost jobs though. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
I have nothing good to say about those things...............nothing at all. And I'm not even in the industry. Might as well have a big tower in the yard with guys sitting in front of throttles, each operating their own individual locomotives like so many model railroaders........except in the 12 inches=1 foot scale world, derailments and minor collisions are more costly.
Just don't let my bitterness sway your fascination!:tb-biggrin: Seriously though, I can now see how many steam engineers felt when M.U. cables came around with internal combustion contraptions on wheels LOL. There is a poem that I read not too long ago written by a steam engineer describing how he could put up with being "railroaded" but how "the man who invented the m.u. cables 'oughta be shot!!!" I've also heard many stories about FREDs being thrown in rivers and run over. Oh well, you can't fight technology and corporate greed.
Yeh, and now with the Air Force flying UAVs on bombing, strafing, and surveillance missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, flown by pilots somewhere in the States, who knows what the next generation in railroad technology will be......:tb-shocked:
Not to mention tech support halfway around the world. Overall? They look like cool contraptions to model.
On the other hand, I work at a company that makes a portion of the electronics in the UAV(though I personally don't) so the people that work at this company are benefiting. Technology will always make something or someone obsolete. It is not something to be proud or excited about, but it is a truism of mankind.
