Curious if any trainmen running PTC trains? If so good/bad/ugly or just same old, same old? Keep reading articles on this but nothing about real world operation, just stories of different systems that don't play well in the sandbox with each other.
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I don’t work for a railroad, locomotive or PTC equipment manufacturer. But I have been following the developments as a personal interest. From what I read recently, the installation of PTC on Class I freight railroads is still ongoing.
I read sometime in the recent past that either BNSF or Union Pacific had a lot of job openings for technicians to install PTC equipment. The hours seemed unpredictable, lots of travel & required working at remote locations.
I also talked about PTC with a recent BNSF retiree during the yard tour during the Galesburg Railroad days. He feared that PTC could result in the elimination of the Conductor job position. He compared it to past advancements in technology / operations that played a role in eliminating job roles as when the Caboose was eliminated or right-of-way maintenance that are more automated these days or centralized dispatch / control center. He feared that loosing well-paying railroad jobs could be devastating for towns like Galesburg where the railroad is the biggest employer.
These are just my opinion.
Thanks,
Naveen Rajan
Not yet,but with in the next year or so here on the Pokey of the NS .All the signal towers are being set-up for PTC.
We already run THE LEADER SYSTEM.
Now we've got to figure out how to put PTC on the 765...