M.A.R.C (mothers against remote control

My opinion is that the R.C. will never make it out of the yard. Unfortunatley, the way we are in society today mostly reactionary, rather than pro-actionary; if it did make it onto the long hauls, it will take an accident and then a bunch of lawyers to stop something that never should have started. Someone will get run over or hit, when the remote operator lapsed their attention from sheer boredom from staring at a screen(not sure if that is how it will operate) nevertheless, when the train just keeps on going like nothing happened, HAL, HAL =) you will see some group like M.A.R.C. (mothers against remote control )start up and it will end with some big lawsuits. Not to mention that out in the boonies, like Nevada,(no offense NV I love your state), how would they keep bandits from boarding the train and robbing it??
Automation of some kind may have some use, perhaps like a throttle/brake function program that the engineer!! , in the CAB !, can set to adjust the controls automatically at cetain speed changes ,just as a failsafe in case he lapses in attention. Airline pilots use autopilot to be more efficient in their cockpit management, but we still need the person on board. There is no logic to take their jobs away. No one would even get into a plane without a pilot, even though many people don't even realize that airline pilots often let the autopilot bring the plane to just above the ground before going to manual control to land it. Just the same, there is no logic to take Engineers out of the cabs.
The effects of going to R.C. would not just affect the railroad workers, but many other aspects of the business world. The charm and lure of railroading would be over. People in my opinion would just stop rail-fanning, except for steam and vintage. It would just not be appealing since you can't dream of ever driving a train, because there are no drivers on it!! Would people really buy a remote-control, remote-control model railroad set?? What kid would want it since he can't ever aspire to drive a real one ? Who would buy a "Face-less Trains of the USA" book with engines that have no windows, but only a camera jutting out from the front eerily scanning back and forth like some store security camera.
It was bad enough when cabooses went away, now there is only one end of the train that kids can get waves from, and soon what?
a remote control robotic hand that just waves non-stop ?
This whole thing to me sounds like some slicky salesman trying to sell the latest high tech gadget to some out-of-touch execs who have stock in that company. They don't understand what it's like for a man to loose his career, his dream, his support for his family. LISTEN UP EXECS ! Years ago people thought robots would replace workers; barely happened at all. Ever heard this one ? Computers will give us a 'paper-less' society. HA . we print out everthing under the sun now and use more paper. Technology has limits. A man can rise above limits. So if a man wants to work, let him.
Some of those people at the top have no heart. They want to demoralize a man, bring him down. Anyone remember the Twilight Zone episode where the young exec replaced all the workers with computers, until he was down to one guy, this guy understood that a man has to work, use his hands and do what he was good at. He was finally replaced too; then only the exec was left. Then the machine went haywire and no one was there to pick up the pieces.
So what could it be, Do they think it would be safer? doubtful. Save money? who are they kidding? The extensive infrastructure and network of computers to pull of a large scale remote operation would be unbelievably expensive.
More efficient? probably less. not only do you have to repair the trains, now you have to repair all the electronics to run this thing.
Personally, I think this has all the makings of a BETA vcr ending. and you all know how that ended. ;-0

 

In one sense we already are, and in another we're moving away from them. DCC is very much like a remote control train and what it's replacing is the old model where all the operators sat in a big room and ran the trains from there. I know there are still quite a few older layouts set up like this.

Other than that, I tend to agree with you, especially on the safety aspects. What are they going to do when the train snaps a coupler on a grade in the mountains miles from the nearest road and there is no crew to fix it, and no trains can pass until the line is cleared? THats the other issue I see.

 

You can buy wireless remote control model railway's, at least over here, Hornby has the "technology" (the same as a TV remote control) in some of it's Thomas sets, it's not bad (not fine enough for "scale" use, but fine as a train set) and lets you operate from anywhere in the room, a big advantage. But I guess that's not what you're talking about.

There are also plenty of transit style systems that are computer controlled, though as far as I know there is always a human on board to take over in case of system failure. An example is the Docklands light railway in London, the one collision they have had in their history was when a human driver exceeded his track authority! The thing that all the automated systems have in common is a lack of interface between rails and other systems, no pedestrian or road crossings, and usually a defined & fenced right of way so nobody accidentally finds themselves in the way. In terms of freight railroads I believe there's a southern Ohio coal hauler that operates under remote control, but it has no grade crossings to contend with.

I don't think there is any danger of remote control taking over mainstream railroading, "out of course" events (such as the aforementioned broken knuckle, blocked grade crossing, trespassers, fallen trees, rockslides etc) happen too often to allow unmanned trains.

R/C in yards seems to be very useful as it can give the operator a better view on what's going on, for example he'll knows where the back of the cut is because he'd be there too...

Don't mean to be rude, but where did you get the background for your post, has there been an article saying that the UP is sacking all it's engineers or something?
Who exactly are "they"?
Or was that all just a little bit of sensationalism? You've piqued my curiousity!

All the best!

[ 08 February 2002, 10:37: Message edited by: Martyn Read ]

 

Martyn, I am dead serious!

My position was Engineering Designer, assigned to perform PC board packaging (if you know what that is) on giudence systems the company was contracted to furnish development and prototypes on.

Some of my work was standard commercial and industrial detail work, that eventually evolved in my being transferred to the Military design and development group. Then everything went under security, either industrial, or government.

As an avid rail fan, and having some railroad experience, I was able to discuss aspects of these projects with the Customer's engineers, that my fellow engineers had no interest in. It was just a job to them.

"They" are certain factions of the business world who run, control, or finance business that will be upcoming in the world, including America.

Non-disclosure agreements having been signed, prevents anyone involved from providing certain detailed information publicly, as I am sure you are aware of. Industrial spies are just as real as government spies.

Later on tonight when I can think, I will go through the above posts and explain what I can.

You may as well get used to the fact, that in today's businesses, there are probably no longer any executives who care about any one employee personally, beyond how much he produces against how much he costs to maintain. The bottom line is profit margin and stock value. Do you know any companies that are letting employees go?

Supper is ready, I'll return.

 

BigAl posted some on this in the topic "Remote Control?" in this same forum.

I'll add some to answer Railboss, Martyn, and Cthrippo after lunch. (Yesterday I was out of pocket), sorry for the delay.

 

railboss,

No one will get run over, there will be no crossings, and the rails are to be in protected corridors.

Remote operators, are programs running on computers. Not humans.

Out in the boonies, the bandits would bave to board these trains, at speeds in excess of 100MPH. Fat chance!

There will not be any human on board to over-ride the program.

The logic to take the engineer's job away, is profit. A computer can't strike for more pay, shorter hours or some other human interest. The beauty of computer control, is it is free, works non-stop 24 hours a day, and doesn't get tired or sleepy, and doesn't make mistakes, and can spell even when in a hurry.

The charm may not be over, just changed. The kids would get a thrill seeing one of the new trains flash by, just like we did, because that is what they will grow up with.

If old steam and diesel engines are kept for railfanning, then they will remain, but if computer games get better, it will probably die like the horse and buggy.

Probably the same people who get a kick out of DCC and writing computer programs to operate their railroad layouts today, will be the ones who would be interested in buying a book entitled, "Face-less Trains of the USA" in the day to come you speak of. And yes the "Security Camera" jutting out in front of the engine will be there, but neatly packaged behind a Lexan window to protect the lens against birds, bugs, and rocks. Along with that camera, is the radar, and other sensing and signalling devices, most of them infared. The lexan "window" rotates to keep it clean.

Soon, kids wont get waves from anything on board, so no need to wave.

I can't help how it sounds to you, but what you don't seem to want to understand, is, it is the exec's who are very-much-in-touch, that are paying for this design and development program.

The exec's DO realize what it is like for a mere employee to lose his job, his dreams, his income to feed his family, that is why the exec's are willing to offer him a choice: 1. he may quit, or 2. he can accept their offer to re-train for some other type work that isn't automated yet. Beyond that, so far as the exec's are concerned, the man is obsolete.

Years ago, I was part of the design team that automated the robotic assembly plant to assemble the IBM typwriter. We did it. The entire plant only required 8 people to run, and all they did was load parts into orienting chutes from trucks, and one man in the control room monitoring the computers.

It was the start of the Design for Manufacture (by robotic machines), and Design for Assembly (where screws and rivits etc, are replaced by snap-together assemblies).

Robots DID replace employees. China has whole factories where robots make robots.

We were schooled to design tooling so it could be machined by CNC Mills, and lathes. I actually operated a Machine in Mexico, from my computer here in Dallas! The test was a success. I was the Project Engineer that designed, built and installed a robotic system in a cleanroom to manufacture totally sterile Dialysis filters totally without human intervention. It is still running today, and has been on TV. You can see it operate through glass windows, but no human ever goes into the room, unless for maintainence. Parts go in, and come out packaged ready for shipping.

Tool & Die workers went home, and robots were taken over run by young college kids who would work for minimum wage and glad to get it. When the robots were programed and perfected, the kids went home.

You are correct, MOST of "those people at the top" have no heart. Because they HAVE to show a profit to the Board of Directors and the Stock-Holders.

It is a matter of mind over matter, see?
(They don't mind, and you don't matter!)

No it hasn't been unbelieveably expensive. It has grown by educating the children into wanting computers to "play" with. Then it has grown from there, because you just HAVE to have a computer to wipe your butt effeciently today. Tomorrow, it will wipe it for you!

Next will be Cthrippo and Martyn. Coffee time now, I'm dry.

[ 10 February 2002, 23:06: Message edited by: watash ]

 

Tis all a simple economics/finance business problem, and everything is starting to be run like a business today...even our schools.

Bottom lines are starting to have more weight then ethics, simply because If that bottom line IS NOT met, then the execs and the uppers get fired and canned, and they simply cannot let that happen to themselves. And as many execs might look at it, "we loose one job, but save three others because the company does not go under."

And all these execs, everywhere, with their 6 figure salaries, cannot ever think of decreasing their own pay to "reasonably moderate" levels because it would "Decrease Company Morale."

Some of this rhetoric has been very common in my college newspaper...The State Of Arizona is having a small problem swallowing another deficiet that was supposed to never existed this time last year.

Want to know just how bad this is getting? A couple of weeks ago, a kid in a Georgia school was suspended for one day for wearing a Pepsi T-shirt. If you want more on that, search the words "Pepsi Suspension", and you should be able to find the story pretty fast. Sounds like perfect court case for one of these crack lawyers that are out of work right now.

Looking at it from the exec's point of view:
Reduce High Number of Expensive Staff, Replace them with Minimum wage button pushers, and save the company money.

Because this is remote control, they will be able to get away with bloody murder in who actually gets to drive the train. Give them time, they will eventually find a way to word the job description so that all resemblence to engineering is removed from the job descripton and reduce it to nothing more the "Button Pusher." Training to work in the yards might be little more then operating a model yard for so many hours. And as soon as they can reduce the operating components to nothing more then a program of numbers and equations that will get ANY train over that specific stretch of track...well, anybody can push that button that makes that train move over that hill in that specific condition. That train already has that stretch of track programmed into its databanks, and starting from mile marker 4064 a signal from a remote location simply tells that train to run program #431343AB v2.3 "Mile 4064 to Mile 4820" with variables weight and motive power all calculated into the equation...and all the button pusher has to do is hit the button that tells the system to start the run.

And if there is a problem? Well, there is simply a "Computer Programmer/Mechanic Repair Team" Set every so many miles to take care of the problems. And with the programming industry is so far down right now, and these road mechanics needed for nothing more "complicated" then replacing a knuckle, they can easily rustle all of these guys up in the twinkling of an eye. This team might have an engineer on it in case of extreme emergency to move the train to a spur until the new consist of lead units arrive to relieve the broken ones...

No, I am not completely happy about this

But I don't think the factory workers were either when the new robots arrived and put the cars together three times faster and with twice the precision...even if it meant that a mistake such as a system miscalculation that put the left front quarter panel on 1/8 of an inch too low replicates it on all 5000 cars being produced that day or until somebody finds the problem.

And when one of those robots has a 200 ton beam fall on it, the company doesn't have to worry about the expensive recover effort or a leg that has to be amputated or hospital bills or the leave of absences or the life insurance policies or the family that has to be paid disabilities, Et Al. No, all they have to do is send that robot back to it's Mommy in China for a bandaide or two while its clone fills in for it on the line.

 

Watash and Frisco, thanks for your replies.
Watash , I see why you are the trainboard answer man. I do thank you for the insight into this system, I don't profess to know exactly how the system will work, but I don't really need to because this is a human issue.
I appreciate the update on how robots have helped us, indeed it appears they have, however I don't think it is as extensive as I remember them saying in school it would be.
Just a comment on the "cooridors" I just can't imagine the thousands of miles of chain link and razor wire needed to protect these trains from humans and animals, trees etc...
Anyway, my two cents on the matter is: Just because it can be done, why do it ? As usual it is just about money. And yes, maybe they can run longer faster, more often, but those gains aren't free. Those things include new retrofits, more fuel used, more wear and tear all above and beyond the initial startup costs.
I know that my sentimental attitude wouldn't fly in a company board meeting. Humans are sentimental, and that is a good thing when channeled correctly.
We don't need bank tellers with ATM's available, but they are kept on for the human intervention. We don't need grocery cashiers, some already have D.I.Y checkouts, but not many, we still want the human contact. When a freight train pulls into a station, some people would probably like some human intervention.
So what if men/women get sick, have funerals to attend to, have weddings to go to, have family vacations to go on, that is life ! A company is started with life, humans, if companies think they are in the Train biz or the grocery biz or airline biz or whatever, they are WRONG. They are in the people business. The time when they think they aren't is trouble for them. People will stay away from in-human places of employment. Again, just because technology is available doesn't mean it should be used. A good decision involves thinking on how it affects people. And not just today, but long term. I agree, if indeed everything points to this helping people , getting more jobs and better pay and better safety, etc. then go for it, the engineers life seems hard. Like OTR trucking, I don't think a family man should be away from home so much. SO if it does help in these areas then great and I am just a sentimental fool then and I'll just visit my Steam tourist lines etc.. But I stick to my opinion that not all technology benefits the people. My case in point: TV. more hurt than good. I understand that even the inventor of the modern TV technology even stated to the effect that it will be the downfall of us.
So maybe some good, in some areas, maybe some bad thing, but my advice to EXecs, be very very careful, you are in the life human business !

 

Friscobob,
That Tramway at DFW was designed and built by Varo Engineering in Dallas. It has worked remarkably well for what we understood about "automation" in those days.

I was asked to join the Boeing team that designed and built the baggage handling system for the Denver Airport, but I pointed out a problem I thought would damage the luggage during one of the meetings. I was judged to be too critical to be a cooperative team player, and went on to greater things at another company.

Guess what happened to the luggage? HA! Some people have foresight, some do not. I never got hired, he is now fired. Way it goes.

You are correct Benny.
Guess why there are computers in grade schools today?

High School Graduates generally can't spell any better than I can.

54% of High School Seniors failed to give the correct answer when asked,

Who is buried in Grant's Tomb?, and

When was the War of 1812?

Let me pose a question you may wish to ask at school: (Knowing that BIG finance runs our government)

"If it is illegal to bribe a congressman, what does a Lobbyist do?"

Cthrippo,
The new couplers are electrically operated and weather proof. There are several under test. The most promising that I was aware of is the one that looks a lot like the breach of a cannon. The day of the impact coupler as we see it today, is almost over. Because the computer can control every aspect of at train in motion, there will be no broken couplers. The grades and curves will be smoothed out.

The data from engine tapes are being monitored to assist in designing the necessary sensors to safely start, run, and stop these unit trains. These are not long long trains, as we have them today. They are shorter, and run just minutes apart. They run from one marshalling yard to another, then they may take another train back, or may continue on to another yard. There is no need for any one engine (power unit) to ever go back to the yard from where it began life. That could sometimes require dead heading.

Track maintainence will be entirely different. Track may not even be steel rails by then. I can't get into that, but it is being tested and some decision will be made in the next couple of years. I suspect, the freight and passenger transporters will be designed to operate over several kinds of guidence corradors as best suits the terrain or use.

Martyn,
No radio control is not what is at hand, although there is radio signaling Like your Dish TV for some things.

There is an interface between destinations for loading modules of freight, or passengers into and off of these trains.

Mainstream railroading is the goal. There will still be short lines around the industrial complexes, that will deliver and retrieve the modules, until the cities are rebuilt to accomodate the new life style.

Harbors were changed when sailing ships went obsolete. Thrain stations and tracks were build when the stage coach went away. Cities were rebuilt when the super highways were built. Sure the citires and railroads will change, you probably will live to see it grow.
You may not hear a diesel horn any more than you hear a steam whistle, or a horse whinny!

Sorry guys, I had to make a living to feed my family, and I was good at it. Now I'm retired.

Get a good education, and keep a good job, I expect you to take good care of me in my old age! See what all wonders I left for you to enjoy?

 

Seattle-Tocoma Airport has a subway that is remote controled. No operator on board. It travel in a large circle and stops at the various terminals. The wife and I have ridden on it several times. I guess you could say it operates like a elevator except it is horizontal.
Circus Circus in Reno has a couple of trams that are run by computers.

[ 11 February 2002, 01:38: Message edited by: Telegrapher ]

 

railboss- I love the reference to HAL, the original evil supercomputer!

Watash - Some people do have foresight, some computers do not. I believe that this is why people do not trust them.

Can anyone imagine if any of these RC trains used software from Microsoft!


Russ
Hoffman Valley RR

 

My roommates reply to

"A lobbyist is a person who is skilled at finding a loophole in the law."
---Jonathan

Yes, I can believe that a system similar to Microsoft Simulator might be in these trains. And why not? Our pilots are all now recieving their basic flight school on simulators...much cheaper then the real thing, and not really that hard. I could easily see this software adapted to a new input/interface device...that IS all this new modern world is today, just a bunch of programs written to manipulate an interface, only now that interface just happens to be a car or a train or a drone or such. And if the rails are all built in a way such as our Superhighway system, then the grade crossings and animal hazards can be removed from the equation too.

They have said that the motor car would never replace the horse. The airplane would never be a viable means of transportating people, much less be a means with which to get off the ground. The Diesel would never replace the steam locomotive. The TV would never replace quality family interaction. Mom would never stop making those lovely Sunday dinners with all those delicate and simply mouthwatering homestyle trimmings.
Yet here I am in college eating a box of fast food wishing my bicycle wasn't so dangerous, listening to loud music, distant concert F horns, and watching great jetliners flying overhead. So it is not all that hard to swallow the image of Microsoft Train Simulator running our trains.

Fear not, get a good education and you will always find work...Higher education will be good to those that keep with it and everyone else (those that choose to slack off in high school, "experience all the social challenges to the fullest extent" in college, and spend their time in the party) will be put into the new lower middle class of America that will flip burgers, reroof houses, landscape, drive dump trucks, and take care of senile paranoid old people who just wish their family would visit more often.

And there will always be a demand for Fire and police personnel, as well as in the Military. The machines won't get all of our jobs, just the ones that are easy and repetitive.

They killed the fireman with these new diesels, they ditched the brakeman with these better faster brakes, the crew doesn't have to worry about hotboxes, The Locomotive is no longer alive in the same sense...what's going to stop them from removing the last human variable on that rig? The unions and the human rights groups will only be able to stop the system for so long before some LOBBYIST finds the loophole that allows the whole system to go around the union.

[ 11 February 2002, 02:39: Message edited by: Benny ]

 

Benny,
a lobbyist is paid to cause a congressman to vote or support the interest of the "special interest" person or group furnishing the finances for this action, ergo: a bribe.

My understanding from a prof. at UTA is: A lobbyist finds a loop hole in the law by paying cash, giving gifts, paying for trips that include hot and cold running maid service, to certain comgressmen, senators, etc. to make a hole, bend the interpretation of laws, or simply hide or cover up actions, that will benefit the business interests footing the bill.

You asked where I got my background info, from an article saying UP is going to sack all its engineers or something? I never mentioned UP, I don't know where you got that from.

No it is certainly NOT a bit of sensationalism, at least not on my part.

I told you, I was there, and worked on this program among others. I am not allowed to tell anything about what all is in the controls that I worked on, since a lot of it is the same kind of things used on missle guidence.

And, no I don't believe flying saucers come from Mars, or that there are little green men on Mars. (Great big tall ones maybe, but not little green ones.)

railboss,
I agree with you, but those who actually run our government wants to control each of us from the womb to the tomb, as Hilary stated when she made her deal with the heads of the insurance companies to try for socialized medicine.

You will find out in about fifty years, that all this and more has been planned, and was being worked toward for years.

When it gets pulled off, you will see homework stopped for school children. Why? Because the children is how a nation gains control of changes it wants to make in society, by educating the children to grow up thinking what the "Leaders" want the kids to accept, as being the truth.

It is too risky to have children go home and maybe have the parents dissagree with the propaganda the teacher is teaching at school.

So, you will see computers in every school. You will see Government control of the school lessons. Parents will no longer be able to question the curriculum. Darwain will replace God in schools. Bibles will not be alllowed, nor daily prayers in schools or government buildings, school games, or any public event.

Children will be allowed to dissobey parents. Parents will not be allowed to punish their own children by law, yet will be held accountable for any wrong doing the child decides to do.

God will no longer be acceptable to our government, not in schools, public buildings owned by the gov. or funds to aid or support any Goddly teachings. You will see family vacations curtailed, then stopped altogether. You will see personal travel curtailed for personal pleasure trips.

The reason, is it will cost more for your body and the bodies you may want to take with you, to move from place A to B, than your body contributes to the gross national product. You may be allotted a travel voucher for public transportation, when your superior decides you may be allowed to go, but to take someone else along, would be doubtful.

When you are not pushing your assigned button, that is a loss to the company. You sure don't want to cause another button to stop being pushed. Heaven forbid!

Look into your political history from the depression on to today. Read with your eye pealed to see the growing things that have been accomplished along these lines.

Then look back, fifty years from now, as I do, and see that, yep, Grandpa was right on the button! WOW. And I fell for it hook line and sinker, because that was what I was taught in school, as progress!

The unions got kids out of the sweat shops, and got fair wages for quality work. Then feather bedding started when unions got greedy. Companies have been trying to kill unions ever since. Well, get a good hold on your skivies, because unions are slowly dying in some areas. There are no more Union made Union suits, overalls. Most of the Union jobs were sent over seas. Once the unions are gone, it will be back to the sweat shops, although they will be airconditioned then.

Too late now, just like it will be for you. But I remember hearing all this, now you will remember hearing all this, fifty years from now. I told you so!

Now we find out that our government Knew we were going to be attacted at Pearl Harbor, but did nothing about it. Why? Because you and I would not have wanted to go to war, so the government had to shock us into wanting to kill the Japs!

Now we know it was NOT Oswald that shot Pres. Kenedy in Dallas. We who lived here knew it, and that the government was covering up, but it doesn't become public knowledge until enough time has passed so no one can go put the ones responsible in jail.

That seems to be the American way.
You are free to do or say anything you can getaway with. It is only when you get caught, that it is illegal.

I wasn't taught that way. Were you? Think about it. We even have our own President stand right up before us all and lie like a dog to our faces, and get caught with his pants down, and people still think he is a great man. How stupid is the American public anyway?

[ 11 February 2002, 03:44: Message edited by: watash ]

 

OK, I sort of see where you're coming from, I'm going to basically skip the piece about senators, lobbyists and dodgy president's, 'coz that's something I know nothing about , but.....

*IF* the US were to invest in a series of new "railways" (but we're really talking high speed monorail or more likely maglev type things here aren't we,) on dedicated separate right of way with identical "modular" trains linking cities then making that automated would be a natural choice. You've removed most of the reasons why there are crew members there in the first place. I've got no argument with that & it's perfectly logical, as you're talking about speeds so high that a human would have trouble reacting to things in visual range. As an example, on the TGV network they don't have lineside signals (just a marker post) because at 186mph the drivers cannot reliably see them. If you're talking a new system I would not be surprised to see speeds in the 300-500mph range, well above even that speed.

But for mainstream US railroading (which was the inferrance of the first post in this thread) I can't see it at all. The existing companies have a vested interest in *not* developing technology which is too radical, as it has to connect with similar systems owned by other companies, and even in other countries, plain steel wheel on steel rail does this pretty efficiently as it's just very simple. Much of even the current "super railroad's" business originates or terminates off their trackage, and always will unless they get down to one system in the US, which is unlikely due to competition reasons.

Just as a "suppose", what if BNSF replaced their Chicago-LA ex Santa Fe line with a maglev system, at a cost of hundreds of billions of $. Okay, it brings them squarely back into the passenger business, not a bad thing, and the majority of the traffic is intermodal, and therefore "modular" already, so that part should work also.

Where it falls apart is that the line isn't just used by through trains, at various places branches and other lines feed in & take traffic, at each of those you would need some way of transhipping between the networks, that destroys the model of long runs between limited end points that high speed "rail" depends on.

I can't see the current railroads funding this, now I *could* believe the US government would back this, except they don't seem to even have the will to fund the system they have already, let alone spending billions on a parallel system...

BTW I used UP previously & BNSF here purely as examples, i'm inferring no inside corporate knowledge.....

I fully expect lots of changes from now 'till I retire, and fully expect some to be good & a fair few to be bad, but whilst I can forsee such a system happenning, I can't see it replacing much of the traditional heavy railroading...

All the best

 

It is the swing toward containerization that will eventually cause the controls. Our railbeds wont support our present traffic safely. The debate now (or was), do we go to high speed now, or skip it and rebuild our present rail system? There is a bunch of money to be made as a consultant! Great retirement too! I suggest you buy all you can now while it is still on the market, so you can have the models you like, and can enjoy modeling the era that suits you. Your kids will be more apt to run a simulated layout on their computers, than go to all the trouble of hand making a layout as we know it today. Its progress.