Union Pacific Urges Memorial Day Motorists to Use Caution at Grade Crossings New Camera Technology Installed on Locomotives to Enhance Public Safety. Omaha, Neb., May 24, 2006 – With Memorial Day weekend marking the start of summer travel and vacations, Union Pacific Railroad urges motorists to use extra caution when approaching highway-rail grade crossings and to heed the warnings of automated crossing gates, flashing signals and crossbuck signs. And, Union Pacific is enhancing public safety beyond these traditional devices through new technology – installing more than 1,000 Track Image Recorders (TIRs) aboard locomotive cabs to digitally record an engineer’s-eye view of the track, crossings and signals directly in front of a train as it travels over the rails. "Installation of TIR equipment is another step in Union Pacific's commitment to employee and public safety," said Bob Grimaila, vice president-environment and safety. "This equipment is a valuable tool in assisting with the investigations of pedestrian or grade-crossing incidents. "Grade crossing collisions across the United States have declined by 75 percent since 1972, and we are hopeful the TIR technology will help us further understand why drivers sometimes do not obey the warning devices at public grade crossings." A small camera is mounted inside the locomotive cab, looking down the track providing the train crew’s point of view. A microphone is mounted outside to record the locomotive’s air horn and bell. The video image disk can record up to five days of information and is accessible only to authorized personnel for review. TIR video images and locomotive event recorder data can be synchronized to provide detailed information about what occurred prior to an incident. from www.up.com
ah hah!...I knew the ol' UP would have a nice little acronym for that camera I've seen Thanks for posting John!
Yes they have the cameras, but it won't be long and they will have them pointed at the crew members watching what they are doing !!! Not just at crossings either...
The TIR's start recording at each use of the horn and continue for 30 seconds after we stop blowing the horn. Litigation is the reason we have them now. It's not enough to down load the tapes and prove we were using the horn we need video proof that these people got in the way of the train. Greg Elems
Wouldn't them being splattered all over the front of the locomotive be enough proof they got in the way?!?! Sheesh.
Jeez, sounds like my field- we have to document EVERYTHING- if it's right, it gets documented, If it's wrong, it has to be explained why it went wrong, what was done to correct it, and then document that documentation took place. Big Brother is not only watching, he's anal-retentive as well!
You would be surprised how many people think we can steer these trains. I allowed a young man and his son up in the engine and his first question was, "where’s the steering wheel." After the conductor finished spraying coffee on the door and window, "he told him it was on the side of the nose and he had walked past it coming in the cab." We went on to explain how the wheels and rails work. I also had to explain to a young woman in the store about the rails. She seemed to honestly believe that the trains singled out cars and swerved to hit them. Those are the twelve peers for juries in the trials all too often also. Greg
