Systems and methods for railway asset management. The methods comprise: using a virtual reality device to recognize and collect real world information about railway assets located in a railyard; and using the real world information to (i) associate a railway asset to a data collection unit, (ii) provide an individual with an augmented reality experience associated with the railyard and/or (iii) facilitate automated railyard management tasks.

According to various aspects, exemplary embodiments are disclosed of systems and methods for safety locking of operator control units for remote control locomotives. In an exemplary embodiment, a system includes a machine control unit located on a locomotive to control operation of the locomotive, a primary operator control unit including a primary network interface configured to transmit received input commands to the machine control unit to control motion of the locomotive, and a secondary operation control unit including a secondary network interface and a secondary input interface. The secondary operator control unit is configured to operate in a secondary role that does not include motion control of the locomotive, and the secondary operator control unit is configured to transmit a lock command to the machine control unit to inhibit movement of the locomotive in response to receiving a lock command input at the secondary input interface.

According to various aspects, exemplary embodiments are disclosed of systems and methods for safety locking of operator control units for remote control locomotives. In an exemplary embodiment, a system includes a machine control unit located on a locomotive to control operation of the locomotive, a primary operator control unit including a primary network interface configured to transmit received input commands to the machine control unit to control motion of the locomotive, and a secondary operation control unit including a secondary network interface and a secondary input interface. The secondary operator control unit is configured to operate in a secondary role that does not include motion control of the locomotive, and the secondary operator control unit is configured to transmit a lock command to the machine control unit to inhibit movement of the locomotive in response to receiving a lock command input at the secondary input interface.

Systems and methods for railway asset management. The methods comprise: using a virtual reality device to recognize and collect real world information about railway assets located in a railyard; and using the real world information to (i) associate a railway asset to a data collection unit, (ii) provide an individual with an augmented reality experience associated with the railyard and/or (iii) facilitate automated railyard management tasks.

Systems and methods for railway asset management. The methods comprise: using a virtual reality device to recognize and collect real world information about railway assets located in a railyard; and using the real world information to (i) associate a railway asset to a data collection unit, (ii) provide an individual with an augmented reality experience associated with the railyard and/or (iii) facilitate automated railyard management tasks.

A system for remote control of locomotives over a single time division multiple access network is provided. The system includes a locomotive control unit configured to operatively control a locomotive. The locomotive control unit is suitable for transmitting and receiving information via the network. The system also includes at least two operator control units suitable for transmitting and receiving information via the network and a hump control unit suitable for transmitting and receiving information via the network. The network employs both spatial and frequency diversity for remote control. The locomotive control unit, the at least two operator control units, and the hump control unit will only transmit in a respective defined period of time.

A system for remote control of locomotives over a single time division multiple access network is provided. The system includes a locomotive control unit configured to operatively control a locomotive. The locomotive control unit is suitable for transmitting and receiving information via the network. The system also includes at least two operator control units suitable for transmitting and receiving information via the network and a hump control unit suitable for transmitting and receiving information via the network. The network employs both spatial and frequency diversity for remote control. The locomotive control unit, the at least two operator control units, and the hump control unit will only transmit in a respective defined period of time.

A system and method identify vehicles to be included in a multi-vehicle system that is to travel along one or more routes for an upcoming trip, and determines plural different potential builds of the multi-vehicle system. The different potential builds represent different sequential orders of the vehicles in the multi-vehicle system. The system and method also simulate travels of the different potential builds for the upcoming trip, calculate a safety metric, consumption metric, and/or build metric for the different potential builds based on travels that are simulated, and generates a quantified evaluation of the safety metric, consumption metric, and/or build metric for the different potential builds for use in selecting a chosen potential build of the different potential builds. The chosen potential build is used to build the multi-vehicle system for the upcoming trip.

A system and method identify vehicles to be included in a multi-vehicle system that is to travel along one or more routes for an upcoming trip, and determines plural different potential builds of the multi-vehicle system. The different potential builds represent different sequential orders of the vehicles in the multi-vehicle system. The system and method also simulate travels of the different potential builds for the upcoming trip, calculate a safety metric, consumption metric, and/or build metric for the different potential builds based on travels that are simulated, and generates a quantified evaluation of the safety metric, consumption metric, and/or build metric for the different potential builds for use in selecting a chosen potential build of the different potential builds. The chosen potential build is used to build the multi-vehicle system for the upcoming trip.

A railroad car location, speed and heading sensor system including at least one self-powered, tie-mounted sensor node that is applicable universally to different railroad settings without using track circuits, inductive loops, radar systems, and wheel counters and associated disadvantages. Reliable and relatively low cost deterministic and redundant car presence detection is realized when multiple sensor nodes are arranged in a network, which may be a wireless mesh network, that is not affected by environmental conditions.