A system and method for inspecting a railway track using sensors oriented at an oblique angle relative to a rail vehicle on which the system is traveling. The use of an air blower, ducts, and one or more air distribution lids over the sensors helps remove debris from blocking the sensors and structured light generators.

A system includes one or more processors configured to identify first location data corresponding to a first location of a first vehicle of a vehicle system when the first vehicle passes a reference object and identify second location data corresponding to a second location of a second vehicle of the vehicle system. The one or more processors are further configured to determine whether the first location and the second location are within a predetermined distance of each other and in response to determining that the first and second locations are within the predetermined distance of each other, and generate a signal related to a condition that the first location and the second location are within the predetermined distance.

According to various aspects, exemplary embodiments are disclosed of devices, systems, and methods related to tracking location of operator control units for locomotives. In an exemplary embodiment, an operator control unit includes a user interface configured to receive one or more commands from an operator for controlling a locomotive. The operator control unit also includes receiver configured to receive location information of the operator control unit, and a wireless communication device. The wireless communication device is configured to transmit command data corresponding to the one or more commands and location data corresponding to the location information to a machine control unit on the locomotive.

A system includes a route examining system and an off-board failsafe controller. The route examining system is configured to examine a route on which a first vehicle system is moving and to generate an inspection signal based on the route examination. The inspection signal indicates a status of a segment of the route as damaged or undamaged. The off-board failsafe controller is configured to receive the inspection signal from the route examining system. Responsive to a lack of receipt of the inspection signal within a designated time period which indicates communication loss with the route examining system, the failsafe controller is configured to generate a warning signal for communication to a second vehicle system. The warning signal is generated to direct the second vehicle system to (i) avoid traveling over the route segment or (ii) travel over the route segment or another route segment at a reduced speed.

A rail infrastructure monitoring system enables integrated continuous monitoring and analysis of above and below rail assets, providing passenger and freight operators an end-to-end solution. Embodiments of the system comprise monitoring, coordinator control and display, communications, and business integration. Modern rail and transport techniques of providing integrated logistics are supported, offering improved safety, reduced total cost of ownership and the ability to increase capacity. Also, identification of links between different sets of data in ‘real time’ across all monitored infrastructure is enabled. Field hardware includes three modules: control; wagon master; and sensor, the latter communicating wirelessly with a wagon master module, and each sensor module is associated with a respective wagon or portion of below rail infrastructure. Sensor data values indicate the condition of either values outside the threshold alert of a train master via wagon master units or for below rail directly to the train master, which is then forwarded to a business component.

An exemplary method includes electronically determining that movement of a rolling stock should be prevented based on a failure condition of the rolling stock. And if it is electronically determined that movement of the rolling stock should be prevented based on the failure condition of the rolling stock, the method further includes preventing movement of the rolling stock including preventing the rolling stock from initiating a movement from a stationary position along a track within a work area defined around the rolling stock by: preventing brakes of the rolling stock from being released via one or more pneumatic components; and/or preventing the rolling stock from receiving or accepting a movement command.

System includes a controller configured to obtain one or more of a route parameter or a vehicle parameter from discrete examinations of one or more of a route or a vehicle system. The route parameter is indicative of a health of the route over which the vehicle system travels. The vehicle parameter is indicative of a health of the vehicle system. The discrete examinations of the one or more of the route or the vehicle system separated from each other by one or more of location or time. The controller is configured to examine the one or more of the route parameter or the vehicle parameter to determine whether the one or more of the route or the vehicle system is damaged. The system also includes examination equipment configured to continually monitor the one or more of the route or the vehicle system responsive to determining that the one or more of the route or the vehicle is damaged.

A wayside railway sensor package is provided to detect railway wheels for the purposes of assessing the speed and direction of a train in order to align any measured characteristic on said moving train with the proper vehicle. The stand-alone package is easily installed in the web of the rail using standard tools. When used in combination with recent processing techniques, the package can be used to replace one or more components or subsystems on all common wayside detectors while also providing enhanced capabilities and improved reliability. The package also contains sensors that provide data used for assessing additional rail, wheel, and vehicle conditions directly.

A method for energy-optimized operation of a rail vehicle fleet. The fleet includes n rail vehicles, each with a state-influencing system for influencing a vehicle state to generate and/or consume electrical energy and a computer unit trained by machine learning. For every i of 1 to n during operation of the rail vehicle fleet an action to be applied to the state-influencing system of the i-th rail vehicle is selected by the computer unit of the i-th rail vehicle while taking into account at least one target criterion for the i-th rail vehicle and according to vehicle, location, and/or route-related status parameters. The action, when applied to the state-influencing system of the i-th rail vehicle, contributes to the optimization of an electrical total energy balance of the state-influencing systems of the rail vehicle fleet, and the selected action is applied to the state-influencing system of the i-th rail vehicle.

In one embodiment, a method includes identifying, by an image detection tool, a tank within an image of a railway environment and identifying, by the image detection tool, a railroad track within the image of the railway environment. The method also includes determining, by the image detection tool, a distance between the tank and the railroad track and comparing, by the image detection tool, the distance between the tank and the railroad track to a predetermined threshold distance. The method further includes determining, by the image detection tool, that the tank presents a hazard to the railway environment in response to comparing the distance between the tank and the railroad track to the predetermined threshold distance.