ATCS + audio = synergy

[15_the_circle]

[OT from cottage renovations]
[HTML <acronym> tags in use -- hover your mouse over any in the text for English translation]

listening on the road channel a couple of days ago, an EB CSX freight was calling the AU dispatcher to report that the EAS at Derwood was dropping to red but then coming back to green while he was approaching.  the dispatcher said he would pass the word to the signal maintainers but hadn't noticed anything unusual on his model board.

pointing the mouse to the Derwood station name on the ATCSmon display I clicked the mouse wheel (it works as a middle button) to bring up the strip chart window, a visual summary of recent data traffic to and from the control point.  sure enough, the 2EGK bits were interspersed with 2TEK bits until the train entered the plant whereupon the 2EGK bit dropped, a 2STZ control came through and a 2TK bit came up.  those TEK bits in the data stream meant that the control point was intermittently reporting that it was running time on the signal for that track (in between reports that a signal was being displayed).

even though this may be the point where geekery crosses over into wankery, I do find it fascinating to watch and listen at once: virtual railfanning at its multimedia best.

Comments

[peach-salsa.livejournal.com]

I am ignorant of your acronyms, but it sounds as though you had a delightful time.

Ever see a hobo on a cargo train? (This is slightly off-subject, but at least it's an interesting question.)

[15-the-circle.livejournal.com]

yes, folks have been hitching rides on freight trains for as long as they have been around.  the practice is dangerous, illegal, and for those who do it, highly addictive.  or so I have been told. 

these days if an authorised rider is spotted on a train the railroad is quite likely to arrange to stop the train and have the trespasser removed from the property by the police.  they will run a warrant check on them and might issue a citation.  or they might just take them out back and beat the crap out of them, it's been known to happen.  it is a peculiarity of how the industry and of how law enforcement are structured that railroads have their own police departments, whose officers have full powers of arrest in any jurisdiction in which the company operates. 

and yes (look!  an actual answer to your question!), from time to time I have seen folks riding freights.  trains are like anything else, I guess, watch enough of them and just about anything will come by. 

Hobo Days

[(Anonymous)]

http://www.hobo.com/britt_events.htm
Well, next trip out you'll just have to make it to Britt's Hobo Days. Pete's cousin is the portrait painter mentioned above. TK