APPLICATIONS OF AUTOMATIC VEHICLE LOCATION SYSTEMS TO RAILROAD OPERATIONS

There are several techniques for automatically sensing the location of a vehicle in real time. Among these are dead reckoning, "sign post" electronic transmitters and pulse or phase trilateration systems. Of all of them, the LORAN based AVM system currently offers the best combination of high location accuracy, large area coverage, low cost and high dependability. Location accuracies of plus minus 100 feet at ranges of 1,000 miles from Coast Guard operated LORAN navigation transmitter stations are attainable over virtually all of the eastern half of the United States. The vehicle based equipment is portable and can be attached to a vehicle such a locomotive within minutes. LORAN'S unique combination of high accuracy and long-range performance attributes make it an ideal system for displaying to a dispatcher or yardmaster the location of all locomotives and trains under his control as well as information on their speed and the distance between them. Most prominent among these applications are terminal areas where the LORAN-AVM system can be used to maintain surveillance over the activities of switching engines insuring efficiency of movement, adapting work assignments to engine location and reducing conflicts in interchange operations. The system can be used to extend control over "dark" portions of a track system at a fraction of the cost of CTC.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Contributed by the Rail Transportation Division of ASME for presentation at the IEEE-ASME Joint Railroad Conference, St. Louis, Mo., April 11-12, 1973.
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Mechanical Engineers

  Two Park Avenue
  New York, NY  United States  10016-5990
• Authors:
  • Jakobsberg, W
• Publication Date: 1973-4

Media Info

• Features: Figures;
• Pagination: 9 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automatic vehicle location; Intelligent transportation systems; Loran
• Old TRIS Terms: Advanced systems
• Subject Areas: Operations and Traffic Management; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00044278
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• Report/Paper Numbers: Paper 73-RT-6
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 15 1974 12:00AM