|
ARKANSAS MISSOURI RAILROAD SIGNAL DEPARTMENT The Centralized Traffice Control System that ran between M.P. 407.5 and M.P. 412 on A&M Mainline was removed from service; it is now controlled under yard limit rules with the exception of the interlocking that crosses with the Union Pacific Railroad (UP). The interlocking on the A&M Mainline was also under control by the BNSF. These controls were removed on the A&M Mainline side of the Interlocker and were changed to manual control, on the UP side of the Interlocker it is automatic and no changes were made. The Interlocker is jointly maintained and controlled by the Union Pacific and Arkansas Missouri Railroads. A computer that is located at the dispatch office in Springdale, AR controls the Arkansas River Bridge. The computer is linked through a dedicated phone line that operates 24 hours a day. It sends and receives data from the Genesis, a non-vital logic controller located on the bridge that was manufactured by Union Switch & Signal. This information, in turn, is what the dispatcher uses to control the bridge and to know if any rail traffic is on the bridge and/or is approaching. This information can vary from one second to another when rail traffic crosses over the bridge. The Genesis Controller and computer gives the dispatcher a bird's eye view of what is going on every second as data changes. The Genesis is a microprocessor-based system that uses a high-level language compiler, which enables the designer to modify or add to the program as necessary. The system was designed and programmed by ABC Rail Systems and the criteria and installation was performed by the A&M Signal Department. It has the capacity of controlling 255 inputs and outputs. Currently, the A&M is only using 18 of the possible 255 available. When a request for lowering the bridge is sent from the dispatch office in Springdale, it travels down the phone line about seventy-five miles to the bridge. The Genesis System compares the data that is sent to its own program data. If the information matches, the system activates the relays that start the Bridge, any track or bridge indications that change are sent to the dispatch office (all this is done in less than a few seconds.) Some questions raised during the design stages were: security problems, power failures, conflicting route indications, opposing signal requests on the bridge, communications with all rail traffic in the new yard limits, coast guard and F.R.A. requirements. Each problem was successfully resolved one at a time until a solution was found and the change was complete. SIGNAL DEPARTMENT Click here to go back to The Story Behind Arkansas Missouri Railroad. |
|
|
|
Copyright 2000 |
powered by: redfossil
|