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These are small compared to the HUGE simulators they have at the college, but they are very well designed, and amazing tech, for in a classroom environment...
Sandia researchers have built a scaled test assembly that mimics a dry cask storage container for spent nuclear fuel to study how fuel temperatures change during storage and how the fuel’s peak temperatures affect the integrity of the metal cladding surrounding the spent fuel.
Regulators could use the data to help verify computer simulations that show whether nuclear power utilities are complying with regulations that specify how much heat a dry cask can safely handle.
Learn more at share-ng.sandia.gov/news/resources/news_releases/dry_casks/
Photo by Randy Montoya.
Simulator
by Thomas Werner
This picture was taken of myself and James Murray in the ASU Air Traffic Simulator where we completed our internship this semester.
For several months this year, I was not behind the throttle. Rather, I spent my days in a highly customized trailer teaching Positive Train Control, or PTC, to fellow engineers.
Norfolk Southern has done a fantastic job with these training trailers, providing a very nice atmosphere for learning. This particular trailer has 6 desk top control simulators and one full size AAR simulator. Each simulator has a set of earphones which allows the engineer to focus on the training.
The content of the training is well done. After an introduction to PTC and how it functions, the engineer then moves onto how PTC will react to situations in the real world on the mainline. The training runs the engineer through operating scenarios such as stop signals, work areas, opposing train moves, and others. Most of my coworkers were very complimentary of the training and the trailer.
Regarding PTC, this technology will forever change railroading as we know it. I personally believe that this is one of the most significant changes made since the transition from steam to diesel. The change I am referring to is not how trains are moved, but rather how they are managed.
For centuries, we have seen technology change the railroads. Some of the more significant ones which come to mind besides the diesel include the Westinghouse air brake, CTC signalling, radios, roller bearings, and the end of train device.
While all of these changes enhanced operations and made railroading safer and more profitable, some of them had the dubious distinction of being job killers. PTC, in combination with other technologies already on the market, has the very real potential to reduce the crew size on American freight trains.
Single person crews are unprecedented on current class one freight railroads. While already in place on American commuter operations and Amtrak trains, American class 1 railroads still employ 2 crew members on every train.
I consider myself to be very fortunate regarding my career as a locomotive engineer. Not only am I living my childhood dream, I have had the privilege to work along side some excellent conductors. True professionals in every sense of the word. They started their careers off with fallen flag roads, such as the Pennsy, NYC, EL, PC, and Conrail. A vast majority of them are happily retired, while some have sadly passed on.
None of us knows what the future holds. Change is inevitable and, for railroading, rapidly approaching. Time will tell.