RailView

RailView is a locomotive mounted system that captures, at 4 frames per second, real-time digital video and audio of track conditions as well as unusual events such as incidents and trespasser activity through the use of a camera and microphone installed on the locomotive. This system also superimposes the speed of the train at any given point, train direction (forward or reverse), as well as horn and brake activations.

In 1999, NCDOT Rail Division and Norfolk Southern Railway's (NS) Research and Test Unit tested a prototype RailView system on the lead locomotive of the state- supported Piedmont passenger train on the Raleigh to Charlotte corridor. As a result of these tests (and others), Scientific Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has improved and refined the RailView system. Since that time, NS has equipped over 600 of its locomotives with RailView systems. By the end of calendar year 2003, NS plans to have installed a total of 800 RailView systems throughout their company. NS has an ultimate goal of equipping all 2500 company-owned locomotives within the next few years.

Based on NS's success with the system, NCDOT Rail Division, activated Railview on the Piedmont on September 2, 2004. NCDOT will utilize the RailView data collected to monitor and evaluate the performance of the enhanced warning devices previously installed on the Sealed Corridor and make design revisions as deemed necessary.


In addition, NCDOT Rail Division and NS are currently involved in a joint research project with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to develop and validate a predictive trespasser model utilizing the RailView data collected on both the sealed corridor and NS's system as a whole. In addition to model calibration, the data will be used to determine the effectiveness of potential preventative measures designed to minimize pedestrian and train interactions.

Contact: Drew Thomas, PE

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