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KarTrak ACI
KarTrak, sometimes KarTrak ACI (''Automatic Car Identification'') or just ACI was a colored barcode system designed to automatically identify railcars and other rolling stock. KarTrak was made a requirement in North America in 1967, but technical problems led to the abandonment of the system by around 1977. History Issue and early development Railroads have struggled with the tracking of railroad cars across their vast networks, a problem that became worse with the increased growth of systems and movement of rail cars from network to network via interchange. A railroad's car could end up a thousand miles away on another company's tracks. This didn't factor the ever growing fleet of privately owned railroad cars, from companies such as TrailerTrain and Union Tank Car Company, who owned massive fleets of railroad cars, but were not actually railroads. A missing car took time to track down, often requiring workers to walk rail yards looking at cars until it was located. In 1959 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Automatic Equipment Identification
Automatic equipment identification (AEI) is an electronic recognition system in use with the North American railroad industry. Consisting of passive tags mounted on each side of rolling stock and active trackside readers, AEI uses RF technology to identify railroad equipment while en route. History Predecessor systems In the late 1960s, railroads in North America began searching for a system that would allow them to automatically identify rail cars and other rolling stock. Through the efforts of the Association of American Railroads (AAR), a number of companies developed automatic car identification (ACI) systems. The AAR selected four systems for extensive field tests. General Electric developed an RFID system, ABEX a microwave system, Wabco a black and white barcode system, and General Telephone and Electronics (GTE) a color barcode system called KarTrak. The RFID system used a tag mounted under the rail car and an interrogator installed between the rails. The other three ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muskingum Electric Railroad
The Muskingum Electric Railroad was a private coal-carrying railroad owned by American Electric Power, and started operation in 1968. MERR shuttled coal in two trains from the mine to the Muskingum River Power Plant at Relief, Ohio (across from Beverly, OH), a distance of 20 miles (32 km). The trains were driverless and powered by automated General Electric E50C's. The road also owned two private cars, Dover Fort and Oak Lane. The line is now defunct as the captive coal mine has since run out of economically recoverable coal. The coal was extracted by the largest dragline ever to be built, "Big Muskie Big Muskie was a dragline excavator built by Bucyrus-Erie and owned by the Central Ohio Coal Company (formerly a division of American Electric Power), weighing and standing nearly 22 stories tall. It mined coal in the U.S. state of Ohio fr ...". The railroad closed in January 2002. The line was the first automated railroad in the U.S. References External linksElwood's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Modulo Operation
In computing and mathematics, the modulo operation returns the remainder or signed remainder of a Division (mathematics), division, after one number is divided by another, the latter being called the ''modular arithmetic, modulus'' of the operation. Given two positive numbers and , modulo (often abbreviated as ) is the remainder of the Euclidean division of by , where is the Division (mathematics), dividend and is the divisor. For example, the expression "5 mod 2" evaluates to 1, because 5 divided by 2 has a quotient of 2 and a remainder of 1, while "9 mod 3" would evaluate to 0, because 9 divided by 3 has a quotient of 3 and a remainder of 0. Although typically performed with and both being integers, many computing systems now allow other types of numeric operands. The range of values for an integer modulo operation of is 0 to . mod 1 is always 0. When exactly one of or is negative, the basic definition breaks down, and programming languages differ in how these valu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Check Digit
A check digit is a form of redundancy check used for Error detection and correction, error detection on identification numbers, such as bank account numbers, which are used in an application where they will at least sometimes be input manually. It is analogous to a binary parity bit used to check for errors in computer-generated data. It consists of one or more digits (or letters) computed by an algorithm from the other digits (or letters) in the sequence input. With a check digit, one can detect simple errors in the input of a series of characters (usually digits) such as a single mistyped digit or some permutations of two successive digits. Design Check digit algorithms are generally designed to capture ''human'' transcription errors. In order of complexity, these include the following: * letter/digit errors, such as l → 1 or O → 0 * single-digit errors, such as 1 → 2 * transposition errors, such as 12 → 21 * twin errors, such as 11 → 22 * jump transpositions errors, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Retroreflection
A retroreflector (sometimes called a retroflector or cataphote) is a device or surface that reflects light or other radiation back to its source with minimum scattering. This works at a wide range of angle of incidence, unlike a planar mirror, which does this only if the mirror is exactly perpendicular to the wave front, having a zero angle of incidence. Being directed, the retroflector's reflection is brighter than that of a diffuse reflector. Corner reflectors and cat's eye reflectors are the most used kinds. Types There are several ways to obtain retroreflection: Corner reflector A set of three mutually perpendicular reflective surfaces, placed to form the internal corner of a cube, work as a retroreflector. The three corresponding normal vectors of the corner's sides form a basis in which to represent the direction of an arbitrary incoming ray, . When the ray reflects from the first side, say x, the ray's ''x''-component, ''a'', is reversed to −''a'', while the ''y' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trains (magazine)
''Trains'' is a monthly magazine about trains and railroads aimed at railroad enthusiasts and railroad industry employees. The magazine primarily covers railroad happenings in the United States and Canada, but has some articles on railroading elsewhere. It was founded as ''Trains'' in 1940 by publisher Al C. Kalmbach and editorial director Linn Westcott. From October 1951 to March 1954, the magazine was named ''Trains and Travel''. Jim Wrinn, a former reporter and editor at the '' Charlotte Observer'', served as editor from 2004 until his death in 2022. Carl A. Swanson succeeded him. ''Trains'' was long among the 11 magazines published by Kalmbach Media, based in Waukesha, Wisconsin Waukesha ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 71,158 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River adjacent to th .... In May 2024, Kalmbach Media sold ''Train ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White Paper
A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. Since the 1990s, this type of document has proliferated in business. Today, a business-to-business (B2B) white paper falls under grey literature, more akin to a marketing presentation meant to persuade customers and partners, and promote a certain product or viewpoint. The term originated in the 1920s to mean a type of position paper or industry report published by a department of the UK government. Corporate and academic The most prolific publishers of white papers are corporate and academic organizations. In larger organizations, internal technical writers produce these documents based on the outlines and data an internal industry or academic expert develops and provides. White papers often follow strict industry styles and formats with a centr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spruce Creek, Pennsylvania
Spruce Creek is an unincorporated community in Spruce Creek Township, Pennsylvania, United States. It was a stop on the former Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line, lying along Spruce Creek at its confluence with the Little Juniata River. The river passes through a nearby water gap in Tussey Mountain downstream of the village, along with the railroad line. History In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Spruce Creek was the location of a large woollen mill, but is now best known as the site of Indian Caverns, which was open to the public from 1929 to 2017. Spruce Creek is also known for its world-famous fly fishing. Although most of Spruce Creek is private fishing, the area also holds the Little Juniata River, which is open to the public. Former United States Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Jimmy Carter and Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro Troy Polamalu Troy Aumua Polamalu (; born Troy Benjamin Aumua; April 19, 1981) is an American former professional football player ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westinghouse Air Brake Company
The Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation (WABCO) was an American company founded on September 28, 1869 by George Westinghouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Earlier in the year he had invented the railway air brake in New York state. After having manufactured equipment in Pittsburgh for a number of years, he began to construct facilities and plants east of the city where homes for his employees were built. In 1889, the air brake manufacturing facility was moved to Wilmerding, Pennsylvania, and the company's general office building was built there in 1890. In 1921 the company began manufacturing a modified air brake system for installation in trucks and heavy vehicles. In 1953 WABCO entered the heavy equipment marketplace, buying the assets of leading equipment designer R.G LeTourneau. An entity known as "LeTourneau-Westinghouse" sold a range of innovative products, including scrapers, cranes and bulldozers until 1967, when it shortened its name to "Wabco". In 196 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radio-frequency Identification
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically Automatic identification system, identify and Tracking system, track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder called a tag, a radio receiver, and a transmitter. When triggered by an electromagnetic interrogation pulse from a nearby RFID reader device, the tag transmits digital data, usually an Identifier, identifying inventory number, back to the reader. This number can be used to track inventory goods. Passive tags are powered by energy from the RFID reader's interrogating radio waves. Active tags are powered by a battery and thus can be read at a greater range from the RFID reader, up to hundreds of meters. Unlike a barcode, the tag does not need to be within the Line-of-sight propagation, line of sight of the reader, so it may be embedded in the tracked object. RFID is one method of automatic identification and data capture (AIDC). RFID tags are used in m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the years, the company had multiple divisions, including GE Aerospace, aerospace, GE Power, energy, GE HealthCare, healthcare, lighting, locomotives, appliances, and GE Capital, finance. In 2020, GE ranked among the Fortune 500, ''Fortune'' 500 as the 33rd largest firm in the United States by gross revenue. In 2023, the company was ranked 64th in the Forbes Global 2000, ''Forbes'' Global 2000. In 2011, GE ranked among the Fortune 20 as the 14th most profitable company, but later very severely underperformed the market (by about 75%) as its profitability collapsed. Two employees of GE—Irving Langmuir (1932) and Ivar Giaever (1973)—have been awarded the Nobel Prize. From 1986 until 2013, GE was the owner of the NBC television network through its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Automatic Equipment Identification
Automatic equipment identification (AEI) is an electronic recognition system in use with the North American railroad industry. Consisting of passive tags mounted on each side of rolling stock and active trackside readers, AEI uses RF technology to identify railroad equipment while en route. History Predecessor systems In the late 1960s, railroads in North America began searching for a system that would allow them to automatically identify rail cars and other rolling stock. Through the efforts of the Association of American Railroads (AAR), a number of companies developed automatic car identification (ACI) systems. The AAR selected four systems for extensive field tests. General Electric developed an RFID system, ABEX a microwave system, Wabco a black and white barcode system, and General Telephone and Electronics (GTE) a color barcode system called KarTrak. The RFID system used a tag mounted under the rail car and an interrogator installed between the rails. The other three ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
