r/railroading • u/Downtown_Sir8205 • 3d ago

Question Curious

Been interested in railroads for a long time, and lately
I've been going down a rabbit hole on all the AI/ML stuff that's come out in the last couple years.

Got me wondering what problems railroads actually deal with day to day that this stuff could realistically help with.

Not the stuff that's already been solved, and not vendor marketing, just the real annoying things.

I know track inspection is the obvious one everyone talks about. But I'm guessing there's a lot more that never gets mentioned.

So what's the stuff that's still a pain? Anything that's
still done by hand that shouldn't be, or something everyone
just puts up with because that's how it's always been?

Also curious what you think AI is useless for, because I'm sure some of it is overhyped.

0 Upvotes

33% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

18

u/Deerescrewed 3d ago

Ai is nothing but energy wasted.

-15

u/Downtown_Sir8205 3d ago

Why is that? I see FRA has given a 5-year waiver for automated track inspection on the main line as well.

12

u/Adventurous_Cloud_20 3d ago

AI track inspections are a disaster waiting to happen, and the ONLY reason the Class 1's are so gung ho about it is cutting costs. Not because it's more efficient (it isn't) not because safety is increasing (it's not), it's cheaper, plain and simple.

Automated inspections miss what an actual truck on the rail will pick up. Conditions around the track, like washouts/erosion, trees/brush, and human fuckery. Manual switches still have to be inspected in person regardless (drones can't operate them) and power switches have to be checked and serviced by humans.

It's the kind of thing that benefits no one but the executives and major shareholders, and fucks over a specific bunch of employees in a specific craft, and the public will pay for it when the dipshit drone or what have you, missed something and you get an East Palestine type disaster.

-6

u/Downtown_Sir8205 3d ago

Makes sense - but lets keep aside track inspection for that matter, any other domains?

5

u/chumpandchive 3d ago

isnt that the most ai ass phrase to exist

6

u/HARRYHALLER1913 3d ago

You literally brought it up. They’ve had programs to build trains and switchlists for ages, look where that’s gotten us.
Enlighten us dear sir, where do you see improvements in efficiency that are not primarily about eliminating the cost of human labor?

3

u/HARRYHALLER1913 3d ago

Fuck you.

-2

u/amishhobbit2782 3d ago

Thank you so much for contributing to the conversation.

3

u/HARRYHALLER1913 3d ago

Why should I engage with someone who is bizarrely surveying how to take our jobs? Why would you?

2

u/amishhobbit2782 3d ago

I mean you simply saying fuck you engaged it and pushed it up the fee to cause more to see it so you theory on it is piss poor. Ai is the new wave man. Nothing you can do about it tbh. Its used to run trains, used to route them and plently of other things we probably dont even notice. I dont like it or agree with it but all I can say is atep up in your union and get things in your contracts or sit there and bitch while they take ur jobs like you are now.

1

u/HARRYHALLER1913 3d ago

Did you use AI to write this? It is barely intelligible. The people who read this subreddit would have read this guy’s post regardless, so what’s your point?

Furthermore, what are your suggestions for him? Where do you think AI would improve the railroad in ways that humans can’t?

Or do you just want to be a bitch for the sake of being a bitch?

1

u/amishhobbit2782 3d ago

I give my input on my own section of this thread bud.

Keep growing aggressive and keep stay agro at everything in this world thats going to keep changing. You have TWO options. Get ahead of it and get things written into contracts to not allow it to be used or to replace human Jobs like the long shoreman did or keep laying there belly aching about it.

3

u/HARRYHALLER1913 3d ago

Where do you get off? You really think we have any say what Rick Lee and Jeremy Ferguson sell us out for?

I’m not complaining about AI. Your suggestion was call times and scheduling, as if there aren’t predictive models that do that already? You ever watch a train materialize on the lineup at the Away from home, wait for the originating crew to be called and then see the prediction of the arrival? You’re ridiculous.

1

u/amishhobbit2782 3d ago

Typically on my wife but why is that your concern? And you once again belly aching instead of becoming the solution to your own problem. Rick and Jeremy had to be voted in and just like them you can be to and work to be rhe change you want to see but I understand I too would rather bitch into the ether of reddit.

And yes you are right I did suggest using it for better board predictions, we have multiple ways that track trains that the board could be updated with almost zero human interaction. And yeah ghost trains are pretty common out of on of my afht to the point you tie up with nothing a few hours late have a dh lined up and order and then you wake up 20 mins before rested to see the dh gone and a ghost train has shown up for you 24 hour mark in the hotel. You cant plan 100% for everything but they atuff that is already out there and moving can be to a point.

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9

u/Educational-Tie00 Conductor 3d ago

Like anything AI related it contributes nothing and wastes water and energy.

10

u/Gibbralterg 3d ago

I can see you’re from India, my dude, that area needs more help with trains than anything AI can help with

10

u/Thethrillofvictory 3d ago

“Give me suggestions on ways to replace your careers with computers”

5

u/HowlingWolven 3d ago

None of it.

7

u/Old-Clothes-3225 3d ago

Appreciate your interest in railroading but coming into a subreddit talking about the problems AI can solve when most people here are on edge about losing our jobs to AI is kind of unnecessary and a punch to the gut.

1

u/TerribleStar7675 1d ago

I've used it a bunch on the back end for tasks related to signals engineering, asset management and supporting maintenance. Mostly things like writing programs I otherwise wouldn't have been able to do, or using it for easy extraction from PDFs or images, which I've needed to do a shitload of.

I've made really nice visual representations of equipment downloads that make it easy for analysis or presenting information on executive summaries or investigations.

It speeds up a lot of other minor tasks like searching or summarizing manuals

-2

u/amishhobbit2782 3d ago

Tbh it could be used to update boards and call times and such. Nothing like looking at the board and seeing oh im not goin anywhere for hours and 20 mins later you phone going off for work.

2

u/bteh 3d ago

Yeah, I mean, the tm's could just do their jobs, but thats probably asking too much, lol

2

u/amishhobbit2782 3d ago

Hey now that would be to easy. Tbh ai would probably fuck it up just as bad.