@maemachinebroke I'm doing an apprenticeship as a switching driver myself, but the common way here is just a radio remote for the engine so you can be near the end of the unit even in reverse

@elomatreb that's really interesting
most of the locomotives here are either really old or have been recently converted to newer models from old locomotives

like i'm talking decades in service

@maemachinebroke the first train yards got experimental remote controlled locomotives in the 60s (including computer controlled operation), but it took until the late 90s/early 2000s until it was common. Decades old engines are not unusual, it's not unlikely that the ones I will be first trained on are from the 60s too (but they are modernized of course)

@elomatreb thats really cool, the crazy thing is the last major innovation in freight railroad in the entire north american continent is diesel electric locomotives with AC motors instead of DC ones

@maemachinebroke it is depressing how much rail infrastructure is neglected around the world

if you built some more or less direct, electrified lines between the major US cities you could cut so many inefficient airplane flights and create a few really fun jobs for the engine drivers who get to go really fucking fast on those long lines (the ICE trains here are capable of 400+ km/h, but in practice they only go up to 320 with most stopping out in the low 200s due to the frequent inclination changes and stops that would leave the train constantly braking otherwise)

@elomatreb i think that the amtrak services from new york to chicago and from chicago to LA can and should be high speed, if for no other reason than to prove that high speed can work long distance in the US