The CSX worker who discovered his friend run over by a pair of remote-control locomotives in a railyard last year sees a simple solution to preventing similar deaths in the future: two-person crews.
But that idea won’t be popular with the railroads that have come to rely heavily on having one person control trains moving around a railyard with a remote control as they take apart and reassemble trains. The tactic that was first approved in 2005 started with two people on the job to watch for hazards, but today one-person remote-control operations are common.
Using remote control operators helps limit costs by using less experienced workers to mov