Easy Access to Freight Locomotives

GS Engineering is proposing an innovative access system for freight locomotives that will make on-boarding and off-boarding significantly easier and safer by reducing the effort required and assisting workers with the climb up and down. The proposed solutions would eliminate the large first step and reduce / eliminate the additional steps required to board the train. An improved anti-skid step will be evaluated in addition to other human factors concerns. The proposed solution emphasizes train occupant safety and overall making it easier for workers to perform their jobs. The proposed solutions can be easily integrated on existing locomotives within the current step areas. Proposed solutions also take into consideration FRA and AAR regulations and standards applicable to locomotive design. Phase I project objectives include: concept generation, preliminary design and analysis, human factors assessment, consultation with subject area experts and users and development and demonstration of system mockups. These objective will be accomplished during the 6 month Phase I effort, leading up to the detailed design and development of a production-ready system capable of field testing during Phase II. (178)