So, here I was wondering why planefags get all the glory - why don't we have any trainfags? Trains carry more cargo around the country than planes…

So I did some giggling and ran across an old but interesting article here: https://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2015/09/24-aei

Seems that someone called https://clipperdata.com/ was placing monitoring stations along rail corridors without permission. This appears to upset some folks as the article indicated that the data collected by ClipperData could be used for nefarious purposes.

I checked out ClipperData and find they not only track trains but also river based shipments as well. I looked over their leadership and am amazed that they have several "geopolitical analysts" of middle eastern background such as Bachar El Halabi in France focused on Middle East/Africa and Amir Richani focused on South America.

I find it disconcerting that we have a company with a worldwide footprint tracking goods and energy with data for sale to the highest bidder…

Instead of being trainfags and following trains, mebbee we need to follow the followers…

>>8256038

Not finding a lot of public access, however, Congress is requiring all train systems to implement PTC (Positive Train Control) which is nearly complete in rollout. Woudl be interesting to be able to note what cargo is going where and when…

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Mandated by Congress as part of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA), PTC has been an unprecedented technological undertaking requiring each railroad to develop — from scratch — a system comprised of hundreds of thousands of components that must work across an interconnected network of freight, passenger and commuter railroads.

In order to work safely and be fail-safe, PTC systems must be able to determine the precise location, direction and speed of trains, warn train operators of potential problems and bring the train to a stop if the operator does not act.