Taking Visualization to a New Level

Visualization

In the beginning there was …• Asset mapping• Simple location tools• Defined relationship

− Centerline− Offsets− Track specific

• Enabled visualization of some event reporting− AEI− Arrivals/Departures

Then there was …

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The CSX GPS Value Roadmap

1996 - 2008 Locomotive Location

Internal Proximity

Notifications

Unit Train Event

Reporting

Early Event Reporting

Local Train Management

2008 - 2012 Locomotive Proximity

Customer Notification

2013 - 2015 Time at Customer

AutomatedTimes

Stopped Train Notifications

Future Vision Train ETA Car Event Reporting

Shipment Tracking

Daily Workload Balancing

Local Plan Accuracy

Progress

Satellite SatelliteServicesProviderPrivate Network

- ATCS- CSX Radio Code Line

Public Network- Data service- Cellular

802.11

Wireless Lan

Crewman- Work Orders- Departure Notification- Exception Reporting- Payroll- E-Mail

Locomotive- APU- CBTM - Loco (Health) Status - Fuel Status- GPS Location- Smart Cars

CMU

Line of Road Workers- Track Clearance- Defect / Incident Reporting - Payroll - Track Charts- E-mail- GPS location

Fixed Assets- Wayside Signal Health Check - Grade Crossing Status- Defect Detector Alerts- Scale Car Weight Reporting- Wheel Impact Detector

WebInterface

Manager / Field Supervision- Efficiency Testing- Operations Monitoring- Alert & Status Reporting- E-Mail , Tracing

CMU

802.11 Wireless LANin CSX Train yards

DispatchingSystem

Mobile Assets- GPS Tracking

CMU

IP Wide AreaNetwork

Corporate GISCSX Business Systems

Common Interface

CSX’s Enterprise Wide Wireless Vision is anchored by GIS….

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CSX Back Office• Quality Checks• CSX Network alignment• Association to train/work order• Geofence Processing

Locomotive GPS data capture

Trimble Stand Alone Replacement Pending ~300 10

LatLon LocoComm Retire and Replace ~200 30

GE ATS LocoComm Leverage 3300 30

PTC TMC Expand 1800 varies

Message Count per Day

Non-PTC 3.5 M

PTC 11 M

Asset Tracking Status (ATS)

Where am I?

Locomotive tracking

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Train tracking

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GPS Data

Big DataTransactional Data StructureDifferent content in the messagesIndexing is difficultStandard query methods are slow and limitedComplex post processingLimited Business Use Cases

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What Did You Want To Know?

What is feasible?

GPS and GIS: What does it mean to me

• Opportunity for productivity• Time at … (and everything that can lead to)• Proximity notifications and alerts• Automated event reporting

• Each opportunity is unique• Where do I put my geofences?• Will I have a good train association? • How can I verify quality?

• Tools/Infrastructure – constant improvement

Moving ahead - integration

Strategic Planning / Planning Accuracy

• Customer Workload- Time at Customer- Cars Handled Per

Customer Hour- Opportunities to

Industrial Engineer inside the gate

• Improve Local Plan Accuracy- LOR time in

between stations- Station time- Customer Windows

Daily Execution

• Enhanced Trainmaster Communication

- Stopped train• Improved utilization

of Assets- Workload Balancing• Improved Plan

Knowledge for Crew- Daily Schedule for

Crew• NOW/LTM Upgrades- Customer Locations- Crew at Customer on

LTM Reports

Event Reporting

• Real-time Equipment Event Reporting

• Automated data reporting driven by GPS

- Train departure- Train arrival - Shipment Tracking• Advanced Customer

Communications- ETA of Train to

Customer- Selection of next

customer by crew

GPS enables next generation service

Business Use Cases

Time At Customer (TAC)

• Estimate time train spent in service at customer site− Traditional processing would implement geofences at customer− Customers sometimes very close in proximity, sharing entry tracks and even storage tracks

• Customer site assessment process identified tracks from mainline switches associated to customer

• Customer tracks converted to 25 ft points• Customer site activity is work order instructions• TAC is a post process that is complete only after work order is closed• The work order report times are used to pull GPS train (locomotive) data• Algorithm for TAC uses proximity to points and other parameters to

determine when the train (locomotives) are at a particular customer• Time at customer is estimated with activity to determine if work order

was completed as expected (# of cars placed/pulled in appropriate time)• Success rate of process averages 65%.

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TAC Report

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Issues resulting in TAC failures

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Diagnostics for TAC failures

• Launched a Root Cause analysis for each of the issues− 2 basic categories

− No GPS data − Gaps in GPS data

• GIS started analysis with ESRI animation tools and video capture of GPS data at customer sites.

• Needed tool to assist business in analyzing GPS data to identify root cause

• Development of new Web Map based visualization tool – VisualGPS− Provides query tools for Locomotives, Trains, and Work Orders− 3-day time intervals− Animation− Animation management tools− Data layer and labeling specific to search type

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Visual GPS

Demo

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Lessons Learned

• Visualization of GPS data is key to diagnosing data issues• Animation is essential to compare expected with actual• Association of Locomotive to Train and Work Order is critical

− Current association processes were based on business rules which had not been validated or updated for 10 years

− Delays in system reporting minimize near real-time association accuracy− Opportunities for locomotive to train association improvements need to be developed− Near real-time association will require developing new sources for association

• Education of both Technology and Business partners is part of the job• Volume of GPS data fits in Big Data solution to manage• Matching event data to locomotive, train, and car events needs Big

Data solution• There is more value to be discovered as locomotive to train

association is improved

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Questions?

Perhaps Answers

Contact info: John ThomackEnterprise GISBusiness Consultant550 Water Street, 3rd FloorJacksonville, FL 32202Tel. 904-633-5173

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