Both CEE 410 (Railway Signaling and Control) and CEE 411 (Railroad Project Design and Construction) participated in field visits this semester.
On Saturday 10 May CEE 410 students visited CN’s Network Operating Center and Training Facility in Homewood to learn about CN’s network management and observe train dispatchers controlling train operations.
In addition, they also visited Metra’s Signal Wiring Shop in Mokena on 10 May where Illinois students learned about relay and microprocessor-controlled CTC, ABS, APB, electric lock switches, and grade crossing warning system technologies.
Students from CEE 411, as well as UIUC AREMA Student Chapter members, traveled to St. Louis on Friday 11 April for their field visit. They visited the Terminal Railroad Association (TRRA) of St. Louis where they had an overview of the business and visited the TRAA Hump Classification Yard. TRRA was created in 1889 to satisfy the need for an efficient, safe and economical method of interchanging rail traffic and has grown to become one of the largest intermediate switching terminal railroads in the U.S. interchanging with all six of the nation’s Class 1 railroads.
