Interactive Digital Replicas (IDR)
Physical Characteristics | Spotting | Switching

Your rail worksites have unique track layouts, physical characteristics and hazards – impacting both safety and service.
But do your employees know:
– their assigned sites, industries, yards – position of gates, derails, temporary structures, close clearances?
– how to spot rail cars correctly?
– how to build a train with minimum switching/moves on that track layout?

R a i l  s i t e  k n o w l e d g e  g a p s  c r e a t e  R I S K
G e t  Y o u r  C o n d u c t o r s  S i t e  R e a d y

What if they could visually learn and practice all of this before & after their visit – An Interactive Digital Replica (IDR) can enable this. It gives your workforce the ability to train, plan, and problem-solve for site-specific challenges before stepping onsite (see video):
✅ Physical Characteristics Qual/Cert (industries, territories, terminals, yards) – ‘Know Your Site‘
✅ Safety & Hazard Training – reduce exposure to injuries and incidents
✅ Operational Cost Savings – reducing trainee site visits (49 CFR Part 240/242)
✅ Visual Job Aids for Assigning Tasks/Check lists – Improve customer service efficiency
“If Simulation & GIS had a baby, this would be it.
While mapping software like ArcGIS/Google shows us the site per se, we can’t actually train for scenarios.
Now we have an elegant, easy-to-use safety and training site app for our conductors & engineers”
– Class 1 Railroad.
Standardize on-demand training with Interactive Playbooks.
Ramp up service capacity. Get a ‘Usable conductor sooner, safer’
Real Sites, Virtual Visits – ready in days.

F A Q s

How is this different than drone video?
– Editing and version control: passive content like video (drone, 360 video) cannot be manipulated or edited. Typical industry changes – adding a track, equipment, rolling stock, building extensions/additions – make the video captures obsolete with the pain of re-shoot, schedules, clearances etc. Our IDR editor system lets us future proof your investment – digital assets can be added or removed (e.g. outdoor storage bays showing temporary close clearances) and become ‘live’ instantly.

– Solving switching puzzles: in video and images, rolling stock and other objects captured cannot be moved. In our IDRs, we allow your employees to practice building a train with minimum switching/moves on that specific track layout, something not possible before this. Actual Simulated 3D data, not passive video.

– Real-time update of customer/industry site – “watch out for construction activity here this next two months”

– Novel views: a video is limited to the camera perspective it was shot it. With IDR’s, there is free roam (true birds eye-view experience)

How is this different than GIS/3D Maps?
– Tools & software like ArcGIS/Google provide a ‘map view’ with overlays. While efficient for site planning, construction and design, it doesn’t provide a training experience for railroaders (see points above, especially regarding Switching). Our IDRs are specifically designed for Safety & Training interactive scenarios. This requires addition, removal and moving of rolling stock, vehicles, equipment & buildings from the digital site with instant feedback and tracked scores.

– We capture 3D data at a resolution that Google Maps/3D tiles natively cannot (see the video)

Can this actually save costs/any direct ROI? 
– By the time an employee gets to a site, they will feel as if they have ‘already been here’. This could reduce trainee site days (1-2 days instead of all week) for qualification.

–  Switching accounts for a number of incidents. New hires have the most difficulty with this – often making extra activity. Every switch, cut, and hitch is an action that exposes employees to risk. This solution allows practice on efficient location-specific switching puzzles. Less actions to switch = less risk, less associated costs.

– Your IDRs will serve as a training environment/playground that exists digitally – simply put, with IDR as a foundational base, your railroad will extract multiple training and operational ROI for years – from both a safety and regulatory standpoint.

 

O v e r v i e w

Have questions? We recommend a live demo to qualify this yourself – email at solutions@hwd3d.com or call 888.781.0274 ext. 701

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