Guest SPFlatty Posted August 19, 2003 Share Posted August 19, 2003 does anyone know about the little gray identifiers or whatever they are on boxcars (usually located on the right panel in the blackbox area)? i've heard the workers scan some sort of card into these things and they can see where the box has been. my real questions is if these things are painted on, does it do any damage, damage that could make obvious where it was painted? i do my best to not make it anymore difficult on the railworkers, i just want to make sure i havent disturbed the flow of a job that needs to be done... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Mask Posted August 19, 2003 Share Posted August 19, 2003 those are called AEI tags. they work on a weak RF signal, so its proximity, not any kind of optical scanning. The workers will have a big scanning gun that looks like the kind you use if you do inventory at a department store, it reads the stored info from the AEI tag so they have the correct info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Mask Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 dug up the link for you. enjoy. http://www.saic.com/products/transportation/reader/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosco Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 At least those things work, I remember the actual barcode strips from the 70's, (not that Im that old) with the "reading post" located at yards, those barcodes didn't work to well once the grime collected on cars and engines though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lepthebeard Posted August 20, 2003 Share Posted August 20, 2003 I notice alot of AEI tags (on BNSF's) which are spraypainted BUT the car is not....evidence of the wholecar buff.....thanks for the link ese Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest schick1 Posted August 23, 2003 Share Posted August 23, 2003 shit i paint over those things alot, does that mean it will get buffed? here is what i stay off of: the main number(yeah im stupid), load lmit and the number below it on the left panel, and the black box on the right panel. so should i stay of the thing a majigs at the bottom of panels that they scan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lepthebeard Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 no paint over em...i was just pointing something out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest me IS cool Posted August 26, 2003 Share Posted August 26, 2003 I had no idea what those things were for. I walways painted them wondering what the hell their purpose was. Thanks for the new knowledge. :king: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SPFlatty Posted August 26, 2003 Share Posted August 26, 2003 thanks ese, thanks lep...ive painted a grip of bn's...gulp...i'd hate to know they were part of some big buff-over... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaBar2 Posted August 26, 2003 Share Posted August 26, 2003 Me too. I've often wondered what was the function of those tags. I had no idea that they were RF readable. Now I know. Thanks for the link, too. BTW, how did you find out what they are to start with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lepthebeard Posted August 26, 2003 Share Posted August 26, 2003 cuz ese is more than a writer...he was a true railfan first...dude has knowledge...wish i ran into him more often... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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