1. BNSF Telecommunications Overview
Tana Perkins
Southern California Telecom Manager
4/19/2017

2. Contents Who is BNSF? BNSF facts Our colorful history
BNSF Telecom Team
Local operations
Ethernet/IP Use
RF Use
Questions
4/19/2017

3. Who is BNSF?
Today's BNSF Railway is the product of 160 years of history, and nearly 400 different railroad lines.
Our Railroad: While many different railroads combined to form BNSF, the people who worked at those railroads shared many traits. The people who built BNSF were — and continue to be — a unique breed, blending the forward-thinking of dreamers with the pragmatism of results-oriented business leaders. This heritage played a central role in settling and growing the American West, and today, BNSF continues to have a significant impact in meeting the needs of shippers and serving the economy.
Video: Our History
4/19/2017

4. BNSF Facts Network: 32,000 route miles Intermodal facilities: 31
States: 28
Locomotives: 6,000
Canadian provinces: 2
Signal locations: 12,400
Employees: Almost 40,000
Video: Rail efficiency
Ports served: 40+
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5. BNSF Facts, Cont. Bridges: 13,100 Tunnels: 87 Tunnel Miles: 34
Grade crossings: 26,000
Holiday season shipping/yr: 50 million
2011 carloads: 9.5 million
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6. In a Typical Year
BNSF hauls enough asphalt to lay a single lane road around the equator four times
BNSF hauls enough coal to provide 10% of the nations electricity
BNSF hauls more than 1 billion cans of canned goods
BNSF hauls enough newsprint to print 1 billion Sunday newspapers
BNSF hauls enough fertilizer to fertilize a field the size of the entire state of Kansas
We haul more cargo than any of our competitors
4/19/2017

7. Our Colorful Telecom History
1851, A perfect marriage, Railroad and Telegraph
1920 – 1925, Voice dispatching via crank telephones
1936 – 1943, Trainphone
1940s, Telephone voice on pole line (Enter, “Telecom Team”)
1960s, Radios and analog microwave
1970s, Southern Pacific Railroad turns communication co.
1980s, DTMF dialing and microwave build out
1988, Telecom Network Control Center, and tunnels
1992, First tunnel radio system
1996 – 1998, Advent of digital Microwave
2012, IP Microwave full rollout
4/19/2017

8. BNSF Telecom Forces Goal: Move trains, safely Field team consists of:
Inside Plant (Electronic Technicians)
Outside Plant (Maintainers)
Maintains, repairs and installs
Customer service, break-fix, emergency support
Engineering and management infrastructure
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9. 4/19/2017

10. California Division Telecom Operations
California Division Headquarters: San Bernardino
3 field offices: San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Stockton
58 Telecom employees
63 major towers, 100+ tower/radiating elements
1400+ main track miles
4/19/2017

11. California Division Facts
Cajon subdivision hosts 40% of the nations rail traffic. Passing through this corridor, makes this the busiest bit of rail in the nation
House the Western Transcon (Transcontinental Railroad)
San Bernardino dispatch center
Barstow hump yard
Intermodal facilities, Commerce, San Bernardino, Mariposa
Automotive facilities, San Bernardino and Richmond
Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Harbor facility
Alameda Corridor Telecom support/operations
San Bernardino: 1st Operational Positive Train Control System
4/19/2017

12. Local/California Operations
Territory
BNSF’s California Division is based in San Bernardino.
Three telecom field offices serve our division – Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Stockton. A team of 58 manage the operation.
63 major tower sites, over 100 tower/radiating elements in all
Over 1400 Main Track Miles, Several hundred miles of feeder/industry and private track
4/19/2017

13. Extensive use of Ethernet/IP
Nationwide IP network
Self-healing MPLS Core
Geographically diverse major and minor data centers
Secured Ethernet communications
Increased use of packetized radio for 6.25kHz
Centralized Dispatch use of VoIP
4/19/2017

14. Our Use of RF Large nationwide network of microwave systems
Nationwide array of Telco circuits, on-track fiber
Massive deployment of cameras, track condition sensors, environmental sensors etc.
Leadership of new RF based train control system (PTC)
4/19/2017

15. Our Technologies Voice Data 1 Data 2 GPS Cell/PCS Wi-Fi Technology
Frequency / Mode
Centralized Traffic Control (CTC)
1.25 MHz
Hyrail limits compliance (HLCS)
54 MHz
Dispatch
160 MHz
MRAS
Land mobile radio
Positive Train Control (PTC)
220 MHz – 2.4 GHz
Distributed Power (Locomotive Link)
440 MHz UHF
Automatic Equipment Identifier (AEI)
900 MHz
Cellular mobility
1900MHz
Analog microwave
6GHz
Digital microwave
IP microwave
6GHz , 5.8GHz , others as needed
Ethernet
Layer 1 - 3
Fiber
Layer 1 -3
Distributed fiber
Layer 1- 3
Data
Copper, Fiber, Microwave
Back office
On-Track Systems
Voice
Data 1
Data 2
GPS
Cell/PCS
Wi-Fi
4/19/2017

16. Positive Train Control
History
What is PTC?
Interoperability
BNSF’s role
Video: Positive Train Control
4/19/2017

17. Questions? Tana Perkins, PMP, MSM BNSF Railway
Telecom Manager, San Bernardino
4/19/2017