BNSF ES44C4 6927Atherton MO Atherton

In this photo just east of Atherton, Missouri, in the Missouri River bottom-lands, a priority double-stack train cruises at track speed over the Atherton-Sibley Road. The framework over the tracks on the other side of the signals is a shifted-load detector, which has wires stretched vertically on both sides of each track about a foot from the train as it passes through. If a wire is broken, the dispatcher is instantly notified and signals for the train go red. The Sibley Bridge is still a few miles away, so there will be plenty of time to stop so that mechanical forces can determine what might be hanging off the side of a car. The tall antenna by the signal box is for the Positive Train Control system, not yet activated, which will allow dispatchers to bring a train to a halt in the event of an emergency, assuming that normal braking equipment conditions exist on the train in question...