Why Just Disable the Engine?
Shot the engine or radiator or fuel line with gun or RPG or something??
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.
1. Diesel is virtually impossible to ignite with gun shots.
2. RPG would likely damage the tracks, enough to derail the whole train. They are also not in standard equipment of Train Yard operators, and the military has a response time in HOURS, not MINUTES -- too late.
3. Train engines are built to be very robust and difficult to even damage, let alone destroy -- they can easily cut through cars or trucks blocking their path without breaking a sweat. It's not so easy to cause enough damage to it to force its engine to "shut down" (malfunction).
Your points make sense to me paveld78....I'm quite sure the newer big rigs can be shut down using gps.If so, wouldn't they be able to do the same thing w/trains?
Semper Fidelis
OK, GPS is a global positioning signal. Each satelite does just one thing and one thing only: It constantly transmits the current value of its atomic clock* . By receiving the values of atomic clocks of multiple satelites and comparing the shift between then, you can pinpoint your location on Earth. That's all GPS does.
But I will assume you meant some sort of control signal.
My guess would be the answer is NO for a diesel engine (and YES for electric engine which takes power from the cables above).
The thing is, any electronic device is yet another opportunity for failure. And a remotely operated electronic device is not only another opportunity for failure, but also another opportunity for electronic interference, both accidental (solar radiation etc.) and malicious (hacker attack).
Just imagine it: you add a device that is capable of "stopping the train in its tracks", remotely operated. What is to stop an attacker to easily overpower the controller of such remote control and play some nasty tricks on the passengers? A couple "stop!" - "no, go!" - "no, stop!" jolts, and you are bound to have a couple broken bones and smashed foreheads on the train.
The situation is different with electric trains. At least in my country, they are certainly able to switch off power to individual sections of the grid, thus forcing any train that takes electricity from the grid to stop. But that's still not remote control, that's just disabling electricity.
Very informative response paveld76.I figured just the ability to stop trains or trucks by remote control could open up another set of problems.
Semper Fidelis