Transloading coal from rail to river barges is a dusty business. Add wind and rain to the process, and you've got a less than ideal environment for operating electronic equipment. Such is the case at Kanawha River Terminals in Ceredo, W.Va,.where the company transfers coal from railcars to barges around the clock, seven days a week. The service company has relied on CATTRON-THEIMEG INC. Portable Remote Controls (PRCs) for the operation of its two rotary car dumpers and locomotive.

"Our people use the CATTRON-THEIMEG INC. controllers under the worst conditions imaginable – heat, cold, dust, wind and rain – and the units have been totally reliable," said Pete Lowe, Kanawha's maintenance superintendent.

Since adding the portable remote control units, Lowe said rail transport and coal dumping have become safer for the operators. "Without the controllers, I'd have a locomotive engineer sitting in the engine out of direct sight of the dump operators – which is not safe," he said. With CATTRON-THEIMEG INC. hand-held controllers, Kanawha's locomotive engineers can control locomotive speed and direction, as well as dump car push-and-pull guidance, without encountering dangerous blind spots.

CATTRON-THEIMEG INC. remote controls have enhanced efficiency at Kanawha. Lowe noted he would need additional employees to cover the bases now handled through the portable remote controls.

The company's two rotary car dump sites, where railcars filled with coal are dumped for transfer to barge, rely on CATTRON-THEIMEG INC. remote controls. The machinery literally picks up each rail car pushed in by locomotive and deposits the car onto a dumper. The cars, each carrying up to 100 tons of coal, are clamped and turned upside down to dump the coal from the railcar to the barge.

CATTRON-THEIMEG INC. remote controls are used to control the clamping down of each coal car, dumping the material, and returning the car on to the track.

Each round of dumping at the two rotary dump sites involves up to 35 coal-filled cars. One car can be dumped every two minutes. When all cars are emptied, the cars are reconnected and pulled away by locomotive to be refilled.

"We have a continuous process going here. With 13 miles of track weaving throughout our site, you can see the need – for safety and efficiency purposes – for remote control units," Lowe said. "We want everyone to have the best perspective of what is happening on site at all times."