Systems and methods for displaying virtual railroad signs

Abstract

A method for operating a railroad vehicle without reference to physical railroad signs placed along a railroad track includes determining a current location of the railroad vehicle along the railroad track based on the determined current location of the railroad vehicle, automatically selecting a virtual railroad sign from one or more databases containing a plurality of virtual railroad signs, each of the plurality of virtual railroad signs stored in the one or more databases being associated with (i) a location along the railroad track and (ii) a message, and displaying, on an electronic display device a railroad track indicia representative of a segment of the railroad track, a railroad vehicle indicia representative of at least a portion of the railroad vehicle, and an indicia representative of the associated message of the selected virtual railroad sign.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for operating a railroad vehicle on a railroad track without reference to physical railroad signs located generally along the railroad track, the method comprising:
 determining a current location of the railroad vehicle along the railroad track;   based on the determined current location of the railroad vehicle, automatically selecting a virtual railroad sign from one or more databases containing a plurality of virtual railroad signs, each of the plurality of virtual railroad signs stored in the one or more databases being associated with (i) a respective location along the railroad track and (ii) a respective message; and   displaying, on an electronic display device:
 a railroad track indicia representative of a segment of the railroad track; 
 a railroad vehicle indicia representative of at least a portion of the railroad vehicle; and 
 an indicia representative of the associated message of the selected virtual railroad sign. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining a substantially real-time distance between the current location of the railroad vehicle and the associated location of the selected virtual railroad sign; and   displaying, on the electronic display device, the substantially real-time distance between the current location of the railroad vehicle and the selected virtual railroad sign.   
     
     
         3 . (canceled) 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the segment of the railroad track includes non-linear portions and the displayed railroad track indicia representative of the segment of the railroad track is linear. 
     
     
         5 . (canceled) 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the associated message of the selected virtual railroad sign includes a milepost number, a speed limit, a limit, a whistle board, an indication of a railroad track curve, an indication of a railroad track tunnel, an indication of a road crossing, an indication of a rail crossing, an indication of a bridge, an indication of an overhead bridge, a railroad grade, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the selected virtual railroad sign is within a predetermined distance from the determined current location of the railroad vehicle, wherein the predetermined distance is between about 1 mile and about 10 miles. 
     
     
         8 - 10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, based on the displayed indicia representative of the associated message of the selected virtual railroad sign, automatically adjusting a speed of the railroad vehicle. 
     
     
         12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising,
 based on the determined current location of the railroad vehicle, automatically selecting a virtual railroad signal from a plurality of virtual railroad signs stored in the one or more databases, each of the plurality of virtual railroad signals being associated with (i) a location along the railroad track and (ii) a substantially real-time signal; and   displaying, on the electronic display device, an indicia representative of the real-time signal associated with the selected virtual railroad signal.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the associated substantially real-time signal of the selected virtual railroad signal is a clear signal, an approach-limited signal, an approach-medium signal, a diverging-clear signal, an approach signal, a diverging-approach signal, a restricting signal, a stop and proceed signal, or a stop signal. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic display device is positioned with and coupled to the railroad vehicle. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein physical signs corresponding to the plurality of virtual railroad signs stored in the one or more databases are not located along the railroad track. 
     
     
         17 . A method for operating a railroad vehicle on a railroad track without reference to physical railroad signs located along the railroad track, the method comprising:
 determining a current location of the railroad vehicle along the railroad track;   based on the determined current location of the railroad vehicle, automatically selecting a plurality of virtual railroad signs from one or more databases, each of the plurality of virtual railroad signs being associated with (i) a respective location along the railroad track and (ii) a respective message; and   displaying, on an electronic display device:
 a railroad track indicia representative of a segment of the railroad track, 
 a railroad vehicle indicia representative of at least a portion of the railroad vehicle, and 
 for each of the selected plurality of virtual railroad signs, an indicia representative of the associated message. 
   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 determining a substantially real-time distance between the current location of the railroad vehicle and each of the associated locations of the selected plurality of virtual railroad signs; and   displaying, on the electronic display device, the substantially real-time distance between the current location of the railroad vehicle and each of the selected plurality of virtual railroad signs.   
     
     
         19 . (canceled) 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the segment of the railroad track includes substantially non-linear portions and the displayed indicia representative of the segment of the railroad track is linear. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the associated messages of the selected plurality of virtual railroad signs include a milepost number, a speed limit, a limit, a whistle board, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         22 - 25 . (canceled) 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the selected plurality of virtual railroad signs includes a first virtual sign, a second virtual sign, and a third virtual sign, wherein the associated message of the first virtual sign is a first speed limit, the associated message of the second virtual is a whistle board, and the associated message of the third virtual sign is a second speed limit that is different than the first speed limit. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , further comprising,
 determining a substantially real-time distance between the current location of the railroad vehicle and the associated location of the first virtual sign, the second virtual sign, and the third virtual sign; and   displaying, on the electronic display device, the substantially real-time distance between the current location of the railroad vehicle and the first virtual sign, the second virtual sign, and the third virtual sign.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising,
 based on the determined current location of the railroad vehicle, automatically selecting a virtual railroad signal from a plurality of virtual railroad signs stored in the one or more databases, each of the plurality of virtual railroad signals being associated with (i) a location along the railroad track and (ii) a substantially real-time signal; and   displaying, on the electronic display device, an indicia representative of the real-time signal associated with the selected virtual railroad signal.   
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the associated substantially real-time signal of the selected virtual railroad signal is a clear signal, an approach-limited signal, an approach-medium signal, a diverging-clear signal, an approach signal, a diverging-approach signal, a restricting signal, a stop and proceed signal, a stop signal, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         30 - 31 . (canceled) 
     
     
         32 . A method for automatically displaying one or more virtual railroad signs, the method comprising:
 determining a location of a railroad vehicle along a railroad track at a first time;   based on the determined location of the railroad vehicle at the first time, automatically selecting a first plurality of virtual railroad signs stored in one or more databases, each of the virtual railroad signs stored in the one or more databases being associated with (i) a respective location along the railroad track and (ii) a respective message;   displaying, on an electronic display device:
 a railroad track indicia representative of a first segment of the railroad track, 
 a railroad vehicle indicia representative of at least a portion of the railroad vehicle, and 
 for each of the selected first plurality of virtual railroad signs, an indicia representative of the associated message; 
   determining a location of the railroad vehicle along the railroad track at a second time;   based on the determined location of the railroad vehicle at the second time, automatically selecting a second plurality of virtual railroad signs from the one or more databases, each of the plurality of virtual railroad signs being associated with (i) a respective location along the railroad track and (ii) a respective message; and   displaying, on the electronic display device:
 a railroad track indicia representative of a second segment of the railroad track, 
 the railroad vehicle indicia representative of at least a portion of the railroad vehicle, and 
 for each of the selected second plurality of virtual railroad signs, an indicia representative of the associated message. 
   
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the selected first plurality of virtual railroad signs is different than the selected second plurality of virtual railroad signs. 
     
     
         34 - 54 . (canceled)