Train Wreck...

The Ohio derailment last week had me thinking of what it takes to coordinate a multi-billion dollar operation of trains, tracks and linked control systems. My guess it's as stressful as being in the hot-seat of an an Air Traffic Controller.

This scenario may have happened at one point in time:

A young woman who recently graduated college applied to the east coast railway for the system track controller position of their new fully automated computerized system.
The person doing the interview said her college transcript was great and that she scored very high on their aptitude test including all the required computer skills.

When asked why she was applying for such a position, her response was 3 generations of her family had been employed by the railroad system and she wanted to keep up the tradition.
"Excellent" said the interviewer.

We are nearly finished with your interview, but I want to say the position you have applied for is very stressful. We want to be absolutely sure you can think clearly in critical moments of a life-or-death situation. I've got one final question.
"Okay" said the woman.
"If two trains were approaching each other at a high rate of speed, but they were on the same track, what would you do?"
She answered "Simple, I would activate the system override and switch them to separate tracks"
"And if the computer system didn't respond?" the interviewer asked.
"I'd radio down to switching watchman to switch the tracks manually." Said the woman.
"Okay" said the interviewer "What if the watchman didn't reply?"

The woman responded with "Hmmm, I'd call my uncle Roy."
"Your uncle Roy?" the interviewer asked.
"Yes" the woman responded "My uncle Roy"
"What could your uncle Roy possibly do?" said the interviewer.
"Nothing" said the woman "But after 47 years of workin' on the railroad, he ain't never seen a crash like the one that's gonna happen today!"