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Article: A life saver: former train engineer seeks investors for patented invention to prevent derailments.(invention and marketing scope of picton ballast integrity sensor)
- Article from:
- Wenatchee Business Journal
- Article date:
- August 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Wenatchee Business Journal, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The device is only 16 inches long and 6 inches in diameter. but its inventor feels it could play an important part in preventing passenger and freight train derailments. Locally, the production of the device could become a growth industry.
The invention is called the "Picton Ballast Integrity Sensor." named after its inventor. Dan Picton--now based in Manson--but who spent 22 years as a locomotive engineer with Burlington Northern Santa Fe in Spokane.
In those 22 years of operating both freight and passenger trains, Picton understood that railroad bed washouts could lead to serious accidents, yet still remain undetected by existing track signal ...