page_title: Train inspection system
section_title: Overview
hierarchical_section_title: Train inspection system / Overview
caption_attribution_description: English: Servo style hot box scanners and dragging equipment detector.
context_page_description: A train inspection system is one of various systems of inspection which are essential to maintain the safe running of rail transport.
  Because safety is of high importance when train cars move across the rails, there must be inspections. The cars are heavy and have moving parts that can break or become defective. Worn or broken parts can drag, pound, and generally destroy the cars and the track structure they run on. Parts and loads must not extend outside the limits of the car, and there should be no leaking of the cars' contents.
  Quality inspections are needed not just before a train is moved, but also as it travels to its destination.
context_section_description: There are several levels of inspection on railroad equipment. Inspections are continuous, starting when the car is being built and repeated at regular intervals.
  Before the train begins its journey, the locomotives and the cars are checked. This is done by mechanical department workers, sometimes cameras and scanners are also used. Some of the items certified good to go are things like the braking system including hand-brake release, brake application, condition of the air valves, piping and hoses, communication equipment, and many more. Very much like the checklist an airline might use. When the pretrip work is done, the train is considered safe to move.
  Once the movement begins, the train is continuously watched by employees, scanners and monitors. These are sometimes called "in motion defect detectors" or defect detectors (DD).
caption: A hot bearing detector w/ dragging equipment unit
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