Patent ID: 7120428

Claim:
A remote locomotive control system comprising a slave controller configured to receive data strings from a plurality of remote transmitters, the slave controller responsive exclusively to an acquire signal received from one of the remote transmitters for configuring the slave controller to control one or more control functions of the locomotive as a function of one or more data strings received exclusively from said one remote transmitter, wherein: each data string includes one or more bits related to one or more safety functions of the locomotive, one or more bits related to one or more control functions of the locomotive and one or more bits related to the acquire signal; the acquire signal is an acquire bit; from a quiescent state where the slave controller is not responsive to the one or more bits related to the one or more control functions of the locomotive, in response to receiving from a first remote transmitter the acquire bit thereof in a first binary state, the slave controller commences controlling the one or more control functions of the locomotive as a function of the receipt by the slave controller from the first remote transmitter of the one or more bits related thereto; and in response to receiving from the first remote transmitter the acquire bit thereof in a second binary state, the slave controller returns to its quiescent state.