Patent ID: 8538608

Claim:
A control system for a rail vehicle system that includes a lead powered unit and a plurality of remote powered units, the system comprising: a master isolation module configured to receive an isolation command and to communicate an instruction based on the isolation command; and a slave controller configured to receive the instruction from the master isolation module, the slave controller configured to cause at least one of the remote powered units to supply tractive force to propel the rail vehicle system when the instruction directs the slave controller to turn on the at least one of the remote powered units and the slave controller configured to cause the at least one of the remote powered units to withhold the tractive force when the instruction directs the slave controller to turn off the at least one of the remote powered units, and the slave controller is configured to calculate a plurality of different amounts of fuel that will be consumed by different respective combinations of the remote powered units being turned on or off, wherein the slave controller is configured to report the amounts of fuel to the master isolation module, the master isolation module is configured to identify at least one combination of the remote powered units to be turned on or off based on the amounts of fuel, and the master isolation module is configured to form the isolation command based on the at least one combination of the remote powered units.