I guess I am supposed to be a horrible person , my post in this thread having been deleted due to a whiner complaining. I must point out that a google search of " railroad car" “bar code” yields 2740 results, the first of which with out even clicking on it will tell you that the system was patented in 1960 by Westinghouse. Nuff said.
So… who died and made you the king decider of what should be asked on a forum?
Nuff said.
The ACI system used by the railroad was based on the Kar-Trak developed by Sylvania.
There was apparently an earlier system (perhaps the one that Oscar mentioned, as being done by Westinghouse) that was not universally adopted. The panels actually looked more like the grocery-store bar-codes: no color. They were taller and thinner than the ACI labels based on Kar-Trak. I recall seeing these on several series of KCS cars built in the early 1960s.
I imagine it is also very similar to the Pre-Pass system used by many trucking companies to reduce time spent at scales, the transponder on my truck is actually dual purpose, it doubles as my EZPass. As far as I know, they have no problems reading at speeds above 70mph, though on the toll roads, you will get a ticket for going through the booth too fast[:O]
Looks like this former-BN GP38-2 still has an ACI.
http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1454789
Great info! I learned things about the ACI tags that I never knew,or had forgotten.[oX)]
i’ve seen barcode is inserted on the road ! and it is a qr code image , is it just for fun?
Interesting link, Balt. Good educational read.