Power control system for a vehicle system

A method for dictating power settings for a vehicle system, the method comprising:

• identifying coupler nodes in a vehicle system for travel of the vehicle system along a route, the coupler nodes representative of slack states of couplers connected to one or more vehicles in the vehicle system;
• determining one or more combined driving parameters at one or more locations along the route where a state of one or more of the coupler nodes in the vehicle system will change within the vehicle system during the upcoming movement of the vehicle system;
• and
• determining an individual driving parameter for one or more vehicles based on a restriction that is determined, the individual driving parameter including a power setting of the one or more vehicles.

A method for controlling a vehicle system, the method comprising:

• determining a location along a route during an upcoming trip of a vehicle system that coupler nodes in the vehicle system will collide with each other;
• distributing a power output among two or more propulsion-generating vehicles on opposite sides of at least one of the coupler nodes in the vehicle system, the power output preventing the coupler nodes from colliding with each other at the location along the route;
• determining a restriction on operations of the vehicle system to control the coupler nodes;
• and
• generating a trip plan for the propulsion-generating vehicles in the vehicle system based on the power output that is distributed and the restriction on operations determined to control the coupler nodes, the trip plan designating one or more moving speeds, throttle settings, or brake settings of the vehicle system as a function of distance along the route.