System and method for determining effectiveness of a friction modifier along a route segment

A system comprising:

• a receiver configured to receive creep measurements and tractive/braking measurements from at least one vehicle system at different locations along a route segment while the at least one vehicle system moves through the route segment;
• a calculation module configured to calculate tribology characteristics of the route segment at the different locations, the tribology characteristics being based on the creep measurements and the tractive/braking measurements from the at least one vehicle system, wherein the tribology characteristics are indicative of a friction coefficient of the route segment at the different locations;
• and
• an analysis module configured to determine an effectiveness of a friction modifier applied to the route segment based on the tribology characteristics at the different locations.

A system comprising:

• a vehicle-control module configured to control tractive and braking operations of a vehicle system;
• a measurement module configured to obtain creep measurements and tractive/braking measurements of the vehicle system at different locations along a route segment while the vehicle system moves through the route segment;
• and
• a transmitter configured to communicate the creep measurements and the tractive/braking measurements from the vehicle system;
• wherein the vehicle-control module is configured to increase the tractive effort of a first wheelset by a designated amount and decrease the tractive effort of a second wheelset by the designated amount thereby maintaining a total tractive effort of the vehicle system, the measurement module configured to obtain the creep measurements and the tractive/braking measurements when the first and second wheelsets operate at increased and decreased tractive efforts, respectively.