Systems and methods for displaying virtual railroad signs

A method for operating a railroad vehicle on a railroad track without reference to physical railroad signs located along the railroad track, the method comprising:

• determining a current location of the railroad vehicle along the railroad track;
• based on the determined current location of the railroad vehicle, automatically selecting a plurality of virtual railroad signs from one or more databases, each of the plurality of virtual railroad signs being associated with (i) a respective location along the railroad track and (ii) a respective message;
• and
• displaying, on an electronic display device:
• a railroad track indicia representative of a segment of the railroad track,
• a railroad vehicle indicia representative of at least a portion of the railroad vehicle, and
• for each of the selected plurality of virtual railroad signs, an indicia representative of the associated message.

A method for automatically displaying one or more virtual railroad signs, the method comprising:

• determining a location of a railroad vehicle along a railroad track at a first time;
• based on the determined location of the railroad vehicle at the first time, automatically selecting a first plurality of virtual railroad signs stored in one or more databases, each of the virtual railroad signs stored in the one or more databases being associated with (i) a respective location along the railroad track and (ii) a respective message;
• displaying, on an electronic display device:
• a railroad track indicia representative of a first segment of the railroad track,
• a railroad vehicle indicia representative of at least a portion of the railroad vehicle, and
• for each of the selected first plurality of virtual railroad signs, an indicia representative of the associated message;
• determining a location of the railroad vehicle along the railroad track at a second time;
• based on the determined location of the railroad vehicle at the second time, automatically selecting a second plurality of virtual railroad signs from the one or more databases, each of the plurality of virtual railroad signs being associated with (i) a respective location along the railroad track and (ii) a respective message;
• and
• displaying, on the electronic display device:
• a railroad track indicia representative of a second segment of the railroad track,
• the railroad vehicle indicia representative of at least a portion of the railroad vehicle, and
• for each of the selected second plurality of virtual railroad signs, an indicia representative of the associated message.