Van Dyke was a founding member of the Railroad Applications Special Interest Group (RASIG) that later evolved into RAS. He served RAS as Chair and as a Roundtable organizer, session chair, and presenter many times. He sponsored RAS dinners, was a driving force in the Student Paper Competition, and helped organize two special RASIG-sponsored industry meetings on service design.
“Carl pioneered scheduled railroading and had a significant role in moving the industry away from tonnage-base operations,” said RAS. “Every major railway in North America and several major railways in Europe, Asia, and Africa have directly benefitted from his work and vision. Carl also developed many of the computer models that railways now routinely use to design service and support scheduled operations, embodied in his well-known MultiRail system. These models are critical for scheduled railroading to produce the necessary high-quality service design, and to quickly adapt the design as demand trends change. His seminal work in algorithmic blocking had substantial influence on the control systems of several railways and on how many railways perform service design studies.
“RAS is able to serve our profession through the contributions of volunteers,” the organization noted. “Although help from everyone is appreciated, some volunteers’ contributions have a far reaching impact. Their work has given RAS a new direction and continues to inspire others to follow their footsteps. The RAS Distinguished Member Award recognizes such individuals.”
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