News

Public Transportation Industry Loses Signals Maintenance Subject Matter Expert Carl Nelson VTA

Posted November 2016

It is with great sadness that we announce the loss of Mr. Carl Nelson, an experienced railroader, trainer and advocating member of the National Signals Training Consortium. Mr. Nelson began his career in Light Rail at PAT in Pittsburgh, PA in 1997. Since, he has worked at Greater Cleveland RTA, Charlotte Area Transit Systems (CATS) and most recently at Santa Clara VTA. As the Supervising Maintenance Instructor at the Guadalupe Division, Carl was leading a joint effort with VTA, JWI, and ATU in the Jr. Track Worker and Overhead Line Worker apprentice programs.

Carl first worked with the Consortium during his employment at CATS, serving as a Subject Matter Expert specifically on the topic of Highway Grade Crossings. After moving to VTA, Carl encouraged VTA’s involvement in the Consortium work as he saw the great value it brought to the industry. Carl attended the recently held annual Consortium meeting for the first time as a VTA SME just last month at TriMet in Portland, Oregon. Through this work in the Consortium, his years of experience were incorporated into courseware which will be used to teach upcoming generations of signal maintainers

As a leader and dedicated subject matter expert, Carl left an immediate impression on his peers in the industry. His wealth of knowledge and welcoming demeanor was indisputable. We will miss him greatly.