APR 2013 Railway Age Magazine

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April 2013 | www.railwayage.com

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RailwayAge

APRIL 2013

visit us at www.railwayage.com Features Continental powerhouse Short line of the year Regional Railroad of the year Here come the streetcars Turning out great turnouts Railcar Report

18 27 35 45 51 55

News/Columns From the editor Update Short line/Regional Perspective Financial edge

2 9

35

17 64

Departments industry indicators industry Outlook Market People 100 years Ago Meetings Products Advertising index Professional Directory Classified

4 6 8 58 58 58 59 61 62 63

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On the COver A pair of Arizona eastern Railway locomotives stands ready for service.

Photo courtesy of genesee & wyoming, inc.

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Railway Age, USPS 449-130, is published monthly by the Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation, 55 Broad Street, 26th Fl., New York, NY 10004. Tel. (212) 620-7200; FAX (212) 633-1863. Vol. 214, No. 4.

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April 2013 RAilwAy Age 1

RailwayAge

From the Editor william C. Vantuono

Editorial and ExEcutivE officEs Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp.

55 Broad Street, 26th Fl. New York, NY 10004 212-620-7200; Fax: 212-633-1863 Website: www.railwayage.com

There’s gold in them thar rails!

P

ardon the pun, but shipping crude oil by rail is not a pipe dream. In fact, the way things are moving, big, expensive, and environmentally risky pipelines (like the controversial Keystone XL pipeline) may not be needed at all, because railroads are proving that they can provide the same service, with vastly improved safety and environmental considerations.

Is this any surprise? Of course not, for those in the know, like Railway Age Contributing Editor and Cowen Group Inc. analyst Jason Seidl. “With increasing crude production in Canada and the Bakken, uncertainty surrounding pipeline construction, and growing rail capacity, the stars seem aligned for crude by rail to continue its robust growth,” Jason says in a recent report to investors. “Crude by rail is here to stay. We believe crude shipments on the railroads will continue to grow robustly over the next two years before pipeline capacity expansion potentially kicks into higher gear in 2015, an event that is looking less likely to occur, with Keystone XL prospects worsening in our opinion.”

But weren’t we similarly excited about ethanol—which (again, pardon the pun) has largely evaporated—not long ago? Yes, but, as Seidl says, “A sudden precipitous drop in crude shipments on rail, reminiscent of ethanol, is improbable in our opinion, as crude is a much more essential commodity, and market dynamics favor continued growth in geographies that could benefit from rail transportation.”

What’s the rail share of transporting all the black gold, and will rail’s current higher cost (compared to pipelines) become less important? Says Seidl: “Market dynamics favor continued growth in geographies that could benefit from rail transportation. Once meaningful increases in tank car capacity begin to materialize later this year and beyond, we believe the railroads can be viewed as a viable

long-term transportation option that would complement pipelines, despite the higher rail cost (estimated at $3.00-$7.00/ barrel higher). Additionally, we would not rule out additional governmental setbacks to pipeline construction.

“Arbitrage (buying, selling, and exchange of crude oil in different markets to take advantage of location, product, and timing differentials) crude oil shipments account for less than 2% of North American Class I traffic. However, due to ongoing strong growth, as well as the high margins associated with the commodity, crude should be a progressively more meaningful earnings generator for railroads over the next two to three years, as pipeline capacity remains constrained, [due to] bottlenecks. The cause of the bottlenecks for landlocked crude oil is the recent growth in production from unconventional resource plays in the U.S. and Canada. With the cost to ship oil by rail oil from Edmonton to Houston in the $12-to-$15/barrel range, there appears to be an opportunity to narrow that gap . . . The differential between WTI (West Texas Intermediate light crude) and the Gulf Coast market is the result of the limited pipeline capacity between the two markets.”

It looks like Canadian Pacific and Norfolk Southern stand to gain the most from crude by rail, Seidl says: “We believe CP may enjoy the biggest medium- to long-term benefit from crude among the railroads, while NS is our favorite pick ahead of first-quarter 2013 earnings, partly due to the recent expansion of an NS-served crude terminal by PBF Energy, which along with Tesoro Corp., provides a good way to gain crude-by-rail exposure from the independent refiner side.”

Pretty slick, huh?

ARTHUR J. McGINNIS, Jr., President and Chairman JONATHAN CHALON, Publisher jchalon@sbpub.com WILLIAM C. VANTUONO, Editor-in-Chief wvantuono@sbpub.com DOUGLAS JOHN BOWEN, Managing Editor dbowen@sbpub.com LUTHER S. MILLER, Senior Consulting Editor lmiller@sbpub.com CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Alex Binkley, Roy H. Blanchard, Lawrence H Kaufman, Bruce E. Kelly, Anthony D. Kruglinski, Ron Lindsey, Ryan McWilliams, Jason H. Seidl, Frank N. Wilner Creative Director: Wendy Williams Art Director: Sarah Vogwill Corporate Production Director: Mary Conyers Production Manager: Jessica Cajas Production Director: Eduardo Castaner Marketing Director: Erica Hayes Conference Director: Jane Poterala Circulation Director: Maureen Cooney WEstErn officEs 20 South Clark Street, Suite 1910, Chicago, IL 60603 312-683-0130; Fax: 312-683-0131 Engineering Editor: Mischa Wanek-Libman mischa@sbpub.com Assistant Editor: Jennifer Nunez jnunez@sbpub.com George Sokulski, Associate Publisher Emeritus gsokulski@sbpub.com intErnational officEs 46 Killigrew Street, Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 3PP, United Kingdom Telephone: 011-44-1326-313945 Fax: 011-44-1326-211576 International Editors: David Briginshaw, Keith Barrow, Kevin Smith customEr sErvicE: 800-895-4389 Reprints: PARS International Corp.

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Industry Indicators tRaFFiC oRiginated carLoaDS

shoRt line and Regional tRaFFiC indeX FouR WeeKs enDIng march 2, 2013

maJoR u.s. RailRoads

By Commodity grain farm Products ex.grain grain mill Prouducts food products chemicals Petroleum & Petroleum Products coal Primary forest Products Lumber and Wood Products Pulp and Paper Products metallic ores coke Primary metal Products Iron and Steel Scrap motor Vehicles and Parts crush Stone, Sand, and gravel nonmetallic minerals Stone, clay & glass Waste & nonferrous Scrap all other carloads total u.s. CaRloads

FeB. 2013 70,538 3,723 36,019 26,463 121,132 54,551 449,648 6,040 13,894 24,243 17,527 14,943 43,145 16,367 68,490 73,426 16,537 26,396 12,075 18,686 1,113,843

FeB. 2012 85,828 3,232 38,177 26,061 122,141 33,225 472,231 6,257 12,584 24,929 18,799 13,801 46,458 19,177 66,768 62,667 16,507 27,932 11,296 18,335 1,126,405

% Change -10.8% 0.3% -6.4% o.2% -1.7% 64.2% -16.4% -3.5% 10.4% -2.8% -6.8% 8.3% -7.1% -14.7% 2.6% 17.2% 0.2% -5.5% 6.9% 1.9% -1.1%

75,089

77,770

-3.4%

1,431,483

1,435,521

-0.3%

carLoaDS

chemicals coal crushed Stone / Sand / gravel food & Kindred Products grain grain mill Products Lumber & Wood Products metals ores metals & Products motor Vehicles & equipmet nonmetallic minerals Petroleum Products Pulp, Paper & allied Products Stone, clay & glass Products Trailers / containers Waste & nonferrous Scrap all other carloads

ComBined u.s./Canada RR

FouR WeeKs enDIng march 2, 2013

InTermoDaL maJoR u.s. RailRoads

By Commodity TraILerS conTaInerS total units

FeB. 2013 112,051 871,027 983,078

FeB. 2012 118,577 771,270 889,847

% Change -5.5% 12.9% 10.5%

5,924 203,008 208,932

5,480 190,852 196,332

8.1% 6.4% 6.4%

117,795 1,074,035 1,192,010

124,057 962,122 1,086,179

-4.9% 11.6% 9.7%

ComBined u.s./Canada RR TraILerS conTaInerS total ComBined units

Source: monthly railroad Traffic, association of american railrods

aveRage WeeKly u.s. Rail CaRloads: all Commodities (not seasonally adjusted)

% Change

270,000 280,000 290,000 300,000 310,000

320,000 330,000 340,000 350,000 360,000

copyright © 2013 all rights reserved.

RailRoad employment, Class i linehaul CaRRieRs, FeBRuaRy 2013 (% change from feBrUarY 2012)

Transportation (train and engine) 65,135 (-0.38%)

executives, officials, and Staff assistants 9,838 (3.46%)

Professional and administrative 14,143 (2.40%)

total employees: 162,228 % Change FRom FeB. 2012: 0.90% Transportation (other than train & engine) 6,798 (1.25%)

maintenance of equipment and Stores 30,046 (1.46%)

maintenanceof-Way and Structures 36,268 (1.48%)

Source: Surface Transportation Board

employment up yeaR-oveR-yeaR and FRom past month figures released by the Surface Transportation Board show class I railroads employed 162,228 people in mid-february, up 0.90% from february 2012, and up 0.11% from last January. all categories save one gained year-over-year, with Transportation (train & engine) posting the only loss, down 0.38%. four of six categories gained ground from the previous month, with maintenance-of-Way and Structures leading the way, up 0.62% from January.

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-0.7% 48.8% 11.3% -12.7% -5.6% -11.6% 15.5% 46.8% -19.6% -19.5% 6.7% 0.9% -4.3% -3.4% 27.7% -13.7% -0.8%

FeB. 2013 - 335,067 FeB. 2012 - 326,457

Canadian RailRoads TraILerS conTaInerS total units

oRiginated FeB. ’12 42,046 15,117 19,845 12,855 22,485 6,870 8,620 5,447 24,153 11,033 1,853 2,230 17,963 10,551 33,614 11,144 80,631

total CaRloads, FeBRuaRy 2013 vs. 2012

Canadian RailRoads all Commodity

oRiginated FeB. ’13 41,757 22,492 22,081 11,227 21,232 6,072 9,953 7,996 19,414 8,882 1,977 2,250 17,199 10,194 42,727 9,616 79,997

By Commodity

America’s City Solution Siemens‘ answers for mobility help people and business reconnect with their city and one another.

Cities across the United States are growing fast, which has brought new challenges, like how to move people and attract business in a way that is also good for the environment. That is why cities are choosing to work with Siemens, where more than 800 Americans focus on designing and building energy-efficient light rail vehicles and streetcars that can help people reach their destination quickly, comfortably and safely.

Siemens complete solutions for mobility are helping change how cities grow and how their citizens move through them. Because mobility is more than just transportation, it helps build sustainable cities.

Somewhere in America, our team of more than 60,000 employees spends every day creating answers that will last for years to come.

usa.siemens.com/railsystems

Industry Outlook Amtrak, developer in box tunnel pact

NS: “The future looks good”

Norfolk Southern says it is moving ahead in 2013 after coming off its second-best year ever for revenue, operating income, net income, and earnings per share. “The future looks good,” CeO wick Moorman says in the corporation’s 2012 annual report, posted on the company’s website.

“Despite significant challenges in our coal business, we delivered solid results for our shareholders,” Moorman says. “From an operations perspective, the railroad ran extremely well, setting all-time highs for most of our service and velocity metrics. “we also continued our strong record of reinvesting in the company, with more than $2.2 billion in capital spending, including completion of some key projects to drive future growth.”

Repeating his take on the industry’s coal haulage slump, something he cited last June, Moorman says, “ while the coal business will continue to be a wildcard for the immediate future, it traditionally has been a mainstay for Norfolk Southern, and we continue to believe in it long-term.”

FRA: 2012 safest year in history

APTA cites rise in transit ridership

Public transportation demand rose in 2012 as americans took 10.5 billion trips, 154 million more trips than the previous year, according to a report released last month by the american Public Transportation association (aPTa). This was the seventh year in a row that more than 10 billion trips were taken on public transportation systems nationwide, aPTa said.

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Federal Railroad administration safety reports for 2012 show it was the safest year in the U.S. railroad industry’s recorded history.

Overall, 2012 set a new record for railroad safety, breaking the previous record set in 2011, which in turn broke the record set in 2010. in 2012, the employee casualty rate was down 9% and the grade crossing collision rate was down 8%. according to Federal Railroad administration data, from 1980 to 2012 the U.S. train accident rate fell 80% and the U.S. rail employee injury rate fell 85%.

Since 2000, the declines have been 45% and 52%, respectively. Train collisions per million train-miles have dropped 87% since 1980 and 36% since 2000.

amtrak has reached tentative agreement with private developers in Manhattan to construct an 800-footlong box tunnel on site at the 26-acre Hudson yards development site on Manhattan’s west Side. The tunnel would act as a placeholder for eventual expansion of Northeast Corridor capacity under the Hudson River, amtrak’s gateway Tunnel project.

Building the tunnel now was deemed imperative, since the Hudson yards development already is under way atop the site, which includes the NeC approach to amtrak’s Penn Station New york, as well as long island Rail Road’s John D. Caemmerer west Side yard.

Federal funding of up to $150 million will pay for the box tunnel, to be constructed by Related Cos., which is developing on (and above) the Hudson yards site. The tunnel also would serve the proposed Moynihan Station, the station upgrade planned to augment and possibly supersede the current Penn Station. amtrak began advancing the gateway Tunnel project shortly after a previous tunnel plan, access to the Region’s Core, was terminated by New Jersey gov. Chris Christie, who cited concerns over cost overruns. Many New Jersey rail advocates also soured on the previous plan, overseen by New Jersey Transit, but are voicing more support for amtrak’s proposal, which better integrates new facilities with existing infrastructure.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.y.) assisted in the arrangement, and praised the Related Cos. and its chairman, Stephen Ross, for being “a good citizen” in the matter. “They’re doing it in such a way that their foundations and the box tunnel will be in synch,” Schumer said to local media. amtrak’s Board of Directors is expected to formally approve the deal at its april meeting. a formal agreement could be signed as early as this summer, with work commencing as soon as this fall.

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Market Cold Train opens Chicago office Cold Train is opening a new office in downtown Chicago to aid “hauling more cargo and various products back from the Midwest and east Coast to washington State and Oregon.” The move comes following what Cold Train describes as a “tripling in size of its Quincy, wash.based refrigerated container fleet,” comprised of 300 53-foot Hyundai refrigerated trailers (photo at left).

Rail logistics launched the Cold Train express intermodal Service in partnership with BNSF Railway and the Port of Quincy, wash., in 2010.

Cold Train President Steve lawson asserted that the new office “will directly benefit both shippers in the east and receivers in the west, as well as consumers in washington and Oregon.”

COLORADO DOT: Tapped CTC, inc. to supply 52 “Do Not Stop on Tracks” signs for 26 highway-rail grade crossings in the Centennial State, using light-emitting diode (leD) technology.

DART: will use axion international’s eCOTRaX railway ties for three miles of its planned Blue line light rail transit extension into South Dallas, Tex. The 100% recycled ties will be produced at axion’s waco, Tex., plant, which also has supplied ties for Trinity Railway express right-of-way between Dallas and Fort worth, Tex. EDMONTON, ALBERTA: in concert with Canadian federal officials, announced a public-private partnership effort to expedite edmonton’s light rail transit expansion. The private component of the public-private partnership will be chosen through a competitive bidding process. The P3 Canada Fund investment will fund up to C$250 million (US$244.6 million) for 8

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construction of 8.2 miles of lRT, adding to North america’s first modern-day lRT system.

for repairs to its Multilevel fleet damaged by flooding during Hurricane Sandy last October.

GOLD LINE CONSTRUCTION AUTHORITY (LOS ANGELES): awarded webcor Builders a $48.7 million design-build contract for the gold line light rail transit extension project, extending lRT from Sierra Madre Villa (Pasadena), Calif., to azusa, northeast of los angeles.

NORFOLK SOUTHERN: Selected gilbert, S.C.-based avtec, inc. to install the company’s Frontier-enabled Scout™ Voice over internet Protocol (VoiP) consoles to replace aging equipment.

HART (HONOLULU): awarded a $43.9 million contract to aeCOM Technical Services, inc., a subsidiary of aeCOM Technology Corp., to provide design services for a portion of Hawaii’s Honolulu Rail Transit Project.

MIAMI-DADE TRANSIT: Made its third purchase order of axion international’s eCOTRaC railway ties, through a sale made by axion distribution partner eastern Rail Corp.

NJ TRANSIT: awarded Bombardier Transportation a $16 million contract

Worldwide FREIBURG TRANSPORT (GERMANY): Signed a contract with Besain, Spainbased CaF for Urbos 3 low-floor light rail vehicles, which will support the expansion of the city’s lRT network.

SERBIAN RAILWAYS: Signed a contract with Stadler for a fleet of 21 four-car Flirt electric multiple-unit (eMU) trains, to be used on suburban services in and around Belgrade, the nation’s capital.

NORWEGIAN STATE RAILWAYS: Tapped Stadler for an additional 16 five-car Flirt eMU trainsets.

Port of Quincy, Wash.

North America

Update Supply BriefS Transload facility to aid North Dakota rail moves Dakota Plains Holdings, inc. and a joint-venture partner, Petroleum Transport Solutions, llC, last month said construction is under way for the Pioneer Project, designed to expand crude oil transload capacity in New Town, N.D. Canadian Pacific will serve the facility, continuing a partnership between CP and the two companies. located in the williston Basin, the site will handle crude oil “sourced primarily from the Bakken formation that underlies parts of Montana, North Dakota, and Saskatchewan,” the companies said. The partnership will deploy 180,000 barrels of storage to start, with the expansion to 270,000 barrels built into the initial design.

Completion of the $50 million project is expected in December, with the cost shared equally by the two companies.

Translink affirms its faith in Skytrain technology Translink says its latest study for transit expansion in and around Vancouver, B.C., shows that SkyTrain, matched with complementary Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), is preferable to light rail transit (lRT) alternatives. Translink says its studies show SkyTrain, using Bombardier’s Advanced Rapid Transit (ART) technology allowing automated trains driven by linear induction motors, has higher capital costs, but also offers better ridership capacity, better average speeds, and more ancillary transport benefits. Officials in Surrey. B.C., have sought lRT instead, arguing the mode is more neighborhood friendly. Translink told Railway Age it has not yet officially eliminated the lRT option.

Railroader of the Year

Young’s vision drives Union Pacific

Union Pacific President and CEO Jack Koraleski (center) accepts the 2013 Railroader of the Year award on behalf of Chairman Jim Young from Railway Age Publisher Jonathon Chalon (left) and Editor-In-Chief William C. Vantuono.

u

nion Pacific President and CEO Jack Koraleski accepted Railway Age’s 2013 Railroader of the Year Award on behalf of Chairman James R. Young during a March 12 ceremony at Chicago’s Union League Club. “Jim very much wanted to be here tonight and sends his regrets,” Koraleski said. “I’m going to do my best to share with you what he would have said.”

Railway Age selected Young as the 49th recipient of the Railroader of the Year Award based upon his accomplishments building customer value through excellent service and strong financial performance. “As Jim Young so aptly puts it, ‘Union Pacific has evolved from the company that built America by building the first transcontinental railroad to one that today is critical to the global supply chain,’” said Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono. “For his vital role in that evolution, he is a deserving recipient of our Railroader of the Year award.”

“Under the leadership of Young and such key team members as Jack Koraleski, the current President and

CEO, UP recently has started to see what its franchise can deliver for customers, employees, communities, and shareholders. Leading up to its 150th anniversary have been such milemarkers as record full-year earnings in 2010 and 2011; record capital investment in 2010, 2011, and again in 2012; and record levels of customer satisfaction since 2009,” Vantuono said.

Koraleski (above center, flanked by Vantuono, at right, and SimmonsBoardman Rail Group Publisher Jonathan Chalon) noted that when Young joined UP in the 1970s, John Kenefick, “a legend in his own right,” stressed the importance of management “getting their boots on the ground.”

Young “has maintained that precedent,” and “worked extremely hard to lead UP though the years, some of which were pretty rocky. Jim was Vice President of Customer Service Planning and Design in 1997, when service tanked after the Southern Pacific merger. It was really a tough time to support customers, especially when some were calling to say we were putting their business at risk. The implications weren’t lost on April 2013 RAilwAy Age 9

Update Jim, who believes our customer service strategy reflects how profoundly our business impacts those we serve.”

Koraleski went on to describe how “service stumbled again in 2003 following a recession, when traffic surged. We had aligned our employee levels so closely with current demand that we couldn’t keep up with the dramatic increase in volume that occurred.” He recalled how Young, after being appointed President and Chief Operating Officer in January 2004, “knew that we couldn’t continue on this path, and we didn’t. By 2005, demand for rail had never been greater, and we were finally fully resourced. Jim made some dramatic changes to how we ran our operations. Simply put, if we couldn’t do it safely and it wasn’t going to improve service and support customer growth, we weren’t doing it.”

UP, under Young, “launched a comprehensive approach to adding needed capacity to eliminate congestion and failure costs, decrease car dwell time, and increase velocity,” Koraleski said. “We called it ‘The Unified Plan.’ Jim recognized that railroading is a long-term business, and we started making decisions accordingly, planning not just weeks or months out, but years. We started ramping up investments in our infrastructure. From 2005 to 2012, we invested more that $23 billion , including record capital spends the past three years, to improve safety, prevent bottlenecks, eliminate yard congestion, and further expand our capacity and equipment. We have committed to another $3.6 billion this year.”

“Jim emphasizes the importance of agility and recoverability, and as we introduced those concepts into our railroad operations, our service became more competitive, and customers started to recognize the true value we could bring to their businesses,” Koraleski said. “For Jim Young, success always comes with a caution, one we heed today. Our customers expect more value for every dollar we charge them, and shareholders expect to be rewarded with a good return on their investment—and rightfully so.”

Koraleski also addressed the numerous railway suppliers in attendance. “Suppliers are critical to rail’s continued evolution,” he said. “Once about every three minutes, something bad happens on our railroad. Sometimes it’s an electrical hiccup on a locomotive or perhaps a signal malfunctioning, or a lot of things in between. If you do the math, that’s roughly 470 opportunities to create value every day by attacking the underlying causes of these occurences. Finding solutions is always a team effort with our suppliers, because we all know the customer doesn’t care where the failure occurs; they just know it happened.

“At the same time, we need to control costs, and be smart about how we do this. History is populated with examples of comanies that found themselves in tough times and put the squeeze on their suppliers. At the end of the day, it’s really not a win for either party. That’s why we take a Total Cost of Ownership approach. We want good value and reliable products, but we need it to be a sustainable business model.

We realize our suppliers need to be financially viable if they are going to be able to work with us in the future.”

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FEC revives Champion’s livery

In 1939, the Florida East Coast Railway and the Atlantic Coast Line premiered new streamlined passenger trains featuring striking art-deco-style paint schemes applied to the recently introduced EMD E3A diesel-electric locomotive. E3A 1001, FEC’s first diesel, was assigned to the Jacksonville-Miami Henry M. Flagler. Sister unit 1002, along with two Atlantic Coast Line E3As, 500 and 501, was assigned to the daily New York-Miami Champion, which had its inaugural run on Dec. 1, 1939. The FEC units wore a bright red, yellow, and silver scheme; the ACL units featured that road’s purple and silver livery. Each unit pulled an identical consist of seven cars, with two sets owned by each railroad. The Champion competed with the Seaboard Air Line’s Silver Star and Silver Meteor in New York-Florida service.

FEC is reviving the Champion’s livery by applying it to four freight units. FEC 714, completed in 2011, was the first locomotive to highlight the Heritage paint scheme.

Recently delivered FEC 703 (pictured) is the first of three locomotives to be refurbished in 2013 by Progress Rail’s (a division of Caterpillar, Inc.) rebuild facility in Patterson, Ga., with a matching Heritage paint scheme.

“Some have said this was the most beautiful locomotive paint scheme ever devised,” says FEC President and CEO Jim Hertwig. “Today, the paint scheme signifies the continued growth that FEC aspires to attain as a premier regional rail network serving the east coast, and I am proud to incorporate our rich heritage into our future plans. FECs founder, Henry Flagler, would have been proud of this beautiful locomotive.”

“Henry Flagler’s strategy for FEC was to move freight by rail utilizing Florida’s deep water ports in conjunction with a vision for growth generated by the opening of the Panama Canal,” says FEC Senior Vice President Engineering and Purchasing Fran Chinnici. “Today’s FEC continues Mr. Flagler’s vision as it expands its infrastructure to meet the demands created by the new Panama Canal opening in 2015. We’re currently building an even stronger infrastructure. We have major construction projects under way to expand rail operations at Port Miami, Port Everglades, West Palm, and the Bowden Terminal in Jacksonville to handle increased demand. The refurbished locomotives are just one example of FEC’s investment in handling future growth.

AAR disputes STB’s evaluation of coal rail rate competition The Association of American Railroads voiced strong objection to introduction March 22 of the Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Sen. David Vitter (R-La.).

AAR said that “while the bill claims to repeal freight railroads’ limited antitrust exemptions, it actually singles out railroads for policies that could undermine the industry’s ability to build, maintain, and continuously upgrade the nation’s rail infrastructure AAR’s Hamberger cites without taxpayer assistance.” “conflicts and uncertainty “This bill proposes sweeping for railroads, railroad changes that would negatively customers, and courts.” impact this country’s freight rail industry,” said AAR President and CEO Edward R. Hamberger (pictured above).

“Sections of this bill are designed to override existing regulatory decisions and could potentially roll back government-approved transactions in railroad history. That retroactive application would inevitably create conflicts and uncertainty for railroads, railroad customers, and courts.

The resulting regulatory uncertainty could undermine the private freight railroads’ ability to sustain necessary and critical private investments in America’s rail infrastructure.”

“There’s one thing in Washington that everyone agrees on, and that is our nation’s infrastructure needs attention and serious investment,” Hamberger asserted. “Freight railroads have invested more than $526 billion in private capital—half a trillion dollars—over the past three decades into America’s rail infrastructure so taxpayers didn’t have to. A regulatory environment that encourages private investment should remain a priority.”

Hamberger noted that railroads are subject to most antitrust laws already, contrary to what some believe, and in areas where they do have limited exemptions, railroads are regulated by the Surface Transportation Board.

“Bear in mind, there is no gap in government oversight of railroad activities,” he said.

Two days earlier, on March 20, AAR took issue with a decision by the Surface Transportation Board, dated March 18, “not to factor into their review of coal rail rates product and geographic competition information affecting wholesale power markets.”

STB stated its decision “denies a petition filed by the Association of American Railroads asking the Board to institute a rulemaking proceeding to consider reintroducing indirect competition as a factor in determining the reasonC

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ableness of rail rates for coal transportation.”

In response, Hamberger, in a statement, said, “We simply do not understand how the STB can refuse to acknowledge that the way Americans are getting their electricity is changing. The electric generating marketplace is undergoing a powerful transformation that the STB decision doesn’t take into account. The availability and low price of natural gas are greatly influencing what kind of energy is being used today by electric utilities.”

“It is deeply troubling that the STB decision ignores what economists, energy analysts, and power companies already know: Natural gas is displacing coal as the fuel for making electricity,” Hamberger said. “This decision not to consider the effect indirect competition has on coal rail rates seems to say the STB is siding with shippers who complain the loudest.”

In its Nov.19, 2012 petition to STB, AAR asserted that nearly two-thirds of all rate cases during the past 15 years involved coal and, therefore, justifies the need to reassess the realities of today’s energy market and energy fuel sources when deciding whether or not to review rail rates for coal.

But STB said it “does not consider evidence of indirect competition—product competition . . . or geographic competition—inDEE its market dominance analysis,” noting its definition Railage Ad Final Proof2_PDF2.pdf 8/17/2011 8:26:11 of competition “means only direct competition.”

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Update Metro-North Railroad eyes Penn Station access

MTA Metro-North Railroad could make access to Manhattan’s Pennsylvania Station an official priority in its next five-year capital construction program to be released in 2014, despite decades of obstructions confronting the railroad, including from those fearful of any impact on sister Long Island Rail Road.

Currently labeled West Side Access, the idea is to reroutesome Metro-North New Haven Line trains over Amtrak’s Hell Gate Bridge and into Penn Station, on Manhattan’s West Side. A second phase would allow Metro-North’s Hudson Line to also access Penn Station, via crossing the Spuyten Duyvil Bridge and traversing Amtrak’s right-of-way along Manhattan’s West Side.

At present, Grand Central Terminal serves as the terminus for all Metro-North operations east of the Hudson River.

The plan would in some ways counterbalance MTA’s current $8 billion East Side Access construction project, which will give the LIRR direct access to Grand Central as well as Penn Station. Proponents of West Side Access, however, note the Metro-North plan, utilizing existing rights-of-way, would be far less expensive than East Side Access, in the “hundreds of millions of dollars,” according to MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan, as opposed to billions.

For its New Haven Line, Metro-North initially would add stations in Morris Park, Parkchester, and Hunts Point in the Bronx, northeast of Manhattan, on the way to Penn Station.

In Phase 2, involving the Hudson Line, Metro-North could add stops in Manhattan at 125th Street, and possibly near 59th Street on the way to Penn Station. Amtrak already uses this route as part of its Empire Corridor service.

In both cases, Metro-North presumably could use time slots freed up by the diversion of some LIRR trains to Grand Central once East Side Access opens. But Long Island political officials and some rail rider groups have objected to any proposed use of Penn Station by Metro-North, fearing LIRR service to and from Penn Station would be compromised.

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William C. Vantuono

A Metro-North M-8 consist arrives at New Rochelle Station on the New Haven Line, en route to Grand Central Terminal.

SPRINTER stops running; worn brake rotors blamed San Diego County’s North County Transit District (NCTD) suspended SPRINTER diesel light railway transit (DLRT) service March 9 “in order to perform necessary maintenance repairs”—repairs that some observers say could take months.

Bus replacement service was substituted along the length of its SPRINTER route, which normally operates between Oceanside and Escondido, Calif.

Worn brake rotors are the direct cause of the service disruption. NCTD Executive Director Matthew Tucker said the rotors “don’t meet the standards of compliance,” even though the light rail vehicles “are still safe to operate.”

California’s Public Utilities Commission identified the faulty rotors early last month during an inspection, according to Tucker. “They don’t have the authority to shut us down,” said Tucker, but NCTD decided to do so in the interest of safety.

SPRINTER service, the second DLRT line to begin U.S. operations (the first was NJ Transit’s Trenton-Camden RiverLINE), began revenue service in March 2008; it carried roughly 7,800 passengers per day.

As the month drew to a close, NCTD still could not offer a specific timetable for when the trains might return to service, though May was held as a possibility.

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Caltrain, CHSRA adopt pact California’s Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board has adopted an updated Memorandum of Understanding with the California High Speed Rail Authority that “lays the foundation for modernizing the Caltrain system through an early investment in the Peninsula Corridor and the eventual creation of a blended system that would allow high speed rail to operate between San Jose and San Francisco.”

The MOU specifically addresses project investments that include $705 million provided by California Senate Bill 1029 to upgrade existing rail lines and improve train performance through electrification of the Caltrain corridor, installation of an advanced signaling and train control system—CBOSS (Communications Based Overlay Signal System) PTC—and the purchase of new electrified rail vehicles.

Caltrain said it expects the High Speed Rail Authority to approve the MOU at its April board meeting. “The Authority has been directly involved in the preparation of the MOU and has been consistently supportive of the blended system approach,” the agency said. “The Authority included the blended system in its business plan and in the nine-party regional MOU it passed earlier this year.”

“The Caltrain Modernization Program will provide more service to more people at more stations while also reducing the system’s greenhouse gas emissions by more than 90%, reducing the subsidy required to operate Caltrain service and taking more cars off the region’s roads,” Caltrain said.

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Update MBTA finally ready to launch Green Line LRT extension After years of delays and political maneuvering among elected officials, community activists, and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, MBTA will finally begin work this month on right-of-way to extend its Green Line light rail transit (T) service.

The $1.3 billion project would extend the multi-branched Green Line’s current common northern terminus at Lechmere Station (Cambridge) north to Somerville and Medford, Mass., roughly parallel to Interstate 93. The project will include work on two bridges and removal of an existing building encroaching upon the existing right-of-way, which already is used by MBTA Fitchburg and Lowell regional rail service lines.

The right-of-way currently can handle both regional and light rail operations, except for the two bridges. Barletta Heavy Division, the contractor, will rebuild and widen the bridge in Somerville and the second one in Medford.

Boston-based Barletta reportedly is working with municipalities along the right-of-way to manage traffic disruptions.

Local transit advocates, some of them long-frustrated by what they consider MBTA’s lack of interest in LRT over many years, welcomed the imminent start of construction.

The $1.3 billion project is designed to extend the Green Line’s current terminus at Cambridge north to Somerville and Medford, roughly parallel to I-93.

“The only thing that’s going to happen is that there’s going to be a lot of traffic and people aren’t going to be happy about that. But we have that now,” said Ellin Reisner of the Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership (STEP), a local transit advocacy group.

MBTA is hedging on a completion date, but has a preliminary start of revenue service set for 2019.

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Update: Watching Washington FRANk N. wilNeR

Threatened BMWE strike could cripple, or kill, Amtrak The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes (BMWE) is poised for the third time in 16 years to take Amtrak to the brink of a shutdown. To the horror of all Amtrak workers, that could accomplish the permanent shutdown of Amtrak that has eluded the most conservative of budget hawks and Amtrak critics.

Previously, the uncompromising BMWE was successful in thwarting contracting out of work and preserving a pay scale equivalent to employees of profitable freight railroads.

BMWE’s elevated sense of entitlement this round of collective bargaining is to avoid a $30 increase in employee healthcare insurance premiums that other Amtrak labor unions have accepted, notwithstanding that Amtrak’s healthcare package towers above most in America and that Amtrak workers’ healthcare insurance premiums—even with a $30 per month boost—are a fraction of what is paid by federal workers and most in the private sector.

Amtrak has never turned a profit and likely never will. Its labor costs already consume 90% of ticket revenue and exceed 50% of Amtrak’s total costs, compared with just 24 percent for freight railroads. While median income for all Americans slid 12% since 2000, Amtrak’s unionized workers

have enjoyed a 35% wage boost, and Amtrak is offering another 15% increase over five years.

The irony is that the National Mediation Board may be forced to release the BMWE from mediation over this impasse on healthcare cost sharing owing to what even the

April 2013 RAilwAy Age 15

Update: Watching Washington most ardent of Amtrak supporters consider a ludicrous previous arbitration decision declaring that the appropriate pattern in Amtrak labor talks is the pay and benefits scale in place on profitable freight railroads. The BMWE wants monthly healthcare cost sharing capped at $200 (negotiated on freight railroads) rather than $230 other Amtrak unionized workers have accepted.

The strategy may backfire in one of three hurtful ways.

• A strike—and there has never been an Amtrak systemwide shut down—could be so costly that Amtrak may be unable to restart its operations, tossing 20,000 workers into unemployment lines. An end to Amtrak also would put the financial security of Railroad Retirement in jeopardy, affecting 800,000 active and retired railroaders.

• A new arbitration decision—arbitrators, unlike courts, frequently reverse previous decisions—could recognize the appropriate pattern is not that on freight railroads, but on Amtrak’s most effective competitor, lower-priced intercity bus operators along the Northeast Corridor whose employees are paid a third of Amtrak wages and whose bare-bones healthcare insurance is more costly.

• Were there to be a work stoppage, congressional budget hawks could successfully shepherd legislation imposing a contract that slashes wages and benefits and mandates contracting out of all Northeast Corridor maintenance.

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When upstart low-fare Southwest Airlines stole market share from Greyhound, and Greyhound workers refused to face reality, bankruptcy, lower wages, and unemployment followed.

Intransigence among unions representing workers on bankrupt airlines put many in unemployment lines; those remaining lost pension benefits and had to accept lower wages.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and the United Transportation Union (UTU) previously bit the reality bullet and agreed to smaller crew sizes and hourly wages in place of more costly mileage rates. Amtrak’s tentative contract with the UTU opens a collaborative new door, forging a link between incentive wages and employee safety, customer service, and other indices of conductor productivity.

Amtrak is not a freight railroad with profits and easy access to capital markets. It barely survives on huge state and federal subsidies, and in this era of government budget tightening, Amtrak’s future is even more problematic.

The National Mediation Board, under provisions of the Railway Labor Act, has leeway to keep BMWE hotheads in mediation until more sober thinking among its leadership prevails. It should do so. To send Amtrak hurtling toward an abyss, a house of unpalatable horrors for all its workers, over a modest increase in healthcare insurance premiums is play an eventual unwinnable game of Russian roulette. Amtrak workers, its passengers, and America deserve better.

Perspective: Short Line & Regional TRACey HOlMeS DONeSKy

OSHA whistleblower claims: No signs of slowing

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ction 20109 of the Federal Rail Safety Act (“FRSA”) prevents covered rail carriers and other covered entities (such as contractors and subcontractors) from taking disciplinary or other adverse action against employees for engaging in protected activity. When Congress amended the FRSA in 2007 and in 2008, it not only transferred jurisdiction over 20109 claims from the National Railroad Adjustment Board to the Department of Labor (DOL) and its Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) division, but it also expanded the types of employee activity protected under the law.

Along with bringing complaints regarding railroad safety and security laws, testifying at railroad safety proceedings, or refusing to work in hazardous conditions, the FRSA now prohibits a railroad from discriminating against an employee who reports a work-related personal injury or illness; from denying, delaying, or interfering with the medical or first aid treatment of an employee injured during the course of employment; from disciplining or threatening to discipline an employee for requesting medical or first aid treatment; or for following orders or a treatment plan of a treating physician.

Employees often have recourse and remedies under collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) which govern the terms and conditions of their employment. But the DOL and at least one federal district court have held that, pursuing remedies under a CBA does not preclude FRSA claims. It is therefore not uncommon for rail carriers to find themselves defending claims for similar alleged actions in multiple forums, including defense of related alleged work injury claims under the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA). The FRSA

amendments also increased a carrier’s potential liability. An employer’s liability for violations not involving discharge, suspension, or other action affecting pay were capped at $20,000. Today, $250,000 in punitive damages alone may be ordered, not to mention potential recovery of backpay, compensatory damages, and/or attorneys’ fees.

The filing of OSHA whistleblower claims is unlikely to subside any time soon.

Since the amendments, claims of FRSA violations have risen. DOL says OSHA received more than 900 complaints of FRSA violations between 2007 and 2012.

A majority of claims allege that an employee engaged in one of the newly recognized types of protected activity.

DOL reports that 63% of the matters allege that an employee was retaliated against for reporting an alleged workrelated injury. Several factors may account for this number, including an active FELA plaintiffs’ bar which often assert 20109 and FELA claims.

Many of these “work-related injury report” cases have resulted in adverse decisions and sizable damage awards against railroads, including some measure of punitive damages.

Recent legal interpretations of the scope and breadth of 20109 claims have not made defense of such claims any easier. In addition to the election of remedies decisions noted above, the Administrative Review Board held in July 2012 that

medical treatment applies for the full period of an employee’s treatment and recovery, not just the time temporal to the injury as a lower level decision had held.

In February 2012, an Administrative Law Judge held that the prohibition against disciplining an employee for following the orders or treatment of a treating physician applies equally to on-duty as well as offduty injuries. Last February, the first appellate court to review a post-amendment FRSA case applied what the court called an employee-friendly burden-shifting standard in reversing the district court’s grant of summary judgment for the employer.

OSHA has also been active in its oversight of 20109 claims. In March 2012, it published a guidance memorandum to field officers and other staff on several employer practices that, in DOL’s view, can discourage employee reports of injuries. It calls particular attention to the FRSA’s anti-retaliation provision for reporting alleged work-related injuries.

The memorandum identifies four types of workplace practices that in DOL’s view could discourage reporting and could constitute unlawful discrimination.

OSHA acknowledged that these rules serve valid and legitimate employer purposes. However, the memo notes that review of such cases require careful scrutiny and identified several factors field personnel should consider when investigating such claims.

In light of this, it is unlikely that the filing of OSHA whistleblower claims will subside any time soon. Carriers should be well aware of the provisions under 20109 and should consider implementing pro-active and preventative measures to minimize potential claims.

Tracey Holmes Donesky, of Leonard, Street and Deinard, counsels and represents clients on OSHA whistleblower 20109 claims.

April 2013 RAilwAy Age 17

Continental powerhouse

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alk about far-flung: Genesee & Wyoming, Inc. (GWI) is, as you read this, running freight trains in three continents and five countries across nearly 15,000 route-miles of track in three gauge widths.

There are 11 operating regions and 111 discrete railroad names, most of which are in North America and which in 2012 accounted for 89% of the company’s 927,094 total carloads and intermodal containers. How does it all fit together and what does it take to keep the wheels turning, customers happy and, above all, employees safe?

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GWI expects to bring in 2013 revenue of $1.6 billion, not bad for a company that went public in 1996 with a mere $78 million in revenue, especially when one considers the 20% compound annual revenue growth through 2013. The personal injury frequency rate at the end of 2012 stood at an industry-best of 0.48 injuries per 200,000 hours worked, besting all Class I’s (1.0) and all Class II and III roads (3.1).

Since 2006, through November 2012, personal injuries are down 73%, grade crossing accidents are down 55%, and derailments have decreased 62%.

How Genesee & Wyoming’s 2013 capital plan keeps the wheels turning, customers happy, and employees safe.

By Roy H. BlancHaRd, contributing Editor

Timely acquisitions have been a key driver of GWI’s phenomenal growth, and the 2012 RailAmerica transaction was the latest and greatest. It will double GWI’s North American revenue stream to $1.3 billion, 80% of the worldwide total. In the bargain, GWI became the world’s largest operator of Class II and III railroads and the only publicly traded one at that.

Of course, running such a far-flung enterprise doesn’t come cheap. GWI revenues for 2012 were $875 million with a maintenance capital budget of $97 million, 11% of revenue

(about 30% less than the current Class I capex run rate). And for 2013, with the RailAmerica properties now in-house, maintenance and project capex is slated to be in the $162 million range, about 10% of revenue.

But that’s not the whole picture. The 2013 capex program also includes some $110 million of government grants, of which GWI must pay $20 million in grant-matching spend, something unique to the short line environment and which the Class I’s don’t see. These grants take many forms, from Maine’s Industrial Freight Access Program and Pennsylvania’s april 2013 Railway age 19

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Rail Freight Assistance Program to federal TIGER grants.

Finally, GWI expects to spend $73 million of capital associated with new business wins, primarily in Australia, where it will be used to support the growth of an iron ore customer.

The Genesee & Wyoming operation in North America is unique. For a railroad, it is highly decentralized. The nine Regional Senior Vice Presidents run their own shows for everything from business development, marketing, and customer support to track maintenance, locomotive fleet deployment, and operating plans. To see how it all fits with a capital plan that calls for new locomotives, upgraded track, and a payroll of 4,600, last month Railway Age called on CEO Jack Hellmann and Chief Operating Officer Dave Brown at Genesee & Wyoming world headquarters in Greenwich, Conn.

JH: We’ve

succeeded in Australia by owning most of the track we use, essentially having replicated the North American model. We’ve generally invested where we could own both above-rail and below-rail. We run on more than 2,000 route-miles where we own everything and are also able to operate over thousands of additional track-miles with an access fee. The backbone of our Australian track is the 1,400 mile Tarcoola-Darwin line that we bought out of the FreightLink bankruptcy in 2010. Add it all up and we’re maintaining and capitalizing capacity expansions on some 2,200 route-miles of railroad.

RA: In

the U.S., it costs maybe $5,000 a mile to keep 25-mph track up to FRA specs. Is there a similar analogy in Australia?

“We’ve succeeded in Australia by owning most of the track we use, essentially having replicated the American model.”

RAilwAy Age: Jack, let’s start out with a general description of GWI operations. You’ve mentioned before that Australia is the fastest-growing part of the company.

Care to elaborate?

JAck HellmAnn: We think of Australia as 20% of our business and the fastest-growing part of the company due to our shipments of commodities such as iron ore, copper, and manganese that are destined for Asia—China in particular.

Australia used to be a third of our business; however, the RailAmerica transaction has caused the shift. The Australian properties have very different capital demands, principally because we have been making significant investments in equipment to support new mines and enhance the reliability of our intermodal service.

RA: What about track ownership? I’ve read that Australia has a unique open-access system where various entities own the track and train operators pay for operating rights.

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How about slow orders and the various track gauges? $5,000 number is OK for light-density, short-haul, short-train moves, but Down Under we have a high concentration of large unit trains that move nonstop from origin to destination, making that number a bit light. As for gauges, yes, we have three, but the vast majority is standard gauge. Narrow gauge is limited to perhaps 300 miles of owned-track where we haul grain and gypsum, and we also operate over customer-owned narrow gauge track to several iron ore mines. Meanwhile, broad gauge is a rounding error and has become increasingly less important over our 16 years of doing business in Australia.

DAve BRown: We’ve also changed our track maintenance model. We had been doing inspections with our employees and then contracting-out track maintenance in Australia, but now we’ve brought our day-to-day maintenance work in-house. With the owned-track model, we believe it is safer and improves reliability and efficiency to do our own work.

JH: Your

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For large projects and capital maintenance, we contract with suppliers as needed.

RA: How does the traffic mix differ between Australia and North America?

DB: They are very different. In North America, we’re predominantly a single-car shipment railroad where car ownership can be the customer, a leasing company, or a railroad, and mixed freights are the dominant model.

Australia, on the other hand, is mainly the intermodal and unit train model with commodities concentrated in grain, metals and minerals plus intermodal.

RA: What about ownership of rolling stock—cars (or wagons as they’re called in Australia) and locomotives?

JH: We see essentially three scenarios. For some customers, we own the entire trainset, locomotives and cars, and provide service under long-term contracts. For other customers—a start-up mine, for example—we may only own the locomotives while the customer provides the cars. And finally, we may have shorter-term customers where we may provide none of the equipment and simply offer track access. At the end of the day we’re not in the car ownership business unless we want to be. Purpose-built cars are not fungible; locomotives are. So the extent to which we get into the car business it will be a function of the customer relationship, the commodity mix, the potential for a long-term income stream, and our being comfortable with the credit risk.

RA: Let’s shift our attention to your operations in North America. (We’ll omit Europe because it’s a relatively limited switching operation in the Netherlands and Belgium where your capital exposure is relatively slight.) You now, with the addition of the former RailAmerica railroads, have 101 names in the U.S. and 7 in Canada. We’ve spoken often over the years about owned vs. leased power and now you find yourself with owned GWI units and leased RailAmerica units. How do you merge the combined fleets?

JH: We’re continuing with our preference to own our power.

For financial reasons and for operational reasons, Genesee & Wyoming roads rarely lease power. Overall, owing the units gives us more flexibility to change out power as service requirements change and also incentivizes maintenance of what we own for the long run. As a result, you should expect that we will buy out the leases of the RailAmerica units that fit our system fleet requirements and will turn back to the lessors those that don’t.

DB: Thanks to our strong regional organization, our local managers have historically pretty much decided what locomotives they needed to do the job. Now, however, with twice as many railroad names, we have to be a lot more nimble in locomotive acquisitions and assignments. We’ve just hired our first system-wide Chief Mechanical Officer, Rich Regan, to help us sort out what we’re getting from RailAmerica and how best to merge the two fleets.

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For financial and operational reasons, GWI railroads “rarely lease power.”

Rich has found over the years that owned locomotives tend to receive “a little higher standard of maintenance” because of pride of ownership. In our business, locomotive reliability is vitally important—we can’t afford to have extra resources sitting around “just in case.” So, the great job our mechanical team does with locomotives is the key to service reliability precisely because we have an owned fleet we can count on.

Best of all, shop crews take much greater ownership of their work when they have their own power. You’ll note, for example, that all our locomotives are painted in orange and black with the line’s initials worked into the corporate logo. I really believe a painted loco runs better because somebody cares.

RA: As you merge the two fleets, are you looking to standardize by loco type or manufacturer?

DB: Let me say right off that the SD40 is a great locomotive for most of our short lines. Now, you can’t run six-axle power everywhere, so we will keep a basic fleet of four-axle locomotives as well. We have about 1,000 units, roughly a

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quarter of what each of the eastern Class I’s have, to put things in perspective. We’re essentially an EMD shop with many units upgraded to Dash-2 standards and some that have been repowered or rebuilt—and we have in our strategic plan to upgrade those that need it. We’ve also inherited some genset locomotives from RailAmerica’s operations—such as in San Diego, Northern California, the San Joaquin Valley, and Dallas—though, like the rest of the industry, we’re seeing mixed results from them because of reliability challenges.

As an aside, I ought to mention we’re getting new GE power in Australia. Over the past couple of years, we’ve probably invested about $150 million split evenly EMD/GE, but in Australia that doesn’t go very far. We call Australia “The Land of 2X”—everything costs twice as much. These new units are unique and run $4-$5 million per locomotive, partly because they have to be customized for lighter track loading and some were remanufactured for narrow-gauge operations.

RA: What about PTC? JH: We don’t have a large

exposure because of where we operate. It’s really a non-issue for freight-only operations where there is limited TIH exposure, for example. On those few lines where we have co-mingled traffic (Oregon, for instance), the passenger authority will fund the requisite PTC infrastructure to protect their trains. [Note: PTC could put some short lines out of business because of the magnitude of the expense. On non-microprocessor first-generation power, the cost of adding PTC can easily run more than the unit’s scrap value—RHB.]

RA: So the power you’re getting from RailAmerica will be sorted out according to need with additions and deletions as required. How about track condition?

DB: RailAmerica did a good job of maintaining track to the level required for the service. If 10 mph would do, that’s what they did. We’re the same way. And now that we’re twice the size, we’re adding a Corporate Chief Engineer, Scott Linn, to oversee track expenditures and capital programs and to coordinate them with the regions. As a result, each Regional Senior Vice President now has a corporate overseer for best practices—a consultant, if you 24

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will, who can spread the good ideas around, among and between individual railroads.

In our contiguous model, all our regions are comprised of lines that in a few cases physically connect but in most cases are reasonably nearby. This supports very nicely our desire to centralize purchasing. As you might expect, buying in bulk yields certain economies, so having one purchasing department—reporting to me—lets us leverage our 108 North American railroads’ purchases to good advantage.

Track speed is key to all our infrastructure capital expenditures. For example, our $17 million Arizona Eastern project is raising track speed, resulting in a redesigned, improved, and more reliable service plan, in turn resulting in higher traffic levels as the improved service encourages our principal customer to put more business on the rails. It’s a classic case study of how the short line industry has matured: better track, improved locomotive reliability, faster transit times, and lowered supply chain expense for the beneficial owners of what’s in the cars.

Reliable infrastructure and locomotives give us the means to run to plan. Even on a short line, time is money and doing things the same way every day is crucial to the success of the organization. On-time is on-time, not on-time plus two hours because if that’s your measure, trains will run to that. We’re taking down the interval between interchange-on and interchange-off and have even developed our own report card to keep our connecting Class I’s apprised of our progress.

Our regional managers have zeroed in on equipment rents.

They know exactly what their car costs are and when cars have to be back at the interchange. Controlling car-days is crucial to short lines; one more day’s car hire is a big deal.

Good track, good power and running to plan save money as well. That’s why we’re putting this kind of money into our 2013 capital plan.

JH: Our track infrastructure has never been in better shape.

We have strong cash flow from operations to fund our own program maintenance and capital programs. In addition, “external” funds such as government grants and the 45G short line tax credit give us the opportunity to accelerate track programs to the benefit of all our constituents.

RA: Our conversation would not be complete without a nod to your continuous record of successive safety improvements.

How do you do it?

JH: Our number one priority each day is to ensure that our 4,600 employees are getting home safely to their families and loved ones. Our success has been based on a culture where all of our people know that we are completely committed to a zero-injury environment. Our people are intently focused on taking care of themselves and taking care of each other.

The fact that we’re planning to spend $345 million (including the previously mentioned government grants and the new Australian project) on gross capital investment this year also underscores our long-term commitment to our people, our railroads, and our customers. ra

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Gardendale Railroad clearly qualifies as a short line, but it goes

By DouglAs John Bowen, long on effort, impact, and effectiveness.

Managing editor

B

y almost any definition, Gardendale Railroad is clearly a short line railroad. And by most measures, it’s also an extraordinary one.

The wholly owned subsidiary of Ironhorse Resources, Inc. began its existence in 2010 overseeing approximately 1,600 feet of the connecting interchange track and 6,200 feet of a 100-foot wide railroad right-of-way roughly midway between Laredo and San Antonio, Tex., a vestigal remnant of a 50-mile ex-Missouri Pacific route since abandoned.

Gardendale has made the most of its geographic positioning.

In a just 28 months, the railroad has grown from having no customers to handling nine; has generated 170 full-time jobs (combining 12 railroad employees and personnel among industry customers served); has grown its locomotive fleet from zero to five; has expanded its operations from 15 acres to 270 acres of property served (with an option to add 220 acres more); and has grown from 1,600 feet of track to 25 miles of track, predominantly yard track to serve its growing customer base.

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agent for creating outbound trains when the cars were released by a Gardendale customer. The arrangement gave the short line time to upgrade its track and acquire its own motive power to interchange cars and switch customers.

Union Pacific “has been a tremendous partner in this progress, working to grow this facility,” says Ironhorse Resources President Greg Cundiff. “It’s really been to both of our interests to have this succeed. They’ve done everything they can to help us grow.”

The entirety of GRD’s infrastructure is 100% new build and, according to Matt Cundiff, a complete replacement and upgrade of the original 1,600 feet now sports 112 pound rail and new ties throughout, replacing 90 pound rail and ties well past their useful life.

It’s a performance deserving of—and perhaps overdue for —Railway Age’s 2013 Short Line Railroad of the Year Award.

Gardendale officials say 2013 will see continued growth, with annual carloads increasing from just 395 in 2010 to 16,409 in 2012; with projections of 22,000 this year.

Eagle Ford shale, UP spur growth

GRD officials trace the short line’s history back to 1990, when Crystal City Railroad, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of parent Ironhorse Resources, purchased 50 miles of rightof-way from Missouri Pacific. In 1995, the major customer on the line, generating 1,000 carloads per year, discontinued shipping, prompting abandonment of 49 of the 50-mile branch. Ironhorse Resources discontinued operations maintained ownership of approximately 1,600 feet of the connecting interchange track and 6,200 feet of a 100-foot-wide railroad right-of-way.

And it waited for opportunity.

Hydraulic fracturing, a factor in freight railroading in North Dakota and Pennsylvania as well as in Texas, proved to be a trigger factor, according to Matt Cundiff, Gardendale’s vice president Southern Region at Ironhorse Resources, Inc. “We started receiving calls in 2010 about something called ‘shale,’” Cundiff quips, as the oil industry began earnest efforts to extract product from the Eagle Ford shale formation.

Short on assets, Gardendale Railroad first established an “Agency Agreement” with Union Pacific Railroad, allowing UP to interchange cars to GRD directly to the 1,600 feet of track. UP also acted as GRD’s 28

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Supplier expertise assists effort

As with most small railroads, Gardendale sought help from suppliers for the revamp. Cundiff praises the work of TracWork, Inc., and particularly Clarence Bader from the company’s San Antonio office, for yard track layout and expansion. As well, Schertz, Tex.-based Central State Resources, Inc., specializing in railroad design and construction for oilfield and commercial industries, made its mark with subgrade and subbase work in preparing GRD to operate and to increase its outbound traffic capacity.

Inbound moves also are increasing, Cundiff says. “We’ve begun receiving unit trains of frac sand, a new evolution in 2012,” he notes. In addition, “Since 2011, unit trains of pipe and unit trains of crude” have become part of outbound traffic.

GRD’s nine current customers—five of them added in

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original two phases, consisting of land mostly obtained through long-term lease, are nearly fully filled.

When GRD initially secured an 80-year lease for 100 acres adjacent to its modest right-of-way, “We thought we’d acquire twice what we needed,” Matt Cundiff recalls. “It didn’t work out that way; we filled up all of that 100 acres almost immediately,” with four customers brought on line for service.

Planning for growth

2012—have diversified the railroad’s product line; movements now range from frac sand to barite and bentonite, hydrochloric acid, line pipe, crude and natural gas liquids, and even what Matt Cundiff terms “drilling mud.”

As the customer base has grown, so has the need for yard space, necessitating GRD’s Phase 3 development plans to add 220 acres to its operations, in essence nearly doubling the existing space, and sporting 28 miles of track in total. The

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In January 2011, GRD purchased more than 150 acres of adjacent land to expand its operations, subsequently realizing that Phase 3 would be necessary to handle continued growth.

“Our corporate strategy is not to invest in any solution that does not allow unit train handling solutions, Cundiff told Railway Track & Structures in 2012. “If a Class I railroad prefers to handle a 100-plus car train, that is the solution we need to invest in. With only a 6,200-foot-long, 100-foot-wide corridor, how do you create a unit train handling solution with a switching lead that allows growth and flexibility to service new customers?

“We simultaneously worked in-house on conceptual designs and further employed Central State Resources, Inc., to provide the final rail engineering for the site,” Cundiff said. “After a multitude of designs, we finalized our Memorandum of Understanding with Union Pacific. “The

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ASLRRA notchES A cEntEnnIAL MILEStonE some north American short line railroads aren’t members of the American short line and Regional Railroad Association (AslRRA), now marking its 100th year of existence—much to their detriment. AslRRA has proven time and again that there’s power in unified numbers and a unified voice.

Based in washington, D.C., AslRRA is the non-profit trade association that represents the interests of its 450 short line and regional railroad members in legislative and regulatory matters, items that for good or ill are often decided in the halls of Congress, where knowledge of the existence of AslRRA’s members, let along their function or their stellar performance and contribution to the economy, can often be sadly lacking.

As AslRRA notes, “short line and regional railroads are an important and growing component of the railroad industry. Today, they operate and maintain 30% of the American railroad industry’s route mileage, and account for 9% of the rail industry’s freight revenue and 12% of railroad employment.

“These lines were saved by entrepreneurs who took huge financial risks to purchase and rehabilitate long neglected track. And these new small businesses have become the workhorses of America’s rail network,” AslRRA says. “over 550 short line and regional railroads operate in 49 states and bring efficient, reliable rail service to thousands of communities that would have otherwise lost their connection to the nation’s main line railroad system. in 30 states short lines operate at least one quarter of the rail network.”



As critical partners with the larger Class i railroads, short lines and regional railroads act as important feeders and distributors of freight traffic, “picking up or delivering one out of every four railcars moving on the national rail network. They employ nearly 20,000 people, serve over 13,000 facilities, and haul over 14 million carloads per year,” AAR says.

Membership is open to any Class ii or Class iii freight railroad in the continental or territorial u.s., Canada, or Mexico; Associate Business Membership is available to any company that supplies or contracts to railroad members (including high-tech firms more critical to railroad needs today). Associate Membership is also open to any tourist or excursion railroad in north America. Class i railroads, transit agencies, state DoTs, and third-party logistics providers can join as Associate sustaining Members. switching (terminal) railroads are also welcome.



Beyond its skill on Capitol hill, AslRRA also conducts safety Training seminars throughout the year on an as-required basis. seminar topics are determined by current issues and new or changed federal regulations. Much of this training is conducted by the appropriate federal regulatory agency or agencies, with the assistance of AslRRA and its members.

AslRRA annually recognizes railroads with outstanding safety records and safety programs with its Annual safety Awards and the Jake Awards.

—Douglas John Bowen 32

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result provided an expandable solution that provides for an open-runaround track and multiple 3,300-foot-long tracks. This allows an inbound movement to ‘double-over’ and allows the

Union Pacific locomotives to run-around the placed inbound interchanges.”

The long-range planning continues today. Gardendale Railroad is one of nine affiliated companies under

Ironhorse Resources, which includes six short lines, two truck companies, and one logistics company. Parent company President Greg Cundiff says the trucking and logistics arms offer synergies to the short lines, including Gardendale.

“We put a logistics arm together that we use for all our locations,” the president says, noting that even when it came to transload business, “UP helped us.” The transload business also assists Ironhorse Resources in applying lessons learned on the Gardendale Railroad, the first short line it acquired, with its rail brethren, or vice-versa.

Overseeing GRD’s development is General Manager Del Randall and Director of Operations Greg Wheeler, both deserving of high praise, Greg Cundiff says, adding, “It’s been a team effort; the staff has worked hard.”

Judging from the impact Gardendale Railroad has made for its size, in so short a time, that hard work is being rewarded. Ra

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Montana Rail link Railway Age’s Regional Railroad of the Year has achieved significant improvements in the six key areas of safety, customer service, innovation, enhanced productivity, community involvement, and employee satisfaction.

All photos by Bruce Kelly

By williAm C. VAntuono, editor-in-Chief

R

ailway Age’s Regional Railroad of the Year, Montana Rail Link—known as “The Main Street of Montana”—is a heavy-haul operation with 650 miles of main line and 300 miles of branch lines located in Montana and Idaho. Interchanging with BNSF at both ends, MRL annually moves more than 50 million gross tons per mile over some of the most challenging terrain in the country, including two mountain grade passes, one of which is the Continental Divide (Mullan Pass, near Helena, Mont.).

“Our vision is to be the ‘Best of the Best’ in safety, customer service, and ingenuity,” says President Tom Walsh.

“As a leader in the short line community, much of our success can be attributed to the passionate commitment exhibited by our employees towards that vision.”

Walsh describes how MRL has achieved significant improvements in six key areas: safety, customer service, innovation, enhanced productivity, community involvement, and employee satisfaction: April 2013 RAilwAy Age 35

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“The safety of our employees and the general public is paramount at MRL. Our safety goal is Double Zeroes—zero injuries and zero accidents. We finished 2011 with a 0.62 injury-frequency ratio, our best ever—a 36% improvement over the previous record set in 2010 and an 80% reduction from 2009. This positive trend is evidence of the strong safety culture our entire team has worked diligently to build.

The MRL core values of Fairness, Integrity, Respect, Safety, and Trust (F.I.R.S.T.) are exemplified in the daily actions of

“Montana rail shippers were not immune to the recent recession.” our employees, who have a clear understanding that if their personal safety or the safety of their team is at risk, they will not proceed until the risk has been mitigated. With this principle as the foundation, we have built our safety culture to stand the test of time. We can say beyond any doubt that the success we have experienced in safety is the result of the care our employees demonstrate for themselves and their teammates. It cannot be attributed to luck.

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“Excellence in customer service is a badge of honor worn by all MRL employees of Montana Rail Link. In recent years, we have seen a steady growth in tonnage from BNSF. Their confidence in sending trains across MRL is due to our proven ability to move freight safely and efficiently, and it exemplifies the strong relationship we shave. We have become a reliable partner with BNSF, not only in the routing of normal traffic, but also in times of hardship, in taking on re-routes when they encounter service interruptions.

“In 2011, severe flooding created impassable conditions on BNSF territory. Over a three-week period, they requested our assistance in detouring 166 trains. The detours, when coupled with our normal traffic flows, represented a record number of trains across our system. Our dedicated employees rose to the occasion to lend a hand to our largest business partner and completed the task successfully and safely.

“Montana rail shippers were not immune to the recent recession. Customers across all commodity groups suffered, with the forest products industry being most affected.

Between 2008 and 2010, several major Montana mills closed their doors, including Stimson Lumber in Bonner (once the largest plywood mill in North America) and Plum Creek Lumber in Pablo. On the heels of these closures, Smurfit Stone Container announced the closure of its Frenchtown mill, once our largest customer. With the closure of these three mills and the loss of more than 13,000 carloads, we

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found ourselves with more than 170 log cars and 100 wood chip cars sitting idle. Without these local markets, Montana’s logging infrastructure—including loggers and truck drivers—was at risk.

“We began developing additional markets in 2010 for Montana’s forest products in an effort to put our idle assets and Montana loggers back to work. Our attention immedi-

“We began developing additional markets in 2010 for Montana’s forest products.” ately turned to the international demand for finished lumber, saw logs, and wood chips. Some of our early work involved contacting paper mills in Japan to initiate discussions on fiber supply. To accomplish this, we hired University of Montana Japanese exchange students to make the calls. After countless attempts, we received our first lead. We began learning more about international demand and, then introduced potential buyers to Montana suppliers.

“Our first success involved pulp log shipments to Longview, Wash., in 2011. Soon after, we began working with Tricon Timber to supply its St. Regis, Mont., mill with

logs from locations across our railroad. The logs are milled and shipped to the West Coast on centerbeams and exported to China. The finished product provides concrete forms for homes to be built for the growing middle class on China’s urban coast. In 2011, MRL shipped over 1,400 carloads for Tricon’s export program.

“Additional new business included shipment of wood pellets from Superior, Mont., to Vancouver, B.C; from Vancouver the pellets are exported to markets in Europe.

We also signed a multi-year contract with Boise, Inc., to provide wood chips to their Wallula, Wash., paper mill. The chip mill will be located at the former Stimson Lumber mill site. Currently, 50 to 60 log loads per day are delivered to the chip mill for processing and shipment by rail to Wallula.

Many in the Montana forest products community believe this project will save the logging industry in Western Montana.

“Ingenuity has been a cornerstone for MRL’s continued success in business and safety. Employing new technologies as well as evaluating long-standing procedures and products has resulted in long-lasting benefits. Not long after MRL operations commenced in 1987, we became the first and only railroad to reduce operating crews to two members, both being certified engineers. In 2000 we collaborated with the FRA and the BLET to introduce remote control locomotives, becoming one of the country’s first railroads using this technology in large-scale switching operations.

“In an effort to augment switching safety at our two major Towing empty tank cars, an MRL consists heads for Missoula, Mont., the railroads headquarters city.

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terminals, we again led the industry in 2004, installing GE’s Hydra-Switch technology on our major switching leads. This technology reduced the risk exposure of injuries and accidents associated with hand-lining switches, and it expanded the functional work time for each switch crew. In recent years, we have streamlined our fueling process for unit trains by fueling direct to the locomotives without cutting off the power to take to the roundhouse.

“We take great pride in our track and equipment maintenance program.”

“We take great pride in our track and equipment maintenance program, while keeping that work on property almost exclusively. Our Engineering Department takes a proactive approach to maintenance by investing in large annual capital improvements in ties, rail, bridges, and signal systems, all of which are maintained to Class I standards. Our own maintenance-of-way forces do nearly all track maintenance and upgrades; this includes everything from out-of-face steel and tie renewal to undercutting, thermite welding, and production surfacing. The Mechanical Department’s roundhouse employees maintain and service the core fleet of locomotives that includes EMD SD70Ace, SD45-2, SD40-2, SD35, GP9, and SW1200 units. We regularly perform major MRL’s Gas Local switches the Pipeline terminal outside Thompson Fallls, Mont. Tank cars of fuel re emptied here into a commercial pipeline for Northwest markets.

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MRL’s Gas Local gets the all-clear on its way to the Pipeline Terminal outside Thomspson Falls, Mont.

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overhauls and rebuilds. Locomotive availability is near 93%, even though 50% of the locomotive fleet is more than 40 years old.

“Being environmentally responsible “MRL continually evaluates procedures and operating practices to seek reductions in fuel usage and emissions. In is one way we build and maintain recent years, our fleet size decreased from an average of 77 in-service locomotives to 51, even as traffic continued good neighborly relations.” to increase. Using computer simulations, we were able to reconfigure our helper sets to achieve significant fuel savings without time loss on our mountain grades. In 2009, we began installing Ecotrans and Hotstart systems in our fleet to reduce engine run time when not in active service, again reducing fuel consumption and unnecessary emissions.

Taking advantage of today’s technology, MRL and the City of Missoula formed a partnership, equipping some of the older locomotive fleet with idle reduction equipment to further reduce fuel use and emissions. Using computer Balfour Beatty Rail is honored to have its safety simulations in the helper districts and program recognized by the NRC for the eighth year in a combining old and new locomotives row, and as the 2012 Best in Class - Safe Railroad led to better locomotive utilization Contractor of the Year. Whether your railroad is a and increased fuel savings. short line, regional or Class 1, rest assured Balfour “Being environmentally responsible is Beatty Rail will deliver your maintenance-of-way work one way we build and maintain good in a safe, sustainable and timely manner – every time. neighborly relationships with our on-line communities and ranchlands, keeping in mind that the well-being of the communities we serve increases their opportunities to prosper, and potentially opens doors to new business www.bbri.com partnerships. Although we operate on a large scale, we strive to keep interactions personal, maintaining an open-door policy for anyone from our communities or bordering landholders who seeks to voice comment or concern, all while working to foster trust and ensure safe operations.

“MRL employees are a dedicated and highly skilled group. We have the good fortune of employing nearly 1,000 people who are loyal and passionate about their work. In order to maintain a high level of fairness and trust throughout the company, our managers and supervisors participate in sessions that focus on their personal development as leaders within our organization.

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RAilwAy Age

April 2013

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Here Come THE STREETCARS Suppliers large and small are convinced North America is ripe for streetcar growth— and they’re moving proactively to encourage and exploit that development.

By DouglAs John Bowen,

M Bombardier Transportation

ake some room, LRT; here come the streetcars to help out.

Light rail transit re-established itself in North America as a serious transportation mode 35 years ago, and LRT’s growth continues apace today. It’s now being complemented by a surge in streetcar development, often in tandem with LRT, and often with rail equipment suppliers standing ready to provide both.

Indeed, industry observers may squabble over what system, or vehicle, defines LRT and what constitutes a streetcar. Talk to suppliers, however, and the distinction, while real enough in terms of design and operation, isn’t an overriding distraction. Put simply, form follows function. Or, if the streetcar moniker fits, wear it.

No wonder, then, that established large equipment manufacturers have been joined by relative upstarts and

Managing editor

newcomers to the streetcar industry, often backed by deep pockets of larger, formerly non-rail-oriented companies, to pursue streetcar development.

So far, there’s room for success among many players old and new. CAF USA is handling Cincinnati’s nascent streetcar development, while Brookville Equipment Co., long renowned for its rehabilitation of vintage rolling stock (including streetcars), has landed a Dallas DART order for its new Liberty Streetcar model to serve the Oak Cliff neighborhood. United Streetcar, LLC, a subsidiary of Oregon Iron Works, has struggled to launch its 100 Series line, releasing its first car last fall to hometown Portland, Ore., with a backlog of orders from Tucson, Ariz., and Washington, D.C. Pacifica Marine is performing assembly of Czech Republicbased Inekon’s Trio cars for use in Seattle, as the city and Sound Transit expand their commitment to the mode.

April 2013 RAilwAy Age 45

sTReeTCARs Big names see big potential

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Siemens’ S70 streetcars will soon appear in Atlanta.

Toronto tests under way

Last month Bombardier began testing its 100% low-floor Flexity streetcars on Toronto Transit Commission’s venerable layout, checking clearances (both overhead and over the street), 8% grades, and other potential sticking points (photo, p. 45). “The Toronto streetcar network is very demanding; therefore, this step is extremely important,” says Bombardier Senior Specialist, Product Management Jacques Drouin. “For now, though, and to ensure minimal disruption to normal traffic, testing occurs in the middle of the night.”

Drouin isn’t bashful about Bombardier’s vision to expand its streetcar options continent wide, using Toronto as a springboard. “We are hopeful that the Toronto vehicle will become a point of reference in the North American market, he says. “Bombardier believes the design is well suited to the growing streetcar market in the U.S. and Canada.”

That market is overdue for filling a transport niche other public transport modes can’t, he continues, “best at replacing saturated bus lines and Bus Rapid Transit (in the LRV version), and can carry more riders in a more comfortable way than other options.”

Hybridized potential becoming reality

Much as the auto industry has moved to incorporate two or more power sources for vehicles, LRT/streetcar suppliers are doing the same for North America, extrapolating from actual European-based experience.

Alstom Transportation’s Aesthetic Power Supply (APS) System is credited by many as the first modern wireless option offered to the market. It taps power units underneath track, with 8-meter-long conduit segments separated by 3-meter insulated joints. Antennae in the APS collector unit send a coded radio signal to the power unit to activate it.

Alstom’s APS (originally Alimentation par Sol ) also carries a third power source, a backup battery, in case of emergency.

Siemens Sitras Hybrid Energy System (HES) employs a nickel metal hydride battery, aided by a double-layer capacitor. Siemens says its product can be retrofitted into existing equipment, allowing existing U.S. systems to consider wireless expansion prospects without requiring a fleet overhaul.

Siemens

The big brand names aren’t asleep at the switch, as they proved during the APTA Annual Expo in October 2011, displaying detailed mockups, often full sized, of new streetcar designs.

In the U.S., Siemens Mobility, long a dominant supplier for U.S. LRT, has modified its S70 design to offer streetcar variants for Atlanta, Ga., as well as for the Sugar House Line in Salt Lake City. Utah Transit Authority, in fact, notes it modified its original order for Siemens S70s in order to supply both its TRAX LRT network and the Sugar House Line, set to open in 2014.

Bombardier Transportation has its hands full handling the largest streetcar order at present, 204 low-floor Flexity vehicles to resupply and upgrade Toronto’s venerable network of 11 streetcar routes. Toronto Transit Commission, along with regional authority Metrolinx, also has turned to Bombardier for roughly 182 light rail vehicles at the same time, generating some confusion in the process (including to reporters).

Southwest of Toronto, Alstom Transport is supplying Ottawa, the Canadian capital, with Citadis Spirit rolling stock the company identifies as streetcars—even as Ottawa’s OC Transpo updates the public on its “new light rail transit line.”

Who’s got the right label, and does it really matter?

“Streetcars and light rail vehicles are similar products; it’s a question of lengths,” and of widths, offers Alstom Transport North America Vice President, Turnkey & Infrastructure Systems Stephanie Brun-Brunet. “We have the flexibility to develop [a vehicle] ranging from 20 meters to 60 meters. The North American market operates at 30 meters, give or take—that’s light rail. The streetcar market, 20 meters or so.”

Alstom is supplying its Citadis Spirit model to serve Ottawa, adjusted for Canadian needs (including climate control) but otherwise quite similar to Citadis models in Europe that, whatever else, are clearly streetcars.

Siemens Rail Systems President Michael Cahill credits the tenacity of Portland, Ore., already an LRT leader, for generating the current streetcar revival. For Cahill, the history lessons don’t stop there. “A lot of people saw it as a ‘small city’ phenomenon, but LA is going the streetcar route aggressively,” Cahill says.

City size, he asserts, is “pretty indiscriminate.”

That spells opportunity for numerous suppliers, but Cahill says eventually a culling likely will occur. “At the beginning of any new wave, there are a lot of interested players,” he acknowledges. “But challenges can be underestimated, and the challenges are certainly still there.”

Like Alstom (and Bombardier), Siemens has sought to time its streetcar efforts to keep pace with North American adaptation. Streetcar construction, and the news surrounding it, “possibly flies under the radar screen because the projects are modest, to begin with. The hope is that it grows into something much bigger. We’ve been keeping an eye on this for several years, and we think the S70 we have is a reflection of that.”

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1/31/13 3:00 PM

sTReeTCARs

Siemens claims a battery range of about 8,200 feet, or about 1.5 miles, before recharging is required, with recharging assisted by regenerative braking as well as at station stops.

Bombardier has ready its Flexity Freedom option, using Primove technology employing a conduit line beneath the ground and between the rails. Toronto’s ample overhead obviates this option, but the company sees plenty of future opportunities.

Relative upstart Brookville Equipment Co. hasn’t waited. Its Liberty streetcars, tapped by Dallas and the city’s Oak Cliff neighborhood, will utilize a battery energy storage system (ESS) to power the car’s four traction motors when off-wire. The company says about one mile of the 1.6-mile track will require ESS power, allowing the LRV to cross the city’s Houston Street Viaduct over the Trinity River without the use of catenary, on its route to and from Dallas Union Station.

Brookville says it’s the first to deploy dual-mode modern streetcars in the U.S., but it doubtless will soon have company. Suppliers large and small say the revival of, and return to, city centers across North America help spur the drive for hybridized streetcars.

Says Alstom’s Brun-Brunet, “Ottawa’s Confederation Line will show the potential for potential for U.S. markets” determined to “bring back their city center.”

Bombardier’s Drouin says Toronto once more may be held as the model for cities across Canada, and in the U.S., looking to rail transit “as a solution to their growing congestion and pollution problems.”

Siemens’ Cahill says streetcars are a municipal commitment “by the very nature of steel rails; it’s built to last, and a great opportunity for cities to revive themselves. You’re generating foot traffic, involving pedestrians, and when you have pedestrians that generates business,” and in the longer run a more livable urban environment.

Streetcars, in conjunction with LRT, combine to maximize that potential, Cahill says. RA

Do you have the most up-to-date FRA Regulations?

Reb Says...

Use this handy index to verify that you have the most up-to-date version of the FRA regulations. The left-hand column lists the FRA Part number and the right-hand column list the latest revision date. Items highlighted in red denotes recent changes. (IFR = Interim Final Rule) FRA Part #

Last Update Effective:

FRA Part #

Last Update Effective:

40 . . . . . . . . .10-3-12 209 . . . . . . . .2-12-13 210 . . . . . . . .8-14-89 211 . . . . . . . .7-20-09 213 A-F . . . . .6-25-12 213 G . . . . . .9-13-10 214 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 215 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 216 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 217 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 218 . . . . . . . .6-25-12

219 220 221 222 223 224 225 228 229 230 231

. . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . . . .1-1-13 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . .12-19-12 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . . .6-25-12

FRA Part #

232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 242

Last Update Effective:

. . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . . .7-13-12 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . . .6-25-12

Mechanical Department Regulations

The following is a list of booklets reprinted from the Department of Transportation Code of Federal Regulations 49 CFR Parts 200 to 399 that apply to the rail industry. They are printed in a convenient format and are kept current with updates from the Federal Register which may be supplied in supplement form.

Item FRA 50 or Code Part # more Each

209 211 BKTSSAF 213 BKTSSG 213 BKWRK 214 BKFSS 215 BKROR 217 218 BKRRC 220 BKEND 221 BKSEP

Railroad Safety Enforcement Procedures & Rules of Practice Track Safety Standards (Subpart A-F) Track Safety Standards (Subpart G) Railroad Workplace Safety Railroad Freight Car Safety Standards Railroad Operating Rules and Practices Railroad Communications Rear End Marking Device, Passenger, Commuter & Freight Trains BKHORN 222 Use of Locomotive Horns BKRFRS 224 Reflectorization of Rail Freight Rolling Stock BKHS 228 Hours of Service BKLSS 229 Locomotive Safety Standards BKSLI 230 Steam Locomotive Inspection BKSAS 231 Railroad Safety Appliance Standards BKBRIDGE 237 Bridge Safety Standards BKLER 240 Qualification and Certification of Locomotive BKCONDC 242 Conductor Certification BKBSS

232

Brake System Safety Standards

26.40

8.95 8.55 8.55 6.25 8.55

8.25 7.85 7.85 5.85 7.35

4.15 3.50

3.80 2.75

12.25

10.95

5.25 9.40 10.00 19.95 8.35 5.25 11.75

4.75

7.85 4.75 11.00

10.00

9.00

Each

13.75

49 CFR Part 234 Grade Crossing Signal System Safety and State Action Plans: This document responds to a petition for reconsideration of FRA's final rule published on June 12, 2012, mandating that certain railroads establish and maintain systems that allow members of the public to call the railroads, using a toll-free telephone number, and report an emergency or other unsafe condition at highway-rail and pathway grade crossings. This document amends and clarifies the final rule. This rule goes into effect May 14, 2013.

9.00

25 or more

12.50 Each

BKTM

Technical Manual for Signal and Train Control Rules.

Includes Part 233, 234, 235, 236 - Spiral Bound Order 25 or more and pay only $39.10 each

BKPSS

Passenger Safety Standards 20.80 Part 238, 239 - Order 25 or more and pay only $18.95 each

BKSTC

Signal and Train Control Systems Includes Part 233, 234, 235, 236 Order 25 or more and pay only $16.00 each

BKMPIE

Motive Power & Equipment Inspection Under Revision Defect codes for 215, 218, 223, 229, 231, 232 Coming Soon!

BKCAD

Drug and Alcohol Regulations in the Workplace Part 40 & 219

46.00

17.50

35.00

A combined reprint of the Federal Regulations that apply specifically to the Mechanical Department. Spiral bound.

Part Title 210 Railroad Noise Emission Compliance Regulations 215 Freight Car Safety Standards 216 Emergency Order Procedures: Railroad Track, Locomotive and Equipment 217 Railroad Operating Rules 218 Railroad Operating Practices - Blue Flag Rule 221 Rear End Marking Device-passenger, commuter/freight trains 223 Safety Glazing Standards 225 Railroad Accidents/Incidents 229 Locomotive Safety Standards 231 Safety Appliance Standards 232 Brake System Safety Standards

BKMFR

$26.95

Mech. Dept. Regs.

Order 25 or more and pay only $24.50 each

Part 213: Track Safety Standards, Subparts A-F 49 Part 213, Subparts A-F. Classes of Track 1 through 5: Applies to track required to support passenger and freight equipment at lower speed ranges. Includes Defect Codes and Appendices A, B, and C to Part 213. Softcover. Spiral bound. 120 pages.

BKTSSAF

$8.95

Track Safety Standards, Subparts A-F Order 50 or more and pay only $8.25 each

Part 213: Track Safety Standards, Subpart G 49 Part 213, Subparts G. Classes of Track 6 and higher. Softcover. Spiral bound. 88 pages.

BKTSSG

$8.55

Track Safety Standards, Subpart G Order 50 or more and pay only $7.85 each

Part 214: Railroad Workplace Safety The FRA's Railroad Workplace Safety standards address roadway workers and their work environments. Subparts A-General, B-Bridge Worker Safety Standards, C-Roadway Worker Protection, D-On-Track Roadway Maintenance, and Defect Codes for Part 214.

Spiral bound. 74 pages.

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Turning ouT greaT TurnouTs A new design lifts wheels over the main line rails.

Figure 1. Prototype “Continuous Main Line Rail Turnout” at FAST (left); Schematic of prototype switches; moveable switch points shown in red (right).

By DAviD DAvis, senior scientist, and RAfAel Jimenez, senior engineer, TTCi, for Railway Age

P

rogress Rail Services, BNSF Railway, and Transportation Technology Center, Inc. have developed a Continuous Main Line Rail Turnout where diverging traffic is low speed and low volume. The prototype was evaluated under 39-ton axle load traffic at the Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST).

After a short proof of concept test, the same turnout has been installed in revenue service.

The switch configuration of the new design (Figure 1) differs from conventional design (Figure 2) by having both fixed stock rails on the main line route, thus its design name “Continuous Main Line Rail Turnout.” The conventional switches have one fixed stock rail and one moveable switch point on each route. Both routes have running surface discontinuities on one rail. Wheels transition from stock rail

to switch point on one rail of each route. The moveable switch points are both on the diverging route. Note that on the continuous main line rail turnout, one switch point is located on the gauge side of the left stock rail, and the other switch point is located on the field side of the right stock rail.

The continuous main line rail turnout design is also called a “vertical switch” because it functions by lifting wheels over the main line rails, instead of providing a gap in the main line rail for wheel flanges to pass through. This switch is the functional counterpart of the lift frog design that has been successfully implemented by North American freight railways. Like the lift frog, it strongly favors the main line in terms of ride quality and allowable speeds. This type of switch has potential applications for set-out tracks and industrial sidings accessed from the main line.

April 2013 RAilwAy Age 51

TTCi

Figure 2. Conventional split switch turnout at FAST (left); Schematic of conventional switches; moveable switch points shown in red (right).

A series of proof of concept tests were conducted to evaluate the prototype design. These tests consisted of main line and diverging operations, track strength measurements, and running surface wear measurements. Operations consisted of 40 mph main line operations of 315,000-pound cars.

Approximately 20 MGT was accumulated. Diverging operations consisted of spotting loaded and empty cars in the 350-foot set-out track shown in Figure 1. These operations were made at speeds ranging from 2 mph to 10 mph.

Approximately 0.023 MGT (275 cars) was operated over the switch. Figure 3 shows a track strength test being conducted on the turnout at FAST. The prototype performed very well in most aspects. The

dynamic forces for main line moves were quite low, similar to what is measured on open track. Dynamic forces on diverging moves, as shown in Table 1, were acceptable. A comparison was made with a nearby split switch turnout. Even though the split switch turnout is larger (No. 20 vs. No. 11) the lateral forces were comparable. Maximum vertical loads are somewhat higher for the vertical switch because of the ramping in the switch, where wheels are raised above the stock rails (Figure 4).

The turnout was tested at FAST in 2012 and has performed well under 315,000-pound car traffic. The test team will be making several design improvements, including: • Lateral stiffening of the field side point to prevent gauge widening.

Figure 3. Diverging route track strength tests on Continuous Main Line Rail Turnout.

Figure 4. Ramping in prototype switch points

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TTCi Table 1. Comparison of measured wheel/rail forces in the prototype and conventional switches.

Route

Speed

MaxiMuM LateRaL FoRce

MaxiMuM VeRticaL FoRce

(MPh)

(kiPS)

(kiPS)

vertical switch facing, Diverging

~2

15

56

vertical switch Trailing, Diverging

~5

20

58

no. 20 split switch facing, Diverging

~2

14

49

no. 20 split switch Trailing, Diverging

~5

20

50

• Reconfiguration of the switch heels to reduce switch throw effort.

• Reconfiguration of the point guard to improve safety and simplify construction.

• The turnout was modified to incorporate some of the suggested improvements before revenue service installation early this year.

Stay On Track / On Schedule

Progress Rail Services Technical Director Russ Hein and BNSF Director of Track Standards John Bosshart were instrumental in developing the continuous rail turnout concept into a working prototype.

Recognition also goes to TTCI employees Muhammad Akhtar, Joseph LoPresti, and Beatrice Rael for their contribution to this project. ra

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April 2013 RAilwAy Age 53

The New RailwayAge.com The News Destination for the Rail Industry

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RailwayAge.com

By DAviD HumpHRey, pH.D., Senior Analyst, Railinc Corp.

North American RailCaR RepoRt A younger, stronger fleet

C

hanges in the North American revenue-earning rail equipment fleet—numbering nearly 1.5 million cars—have implications for railroads, shippers, financial institutions, car builders, suppliers, and others associated with the industry. That is why Railinc analyzes the fleet annually, highlighting key trends and changes.

This year’s analysis reveals that the total fleet increased in 2012, and some key sub-fleets experienced growth. In terms of absolute increase, covered hoppers were greatest, but tanks had the greatest percentage growth. This is due to an increase in rail shipments of crude oil and a decrease in coal loadings in 2012. Overall, the smallest sub-fleets—hoppers and boxcars—decreased most.

The average age of cars in the revenue-earning fleet declined for the first time since 2008, and the vast majority of new cars had gross rail loads (GRL) of 286,000 pounds. Moving into 2013, detailed analysis reveals the following trends: • The revenue-earning fleet increased in size in 2012 after showing virtually no growth in 2011. The fleet still has not recovered to pre-recession levels. However, the total fleet size is up 1.0% from year-end 2011 to year-end 2012, compared with a 0.1% increase the previous year.

• Growth occurred in covered hoppers, tanks, and gondolas (the three largest sub-fleets), while hoppers and boxcars (the two smallest sub-fleets) continued to decline.

• The average age of the revenue-earning fleet decreased slightly in 2012. This was the first time in four years it became younger, going from 20.1 years to 20 years. The change suggests that more newer cars are joining the fleet as older cars exit.

• The trend of 286K GRL cars predominating new additions to the revenue-earning fleet continued in 2012. Larger cars enable operational efficiencies that reduce costs and ease logistics challenges. The number of 286K GRL cars added continued to increase in 2012 after a decline that corresponded to economic downturns in 2009 and 2010.

Age declines, cArrying cApAcity increAses

Though the economic recovery has yet to return the revenue-earning fleet to pre-recession levels, the size of the fleet increased slightly for the second year in a row. At the end of 2012, the fleet totaled 1.5 million units of equipment, up 1.0% from the previous year (Figure 1). Half of the segments increased during the year: Tanks increased by 4.0%; covered hoppers by 2.8%; and gondolas by 0.9%. In contrast, hoppers decreased by 3.2%, boxcars (including refrigerated cars) by 2.5%, and flat cars by 1.0%.

The average age of the fleet decreased for the first time since 2008, down 0.1 years, to 20 years (Figure 2). As older cars left the fleet in 2012, more new cars were added. This suggests the economy is headed in a positive direction, as historical data show that less new equipment is added to the fleet during and immediately following economic dips.

Over the past 20 years, the majority of new railcars added to the revenue-earning fleet have had a GRL of 286,000 pounds. The number of 286K GRL cars continued to slightly increase in 2012, after a significant spike in 2011 (Figure 3).

286K GRL cars have predominated new additions to the fleet since the early 1990s. The fleet continues to add 263K GRL cars and 220K GRL cars, though at increasingly smaller rates.

April 2013 RAilwAy Age 55

RAilCAR RepoRt

trends within sub-fleets

Several sub-fleets of similar types of equipment comprise the revenue-earning fleet. Railinc selected these sub-fleets

What is the revenueearning fleet? the revenue-earning fleet is a subset of the North American rail fleet that is largely composed of freight cars that can be used in interchange service and against which an interline waybill can be placed. the revenueearning fleet of freight cars is made up of six sub-fleets. these sub-fleets include hoppers, covered hoppers, gondolas, flat cars, tank cars, and boxcars. it excludes locomotives, intermodal trailers and containers, maintenanceof-way equipment, and end-of-train devices.

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for a closer look because they carry commonly shipped commodities and make up the largest percentage of the revenue-earning fleet. Key findings for these sub-fleets: • Covered hoppers are commonly used to ship commodities such as grain and plastics, and they increased in 2012 for the second consecutive year, by 2.8%. At 479,000 cars, covered hoppers are the largest sub-fleet in North America, making up about 32% of the total revenue-earning fleet.

Increases in the number of new, small-cube covered hoppers have driven the growth of the covered hopper sub-fleet in the past two years (Figure 4).

• Gondolas are commonly used for shipping coal, iron and steel products, and scrap metal. The number of gondolas in the fleet increased by 0.9% in 2012 after experiencing no growth in 2011.

• Tank cars carry a wide variety of products, including food, chemicals, petroleum, and hazardous materials. figure 4 The size of the tank car fleet figure 4

figure 3

RA Wrk Ste 1_2V 10 2010

10/15/10

9:18 AM

Page 1

T

oday’s railroads need cost-effective and flexible training choices. That’s exactly what The Railway Educational Bureau provides through Work Site Training.

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increased 4.0% in 2012—to 315,000 cars—the highest percentage growth of any of the sub-fleets. 263K GRL cars dominate the sub-fleet, though the number of 286K GRL cars has slowly increased in the past 18 years. Almost 17,000 large tanks with capacities greater than 27,500 gallons were added to the fleet during 2011 and 2012, more than triple the number of medium tanks.

• Open-top hoppers carry a number of products including coal, aggregates, and metallic ores. The number of open hoppers in the North American fleet declined by 3.2% in 2012 to 149,000, the biggest drop among the sub-fleets.

Boxcars are the smallest sub-fleet. They are used to ship a wide variety of products, from consumer goods to automotive parts. The boxcar sub-fleet is older than other sub-fleets and has decreased in size for several years, partly because of the addition of new higher-capacity boxcars and network efficiencies that reduce turnaround time. The size of the boxcar sub-fleet continued its downward trend in 2012— decreasing to 118,000 cars—and is down 11% since 2009.

Railinc (www.railinc.com) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads. For more information, visit www.railinc.com. RA

Freight Car Inspection and Repair • AAR Field Manual Familiarization Rules 1 thru 83 • Introduction to FRA Safety Appliances (Part 231) • FRA Freight Car Safety Standards (Part 215) • Draft system defects and repairs • Inspecting draft system and center sills (Hands-on) • Truck and Wheel defects. Roller Bearing and adapter defects • Hands-on Gauging/Measuring wheel and truck defects Single Car Air Brake Test • • • •

Fundamentals of Freight Train Air Brakes Single Car Air Brake Component Identification and Function Daily Test, Single Car Test and Special Tests Review AAR S-486 Single Car Air Brake Test Procedures

FRA Part 232 Brake System Safety Standards for freight and other non-passenger trains • • • • • •

Review Brake System Safety Standards definitions and extent of the regulations.

Class l Brake Tests – Initial Terminal Inspections Measuring Piston Travel Review piston travel decals Hands-on “Class l Brake Test” Performance Evaluation “Class l Brake Test”

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The Railway Educational Bureau April 2013 RAilwAy Age 57

People

Meetings

HigH Profile CN executive Vice President Jim Vena announced the appointment of three vice presidents. John Orr (at left) was named Vice President, eastern Region, based in Toronto. Orr was Vice President, Chief Safety and Sustainability Officer, a position assumed in 2011. Orr joined CN in 1985 as a conductor in london, Ont., and has held positions in the operations team across Canada. Michael Farkouh becomes Vice President, Safety and Sustainability, based in Montreal; he has been assistant Vice President, B.C. South, since 2011 Orr and joined CN in 1989. Gerry Weber was named Vice CN President, Fleet and Fuel Management, also based in Montreal; he has been Chief Mechanical Officer since 2009. “i look forward to John, Michael, and gerry assuming their new positions,” said Vena.

April 27-30 ASLRRA 2013 Annual Conference (100th Annual) atlanta Marriott Marquis, atlanta, ga.

Tel.: 202-628-4500; email: aslrra@aslrra.org; website: www.aslrra.org.

FLORIDA EAST COAST RAILWAY— Donald C. Robinson appointed President and Chief Operating Officer for all aboard Florida, the country’s first privately owned intercity passenger rail system, which will connect South Florida to Orlando. P. Michael Reininger was promoted to President and Chief Development Officer for all aboard Florida. Melissa Westerman was named Vice President and Corporate Controller, effective april 2, 2013.

GENESEE & WYOMING INC.—Greg Pauline has assumed leadership of its australian business as Managing Director of genesee & wyoming australia Pty. ltd. (gwa).

Key Equipment Finance named Andrew J. Falcone Director, North american Rail, charged with increasing the KeyCorp affiliate’s U.S. rail market presence.

STV, Inc. named Majid Hedayati, P.E., executive Vice President, heading up the international Division. Amos (Zhugang) Liu, P.E., was promoted to Vice President, managing the Structures group in the company’s Charlotte, N.C., office. John Ponzio, Director of Systems, Safety, and Security in the Transportation & infrastructure Division, is promoted to Vice President.

100 YEARS AGO in

SUPPLIERS Amsted Rail promoted Brad A. Myers to Vice President—global Marketing.

Jay P. Monaco has been promoted to Vice President—global engineering.

Bombardier Transportation named lutz Bertling President and COO, effective June 3, succeeding andre Navarri, who will remain as a strategic adviser for one year before retiring on June 1, 2014.

Parsons Brinckerhoff noted Peter Denitz is rejoining the company as Manager-Special Projects in the firm’s Transit and Rail Technical excellence Center in Philadelphia, responsible for assisting clients with planning activities and the development and management of transit and rail projects.

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(APRIL 1913) FULL CREW LAW IN N.J. Governor Fielder of New Jersey on April 1 signed the full crew bill of that state; and New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania now have substantially the same law. The presidents of the principal railroads appeared before the governor, and George A. Post, president of the Railway Business Association, also appeared. President Rea of the Pennsylvania told Gov. Fielder that unless there was a halt to this kind of legislation, the railroads would be driven to support government ownership of railroads. Full crew bills and grade crossing bills are hurting the credit of the railroads, so that is has become increasingly difficult to raise money for improvements.

June 2-5 APTA Rail Conference Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Philadelphia, Pa. lynne Morsen, Tel.: 202-496-4853; email: lmorsen@apta.com; website: www.apta.com.

September 29-October 2 Railway Interchange 2013 indianapolis, ind.

Carol Steckbeck, Tel.: 919-303-5140; email:csteckbeck50@gmail.com; website: www.railwayinterchange. org/registration.html.

September 29-October 2 APTA Annual Meeting Hilton Chicago, Chicago, ill. yvette Conley, Tel.: 202-496-4868;

email: yconley@apta.com; website: www.apta.com.

October 2-3 Southwest Association of Rail Shippers Conference Hyatt Regency Phoenix, Phoenix, ariz. e. leo Mountjoy, Tel.: 972-690-4740; email: nars@railshippers.com; website: www.railshippers.com.

October 15-16 Railway Age Passenger Trains on Freight Railroads

washington Marriott, washington, D.C.

Jane Poterala, Tel.: 212-620-7209; email: jpoterala@sbpub.com; website: www.railwayage.com.

Products EAO Corp. unveils pushbutton all-inone door opener

eAO Corp. has unveiled the new Series 57 pushbutton rail car door opener, calling it “the first all-in-one door opener to combine optical, tactile, and acoustic features in a single pushbutton.” Fully compliant to eN 14752, TSi-PRM, and ADA standards, the Series 57 features an extra large Ø74mm operating area, the option of an integrated finding tone, and a tool-less final mounting system.

A new Series 57 warning light has been added to this product line. These indicators can be used alongside the pushbutton to make people aware when passenger doors are opening or closing. it is front protected to iP69K and features an extra large lens with optimum 180-degree visibility. it mounts using the same fast, tool-less final mounting system. Series 57 products will fit industry-standard mounting holes so vehicle operators can easily upgrade their existing door openers.

For drivers’ desks and other control panels, eAO offers Series 04 switches and pushbuttons constructed in accordance with UiC 612 guidelines.

The 04 range includes square and round pushbuttons, indicators, selector and keylock switches as well as special lever switches for operating specific controls, typically braking and lighting.

A push-in terminal from Phoenix Contact is available for the Series 04 range, which reduces assembly times by up to 70% compared to screw terminals and creates a more secure, reliable connection.

Contact eAO Corp., 98 washington Street, Milford, Conn. 06460. Tel.: 203877-4577; Fax: 203-877-3694; email: eus@eao.com.; website: www.eao.com.

Snake Tray offers skinny Snake Box Snake Tray®’s Snake Box is an ultra thin enclosure for super low profile access floors that delivers power and data directly to the workstation, saving on labor, time, and materials. Data and power receptacles are built-in to the 1.6 inch height enclosure. The

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an F lyer

enclosure can be customized to meet customer’s specifications. Made in the USA, utilizing solar power generated from the company’s rooftop solar array.

Contact Snake Tray, Tel.: 800-3086788; email: molly@snaketray.com; website: www.snaketray.com.

, P r e - W a r, S t a n d a r d G a u g e

. , No

469

2

You’ll Find PMC Gears and Pinions Turning the World’s Finest Locomotives.

N

PMC doesn’t toy around. We make the full size ones!

o one is better qualified to supply locomotive gears and pinions than Penn Machine. With over 90 years of manufacturing experience, Penn Machine makes gears and pinions of the highest quality qua for use on locomotives from loc all al the leading manufacturers.

We m manufacture over 120 ma bull and a engine gears and 80 pinions.

The most popular ones are in stock. pin Our gears and pinions are made from triple alloy steel and carburized/hardened in our in-house heat They i h h treating i equipment. i Th provide up to 50% longer wear life than standard heat-treated gears. And they are AAR certified and come with a 5-year limited wear warranty.

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April 2013 RAilwAy Age 59

Products events

Ashcroft digital panel meter reads tranducers and more

conference proceedings Stay informed of the latest information on Intermodal, the fastest-growing form of surface freight transportation.

Access the presentations from the

New Intermodal Age Conference & Expo

Topics include: • Securing and tracking cargo • Improving efficiency through technology • Managing the national equipment pool • Labor’s critical role • Successful public-private partnerships • Panama Canal expansion • Government policies that need to change • Improving infrastructure: federal grants

Purchase available presentations for $250 Contact us at conferences@sbpub.com or 212-620-7208 to purchase access to these presentations and more.

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The ashcroft® Model DM61 digital panel meter does more than just display the analog or Modbus RTU digital signal from a sensing device with an output. equipped with a variety of electronic features, this input-output device allows the user to configure the display to readout in their required engineering unit, recall minimum and maximum readings and set hi-lo alarms. Standard features include a six-digit display, password protection,and an on-board DC transducer power supply. also available are internal or external relays, a 4-20ma output, and expansion modules to enable conversion to USB and other serial outputs. For more information, contact ashcroft, Tel.: 203-385-0648; website: www.ashcroft.com.

Conveyor belt cleaners from Martin Engineering Conveyor belt cleaner blades from Martin Engineering are available in a wide array of shapes, sizes, and materials, designed with the company’s patented Constant-Area Radial Pressure (CARP) technology to deliver consistent cleaning throughout all stages of blade life. Unlike most competing designs, the innovative engineered cleaners maintain the same contact area, blade angle and pressure to effectively remove virtually any type of material carryback, even as the blade wears down over time. With 10%-to-20% more urethane on average in each blade than competing blade designs, Martin Replacement Blades are engineered to deliver longer service life and lower cost of ownership. Martin offers replacement blades for its full line of belt cleaners, as well as retrofit designs for most other manufacturers’ mainframes. With fewer blade changes and less frequent maintenance downtime, bulk material handlers can focus manpower on core activities. The company carries out its product R&D in its Center for Innovation (CFI) in Neponset, Ill. For more information, contact Martin Engineering, Tel.: 309852-2384; Website: www.martin-eng.com. Global representatives for Martin Engineering can be found at www. martin-eng.com/rep-finder.

Ad Index Company

Phone #

Fax

Email address

Aldon Co., APTA Auto Truck Balfour Beatty Birmingham Rail & locomotive Brookville equipment Corp Chromium Corporation Cyclonaire Corp.

Danella Rental Systems, inc.

Diesel electrical equip. ellwood Crankshaft & Machine electro-Motive Flagship Rail SVCS, llC FreightCar America Helm Financial Corp.

Herzog Railroad Services, inc.

Holland Co. Hotstart invensys Rail Corp lTK engineering Services MAC Products MTU Penn Machine Co. Plasser American Corp.

Progress Rail Services R&w Machine Division Railhead Railcet RailComm, inc.

Railquip, inc.

Railway Tie Association Railworks RCe Railway educational Bureau, The Siemens industry, inc.

Star Headlight & lantern Sterling Rail, inc.

Strato wi-Tronix, llC

847-623-8800 410-978-9174 816-412-2131 888-250-5746 205-424-7245 814-849-2000 ext.226 216-271-4910 402-362-2000 610-828-6200 219-922-1848 724-347-0250 800-255-5355 312-559-4814 312-928-0850 415-398-4510 ext 1610 816-233-9002 708-672-2300 ext.382 509-536-8667 502-244-7400 215-641-8826 973-344-0700 +1 248 560 8484 412-279-4460 757-543-3526 256-505-6485 708-458-4200 773-779-2400 866-724-5238 585-377-3360 770-458-4157 770-460-5553 866-905-7245 866-472-4510 402-346-4300 800-SieMeNS 585-226-9500 ext.137 512-263-1953 732-317-5406 630-679-9927 ext.307

847-623-6139

e-rail@aldonco.com 39 lriggs@ntpshow.com 47 eschoenfeld@autotruck.com 48 info@bbri.com 42 bhamrail@aol.com 16 e_mckillip@brookvilleequipment.com 31 ccinfo@chromcorp.com 39 sales@cyclonaire.com 53 pbarents@danella.com 15 dieseleqpt@aol.com 11 ecgsales@elwd.com 30 genuineparts@emdiesels.com 21 eileen.oneill@flagshiprail.com 41 ewhalen@freightcar.net 3 bwind@hlmx.com 16 tfrancis@hrsi.com 31 gpodgorski@hollandco.com 12,31 mfloyd@kimhotstart.com C2 bob.coffman@safetran.com 39 tfurmaniak@ltk.com 48 edward.gollob@macproducts.net 25 bryan.mangum@tognum.com 44 pmcsales@pennmach.com 59 plasseramerican@plausa.com 34 bcox@progressrail.com 37 jwarner@rwmachine.com 50 jdonnan@railheadcorp.com 33 grif1020@yahoo.com 47 sales@railcomm.com 26 sales@railquip.com 41 ties@rta.org 29 jrhansen@railworks.com 23 dennishanke@rcequip.com 13 bbrundige@sb-reb.com 43,49,57 www.usa.siemens.com.transportation 5 chrisjacobs@star1889.com 25 rwmertz@sterlingrail.com C4 korozco@stratoinc.com 14 fcozzi@wi-tronix.com C3

816-412-2191 904-378-7298 205-424-7436 814-849-2010 216-271-4195 402-362-2001 610-828-2260 219-922-1849 724-347-0254 708-387-6626 312-559-4829 312-928-0890 415-398-4816 816-233-7757 708-672-0119 509-534-4216 502-253-3760 215-542-7676 973-344-5891 +1 248 560 8485 412-279-4465 757-494-7186 256-840-2651 708-458-3299 773-779-0231 217-522-6588 585-377-3341 770-458-5365 770-460-5573 952-469-1926 630-355-7173 402-346-1783 585-226-2029 512-263-9799 732-981-1222 630-679-9954

Page #

The Advertisers index is an editorial feature maintained for the convenience of readers. it is not part of the advertiser contract and Railway Age assumes no responsibility for the correctness.

Advertising Sales MAIN OFFICE Jonathan Chalon, Publisher 55 Broad St., 26th Floor New york, Ny 10004 (212) 620-7224 Fax: (212) 633-1863 jchalon@sbpub.com

AL, AR, IN, KY, LA, MI, MS, OH, OK, TN, TX emily guill 20 South Clark Street, Suite 1910 Chicago, il 60603 (312) 683-5021 eguill@sbpub.com CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, NC, PA, RI, SC, VT, VA, WV, CANADA – QuEbEC AND EAST, ONTARIO Mark Connolly 55 Broad St., 26th Floor New york, Ny 10004 (212) 620-7260 Fax: (212) 633-1863 mconnolly@sbpub.com

AK, AZ, CA, CO, IA, ID, IL, KS, MN, MO, MT, NE, NM, ND, NV, OR, SD, uT, WA, WI, WY, CANADA – Ab, bC, Mb, SK Heather Disabato 20 South Clark Street, Suite 1910 Chicago, il 60603 (312) 683-5026 Fax: (312) 683-0131 hdisabato@sbpub.com

bELGIuM, PORTuGAL, SWITZERLAND, GERMANY, EASTERN EuROPE, bALTIC STATES, MIDDLE EAST, SOuTH AMERICA, AFRICA (EXCEPT SOuTH AFRICA), FAR EAST (EXCEPT KOREA, CHINA, HONG KONG, INDIA), ALL OTHERS, TENDERS louise Cooper international Area Sales Manager The Priory, Syresham gardens Haywards Heath, RH16 3lB United Kingdom +44-1444-416917 Fax: +44-(0)-1444-458185 lc@railjournal.co.uk

SCANDINAVIA, THE NETHERLANDS, SPAIN, GERMANY, AuSTRIA, KOREA, HONG KONG, CHINA, AuSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, SOuTH AFRICA, RuSSIA, RECRuITMENT ADVERTISING Steve Barnes international Area Sales Manager The Priory, Syresham gardens Haywards Heath, RH16 3lB United Kingdom +44-1444-416375 Fax: +44-(0)-1444-458185 sb@railjournal.co.uk ITALY, ITALIAN-SPEAKING SWITZERLAND Dr. Fabio Potesta Media Point & Communications SRl Corte lambruschini Corso Buenos Aires 8 V Piano, genoa, italy 16129 +39-10-570-4948 Fax: +39-10-553-0088 info@mediapointsrl.it

JAPAN Katsuhiro ishii Ace Media Service, inc.

12-6 4-Chome, Nishiiko, Adachi-Ku Tokyo 121-0824 Japan +81-3-5691-3335 Fax: +81-3-5691-3336 amkatsu@dream.com CLASSIFIED, PROFESSIONAL & EMPLOYMENT Craig wilson 55 Broad St., 26th Floor New york, Ny 10004 (212) 620-7211 Fax: (212) 633-1325 cwilson@sbpub.com

April 2013 RAilwAy Age 61

products & services Reidler Decal Corporation St. Clair, PA 17970 Fax: 570-429-1528 marketing@reidlerdecal.com The Federal Railroad Administration's proposed new delineator configuration

Reidler can help you comply with the FRA ruling by offering prismatic reflective yellow delineators that meet their specifications.

• 4" x 150 fl Rolls (kiss-cut available) • 400 candlepower retroreflection • Application instructions provided

Give us a call at 800-628-7770 for more information The Leader in Railroad Markings since 1926

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We offer: - Certified Locomotive Engineers - Certified Conductors - Train Dispatchers - Yardmasters - Brakemen/Switchmen - Mechanical For Your Temporary Needs!

Part 243 Training & Certification Part 242 Conductor Training Part 240 Engineer Training and re-certification -------------------------------------------------------Modoc Railroad Academy 916-965-5515 info@modocrail.com

For advertising information call Classified Sales Representative

recruitMeNt

EDNA A. RICE, EXECUTIVE RECRUITER, INC (713) 667-0406 FAX (713) 667-1651 Web address: www.ednarice.com Email: resume@ednarice.com

EDNA A. RICE, President 6750 West Loop South Suite 735 Bellaire, Texas 77401-4111

Craig Wilson phone fax

(212) 620-7211

(212) 633-1325

e-mail cwilson@sbpub.com 62 Railway age

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equipment Sale/leaSing FOR SALE 141) 1988 Built 5,800 cf Covered Hoppers 22) 1988 Built 6,150 cf Covered Hoppers Dennis Beary D. W. Beary & Associates, Inc. 208.853.4900 dwbeary@qwestoffice.net

STEEL BODY ROTARY DUMP HI-SIDE COAL GONDOLAS

Western Farmers Electric Cooperative offers for sale 145 railcars previously used to deliver low sulfur Wyoming coal. For information & bid package call Ben Wetherill at 580-873-2201 x140 or email b_wetherill@wfec.com. Principals only. Proposals due 4/30/13.

tRaining

Trainers and Training Developers

Available For Lease

◆ 5,150 cu. ft. Pressure Differential (PD) Covered Hopper Cars. Food grade interior linings but don’t necessarily have to stay in food grade service. ◆ Mill Gondolas - 65’ 6” interior length with 5’ sides and 52’6 interior length with 4’6” to 5’ sides ◆ 4,170 & 4,200 cu. ft. Gondolas - Interior bracing removed. OK for C&D, coke, scrap, aggregates, etc. ◆ 3,600 cu. ft. Open Top Hoppers. 45 degree slopes for aggregate, coke, coal, etc.

For additional information and pricing, please contact John Goodwin phone (605) 582-8318 fax (605) 582-8304 www.carmathinc.com e-mail jgoodwin@mwrail.com

The Railway Educational Bureau is in the process of creating a training and development database to be used as a resource for the railroad industry.

If you have experience training in an instructor-led environment and/or developing training materials for the rail industry, and are interested in becoming a part of our group, please send your resume to:

Brian Brundige The Railway Educational Bureau 1809 Capitol Avenue Omaha, NE 68102

TO ADVERTISE CONTACT Craig Wilson PH 212.620.7211 • FAX 212.633.1325 E-MAIL cwilson@sbpub.com

Find your rail industry job opportunities @ www.rtands.com and www.railwayage.com

April 2013 RAilwAy Age

63

Financial edge anthony KRuglinsKi

Rail Equipment Finance 2013 review

O

ur regular readers already know that I am Chairman of Rail Equipment Finance Conferences.

Early last month, we conducted our 27th annual meeting in Palm Springs.

As a general matter, REF2013 was all about fracking. The general consensus appeared to be that this technological evolution by the hydrocarbon industry was most of what was buoying the rail industry during 2012, while grain moves were down and coal was on the ropes. Massive new builds of general purpose tank cars to move oil, and the increased deliveries of plastic pellet cars reflecting a renewed petrochemical industry feeding on cheap natural gas production, helped many of the OEMs and their component building partners.

Order a new general purpose tank car now and you will most likely not see it until 2015. (It does seem as if the building of new low cube covered hoppers for sand service for fracking may have topped out for now awaiting increases for natural gas—and more fracking!)

Most important, we may have decades of fracked hydrocarbons ahead of us; related rail moves seem assured for at least the next decade or so. Next on the agenda? Moving Canadian oil sands in insulated tank cars.

One audience question: “Would you buy new general purpose tank cars today or some other car for investment?” One speaker would not advocate purchasing new general purpose tank cars for investment today, but rather insulated cars that could carry oil from Canada or other locales.

A severely reduced harvest last year produced reports of an underused covered hopper fleet for grain. The situation could reverse quickly with better 2013 harvests, ongoing problems

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with river traffic, or a rise in the scrap price for steel, prompting older cars in the grain car fleet to be scrapped.

As for coal, it was reported that approximately 20% of the North American coal car fleet is parked. The “sense” of the meeting was that there will be some stable basic market for coal that will evolve over time. Add the fact that most of the eastern coal car fleet is old, and the story for new building becomes not so grim.

One of our speakers addressed the regulatory risks facing the rail industry,

Fracking was a major force in buoying the rail industry in 2012. the most important of which may be what had been called “open access” but which is now referred to as “expanded switching.” Simply put, a National Industrial Transportation League petition to the STB requests that the STB order a second rail carrier be given access to current single-served shipper locations if they are within 30 miles of an existing interchange. STB published all the railroad and shipper filings made on March 1 on its website. Individual railroad filings focused on the difficulties and inefficiencies that would result for the expansion of multi-carrier access to shippers that were currently single-served. AAR’s testimony warned of substantial deterioration of service if the petition were to be approved. Next steps include a rebuttal

filing before the STB and, eventually, an STB decision on the matter.

Additional regulatory risk to the rail industry generally comes from laws and regulations dealing with coal.

The “finance” in Rail Equipment Finance was also a focus for those attending in Palm Springs: • The amount of money chasing rail rolling stock transactions was the largest that this writer has seen in the 27 years that the conference has been running.

There were banks seeking to do finance leases (many veterans, also new players), more than a dozen operating lessors seeking new and used equipment to buy and lease back to rail industry end users, and a number of venture capitalists looking to invest in rail.

• As we’ve noted before, the bank lessors are seeking to do shorter-term finance leases. Two things are driving this: First, new regulations on the capital banks must apply to long-term financings of most kinds. Second, a firm belief that shorter term transactions with significantly larger residual risks were safe when the equipment leased was rail related.

A final word on fracking and crudeby-rail. After listening to speaker after speaker expound on the national benefits flowing from fracking, this writer is sold on the benefits to the rail industry, but more important, to the country. I have one concern, however: How will we react the first time an accident rolls a number of crude oil containing tank cars in a wildlife refuge? Or, how will America respond if a reservoir containing contaminated fracking water is breached and results in permanent pollution of some town’s aquifer? I hope we are smart enough as a nation to put such possibilities into proper perspective.

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