Sept 2012 Railway Age Magazine

ailway ge R A

September 2012 | www.railwayage.com

Serving the railway industry since 1856

thirtY thoroughbreD YearS of excellence next-gen traffic control SuStainable m/w practiceS nYc tranSit: Digging new capacitY

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Electro-Motive Diesel — part of the Caterpillar family— is proud to celebrate 90 years of producing the most durable, reliable and sustainable locomotive products and ser vices in the industr y.

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Watch for our nex t generation of progress!

©2012 Caterpillar, All Rights Reserved. CAT, CATERPILLAR, their respective logos, “Caterpillar Yellow,” the “Power Edge” trade dress as well as corporate and product identity used herein, are trademarks of Caterpillar and may not be used without permission.

RailwayAge

September 2012 visit us at www.railwayage.com

Features Thirty thoroughbred years 22 Sustainable engineering

32

Traffic control

42

PTC communications

50

Digging new capacity

56

The view from below

62

News/Columns From the Editor

2

Update

10

Financial Edge

76

32

Departments Industry Indicators

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Industry Outlook

6

Market

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People

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100 Years Ago

66

Meetings

66

Products

70

Advertising Index

73

Professional Directory

74

Classified

75

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On the COver Norfolk Southern’s predecessor railroads, represented en masse in Spencer, N.C., reflect the Class I railroad’s all-American roots.

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Railway Age, USPS 449-130, is published monthly by the Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation, 345 Hudson St., 12th Fl., New York, NY 10014. Tel. (212) 620-7200; FAX (212) 633-1863. Vol. 213, No. 9.

Subscriptions: Railway Age is sent without obligation to professionals working in the railroad industry in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. However, the publisher reserves the right to limit the number copies.

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COPYRIGHT© 2012 Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation 2012. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced without permission. For reprint information contact PARS International Corp., 102 W. 38th Street, 6th floor, New York, N.Y. 10018, Tel.: 212-221-9595; Fax: 212-221-9195. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Canada Post Cust.#7204564; Agreement #41094515. Bleuchip Int’l, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2.

Address all subscriptions, change of address forms and correspondence concerning subscriptions to Subscription Dept., Railway Age, P.O. Box 10, Omaha, NE 68101-0010 or call toll free (800) 895-4389.

In Nebraska call (402) 346-4740. Printed at Cummings Printing, Hooksett, N.H. ISSN 00338826

September 2012 RAIlwAY AgE 1

RailwayAge

From the Editor william C. Vantuono

Editorial and ExEcutivE officEs Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp.

345 Hudson Street, 12th Fl. New York, NY 10014 212-620-7200; Fax: 212-633-1863

“But Is It Railroading?”

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ailway Age’s coverage of the rail transit market, considering this magazine’s long history (1856), is only a recent development—our Feb. 18, 1963 issue, to be exact.

Indeed, our very first transit issue, aptly titled “MASS TRANSPORT” (below), was a bit of a stretch for some of our editors of the time, among them Editor-in-Chief Dr. James G. Lyne (who preceded Luther Miller, currently our Senior Consulting Editor and my immediate predecessor).

One editor, I’m told, regarded rail transit as “that greasy streetcar stuff ”—a remark, I’m sure, that irked Publisher Robert G. Lewis, a strong rail transit proponent.

Yet, our editors recognized the need to cover this market, which we identified as having a value of $10 billion. As the opening of our lead story, “Cities in Chaos,” stated, “Railroads gave the nation mobility in the early days. Then the automobile came along, and millions became independent of public transportation. In the big cities, chaos resulted. The private auto, planners know, has made urban transportation and traffic problems critical.

Coordinated rapid transit, they’re saying, offers the only workable solution.”

But was rail transit workable for Railway Age, which in its previous 107 years had barely acknowledged it? Jim Lyne tackled the question on The Action Page, his weekly editorial, in a piece entitled, “But Is It Railroading?”: “Providing passenger transit within cities is certainly not a job that belongs to the standard railroads (those that used to be called ‘steam railways’). Even in countries where all railway lines are owned by the government (Britain, for instance), urban transit is usually a separate enterprise. It is not operated by the main-line railways. A few of the standard railroads in the U.S. are involved in suburban passenger transportation, in and around a half-dozen of the largest cities. While these operations are convenient and important to the communities served, they perform only a fractional part of the total urban transit job. None of these railroads would be seriously injured (some might even be relieved), if they withdrew from these operations.”

As we know, they eventually all did just that. However . . . .

“While the standard railroads are not participants in strictly intraurban transportation, the railroad industry’s welfare is nevertheless deeply involved in what happens to local transportation in and around the largest population centers,” Lyne wrote. “Urban transit, where it uses flanged wheels on steel rails, is technologically the ‘next of kin’ of the standard railroads. There is no sharp line of demarcation, technologically, between urban and line-haul railways.

“The standard railroads have, in sum, a proper and important self-interest in promoting an economic solution to problems of urban passenger transportation. . .

This paper expects to serve its readers by reporting regularly the significant developments in this important area.”

We went on to do exactly that.

Website: www.railwayage.com ARTHUR J. McGINNIS, Jr., President and Chairman JONATHAN CHALON, Publisher jchalon@sbpub.com WILLIAM C. VANTUONO, Editor wvantuono@sbpub.com ROBERT P. DeMARCO, Publisher Emeritus bdemarco@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, Jason H. Seidl Corporate Art Director: Wendy Williams Associate Art Director: Phil Desiere Corporate Production Director: Mary Conyers Production Manager: Jessica Cajas Production Director: Eduardo Castaner Marketing Director: Erica Miller Conference Director: Jane Poterala Circulation Director: Maureen Cooney WEstErn officEs 20 South Clark Street, Suite 2450, Chicago, IL 60603 312-683-0130 ; Fax: 312-683-0131 GEORGE SOKULSKI, Associate Publisher gsokulski@sbpub-chicago.com Engineering Editor: Mischa Wanek-Libman mwanek@sbpub-chicago.com Assistant Editor: Jennifer Nunez jnunez@sbpub-chicago.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.

253 West 35th Street 7th Floor New York, NY 10001 212-221-9595; fax 212-221-9195 curt.ciesinski@parsintl.com Railway Age, descended from the American Rail-Road Journal (1832) and the Western Railroad Gazette (1856) and published under its present name since 1876, is indexed by the Business Periodicals Index and the Engineering Index Service. Name registered in U.S. Patent Office and Trade Mark Office in Canada.

Now indexed in ABI/Inform.

Change of address should reach us six weeks in advance of next issue date. Send both old and new addresses with address label to Subscription Department, Railway Age, P.O. Box 10, Omaha, NE 68101-0010, or call toll free 1-800-895-4389. Post Office will not forward copies unless you provide extra postage.

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Railway age

September 2012

SIMMONS-BOARDMAN PUBLISHING CORPORATION

Here’s to a proud heritage, a bright future, and wide lapels.

In honor of our 30th anniversary, we painted 20 locomotives in predecessor paint schemes to salute some of the railroads that formed the modern-day Norfolk Southern. Join the celebration by looking for our locomotives in heritage colors, and visit NSHeritage.com to download our mobile app and locate or report sightings. And thanks for being a friend of the family.

For more information, please visit NSHeritage.com

Š 2012 Norfolk Southern Corp., Three Commercial Place, Norfolk, Va. 23510, www.nscorp.com, 855-NOR-FOLK

Industry Indicators TRAFFIC ORIGINATED carLoaDS

MAJOR U.S. RAILROADS

By COMMODITy grain farm Products ex.grain metallic ores coal crushed Stone / Sand / gravel nonmetallic minerals grain mill Products food & Kindred Products Primary forest Products Lumber & Wood Products Pulp, Paper & other chemicals Petroleum Products Stone, clay & glass coke metals & Products motor Vehicles & equipment Iron & Steel Scrap Waste & nonferrous Scrap all other carloads TOTAL CAR LOADED

CANADIAN RAILROADS ALL COMMODITy

MEXICAN RAILROADS ALL COMMODITy

U.S TOTAL CANADIAN TOTAL MEXICAN TOTAL NORTH AMERICAN TOTAL

WEEK 32 enDIng aUgUST 11, 2012 2012 18,905 848 7,543 121,764 19,772 4,941 9,005 6,630 1,618 3,134 6,206 29,505 10,887 8,077 3,636 9,614 15,432 4,384 3,068 4,203 289,172 70,842 14,318 32 WEEKS 9,005,952 2,447,347 454,634 11,907,933

2011 18,719 778 9,675 129,089 18,761 5,057 9,813 6,271 1,603 2,615 6,194 29,628 7,542 8,081 3,257 10,153 12,950 4,931 3,284 4,429 292,830 75,152

% CHANGE 1.0% 9.0% -22.0% -5.7% 5.4% -2.3% -8.2% 5.7% 0.9% 19.8% 0.2% -0.4% 44.4% 0.0% 11.6% -5.3% 19.2% -11.1% -6.6% -5.1% -1.2% -5.7%

14,388 -0.5% % CHANGE FROM 2011 -2.4% 3.0% -0.9% -1.3%

WEEK 32 enDIng aUgUST 11, 2012

InTermoDaL U.S. RAILROADS TraILerS conTaInerS TOTAL UNIT

CANADIAN RAILROADS TraILerS conTaInerS TOTAL UNIT

MEXICAN RAILROADS TraILerS conTaInerS TOTAL UNIT

U.S TOTAL CANADIAN TOTAL MEXICAN TOTAL NORTH AMERICAN TOTAL

29,947 213,083 243,030

31,876 203,727 235,603

-6.1% 4.6% 3.2%

1,293 51,659 52,952

1,708 48,983 50,691

-24.3% 5.5% 4.5%

30 10,936 10,966

5 9,932 9,937

500.0% 10.1% 10.4%

32 WEEKS 7,482,092 1,626,832 303,617 9,412,541

% CHANGE FROM 2011 3.6% 7.8% 17.7% 4.6%

ESTIMATED TON-MILES (BILLIONS), U.S. CLASS I RAILROADS WeeK 32 TOTAL WEEK 1-32

2012 33.7 1,029.5

2011 33.7 1,046.0

Source: Weekly railroad Traffic, association of american railrods

RAIL FREIGHT TRAFFIC TRENDS, U.S. CLASS I RAILROADS

% CHANGE 0.0% -1.6%

SHORT LINE AND REGIONAL TRAFFIC INDEX carLoaDS

ORIGINATED JULy ’12 41,914 21,607 27,138 11,948 21,535 6,921 9,487 5,375 21,890 10,892 1,233 2,167 19,035 12,852 41,281 10,025 88,408

By COMMODITy 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

ORIGINATED JULy ’11 39,581 19,902 23,303 11,226 21,571 6,428 7,911 6,226 22,079 7,204 2,273 1,917 17,752 12,630 36,745 10,757 87,481

% CHANGE 8.4% 8.6% 16.5% 6.4% -0.2% 7.7% 19.9% -13.7% -0.9% 51.2% -45.8% 13.0% 7.2% 1.8% 12.3% -6.8% 1.1%

TOTAL CARLOADS, JULy 2012 vS. 2011 JULy 2012 - 354,708 JULy 2011 - 334,986 270,000 280,000 290,000 300,000 310,000

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

copyright © 2012. all rights reserved.

RAILROAD EMpLOyMENT, CLASS I LINEHAUL CARRIERS, JULy 2012 (% change from JULY 2011)

Transportation (train and engine) 64,837; +2.02%

executives, officials, and Staff assistants 9,728; +4.29%

Professional and administrative 13,895; +0.01%

TOTAL EMpLOyEES: 162,006 % CHANGE FROM JULy 2011: +1.94% Transportation (other than train & engine) 6,763; +1.02%

maintenance of equipment and Stores 29,667; +2.03%

maintenanceof-Way and Structures 37,116; +2.06%

Source: Surface Transportation Board

estimated stimated billion ton-miles

Week-ended number 4

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September 2012

EMpLOyMENT Up yEAR-OvER-yEAR, DOWN FROM pAST MONTH figures released by the Surface Transportation Board show class I railroads employed 162,006 people in mid-July, up 1.94% from July 2011, but down 0.71% from the previous month. all categories gained year-over-year, with executives, officials and Staff assistants leading the pack, up 4.29%, which also gained 0.69% fromt eh previous month. all other categories lost ground from the previous month, led by Transportation (train and engine), down 1.17%.

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Industry Outlook CSX intermodal terminal design lauded cSX inTermodal TerminalS inc. and Columbus, Ohio-based engineering firm eMH&T have won the american Council of engineering Companies of Ohio 2012 engineering excellence Outstanding achievement award for the design of the CSX unit’s Northwest Ohio intermodal terminal.

CSX last month noted that it worked closely with eMH&T to develop a facility with “cutting-edge technologies and green design, including ultra-efficient electric cranes that lower emissions, optical scanners

that reduce truck idling times, and automated car tracking technologies and remote switches that increase operational efficiency.”

STB notes strong Class I earnings

NS TV ad debuts as election looms norfolk SouThern last month launched “a new television commercial that showcases the railroad’s role as a creator of economic possibilities—a powerful force for growth among the industries and communities served by the line.” The ad, “City of Possibilities,” is running in both 30- and 60-second variants on CNN, Fox News, and other channels, and were scheduled to run during the Republican and Democratic national conventions and through the presidential election in November, NS noted. The commercial also will appear in event sponsorships at the convention sites in Tampa, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C., 6

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September 2012

The Surface TranSporTaTion Board reported that Class i railroads in the 12-month period ended June 30 earned consolidated net income of $11.9 billion on an increase of 0.58% in traffic (1.7 trillion revenue ton-miles of freight) compared with the year-ago period.

Other STB reports released in July and in august showed that railroad employment is also steadily increasing year-over-year, with the number of workers up 2.40% in June to 153,169 compared with June 2011, and up 1.94% in July compared with 2011.

The STB did not calculate an operating ratio, but the performance on which that key measure of efficiency is based improved substantially: Railway operating revenues increased 9.6% to $69.6 billion in the 12-month period ended June 30, and net railway operating income improved 16.36% to $12.3 billion.

UP reported net income of $3.83 billion for the latest 12-month period, up 21.4% from the 2011 period. BNSF net income was $3.48 billion, up 23,6%; NS notched $2.03 billion, up 10.9%; CSX reported $1.9 billion, up 7.78%; CN/grand Trunk notched $429.9 million, up 20%; and KCS was up 7.32%, at $123 million. Only Soo line slipped, its $90.96 million down 10.2%.

Scoping meetings eye NEC FUTURE The deparTmenT of TranSporTaTion last month released a schedule for public scoping meetings, overseen by the Federal Railroad administration, that form part of the environmental review process for NeC FUTURe, involving upgrades to amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NeC) between washington, D.C. and Boston.

“NeC FUTURe will develop a framework for passenger rail capacity and service improvements through 2040, including an environmental impact Statement (eiS) to assess alternatives for passenger rail improvements in accordance with the National environmental Policy act. The Draft eiS is expected to be completed mid-2014 with a Final eiS and Record of Decision in 2015. Concurrent with the eiS, the NeC FUTURe program will develop a Service Development Plan (SDP) focused on passenger rail service and possible alternatives for the corridor. Together, the SDP and eiS will comprise the Passenger Rail Corridor investment Plan for the NeC,” DOT said.

Those unable to attend a meeting were urged to submit comments to the project’s website, www.necfuture.com.

The meetings, located in major cities along the NeC, were held between aug.

13 and aug. 22; the comment period was set to conclude on Sept. 14, 2012.

Toronto widens field for LRT bids

meTrolinX, the greater Toronto area’s transportation planning agency, announced that union and non-union contractors are welcome to bid on four light rail transit construction projects pending for Toronto. The announcement last month runs counter to the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) tradition of awarding work to unionized bidders. at stake are the eglinton, Finch west, and Sheppard east lRT routes, as well as the revamping of current Scarborough line operations to lRT standards.

Market

Siemens tapped for Honolulu electrification contract

ansaldo Honolulu Joint Venture has awarded the Rail electrification business unit of Siemens infrastructure & Cities Sector (which also includes Siemens Mobility) a “multimillion-dollar” contract, exact terms of which were not disclosed, to provide electrification for the under-construction Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project (HHCTCP) rail rapid transit system. The equipment will include 14 750-volt DC-rectifier traction power substations and two buss-tiebreaker-gap substations. The order also includes emergency train stop equipment. The elevated rail system (shown above under construction), Hawaii’s first, is scheduled to be completed in 2019.

North America BNSF: Selected RailComm to add the company’s Blue Flag indicator (BFi) System to BNSF’s Belen yard, N.M., facility.

METROLINX: awarded wabtec Corp.’s MotivePower subsidiary a $45 million contract to repower 11 locomotives with new engines and propulsion systems that meet significantly higher environmental standards. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2014, wabtec said. The locomotives, originally built by MotivePower about five years ago, will be repowered with new engines that meet U.S. environmental Protection agency Tier 4 emission standards.

OTTAWA: Seeks a consultant to help evaluate proposals submitted by three consortia for the Ottawa light Rail 8

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September 2012

Transit (OlRT) Project, in part to make sure they meet provincial Canadian Content quotas.

PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK & NEW JERSEY: Signed a $243 million contract with Bombardier Transportation to provide operations and maintenance services for the airTrain system at Newark liberty international airport for an additional 10 years. The contract includes a capital asset improvement program.

SACRAMENTO RTD: awarded a contract to Siemens Rail Systems to modify and refurbish 21 light rail vehicles that it acquired from the Santa Clara Valley Transportation authority in 2003 and that have since been in storage. The cars were originally built

by Urban Transportation Development Corp. (UTDC) and put into operation in

1987. RTD said the refurbishment will add 15 years of useful life to the cars and expand its fleet “at a fraction of the cost of new vehicles.”

SONOMA-MARIN AREA RAIL TRANSIT (SMART): awarded a contract to l.B. Foster Co. to provide 89,175 CXT Concrete Ties for the SMaRT rail line linking Sonoma County to the larkspur Ferry Terminal in Marin County, north of San Francisco.

UNION PACIFIC : will partner with eMD to develop 25 experimental locomotives to be based in two railyards in California in a $20 million test of new technology designed to reduce freight locomotive diesel exhaust emissions. UP seeks to move closer to the ePa’s Tier 4 emissions standards for new locomotives, which take effect in 2015.

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Update Supply BriefS refiNery TO BeNefiT frOM l.B. fOSTer TieS l.B. Foster Co. announced it has been awarded a contract by Railworks Track Systems, inc. to supply 11,000 of its CXT® Concrete Ties for the construction of an unloading facility at the Tesoro oil products refinery in anacortes, wash. The Tesoro Corp. refinery is at the western end of what l.B. Foster calls “an ambitious railway transport system” that will include 800 tank cars carrying 40,000 barrels of crude oil each day from Tesoro’s Bakken Shale operations in North Dakota. The concrete ties will support a high-capacity rail unloading system capable of accommodating four 110-car trains simultaneously. The industrial ties are being manufactured at l.B. Foster’s Spokane, wash., facility. Final delivery is scheduled to be completed before year’s end.

Transportation Services, inc. (TSi) has opened its new railcar repair shop in Chadron, Neb., situated on the Nebraska Northwestern Railroad’s lines, and with interchange access to both BNSF and Canadian Pacific. The company said, “The TSi-Chadron will be a unique facility in that TSi will only work one unit train at a time along with 40 to 50 individual bad orders, thus lessening the turn times for our customers. “ TSi added that the facility “has the track space to accommodate multiple trains for stripe aligning, storage, and multiple other uses, but our primary goal is to provide quality services with minimum turn times for our customers.”

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September 2012

FRA: PTC deadline likely to slip

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ubstantial progress has been made in establishing Positive Train Control (PTC) in the U.S., says the Federal Railroad Administration, but FRA adds that a congressionally mandated deadline to do so, Dec. 31, 2015, will not be met.

In the Executive Summary of FRA’s 50-page report to Congress, “Positive Train Control Implementation Status, Issues, and Impacts,” FRA states, “Although the initial PTC Implementation Plans (PTCIP) submitted by the applicable railroads to the FRA for approval stated they would complete implementation by the 2015 deadline, all of the plans were based on the assumption that there would be no technical or programmatic issues in the

design, development, integration, deployment, and testing of the PTC systems they adopted.

“However, since FRA approved the PTCIPs, freight and passenger railroads have encountered significant technical and programmatic issues that make accomplishment of these plans questionable.

“Given the current state of development and availability of the required hardware and software, along with deployment considerations, most railroads will likely not be able to complete full RSIA-required implementation of PTC by Dec. 31, 2015.

Partial deployment of PTC can likely be achieved; however, the extent of this is dependent upon successful resolution

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Y E A R S

S T R O N G

I N

T H E

R A I L

T R A N S P O R T A T I O N

I N D U S T R Y

Update of known technical and programmatic issues and any new emergent issues.”

FRA breaks down the “technical obstacles” into seven categories, including: Communications Spectrum Availability; Radio Availability; Design Specification Availability; Back Office Server and Dispatch System Availability; Track Database Verification; Installation Engineering; and Reliability and Availability.

Acknowledging private-sector efforts, FRA notes, “To date, railroads have raised and expended more than $1.5 billion of private capital to try and resolve these issues. The Federal Government has distributed $50 million through the Railroad Safety Technology Grant Program. Solutions to these issues have either not been identified or cannot be implemented by the current Dec. 31, 2015, deadline.”

FRA recommended that “if Congress were to consider legislation extending the PTC implementation deadline, it

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should consider several factors, including the extent to which each railroad has demonstrated due diligence in its efforts to successfully implement PTC technologies on its rail system. In the event that Congress were to make legislative changes, FRA suggests allowing for provisional certification of PTC systems that will allow for the use of installed PTC systems under controlled conditions before final system certification is complete. This will allow for the incremental use of PTC systems and produce an increase in safety as the systems are systematically rolled out.”

FRA suggests that any revisions to a railroad’s PTCIP be subject to FRA approval, with sufficient time for FRA to review. And FRA recommends that it be allowed to approve a railroad to use alternative safety technologies on specified line segments in lieu of PTC, particularly in areas with lower safety risks, if appropriate.

Congress passed the Rail Safety

Improvement Act of 2008, which included the mandate to install PTC on “each Class I railroad carrier and each entity providing regularly scheduled intercity or commuter rail passenger transportation” on selected rail lines in risk-priority order, including lines over which specific “poison- or toxic-byinhalation hazardous materials” are transported. Subsequent delays in implementing PTC have been anticipated by many, including within Congress itself.

Earlier this year, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, working on renewal of surface transportation funding, recommended that the deadline for PTC be extended by five years, from Dec. 31, 2015, to Dec. 31, 2020. The PTC legislation was spurred in large measure by the high-profile collision in September 2008 of a Metrolink passenger train with a Union Pacific freight train in Chatsworth, Calif., which killed 25.

ASGRO

Red ‘n Ready!

Kasgro Rail would like to thank Westinghouse Nuclear for their confidence and business.

The 36-axle Schnabel Railcar is the largest railcar ever built in North America. The railcar was built in New Castle, PA. The railcar is 231 feet in length and has a carrying capacity of 880-tons.

ASGRO

For New Railcar inquiries, Ken Heydorn 630-235-7716 kheydorn@kasgro.com

Success along the Meridian Speedway Twelve years ago, Kansas City Southern and Norfolk Southern entered into a haulage agreement from Meridian, Miss., to Dallas, Tex., in order to facilitate the movement of transcontinental intermodal business.

“The Meridian Speedway is a critical link to creating the shortest rail route between Mexico City and New York City,” said Pat Ottensmeyer, executive vice president sales and marketing with KCS. “With the sizable investments KCS has made in recent years in its cross-border network, it is also a key connector for KCS’ International Intermodal Corridor.”

For NS, almost all of its Southeast transcontinental business is routed over the Meridian Speedway, but Mike McClellan, NS vice president Intermodal and Automotive Marketing, also says the line has allowed NS and

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KCS to form a portfolio of high-quality intermodal and merchandise services linking KCS’ U.S. and Mexican networks with NS’ eastern network.

KCS management approached NS management in 2005 about the need for a capital infusion in the line due to traffic growth, which ultimately led to the Meridian Speedway LLC (MSLLC).

McClellan notes, “It was clear that the Meridian Speedway was the superior route linking California and the Southeast—for any railroad.”

NS and KCS began negotiations to create a joint-venture route between Shreveport, La., and Meridian. KCS would provide the 320-mile line

between the two towns and NS would invest $300 million in cash, of which $260 million would be used for line upgrades and capacity improvements.

Negotiations concluded in 2005; STB approved the joint venture in 2006.

According to Ottensmeyer, about $103 million will be spent on capacity improvements, including numerous siding extensions, a new second main line through Jackson, Miss., and new sidings near Jackson and Monroe, La. Centralized traffic control was also installed across the line, and a switch tender project at Jackson, Miss., which is anticipated to be completed in 2013, will also improve speed and capacity.

An additional $157 million was spent on rail, tie, surface, bridge, and turnout improvements, including replacing more than 100 track-miles of rail and installing more than 400,000 ties.

KCS and NS are currently developing a five-year maintenance program.

—Mischa Wanek-Libman

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At its J.R. Davis Yard in Roseville, Calif., Union Pacific last month unveiled an advanced experimental line-haul locomotive, UP 9900 (above), that will test three emissions-reducing technologies: exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), diesel oxidation catalysts (DOC), and diesel particulate filtering (DPF).

UP 9900, an “SD59MX,” is the signature unit in a series of 25 locomotives, developed jointly with EMD, that UP will use in a test of various emissions-reduction techniques throughout California.

To create the space needed to install aftertreatment technology in the body of the locomotive, engineers reduced its engine size. UP 9900 is a repower of an SD60, and uses a 12-cylinder, 3,200-hp EMD 710 prime-mover rather than aHH16-cylinder, 3,800-hpAd-RA CYCA-999 2C Capabilities

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710. UP expects the 9900 to move toward EPA Tier 4 standard with a 45% reduction in NOx emissions compared to the Tier 2 standard, and an 85% reduction in PM (particulate matter) emissions based on preliminary analysis. UP and the California Air Resources Board will jointly analyze locomotive’s 8/5/08 the 4:58 PM Page 1

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UP has partnered with EMD to develop 25 experimental locomotives based in two California rail yards. They are to be used in a $20 million test of new technology designed to reduce diesel emissions from freight locomotives.

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The test is UP’s latest effort to further reduce emissions and move closer to Tier 4, which takes effect in 2015. The locomotives are all intermediate line-haul units with an operating range of approximately 200 miles, and will be used in California.

Of the remaining 24 locomotives, nine will be fitted with EGR technology. They will be based in the Colton, Calif., area and will be tested through operations in the southern California region. The other 15 experimental units will work out of Roseville for operations in northern California. These locomotives have the capability to be retrofitted with EGR and other emissions reduction technologies as testing progresses.

California’s Proposition 1B, “Goods Movement Emission Reduction Program,” is partially funding this set of locomotives.

Testing on all 25 locomotives is scheduled to last through 2014.

September 2012 Railway age 17

GE TRANSPORTATION

Update

GE unveils prototype Tier 4 locomotive GE Transportation late last month unveiled its next Evolution Series locomotive that the company says “will decrease constituent emissions by more than 70% and save railroad customers

more than $1.5 billion in infrastructure and operational costs.”

The company anticipates that the new locomotive “will be the first in the industry to meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) stringent Tier 4 emission standards, which call for the singlelargest emission reduction in the tiered program’s timeline.”

GE added that the new locomotive “will meet this standard with technological advancements vs. costly alternatives, which require special exhaust additives and infrastructure investments.” EPA’s Tier 4 standards take effect in 2015.

For Tier 4, the EPA will require manufacturers of locomotive diesel engines to lower PM (particulate

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matter) emissions 70% and NOx 76%, compared to Tier 2 diesel engines introduced in 2005.

Alternative solutions, GE says, would likely rely on the use of a urea exhaust additive to meet these Tier 4 emission standards, requiring railroads to build an extensive network of fueling stations across North America. But the GE Evolution Series Locomotive “will not require the additive and railroad customers will not have to incur the costs related to rail infrastructure upgrades,” the company said.

GE’s approach is to manage engine cylinder temperature, hitting a high point sufficient to limit the amount of NOx produced by diesel fuel combustion but below the temperature that would significantly raise the output of CO2.

GE says all the Tier 4 diesel powerplants it has bench-tested in laboratories so far have met the EPA’s numeric targets. The company will submit an actual locomotive for EPA

approval after it has tested several of them in service. That process will take about two years. GE plans to have 30 locomotives tested by several Class I railroads under a variety of load and climate conditions. To date, it has not yet secured commitments.

GE Transportation President and CEO Lorenzo Simonelli said, “GE Transportation continues to challenge what is possible and reshape the future of the rail industry in the U.S. Thanks to the tireless efforts of our employees and the collaboration with our customers, we are the first in the industry to offer a solution that meets the next phase of the EPA’s emissions standards. Our technology is good for our customers and better for the environment.”

GE says it “gathered inputs from its North American Class I railroad customers concerning safety, reliability, fuel usage, and operational needs, and then partnered with its

operations and maintenance teams to test the new design’s real-world functionality. These sessions generated invaluable feedback around accessibility of parts, the layout and design, and above all safety.”

Said Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, “My administration firmly believes we can be successful in business while also safeguarding our environment and this advancement does exactly that. Congratulations to the GE Transportation team on this milestone achievement.”

GE’s Tier 4 Evolution Series Locomotives will be built at the company’s locomotive manufacturing sites in Erie, Pa., and Fort Worth, Tex.; the Tier 4-compliant diesel engines will be manufactured in Grove City, Pa. GE Transportation in July reported $1.6 billion in second-quarter revenue, and a segment profit of $282 million, up 27% and 58%, respectively, from the second quarter of 2011.

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Fort Worth Transportation Authority (“the T”) has been granted $4 million by the Federal Transit Administration to continue advancing TEX Rail, a 37-mile regional passenger rail service linking southwestern portions of Fort Worth, and the city’s downtown area, with Grapevine, Tex., and with Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

TEX Rail is expected to cost $758 million to construct. Officials at the T hope federal funding will cover half of that cost, with municipal and Tarrant County funding sources also contributing. Officials anticipate 18,000 daily riders by the year 2035.

Two stations in downtown Fort Worth to be served by TEX Rail already are used by Trinity Railway Express (TRE) service supported by the T and Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), linking Fort Worth and Dallas.

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Railway Age

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likE most railroads, norfolk southErn Can traCE its hEritagE BaCk many gEnErations, as its anniVErsary linE of lEgaCy loComotiVEs dEmonstratEs. september 2012 railway age 23

coveR StoRy

The photo at right, taken at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, N.C., represents no fewer than 20 Norfolk Southern-predecessor companies, including those that came together in 1976 to form Conrail, which NS split 58%/42% with CSX in 1997 in one of the most complex and contentious merger transactions in modern railroad history. The “Conrail Split,” as it’s most commonly known, changed the face of U.S. railroading in a positive way that only now is being fully understood and appreciated.

Norfolk Southern itself is the product of the merger of two great railroads, the Norfolk & Western and the Southern Railway. This year, celebrating 30 years as a company, NS went all-out, transforming 20 modern EMD and GE locomotives into rolling tributes, among other system-wide celebrations.

Would such a waving of the corporate flag have even been considered a generation ago? Perhaps not. But railroads today are in the enviable position of being a long-term growth industry. They’ve always been indispensable to the economy, but now they’ve earned their right to proclaim that. Their heritage is a source of pride.

As one NS executive put it in the company’s recently released book, Eat Steel & Spit Rivets: Norfolk Southern Employees Reflect on 30Years of Change, Challenge, and Achievement, “As to what we do at NS, there are few more-noble callings. We’re an all-American company, we’re steeped in history, we perform an essential service, we do it better than anyone else, and 100 years from now we’ll still be doing it. NS railroaders are dedicated and creative. They like to win. They believe in each other and in their company.”

Those railroaders are led by Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer Wick Moorman, who spoke with Railway Age about the company’s solid foundation, and where it and the industry are headed in the foreseeable future.

RAILWAY AGE: Looking back on your own career, did you ever think that you would be sitting in your office celebrating your company’s 30th anniversary?

WICK MOORMAN: No. I reflect on that occasionally. I had been working [at the Southern Railway] a while before the merger, so obviously it has been a long, great trip for me. But my entire career with the railroad has been terrific and I’ve been blessed in a lot of ways. Probably the principal way is that I started to work with one of our great predecessor railroads, the Southern, and have been able to work for such a wonderful company, Norfolk Southern, for so long.

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RA: One thing that comes to mind is the Southern’s famous slogan, “The Southern Gives a Green Light to Innovation.”

That seems to be Norfolk Southern’s mantra today.

WM: We do focus on innovation. We actually have a core set of values that we call the Spirit Values, which are safety, performance, integrity, respect, innovation, and teamwork.

It’s still part of our core belief that we have to continue to innovate to provide better service to our customers and better cost-efficiencies at the same time. That is something I think will always be in our genetic makeup. I think it will always be important to us.

RA: You promote and encourage a lot of varied experience within the management team. That encourages people like you who have run several divisions to have a very broad base of knowledge.

WM: We do have a history of doing that, and I certainly was a great beneficiary of trying to give people of all levels from the most senior down to the middle and lower levels opportunities to do other things in their careers with the belief that the more you understand about how this company works, the more effective the manager you will be.

RA: There has been a fair amount of hiring the past couple of years, somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 to 3,000 people annually. How do you retain those people?

WM: There are slightly over 30,000 people that work for Norfolk Southern. Of that 30,000, a little over one-third of them have been with our company for six years or less, so we have an enormous amount of turnover. We have a more inclusive and diverse workforce, which I think is a great source of strength. It requires a lot of work to go out and find those people. We’ve hired more in the train and engine service ranks than anywhere else, but we are also actively hiring in the management ranks in both college hires and people with experience. There the trick is to put programs together that teach people about the railroad, and give them a head start with whatever tools they need. It is a constant focus on finding the right people and then devising the right training programs so that those folks are prepared to go to work happy that they are working at Norfolk Southern and have all the tools to succeed. We have been very successful at hiring from the military. Those folks feel comfortable in the rail industry, having worked in a disciplined environment.

That has been a big win-win for everyone.

RA: What are some of the things that you try to communicate to your potential new-hires to get them interested?

WM: For a lot of folks it is a pretty easy sell because once they get up to speed on who we are and our history they look at us as a very stable company, a company with a lot of opportunity, and a company where they can come and have a career and a great experience. It is really all about education. Clearly the economic turmoil we’ve been through for the past few years has just amplified the desirability of working for a company

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like ours. Thirty or 40 years ago we hired lots of kids out of high school and some out of college. Today we hire a very broad range of folks, from a demographic standpoint. We have a lot of people who come to work for us as conductor trainees or as new managers who are in their 30s or 40s and who have had career experience. People who have worked somewhere else and come to work for Norfolk Southern really have an appreciation for who we are and what we do, our focus on safety, our stability, all of the things we do.

RA: The business environment: At Norfolk Southern there seems to be a good balance. Coal, a major source of revenue, is down. However, intermodal is very strong. This year is the strongest year in history for intermodal.

WM: We have the benefit of a very diverse and balanced business portfolio. That’s clearly an enormous strength of ours.

We’ve invested a lot in our intermodal product and we anticipate that it will continue to grow. When we look at the second half of this year we do see headwinds. We do not think that utility coal will rebound any time soon, although we have been seeing a few positives related to the extremely hot weather. We know that utility stockpiles are coming down. We see natural gas prices starting to rise. What that presages is a rebound in our utility coal business. But at the

same time there are other pieces of our business that may become a little softer. We are very optimistic about the long term. For the shorter term we are guarded.

RA: Would you say that, as a company, you are able to respond quicker to changes in the market, in the economy, in the traffic base?

WM: We are certainly quicker to respond. We have better tools in terms of managing the network and looking at the traffic we are handling and adjusting the size of our train operations accordingly. The industry rode through the downturn of 2008-2009 in much better shape that you might have thought 10 or 15 years ago. It gets a little trickier in terms of response in a situation like where, like 2009, not everything is turning down at the same time. Our network is operating extremely well. Our metrics tell us that we are operating the railroad as well as we ever have. We have to be very careful when we want to adjust somewhere when one thing is down so that it doesn’t have some network impact that would be deleterious to the rest of our train operations.

RA: Public-private partnerships: The Heartland Corridor is going great guns.

WM: That has been a great success. We finished expanding

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our clearances from Columbus down to Cincinnati, which gives us a much better route out of the Port of Norfolk to serve the Cincinnati area.

RA: And

the really big project, the Crescent Corridor, is well under way.

WM: It is progressing very well. We have been doing a significant amount of work on our line-of-road infrastructure to add capacity where we know we are going to need it and to get our speeds up. The big issue, in terms of investment, is the intermodal terminals. This year we have three major terminals that will be completed. Those three are Memphis, Birmingham, and Green Castle, Pa. We have also broken ground for a fourth major Crescent Corridor terminal in Charlotte. That is an interesting terminal because it is located between two active runways at the Charlotte airport.

RA: How is the Meridian Speedway project with Kansas City Southern working out?

WM: That is a great partnership. Almost all of the construction work has been completed. There is one major project in Jackson, Miss., which is under way and due to be completed soon. The traffic volumes are good, the service level is very good, and we put a substantial amount of money into the

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joint venture in exchange for an ownership interest. We are very pleased with how that has worked out.

RA: Do you have any feel for where your capital spend might go over the next few years? Do you see it remaining steady or do you see it increasing?

WM: Barring unforeseen things, we are spending a lot of money, and we will continue to spend in the range of the level we are at now for a few more years. Part of that is driven by the fact we are going to spend close to a quarter of a billion dollars this year on PTC. That is going to be an ongoing expenditure for several years and an ongoing expense after that. We invest an enormous amount every year in our fixed plant. We have a great infrastructure and we believe in spending in a smart way on our maintenance cycles, replacing ties when we need to, replacing rail when we need to. That gets more expensive every year. We are buying locomotives. We bought some this year, and we are committed to buy some next year. One of the big capital items we are looking at is replacing our coal car fleet. We own a lot of our coal cars because of the nature of some of our coal business. That fleet is just in the process of becoming life-expired. We’ve replaced several thousand cars already.

We are buying some this year and putting new bodies on

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some this year as well. We are looking at a period of time over the next four or five years where we are going to be buying coal cars and probably merchandise cars as well. I would expect that for the next few years we will have a fairly healthy capital spend, provided our economics look good.

RA: Looking at the regulatory environment, would you say things seem to have quieted down a bit or not? Is reregulation as serious a threat as it once was?

WM: It’s always a serious threat, and it’s always something we take very seriously because we are very concerned about any suggestion or any initiative that would put us back in the bad old days and destroy our ability to earn an adequate return, particularly given the enormous capital investments that we are looking at. From the legislative standpoint, there is maybe slightly less concern right now, and that is because we have the Senate controlled by one party and the House controlled by another, and they do not seem to be able to get along on the time of day. But I am always quick to point out to people that railroad regulation and legislation is not a partisan issue. We have a lot of friends on both sides of the aisle and we have a few detractors on both sides. But my general sense is that at least for Railage Final Proof2_PDF2.pdf 8/17/2011 the timeDEE being the Ad legislative issues are a little less 8:26:11

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threatening. The STB is another issue. They put out a couple of things. One was the request for more information on switching and access and the other was the rate-case rule.

We are looking at them very carefully. It is fair to say that we are not particularly comfortable with them because we haven’t really measured the impact that they might have if they are taken to their limit. The other is because, particularly in terms of access, it is a slippery slope. We are absolutely going to remain adamant and put data behind our position and show how we might be threatened in such a way that our returns go down and our ability to invest goes down and we end up in a position where the industry looks a lot more like it did when I came to work.

RA: What do you think the industry will look like, let’s say, 10 years from now?

WM: I have a lot of optimism about how the industry will look 10 years from now. I think that all the carriers, certainly Norfolk Southern, will continue to invest in capacity.

Everyone is focused on providing customer service and on doing business. If you look at the broader transportation needs of this nation, it is very clear that the railroad has to play a larger and larger part. I feel it is as good today as the AM future will ever be. ra

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engineering,

the sustainable way Maintenance practices are taking on a more eco-friendly tone as the railroads choose materials and services aimed at sustainability.

R

ailroads are the green form of transportation.

Besides the statistics behind moving a mile of freight via rail vs. truck, all the North American Class I railroads have their own initiatives directed toward being environmental stewards and good corporate citizens. But

32

Railway age

September 2012

sustainability, which encompasses employee safety, community outreach, as well as environmental sensitivities, is not just the responsibility of the large railroads. Companies involved with the materials and services railroads use also are focusing their efforts on sustainability.

was not put into our railroad crossing,” says Barry.

As a final element of the process, once a HiRAIL crossing reaches the end of its service life, it can be recycled yet again.

“If [the crossing has] reached its useful life and the customer wants to send it back to us, we will gladly take it so they don’t have to pay a tipping fee at the landfill,” says Barry.

Crossties are another track component in which railroads have an opportunity to lean toward sustainability. While the environmentally amiable merits of the various types of crosstie materials can be argued, the question of what to do with a crosstie, specifically a wood crosstie, once it has reached the end of its useful life, is an issue the railroads have wrestled with for years.

Sustainability is not just the responsibility of the Class I railroads.

NATIONAL SALVAGE AND SERVICE CORP.

By Mischa Wanek-LiBMan, engineeRing editoR

Recycled materials

Sustainability on the maintenance side of railroading begins with the choice of materials, and numerous ecologically friendly options are available to railroads in all elements of the track and structures.

One option comes from HiRAIL Corp., which manufactures rubber grade-crossings from 85% recycled material. An estimated 600,000 tires per year, which come to the company’s

manufacturing facility in the form of rubber buffings, are recycled into HiRAIL crossings.

Walt Barry, director of sales and marketing for HiRAIL, notes that even waste from the manufacturing process, such as the flash that is cut off from a newly molded crossing, is recycled.

“In our case, if we didn’t do this with these tires, [the tires] would go into a landfill somewhere. This is something that would be put in the garbage if it

“The old technology was disposal,” says Jeff Broadfoot, vice president marketing, sales, and business development at National Salvage and Service Corp. “We dispose of them from the right-of-way, but we actually repurpose the material.”

National Salvage and Service collects and sorts the wood crossties into several different grades. Those that are still usable in track are sold back to smaller railroads and industry. Those that cannot be used in track are either graded for landscape use or are sent to the company’s grinding facility to be ground into chips for fuel.

“Our goal is to recycle and reuse stuff, repurpose it to put as little into the landfill as possible. The railroads have been clamoring for it for years and I think the advantage that National offers is that we can help them recycle their railroad ties. But because we’ve created a new tie division, we can September 2012 Railway age 33

actually give them what they’ve always asked for, cradle to grave, we can furnish them with new railroad ties, we can take their old ones and we keep the sustainability,” says Broadfoot.

Broadfoot notes that there is a lot of research concerning remedial treatment of wood ties using both water-borne and oil-borne in-track treatments. Additionally, Broadfoot says National Salvage and Service is looking into treatment of used ties that would extend the tie life cycle, but for him, the real sustainable feature of a wood crosstie is in the material itself.

“When we need more product, we grow another tree,” says Broadfoot.

National Salvage and Service will handle an estimated 7 million ties this year. For perspective, the Railway Tie Association estimates 22 million ties will be placed in track in 2012.

National Salvage and Service also allows railroads to follow their crossties through the recycle stream and see what the company has done with every single crosstie.

Broadfoot mentions that the company has worked with all the major railroads and currently has active contracts with four. He says the railroads are being more progressive about crosstie recycling.

“We’re seeing a renewed interest, especially in Canada. Railroads are really seeing the value in green initiatives and that it does hold value for their stockholders,” says Broadfoot.

HiRAIL

SUSTaiNaBle eNgiNeeRiNg

Rubber tires can be recycled into grade crossings (above), while crossties, once they’re reached the end of their useful life (below), can be repurposed for landscape uses or fuel.

Contracting is another element of the sustainability equation. The methods and techniques used by a given contractor can enhance a railroad’s current sustainability initiative or enlighten it if one does not exist.

In 2009, Balfour Beatty Rail, Inc., developed its 2020 vision and road map for sustainability, a broad-based approach, which aims to embed sustainability into the thinking of everyone who works for Balfour Beatty Rail.

“Most people combine environmental issues and sustainability issues, but they are really quite separate,” says David 34

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NATIONAL SALVAGE AND SERVICE CORP.

sustainable contracting

SUSTaiNaBle eNgiNeeRiNg

Sprinkle, director of business development at Balfour Beatty Rail. “While sustainability encompasses environmental and ecological practices, in reality, it is a three-legged stool that includes economic issues, community issues, and environmental issues.”

Sprinkle says Balfour Beatty is trying to foster a collective responsibility of sustainability that touches the company’s costs, creates business opportunities, sharpens its competitive edge, improves the environment and local community, and improves its operating practices.

In order to reach success, Balfour Beatty has a targeted number of specific goals, including reducing its carbon

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Balfour Beatty Rail’s commitment to sustainable practices has prompted discussions about how to recycle wood ties in an environmentally responsible manner.

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New features for current products

The 30" x 30" AutoLOK™ II gravity gate is well known as a versatile performer. However, potash shippers needed some refinements to outlets on new cars being built. The modified 30" x 30" AutoLOK™ II gates will help overcome potash’s harsh properties. They have a stainless steel seal frame and runner channels as well as increased door support spacing to make them as corrosion resistant and lining-friendly as possible.

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Perfecting Railcar Performance

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One-HundredYears At STV, we’re bullish on rail. With a dual focus on passenger and freight systems, STV offers a full cadre of transportationfocused planners, engineers, architects, and construction experts supported by seasoned professionals who have built, operated, and maintained major rail properties nationwide. This combination of technical know-how and practical experience gives STV an edge in enabling our clients to achieve their unique visions.

Our portfolio of world-class rail projects is extensive—from yards and maintenance facilities to stations and intermodal terminals, bridges and line sections, track and systems, and vehicles, as well as entire systems incorporating all of these elements. Whether it’s a planning study, a design program, a construction management assignment, or a complex design-build initiative, STV is your fullservice source for rail consulting services.

On these pages are just a few of the many signature projects representative of STV’s fully integrated capabilities. We have a 100-year history of excellence and quality service, and look forward to serving the rail industry for the next 100 years, and beyond.

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PaTH worLD TraDe ceNTer TraNsPorTaTioN Hub New York’s rapid transit network is the city’s lifeblood. The destruction at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, affected many. STV is proud to be part of the Downtown Design Partnership, in association with architect Santiago Calatrava, leading the design of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey’s PATH World Trade Center Transportation Hub, which will be the centerpiece of rail transit in Lower Manhattan for generations to come. We are committed to seeing this project to completion, helping to restore and improve a critical part of New York City’s world-class transit network

NJ TraNsiT/aMT aLP45-DP DuaL-Power LocoMoTive The versatile ALP45-DP electric/diesel-electric locomotive is more fuel-efficient, reduces emissions and noise, and increases operations flexibility for these vital regional/commuter rail systems. NJT and AMT personnel collaborated closely with STV on this innovative assignment.

The STV professionals who worked on this vehicle have passenger rail field experience and a “can-do, will-do” philosophy. chriStoPher J. holliDay, P.e., Senior vice PreSiDent anD national Practice leaDer, vehicleS & SyStemS

rebuiLDiNg THe csX bay sT. Louis briDge STV’s freight rail practice is growing. Among our many areas of excellence are engineering and construction management for track and bridges, intermodal terminals, and classification yards as well as bridge inspections and rehabilitations. One of our award-winning projects was the rebuilding and strengthening of CSX’s Bay St. Louis bridge in Mississippi, in response to severe damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. roBert PhilliPS, vice PreSiDent, rail DiviSion

HousToN MeTro LigHT raiL sysTeM Part of being a full-service rail systems A/E firm is helping to create the next generation of rail engineers and designers. STV can offer young professionals involvement in exciting projects. With successful assignments like Houston Metro light rail (pictured) and new projects like converting Ottawa’s bus rapid transit to LRT, and the Charlotte LRT, STV has veteran experts eager to mentor young professionals for promising careers in rail. martin F. Boyle, Senior vice PreSiDent tranSPortation anD inFraStructure DiviSion

cHarLoTTe area TraNsiT sysTeM LyNX bLue LiNe LigHT raiL STV has one of the largest systems groups in North America, as well as a highly developed vehicle practice. We’ve grown and integrated both specialties to where we have an experienced set of experts in all sub-practices. That’s why we’re a good partner to have for a new-start project, like the Charlotte Area Transit System Lynx Blue Line LRT. richarD m. amoDei, Senior vice PreSiDent anD chieF Strategic growth oFFicer

airTraiN JFK To JoHN F. KeNNeDy iNTerNaTioNaL airPorT STV has a history of providing multi-disciplinary services for major rail systems and facilities across the country. Our notable projects go back as far as WMATA’s original Virginia Square and Pentagon Stations, the Long Island Rail Road’s John D. Caemmerer West Side Storage Yard, and the start up of California’s Metrolink system, to the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey’s AirTrain JFK (pictured). This tradition continues today with our involvement in a key section of California’s high speed rail system.

DaviD l. Borger, Senior vice PreSiDent anD national Practice leaDer, tranSPortation FacilitieS

SUSTaiNaBle eNgiNeeRiNg

footprint, effectively managing water use, reducing waste to landfill, and several other objectives.

Regarding reduction of its carbon footprint, Sprinkle says the company monitors its equipment, such as its trucks and maintenance-of-way equipment, with a GPS system to determine the location of equipment and whether it is idling or not. “When we’re working at a job site, for example, we encourage our equipment operators to drop to idle speed whenever they are not in working mode. Wherever our crew trucks are, we monitor our engine idling. We encourage our supervisors not to idle more than 30 minutes in a truck per day,” he says. “Obviously, that depends; if they are in 110-degree weather and need 45 minutes in the cab to complete paperwork, we understand their need for comfort— but not at the expense of unnecessary truck idle time.”

Sprinkle also says the company uses high-efficiency, lowemission engines when they are available. Portable generators power accessories and reduce the need for running undercutters and other large pieces of equipment.

“We’ve increased our focus on preventative maintenance, for a lot of reasons. It reduces mechanical costs on job sites, reduces emission on the engine and it decreases our down time, which reduces potential idling of the rest of the gang,” says Sprinkle.

One feature after another

Balfour Beatty also works with equipment manufacturers to introduce sustainable features. One example of this is the relocation and addition of switches and safety cutoffs to ensure maximum employee safety.

In addition to equipment and employee considerations to sustainability, Balfour Beatty has taken extra steps to cover the environmental side as well. Sprinkle says the company provides effective environmental site management plans for projects it is working on, for example, the use of crossings to protect an endangered turtle. Sprinkle says the company has also revised work crew schedules to avoid disturbing nesting bald eagles, and has regular conversations with its customers about recyclable material, such as steel ties.

Other discussions have included the safe and environmentally sound recycling of wood ties when the company is involved in tie take-ups.

After three years of the sustainability initiative, Balfour Beatty is still committed and excited to further incorporate the idea.

“We’ve gone from being concerned about how it would be received to fully embracing it,” says Sprinkle. “Today, we’re well-engaged in sustainability and aim to get 100% of our people involved in it; we’re full-speed ahead.” RA

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September 2012

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traffic control: Science or art?

T

he two types of traffic control used in the U.S. are split nearly evenly by track-miles between non-signaled, a.k.a. dark, territory, and track-circuit-based signaled operations, albeit the latter handles fourfold the amount of traffic. However, across the globe, signaled operations are predominant, and the use of dark territory is nearly non-existent, if even known, outside of North and South America, including 500 mechanical interlockings/signals and 1,000 manual level grade crossings.

All traffic control approaches, including the various levels of Europe’s ETCS, are based upon the principle of generating movement authorities for trains that do not overlap with authorities of other trains, so as to maintain train separation. To do so, the science is very straightforward. That is, a traffic control system needs to know both the occupancy/vacancy of each segment of track as well as the possible existence of conflicting authorities before generating new authorities. These two requirements provide for the vitality, the integrity, of railroad operations.

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Given the predominance of track-circuit-based signaling across the globe, the term vitality for signal engineers has become almost exclusively associated with the infrastructure of those systems. As such, when these individuals are asked what is vital in dark territory, they will respond inevitably that “there is nothing vital in dark territory since there is no infrastructure.”

This unfortunate association of vitality with equipment instead of the functionality of providing credible movement authorities, the underlying reason for having traffic control systems, is contributing to the lack of advancement of pragmatic, costeffective traffic control systems for those railroads that don’t have the density or complexity of the U.S. Class I’s or Europe’s high speed passenger operations. As should be expected, traditional signaling suppliers only offer capital-intensive signaling approaches that generate their revenue and ignore simple systems for small to medium-sized railroads, a critical point for developing countries.

What continues to be missing in traffic control for most railroads, including those in the U.S., is the art of traffic control

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tRaFFiC ContRol

PTC System Architecture Scope

All traffic control approaches, including North American PTC (pictured) and the various levels of Europe’s ETCS, are based upon generating movement authorities for trains that do not overlap with authorities of other trains, to maintain train separation. The science is straightforward: A traffic control system needs to know both the occupancy/ vacancy of each segment of track as well as the possible existence of conflicting authorities before generating new authorities. These two requirements provide for the vitality, the integrity, of railroad operations.

science from both a technical and functional perspective. The technical issue is the reliance on wayside infrastructure (e.g., track circuits, axle counters, and balises) to determine the status of a track segment instead of tracking the front and end of a train to determine its position within a corridor. Making this transition from a physical detection to that of a “virtual” one by the use of wireless data to report the movement of trains is a difficult paradigm shift for signal engineers that associate vitality with hardware instead of functionality, as noted above.

The ultimate version of virtual traffic control is that of moving-block that has yet to find its application in the U.S. for good reasons as to the level of investment and complexity in the development of “vital” back office systems in lieu of control points.

However, what is not obvious for many is that moving-block is actually dark territory on virtual steroids, if you will. Therefore, the art of traffic control science from a technical perspective is finding that level between established dark territory processes and the ultimate moving-block that balances 44

Railway age September 2012

tRaFFiC ContRol

investment against increased traffic throughput. I refer to this opportunity as Virtual CTC (V-CTC), which provides the functionality of CTC but without the wayside infrastructure.

It is this concept of V-CTC that the consulting engagement for which I am the project leader is developing for the Egyptian National Railways (ENR) to

make the transition from token and absolute block to a cost effective and safe operation that will incorporate an overlay of enforcement similar to that of PTC in the U.S. However, to pursue V-CTC in the U.S. requires a strategic planning discipline that is at best rare within the railroads and the supplier community. I am referring to the role of the technologist

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Railway age September 2012

that can develop a technology plan in sync with a business plan; the perspective of strategic railroading (as described on my blog, www.strategicrailroading.com).

The functional aspect of the art of traffic control science is that of incorporating traffic management that can optimize the efficiency of traffic control beyond that of the human limitations of the dispatcher to address a wide number of variables, including projected traffic conflicts and the availability of yard receiving tracks, train crews, and locomotives. Today, the dispatcher’s only tool for most railroads is CAD, a non-intelligent SCADA platform, that presents the then-current, “what is” state of the railroad, but not the “what can be” state, in that CAD only knows the position of trains and not their speed.

Without the speed data, dispatching is at best a reactive, crisis-based management of train movements. However, with the feed of train speed data into mathematical meet/pass planners, a dispatcher can be proactive in the management of trains with the projection of forthcoming movement conflicts and the identification of options to minimize if not avoid the consequences of those conflicts.

Nearly a decade ago I introduced the concept of functional vitality to counter those individuals and organizations foolishly claiming that PTC was vital. I now introduce another vitality offshoot, the concept of the vital employee. This is critical for enforcement purposes as I have already done when I directed the development of CSX’s CBTM, the first overlay PTC system, in the handling of Employees-In-Charge (EIC) that supervise maintenance of way gangs. In most cases on freight railroads, the EIC provides a secondary (nested) level of authority for a train to proceed through a work zone within the train’s overall authority.

Now, in Egypt, I am confronted again with a nested authority that has to be addressed to provide the necessary targets for enforcement. As noted earlier, ENR has 500 mechanical interlockings that are controlled by interlocking operators and 1,000 level-crossing guards that generate movement authorities accordingly. They are a source of functional vitality that will be nested within the V-CTC system.

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tRaFFiC ContRol

Egyptian National Railways is making the transition from token and absolute block to an overlay enforcement system similar to PTC.

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Therefore, providing for enforcement for their vital processes is a most interesting challenge for which the V-CTC platform will handle via the automatic detection of the status of mechanical signals and gates as well as the use of manual processes for non-monitored interlocking routes.

It is interesting to note that it may be a Federal mandate, and not railroad technicians, that will eventually permit those U.S. railroads lacking a strategic railroading perspective to advance the efficiency of their operations. I refer to the mandate of PTC that will require a wireless data platform that can also be used for train management purposes. To be clear, while there are still those individuals and organization that fatuously proclaim the business benefits of implementing PTC (e.g., FRA website: “PTC systems also enable a railroad to run scheduled operations and provide improved running time, greater running time reliability, higher asset

utilization, and greater track capacity”), they either fail or refuse to realize that it is the wireless data network that provides the capability to deliver the data.

PTC cannot deliver such benefits; PTC is just an application that uses the wireless network. The underlying explanation is very straightforward. In order to improve the efficiency of traffic control systems, whether dark or signaled, requires an improvement in the generation and/or delivery of movement authorities. These tasks are provided by traffic management systems and digital authorities (in dark territory), respectively, that can and have been deployed independent of PTC. What also may be most enlightening for some is that a railroad doesn’t need to replace CAD to obtain advance traffic management capability. Rather such planning systems can be outboard of the traditional CAD platform, i.e., providing dispatchers with management tools on a relatively simple, separate platform, with the execution being handled in the traditional CTC fashion.

The bottom line is that railroads facing throughput constraints and/or inefficient resource utilization with their current traffic control approach can benefit from the incorporation of advanced traffic management approaches for a relatively low investment that does not require the replacement of their current CAD platform. And small railroads that don’t require the capacity levels deliverable by traditional or advanced signal systems should seek out those suppliers that can deliver virtual traffic control systems.

For either situation, an objective development of a strategic technology plan in sync with a strategic business plan is required. But that will not be provided readily, if at all, by technicians within the railroads or the traditional suppliers.

Technologists are required that can provide the strategic railroading perspective that can leverage the paradigm shift from physical to virtual positioning of trains and/or incorporate the availability of speed data via the use of wireless data technologies—with or without the deployment of PTC. RA September 2012 Railway age 49

PTC

CommuniCation:

Finding the right technology mix

Blending IP-based and radio-based communications is advantageous. Failing to make the appropriate investment now will invite more cost and limitations in the long run.

F

or the railroads’ communications architects, the implementation of PTC is a complex and legislated initiative. Although some would like to press the reset button, the deadline does not afford the freedom and time for a major re-analysis of the PTC architecture and redesign of an ideal solution.

Faced with this reality, technologists at the major railroads have been working incrementally, designing very effective systems by adapting the architecture to fit their needs and taking advantage of existing communications infrastructure without compromising interoperability. These systems help establish a technology mix both in the field and in the back office that will yield a demonstrably better system, while attempting to meet the legislated time constraints.

Despite its many requirements, the PTC architecture does allow flexibility in defining the communications system between components. Where appropriate, railroads should consider using IP-based communications as a supplement to relying solely on the radio-based communication system, in development, that underpins interoperability. In fact, a mix of IP-and radio-based communication technology is advanta50

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By leah Schanely and attila Mihalyi, princeton consultants

geous for a number of reasons, as evident in the case of CSX. In contrast to 220 MHz radio-based communication, IP-based communication is available now and has a proven track record. It has the bandwidth to support the data required for systems management, whereas the radio-based system has less capacity. Moreover, its implementation mitigates the risk associated with reliance on a new custom radio technology and adds redundancy to the communications network. The CSX executives charged with PTC implementation evaluated the benefits and related costs.

“We saw the opportunity to take advantage of our existing IP connectivity to the field and expand it and thereby not rely on a single communications path for PTC,” says Henry McCreary, Director of PTC Communications at CSX Technology. “This also fits with our strategy for IP to the Wayside for improved visibility and management.”

IP-based communication will provide a complete, realtime view into the network and operations, and it will allow

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troubleshooting and management of field assets. CSX architects and a team from Princeton Consultants worked together to build a communications relay system that will complement the radio-based system and enable end-to-end IP communications between waysides and locomotives.

Completed in less than one year, CSX’s IP-based communications relay design is a testament to successful incremental development in a mandated business environment.

Other railroads should evaluate this approach to develop one that works for their specific business needs. Blending IP and radio-based communication will yield more reliability and improved performance, as well as provide extensibility for added functionality like systems management or consolidation with current dispatch traffic.

A proposed communication solution utilizes redundant IP links and 220 MHz radio for interoperability. Wayside status messages can be transmitted to locomotives via various IP paths or by radio from one or more base station radios. This path flexibility underpins the increased availability of the mixed IP and radio solution. The necessary 220 MHz radio coverage can be achieved with the use of distributed base stations, while waysides can be primarily IP connected. The current PTC communications and messaging architecture allows this configuration.

Traditionally, the railroads feel very comfortable with radio-based communication. They’ve used and maintained it for decades—they know radio. It’s a system that is easily controlled internally and does not rely on external providers for bandwidth. In contrast, IP requires reliance on external providers. However, there are notable limitations of using only radio-based communication. Asset and systems 52

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management will be more difficult, and many advanced protocols will be unavailable through radio. There are also security risks that should not be ignored.

“At CSX, we’re aiming for ‘dual, independent IP paths’ to each field location,” says Henry McCreary. “One path is always wireless. The other is either land-based or wireless as well, but care is taken to ensure that it is independent from the primary wireless path—key to achieving availability.”

From an implementation standpoint, choosing a radio-only design will force communications architects to reinvent some of the same protocols that have already been implemented and are tested and in place for IP. With radio, protocols are subject to bandwidth limitations that entail risk, whereas many IP technologies are in use, proven and reliable. For example, the IP-based version of Network Time Protocol (NTP) allows one to synchronize time across the entire network—a cornerstone of PTC. This synchronization would be much harder across a radio-only-based network.

Some railroads are immediate candidates for a robust, IP-based solution. Commuter railroads tend to have less geographical area to cover, and they may already have access to wireless IP because they operate in densely populated areas. For railroads without existing wireless connectivity, proximity to population centers is a strong indicator to consider IP, but even a railroad with a high percentage of rural lines should consider IP because wireless coverage is rapidly improving.

A cost-benefit analysis will determine what investment in IP makes sense: continued on p . 68

Finding common ground

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North America’s freight rail system plays host to a growing network of regional, intercity, and light rail passenger services. Now, high- and higher-speed have been added to the mix. Passenger and freight rail interests must deal with issues of compensation, liability, operational and grade crossing safety, signaling and train control requirements, capacity constraints, and maintaining the integrity of freight service. Finding common ground can be problematic.

Join Railway Age at this premier event—the industry’s only conference on freight-plus-passenger railroading. supporting organizations

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agenda

Moderator: William C. Vantuono, Editor, Railway Age

October 10

October 11

Registration | Continental Breakfast sponsored by MARSH Global Rail Practice and Oliver Wyman Inc.

Registration | Continental Breakfast sponsored by PTMW, Inc.

Keynote Address Michael Melaniphy, President and CEO, APTA The Choice Between Speed and Frequency: A Global Perspective Kevin Foy, Surface Transportation Practice, Oliver Wyman (moderator); David Kutrosky, Managing Dir., Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority; Steve Potter, AVP, Passenger Planning, CSX; Rod Case, Partner, Oliver Wyman Inc. Coffee Break sponsored by Bombardier Transportation Understanding MAP-21 (Mapping American Progress for the 21st Century) and Its Implications for Passenger and Freight Rail Art Guzzetti, VP—Policy, APTA Luncheon | Cosponsored by AIPRO | Additional Cosponsorship Available Guest Speakers: Ray Chambers, Transportation Policy Advisor & Executive Dir., Association of Independent Passenger Rail Operators; Stan Feinsod, Passenger Rail Consultant Progress Report: Building and Operating the Chicago-St. Louis Higher-Speed Rail Corridor Mike Franke, Chief, State Government Contracts, Amtrak; Speakers from Union Pacific and Illinois DOT TBA Energy Break | Sponsorship Available A New, Private Passenger Rail Service in Partnership with a Freight Railroad Gene Skoropowski, Sr. VP—Passenger Rail Development, All Aboard Florida; John Flint, Sr. VP—Rail Infrastructure, All Aboard Florida Restoring Passenger Rail Between Chicago and the Quad Cities Earl Wacker, Business Line Leader - Railroads, URS Corp.; Mick Burkhart, COO, Iowa Interstate Railroad (invited) Cocktail Reception | Sponsorship Available

Progress Report: Building and Operating the Chicago-Detroit HigherSpeed Rail Corridor Kevin Sheys, NOSSAMAN LLP (Moderator); Speakers from Amtrak, Norfolk Southern, and Michigan DOT TBA Coffee Break sponsored by STV, Inc. Blending Regional, Intercity, and Freight Rail with Municipal Transit Initiatives Kenneth R. Peel, Counsel in Transportation Law & Dispute Resolution; Charles A. Spitulnik, Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell LLP; Additional Speakers TBA Luncheon | Cosponsored by AAR & CSX Transportation Presentation of the 19th Annual Railway Age W. Graham Claytor, Jr. Award for Distinguished Service to Passenger Transportation to Robert VanderClute, Senior Vice President, Safety and Operations, Association of American Railroads Getting Complex Railroad Insurance Claims Paid Just Might Be Getting Easier Jim Beardsley, Managing Dir., Marsh Global Rail Practice Progress Report: Planning, Financing, and Building California’s High Speed Rail Corridor David L. Borger, Sr. VP, STV; Additional Speakers TBA Lanyards sponsored by URS Corporation Program subject to change/augmentation.

REGISTER ON THE WEB: www.railwayage.com SPONSORSHIPS AVAILABLE: Contact Jane Poterala at (212) 620-7209; jpoterala@sbpub.com

registration form Please register me for the Passenger Trains on Freight Railroads conference, Oct. 10-11, 2012 in Washington, D.C. Registration fee is $895 per participant, payable in advance. [ ] Check enclosed (Payable to Railway Age) [ ] Bill my company [ ] Bill me Charge my

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City _________________________ State ________ Zip____________________ Telephone _________________________ Fax ____________________________ Email _____________________________________________________________ Please send this completed form, or a photocopy, with your payment to: Jane Poterala, Conference Director

CONFERENCE FEE AND HOTEL: The registration fee for Passenger Trains on Freight Railroads is $895, which includes admission to all conference sessions, conference documentation containing all available proceedings, and social events. The Washington Marriott Hotel, 1221 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20037, has set aside a block of rooms at $289 single/double for attendees. These will be held until 30 days prior to the conference; those reserving after that date will rely upon room availability.

Contact the hotel directly at (202) 872-1500 for room reservations (mention group code “Railway Age”). You will receive room confirmation directly from the Washington Marriott Hotel. CANCELLATION POLICY: Confirmed registrants who cancel less than one week prior to the conference are subject to a $250 service charge. Registrants who fail to attend are liable for the entire fee unless they notify Railway Age in writing prior to the conference.

Phase One of the Second Avenue Subway runs from 96th Street south to 63rd Street, linking with existing F and D line services.

NYC TraNSiT:

DiggiNg NEw CapaCiTY Construction woes keep coming, but North America’s largest subway system is literally tunneling to (and for) the future.

By DouglaS John Bowen, Managing eDitoR

W

East Side angst, decades old AECOM is the prime consultant for the engineering and design effort for the Second Avenue Subway (SAS) project in Manhattan, an urban legend despite its literal nonexistence since it was first proposed in 1920. First delayed by The Great Depression, SAS later was shunted aside in the mid-1970s as MTA diverted capital funds for operations purposes during the New York City fiscal crisis, following three years of limited construction.

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MTA/PATRICK CASHIN

hatever the future holds for New York City, the subway system will matter more than any other form of motorized transport, rail or otherwise. And construction of the Second Avenue Subway and the No. 7 extension, both underneath Manhattan, represent the resumption of growth for North America’s largest subway system after decades of stagnation.

California has taken the plunge to lead the U.S. to true high speed rail. And the Golden State’s biggest city, Los Angeles, is aggressively pursuing its ambitious expansion of light rail transit (with subway additions and some streetcars in the mix, to boot).

Compared with LA’s LRT expansion—and certainly with ambitious subway startups in China and elsewhere in Asia—New York’s subway expansion, at present totaling roughly 3.5 route-miles, may appear modest at best.

But one MTA New York City Transit employee not involved directly with the construction work sees it differently. “The first subway from City Hall to 42nd Street, opening in 1904, was roughly four miles long—not the hundreds of miles it is today,” the source points out. “Cynics can snipe, but these lines may be only the beginning of a general trend, fiscal squeeze or no.”

inFRaStRuCtuRe

Rock removed for both SAS and the No. 7 extension (the latter shown here) is being recycled for use elsewhere at city facilities, including parks.

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MTA

But a long-awaited first segment of SAS, a two-mile reach north of 63rd Street to 96th Street, will restore rail access to one of the richest (and heavily populated) congressional districts in the nation, access removed when service on both the Second Avenue Elevated (1942) and Third Avenue Elevated (1955) was terminated, in part with the expectation of a Second Avenue Subway alternative.

Not even anti-rail partisans question the potential market; the line’s 96th Street Station is expected to draw an estimated 213,000 riders every day, bolstering—and relieving—the East Side’s sole subway offering, the famed Lexington Avenue (4, 5, 6) Line, moving 1.3 million people per day.

The Q train will be extended from the system’s existing 63rd Street Station,

stopping at new 72nd, 86th, and 96th stations along Second Avenue. A “T Line” service would begin only if Phase 2 of construction advances the line north to 125th Street to link with the existing Lexington Avenue Line, utilizing two existing tunnel portions already in place in an earlier, aborted effort to advance the line (99th St. to 105th and from 110th to 119th).

Rail critics, however, continue to snipe at the cost. SAS’s total cost for 8.5 miles, all underground, will be at least $17 billion in 2012 dollars. By itself, Phase One’s estimated cost is $4.5 billion, a cost very likely to rise before it is completed. As well, original plans have been scaled back from four tracks to handle express and local service, per MTA standard in Manhattan, to a two-track line.

Other critics continue to pound deadline delays. Last May MTA Chairman and CEO Joseph Lhota told local media, “I’m

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very comfortable that we will be proceeding as planned” toward revenue service commencing in December 2016.

(Far) West Side story Driven by economic development dreams (including the failed effort to hold the 2012 Summer Olympics in New York) backed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and funded primarily by the city’s own capital budget and not other sources, the 1.5-mile, $2.1 billion extension of the No. 7 Line is officially titled “7 Subway Extension — Hudson Yards Rezoning and Development Program.”

But it, too, has seen its opening date slip, from late 2013 to June 2014, though testing is expected to begin in late 2013, just before Bloomberg’s term of office expires. Construction is overseen by a joint venture of J.F. Shea, Skanska, USA Civil, and Schiavone.

Criticized by some for usurping other, more pressing subway markets, scorned

by others for going to a relative “nowhere” in Manhattan, the extension already is clearly already driving commercial and residential activity on Manhattan’s Far West Side, as its backers had hoped.

Moreover, MTA notes, the extension “will also improve service reliability for all riders of the No. 7 in Queens and Manhattan by providing additional storage space for trains,” as opposed to turning equipment rapidly at its current Times Square terminus (of three tracks). MTA NYCT currently is adding Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) to the No. 7 Line, including the new addition.

Like its SAS counterpart, the No. 7 extension has seen its physical plant reduced, with cost constraints prompting the sacrifice of a 10th Avenue stop to serve an existing (and growing) residential area.

Also a casualty: A brief flurry of interest in making MTA NYCT a bistate

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service, via extension of the No. 7 underneath the Hudson River to Secaucus Junction, N.J., on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. Though backed by Mayor Bloomberg as a concept, and explored via a $250,000 study awarded to Parsons Brinckerhoff in 2011, the idea subsequently was dismissed by MTA CEO Lhota last April. Lhota (and many New Yorkers) suggested continuing any No. 7 extension down 11th Avenue, possibly linking with MTA NYCT’s L Line at 14th Street—the first line in the system operating with CBTC. The extension exacted a human toll last April as well, with a crane collapse near MTA Long Island Rail Road’s West Side Yards claiming the life of one worker and injuring a second.

Cutaway model of a Second Avenue subway stop, including the mezzanine, gives a scale of underground depth.

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JOSEPH M. CALISI

inFRaStRuCtuRe

MTA/PATRICK CASHIN

Underground obstacles Though both SAS and the No. 7 extension are being constructed with mechanized tunnel boring equipment, bolstering worker safety and reducing labor-intensive and more visually intrusive cut-and-cover construction, current-day environmental standards call for much more air, water, noise, and visual pollution mitigation measures than in decades past (still not ameliorating complaints from residents along the route, who now and again cite adverse effects on business and daily pedestrian travel).

On SAS, work hours are limited on weekdays between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., and on Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m., though MTA cautions that various utility companies “may be performing cable and gas line work outside regular SAS construction hours.”

And while much of SAS tunneling has benefitted from boring through tough Manhattan schist—perfect for deep-bore

Ready for rail, No. 7 line tunnel infrastructure extends west of its former terminus under Times Square.

tunneling—the project has encountered lessthan-ideal conditions, forcing cut-and-cover work, or literally freezing the tunnel route with calcium-chloride brine before tunneling.

Add to that “a spaghetti of tunnels, utilities, pipes and cables,” as one contractor put it, and the difficulties of the project become magnified.

The No. 7 extension has proceeded more smoothly, once overcoming an initial physical obstacle: an existing lowerlevel platform on MTA’s huge NYCT

42nd Street/Eighth Avenue station, oddly enough originally constructed by the Independent Subway System (IND) to thwart any No. 7 extension westward by its rival, the Interborough Rapid Transit Co. (IRT). RA

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September 2012 Railway age 61

Figure 1: Machine vision image of a freight car undercarriage.

tHe view from below How macHine vision can be used to inspect railcar undercarriages.

By Jim RoBeda, senior engineer, and Semih Kalay, senior vice president technology, ttci, for railway age

M

anufacturers have used machine vision successfully for many years. Applications of the technology in the railroad environment have begun to show promise in aiding in the inspection of railcars.

The technology provides repeatable objective inspections, assisting inspectors in making maintenance decisions.

Under the direction of the Association of American Railroads’ Strategic Research Initiatives Program, Transportation Technology Center Inc. is working with Beena Vision Systems Inc. to develop and test a machine vision based system that inspects the undercarriage of a railcar. This area of the railcar is typically very difficult and time consuming to inspect. It also requires inspectors to place themselves in precarious positions to perform proper inspections. Undetected undercarriage defects provide the potential for derailments or other serious 62

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accidents. Using an array of high-speed cameras and lights, the Beena Vision system is intended to provide detailed images of the railcar undercarriage as the train passes at track speed.

Algorithms will then identify the components of interest and assess their condition. Alerts will be sent out automatically to the appropriate locations when a defect is detected.

Initial proof of concept testing was completed in 2007 and hardware development was completed by late 2010. The original intent of an undercarriage inspection system was to look at the condition of the major structural components such as the center and side sills. However, once it was determined that the system was able to provide a high level of detail (Figure 1, above) for various components not easily seen during manual inspection, the scope of the project was enlarged to include the entire undercarriage.

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n Includes 1”tall x 12” wide, cube-corner micro-primatic Reflexite AR 1000 sheeting on both sides.

n Helps prevent clearance point / crossover fouling accidents n Dimensions: 2” tall x 12” wide.

Tells crew how far they can shove a car without “fouling” the adjacent track. The marker is ideal for use at “clearance points” or any location near a junction of rail lines beyond which it is unsafe for passage by equipment or a person riding the side of a car on an adjacent track.

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n Extremely bright at night and visible to a distance of 1,000 feet.

Applications: n To be applied to outside of appropriate tie. A third marker can be placed on the inside of tie as well. n Can be applied anywhere night-time visibility is preferred.

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September 2012 Railway age 63

TTCi R&D

There are currently two production level systems in place for algorithm development and test purposes. One system is located at the TTCI’s Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST) in Pueblo, Colo., and another one is located on a Class I railroad in revenue service.

A risk assessment was completed to evaluate the risk associated with each type of component failure or problem applicable to inspection by the undercarriage inspection system. The risk model was then used to prioritize algorithm development for the system. Using the risk model, the components were prioritized into the following five groups: • Coupler retaining pin/cross key, draft gear/mechanism.

• Brake rigging, brake components, hand brake linkage or connection, brake pipe.

• Truck bolster, truck sideframe.

• Center sill, side sill, draft sill, body bolster, other body defects.

• Bottom outlet doors, bottom outlet door attachment.

Testing was first conducted to determine the capability of the algorithm to identify various components such as the brake beams and connection pins, coupler vertical pin retainer plates and associated fasteners, truck bolsters, and axles. Once detection capabilities were proven, algorithm development began focusing on assessing the condition of these components.

Figure 2. Missing coupler vertical pin retainer plate fasteners.

Tests were conducted at FAST in May with a special consist that had embedded defects on several of the cars.

Missing coupler vertical pin retainer plate fasteners (Figure 2, above) and disconnected or missing brake rods were detected with 100% accuracy, but with a 10% false-positive rate.

Additional testing for detection and assessment of these components is scheduled throughout the remainder of 2012. Upon successful completion of this phase of testing at FAST, the algorithm will be migrated to the revenue service installation. Algorithm development and testing for the remaining components on the priority list will continue over the next several years. As the algorithm developments become available, they will also be migrated to the revenue service system.

This technology shows great promise to help further advance the safety and efficiency of the railcar inspection process. By providing objective and timely inspection results on a consistent basis, the use of technologies such as this will continue to move the North American freight rail system from a reactive to a proactive maintenance position. RA 64

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People

Meetings

HigH Profile Noted railway civil engineering and safety consultant and researcher Dr. allan M. Zarembski on aug. 1 accepted a position as research professor and director of the Railroad engineering and Safety Program in the Department of Civil engineering at the University of Delaware. Dr. Zarembski founded ZeTa-TeCH associates, now a business unit of Harsco Rail, a consultancy and applied technology firm dedicated to the railway and transportation industries. Dr. Zarembski holds a Ph.D. and M.a. in Civil engineering from Princeton University, Zarembski and an M.S. in engineering Mechanics and a B.S. in aeronautics University and astronautics from New york University. He began his railway of Delaware engineering career as a Research associate in the Department of Civil engineering at Princeton. He then spent five years at the association of american Railroads, then worked at Pandrol inc./Speno Rail Services Co. as Director Research & Development, before founding ZeTa-TeCH. He is well-known to Railway Age and Railway Track & Structures readers through his numerous articles and conference presentations, and through two books published by Simmons-Boardman Books.

October 3-4

KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN—David Ebbrecht named COO and executive vice president.

Holland Co. appointed new Regional Sales Managers: Jon Pecha, allentown Pa., Northeast U.S.; Bobby Taylor, Denver, western U.S. Contracting, Transit, and Short line; and Luis Gonzales, Chicago, KCS and Mexico.

NORFOLK SOUTHERN—John P. Rathbone named eVP Finance and CFO, and James A. Squires named eVP administration. Previously their roles were reversed.

Watco Compliance Services announced Carl Hybinette has joined as VP engineering, responsible for the day-to-day compliance and engineering activities at the company.

DART—Scott Carlson appointed general counsel.

PATRIOT RAIL CORP.—Arthur Shoener appointed to the company’s board of directors.

READING & NORTHERN RAILROAD— Dennis Shaffer named VP Business Development.

UNION PACIFIC CORP.—elected President and CeO John Koraleski to the company’s board of directors.

SUPPLIERS Gannett Fleming, Inc. named Senior Vice President and National Director Transit and Rail David B. Thomas Director-Southeast Region, Miami.

Harsco Corp. named Patrick Decker President and CeO, effective Sept. 10, 2012, succeeding interim chairman and CeO Henry Knueppel.

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100 YEARS AGO in

(SEPTEMBER 1912) COAL IN CANADA A quarter of a million dollars will be spent by the Jasper Park Collieries, on a new permanent plant at the mines in Jasper National Park on the main line of the Grand Truck Pacific, west of Edmonton. Thes mines are in the heart of the Jasper National Park, situated on a high plateau, commanding magnificent views of Mount Miette. About 50 houses have already been built. The machine shops are nearly completed and it is expected that the mines will be in full operation by December 1.

The G.T.P. will shortly use Jasper Park coal on locomotives on the three sections east of Edmonton. The coal is a high grade bituminous.

Southwest Association of Rail Shippers Conference

The woodlands waterway Marriott Hotel, The woodlands, Tex. Jack Dail, Tel.: 425-818-8240; Fax: 425-358-5035; email: jdailconsulting@comcast.net; website: www.railshippers.com/ regional/southwest.

October 10-11 Railway Age Passenger Trains on Freight Railroads

washington, D.C.

Jane Poterala, email: jpoterala@ sbpub.com; website: www.railwayage.com.

October 24-26 Railway & Mass Transit Interiors Technology/Design Expo

Seaport world Trade Center, Boston, Mass.

Peter Haynes, Tel.: +44 (0) 1306 871338; email: peter@ torquepr.co.uk; website: www. railwayinteriors- expo.com.

October 24-26 Engineering Modern Mass Transportation Systems: Light Rail-Rapid TransitCommuter Rail embassy Suites Bloomington and Minneapolis airport, Bloomington, Minn.

David Peterson, Tel.: 608-2622813; email: peterson@epd. engr.wisc.edu; website: epdweb.engr.wisc.edu/ weBN388.

October 26-27 Railroad Environmental Conference University of illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, ill.

Kimberley Schlichting, Tel.: 217-244-0841; email: hagemann@illinois.edu; website: ict.illinois.edu/ railroad/.

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POSitiVe tRain cOntROl continued from p. 52

What kind of performance improvement do we want our communications to achieve? n Can we accept the limitations and risk of a radio-only solution? n Have we fully evaluated IP-driven functionality? n Do we have existing IP coverage to leverage? n What are the tools that facilitate the right mix of IP and radio?

The answers to these questions should generate more value out of a hybrid communications network.

On the signaling side, some railroads are faced with a related dilemma: to simply retrofit wayside locations with new PTC equipment; or to completely upgrade them and integrate the PTC functionality. Many railroads have decadesold wayside signaling equipment that leverages technology that is old and hard to maintain, albeit functioning safely.

Integrating it with PTC is challenging, unproven, and scattered with pitfalls. The second option, a complete site upgrade to utilize modern signaling equipment, is favored by some railroads. It is a proven method, though it may entail a more expansive initial implementation.

PTC will force the railroads to choose. The less expensive, short-term course would be to rush to meet the PTC deadline and install PTC equipment to interface with existing n

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legacy equipment. The potential consequences of creating such an architecture in a short period of time could entail grave consequences years later if the present unknowns turn out unfavorably. Instead, railroads should embark on a suitable wayside modernization program to improve, not just maintain, current levels of safety and efficiency.

In mixing IP and radio-based communication and in modernizing wayside infrastructure, technologists at CSX and other railroads are presently making key decisions to design and implement real improvements—beyond safety—that will last for years after the PTC deadline has passed. For them, simply meeting the PTC requirements is not good enough.

Rather than search for a Reset button that doesn’t exist, they’re working strategically and nimbly to safely attain the most reliable railroad that is possible. RA Leah Schanely is a Director at Princeton Consultants and a leader of the firm’s rail transportation practice. She currently serves as a systems integrator for PTC projects at CSX. Attila Mihalyi, Ph.D., is a Senior Engineering Specialist at Princeton Consultants with extensive experience in communications and systems management in railroad environments. Princeton Consultants, www.princeton.com, is an IT and management consulting firm that helps organizations achieve transformative improvement.

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:

FRA Part #

Last Update Effective:

40 . . . . . . . . .7-3-12 209 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 210 . . . . . . . .8-14-89 211 . . . . . . . .7-20-09 213 A-F . . . . .6-25-12 213 G . . . . . .6-25-12 214 . . . . . . . .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 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . . .6-25-12

232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 242

. . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . . .6-25-12 . . . . . . . .8-13-12 . . . . . . . .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.

50 or Item FRA 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

BKTM

BKPSS

232

Brake System Safety Standards

NEW!

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

10.00

9.00 7.85 4.75 11.00

Each

13.75

12.50 Each

46.00

Passenger Safety Standards 20.80 Part 238, 239 - Order 25 or more and pay only $18.95 each Signal and Train Control Systems Under Revision Part 233, 234, 235, 236 Coming Soon!

BKMPIE

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

Drug and Alcohol Regulations in the Workplace Part 40 & 219

The Railway Educational Bureau 1809 Capitol Ave, Omaha, NE 68102

Fax: (402)346-1783 • Email: orders@transalert.com

$26.95

Mech. Dept. Regs.

BKMFR

Order 25 or more and pay only $24.50 each

Part 229: Locomotive Safety Standards The Locomotive Safety Standards cover the laws governing inspections and tests, brake system, draft system, suspension, electrical, cabs and cab equipment plus more!

The Locomotive Safety Standards Part 229 has been newly revised to include the new and up-dated FRA rules that went into effect June 8th and 25th 2012. These revisions include remote control air brakes, air conditioning, lights, locomotive electronics and civil penalties.

Also included are the updated defect codes for Part 229 as of Jan. 2012. Softcover. Spiral bound.

BKLSS

Locomotive Safety Standards

$10.00

Order 50 or more and pay only $9.00 each

Part 231: Railroad Safety Appliance Standards 49 CFR 231. General requirements for safety appliances including: handbrakes, brake step, running boards, sill steps, ladders, end ladder clearance, roof handholds, side handholds, horizontal end handholds, vertical end handholds, and uncoupling levers. 106 pages. Softcover.

BKSAS

Railroad Safety Appliance

$8.35

Order 50 or more and pay only $7.85 each

BKSTC

BKCAD

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

9.00

25 or more

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

There are no new proposals or final rules to report for this issue. Be sure to check back next month to see if there are any changes to FRA regulations.

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*Prices subject to change. Revision dates subject to change in accordance with laws published by the FRA. 9/12

Products Troubleshoot in the field with SparkChaser equipment livewire™ innovation offers SparkChaser™ Fault Finding and Cable troubleshooting field test equipment, available for immediate shipment. “The livewire SparkChaser is the first portable wiring tester capable of identifying and pinpointing the location of wiring faults, including arc faults, on live and unpowered systems,” says livewire CeO Ron Vogel.

The SparkChaser Dynamic TDR utilizes advanced Spread Spectrum Time Domain Reflectometry (SSTDR), which allows it to work on live cables, energized at industry typical voltages, to find exact locations of faults, opens, shorts, or intermittent arc faults in switching equipment, rolling stock industrial, or light rail.

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Intermodal is the fastest-growing form of surface freight

transportation.

Join Marine Log and Railway Age April 2-3, 2013 in Baltimore for a special conference devoted to exploring the multi-modal approach to moving cargo efficiently—by rail, by ship, by truck. conferences@sbpub.com

Intermodal Age the new

Presented By

70

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September 2012

conference & expo

Training • Books • DVDs • Wall Charts • Maps • Cyclopedias Managing Railroad Transportation

By Thomas White Managing Railroad Transportation is the third volume in the series on railroad operation.

The two volumes of Elements of Train Dispatching discuss railroad operation and transportation management from the point of view of the train dispatcher. Managing Railroad Transportation goes on to the next level, discussing control center management functions, once the domain of the chief dispatcher.An understanding of train dynamics fundamentals (the interaction among grades, curves, tonnage, tractive effort, and horsepower) is essential to railroad transportation management.

BKMRT

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$39.95

FRA Regulations Track Safety Standards, Subparts A-F • BKTSSAF • $8.95 Conductor Certification • BKCONDC • $10.00 Mechanical Department Regulations • (Parts 210, 215, 216, 217, 218, 221, 223, 225, 229, 231, & 232) • BKMFR • $26.95 General The Railroad—What it is, What it does • BKRRNN • $42.95 All About Railroading • by William C. Vantuono • BKAARR • $28.95 Safety on the Rails - The Union Switch & Signal Story • by Joanne L. Harris • BKSOTR • $39.99 Emergency Responder’s Guide to Railroad Incidents • by Greg A. Rhoads • BKERGRAIL • $30.00 1997 Car and Locomotive Cyclopedia • BKCLC97 • $99.00 Dispatching Elements of Train Dispatching, Vol. I • by Thomas White • BKETD1 • $44.95 Elements of Train Dispatching, Vol. II • by Thomas White • BKETD2 • $41.95 Railway Operation and Control • BKROC • $39.95

Canadian Rail Atlas

NEW

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This 5th edition of the Canadian Railway Atlas illustrates Canada’s world class rail network, the third largest rail system in the world, the backbone of the transportation system and a major economic driver.

Produced in association with the 50 goods, tourist, commuter and intercity Rail businesses represented by the Railway Association of Canada, as well as nonmember railways, the Atlas reflects changes and developments in the rail sector up to December 2011.

It features 68 pages of detailed information, 16 largeformat regional maps, connections to the North American rail network and an index of the more than 5,000 railway stations across Canada. 68 pages.

by Kenneth W. Griffin Building Type Basics for Transit Facilities presents nutsand-bolts guidelines and inspirational, real-world advice to jump-start superlative design projects for a variety of transit facilities. Award-winning architect Kenneth Griffin, AIA, provides guidelines, cautionary advice, and lessons learned from a variety of actual transit design projects--such as facilities serving heavy- and light-rail trains (including subways), airports, buses, and ships--to steer everyone on a project toward making sound decisions early in the planning cycle. Hardcover, 368 pgs.

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BKTFAC Building Types for Transit Facilities $85.00

BKCANAT

Canadian Rail Atlas

Freight Car

Dictionaries

Coal Trains: The History of Railroading and Coal in the United States • BKCOAL • $37.00

Dictionary of Railway Track Terms • by Chris Schulte • BKRTT • $29.50

Guide to Freight Car Air Brakes • BKFCAB • $68.75

Railway Age’s Comprehensive Railroad Dictionary • BKRD • $29.95

Guide to Freight Car Trucks • BKFCT • $82.50

Transit

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Urban Mass Transit - The Life Story of a Technology • BKUMT • $27.00

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Urban Transit: Systems & Technology • BKUTST • $145.00

Guide to Locomotive Mechanical Maintenance - SD & GP Locomotives • BKGLMM • $31.25 The Modern Locomotive Handbook • by J. C. Kissinger • BKMLH07 • $19.75 Maps Railroads of Canada Wall Map (laminated) • MPRRCAN • $99.00 Railroads of Mexico Wall Map (laminated) • MPRRMEX • $99.00 Railroads of the Continental United States Wall Map (laminated) • MPWML07 • $39.95 Training Videos (DVD) Daily Locomotive Inspection (DVD format) • DVLOCO • $225.00 Blue Signal Protection (DVD format) • DVBLUE • $195.00 Plant Railway Safety Switching Program (DVD format) • DVPLANT • $225.00 Railroad Hearing Conservation Training (DVD format) • DVHEAR • $149.00

Urban Transit: Operations, Planning & Technology • BKUTOPE • $150.00 Public Transportation: On the Move • by Marc Wortman, PhD • BKPTRANS • $60.00

Shipping Rates: Add the following shipping and handling if your merchandise subtotal is: UP TO $10.00 10.01 - 25.00 25.01 - 50.00 50.01 - 75.00 75.01 -100.00 100.01 - 150.00 150.01 - 200.00

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To order, call

1-800-228-9670 or visit

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Ad Index Company

Phone #

Fax

Email address

alcoa Fastening Systems/Huck aldon Co., ames Construction, inc. amsted Rail group Balfour Beatty Beena Vision Systems, inc.

Birmingham Rail & locomotive Boatright enterprises, inc.

Collins engineers, inc.

Cyclonaire Corp.

Danella Rental Systems, inc.

Diesel electrical equip.

Diversified Metal Fabricators Dixie Precast electro-Motive ellwood Crankshaft & Machine gannett Fleming Haynes Corporation Helm Financial Corp.

Herzog Railroad Services, inc.

Holland Co. Hotstart HyTROC interstate Diesel Service, inc. invensys Rail Corp iTT enidine/Koni Kasgro Rail Corp Koppers, inc. lTK engineering Services Miller Flepax Miner enterprises New york air Brake Nordco Norfolk Southern Corp Pandrol USa, inc.

Precision Quincy Progress Rail Services Progress Rail Services - eTS RailComm, inc.

Railhead Railquip, inc.

Railroad Financial Corp.

Rails Co. Railworks Railway educational Bureau, Th Ritron, inc.

S&C Distrubution Co. Salco Products, inc.

Sealeze Unit Of Jason Siemens industry, inc.

Soft Rail Spanco inc. & Rigid lifelines Strato STV, inc.

Trackmobile llC Trainyard Tech llC Vossloh group ZTR Control Systems

800-388-4825 847-623-8800 952-435-7106 312-922-4516 888-250-5746 678-597-3156 205-424-7245 800-873-2020 312-236-5817 402-362-2000 610-828-6200 219-922-1848 404-879-7885 770-944-1930 800-255-5355 724-347-0250 954-767-6094 239-643-3013 415-398-4510 ext 347 816-233-9002 708-672-2300 ext.382 509-536-8667 201-512-9500 800-321-4234 502-244-7400 859-488-0322 630-235-7716 412-227-2739 215-641-8826 612-865-9382 630-232-3000 607-257-7000 414-766-2180 757-629-2706 800-221-CliP 815-338-2675 256-505-6485 256-505-6485 585-377-3360 773-779-2400 770-458-4157 312-222-1383 973-763-4320 866-905-7245 402-346-4300 800-USa-1-USa 708-396-1755 630-685-4607 804-275-1675 ext.235 800-SieMeNS 888-872-4612 610-286-7200 732-317-5406 212-777-4400 706-884-6651 ext.226 724-443-8881 00 49 239 252 273 952-233-4792

254-751-5259 847-623-6139 612-719-5017 312-922-4597 904-378-7298 678-597-0156 205-424-7436 205-298-9483 312-704-9320 402-362-2001 610-828-2260 219-922-1849 404-875-4835 770-944-9136 708-387-6626 724-347-0254 904-998-7207 239-643-5311 415-398-4816 816-233-7757 708-672-0119 509-534-4216 201-512-9615 216-881-0805 502-253-3760 859-334-3340

stu.millard@alcoa.com e-rail@aldonco.com msweeny@amesco.com kskibinski@amstedrail.com info@bbri.com info@beenavision.com bhamrail@aol.com info@boatrightcompanies.com eboehien@collinsengr.com sales@cyclonaire.com pbarents@danella.com dieseleqpt@aol.com pkrohnert@dmfatlanta.com fbrown142@aol.com genuineparts@emdiesels.com ecgsales@elwd.com dthomas@gfnet.com bdixon@haynescorp.com jzimmerman@hlmx.com tfrancis@hrsi.com gpodgorski@hollandco.com mfloyd@kimhotstart.com btapp@hytorc.com vcoppola@interstate-mcbee.com bob.coffman@safetran.com jpipp@koni-na.com kheydorn@kasgro.com ambrosegf@koppers.com tfurmaniak@ltk.com davefisher@millerfelpax.com sales@minerent.com paula@onlinesms.com info@nordco.com rsbroom@nscorp.com

412-227-2841 215-542-7676 507-452-2463 630-232-3055 607-257-2389 414-766-2379 757-629-2822 856-467-2994 815-338-2960 256-840-2651 256-840-2651 585-377-3341 773-779-0231 770-458-5365 312-222-1470 973-763-2585 952-469-1926 402-346-1783 317-846-4978 708-396-1754

610-286-0085 732-981-1222 212-529-5237 706-884-0390 724-443-8881 00 49 239 252 274 952-233-4375

Page #

pqsales@precisionquincy.com bcox@progressrail.com bcox@progressrail.com sales@railcomm.com jdonnan@railheadcorp.com sales@railquip.com tkruglinski@railfin.com rails@railsco.com jrhansen@railworks.com bbrundige@sb-reb.com sales-info@ritron.com info@sandcco.com lisa_lakatos@salcoproducts.com smaclaughlin@sealeze.com www.usa.siemens.com.transportation sales@signalcc.com mevanko@spanco.com korozco@stratoinc.com info@stvinc.com jimcodlin@trackmobile.com cra2@zooninternet.net info@vossloh-north-america.com lauer@ztr.com

13 18 28 9 36 17 41 5 40 16 12 30 53 20 C2 60 64 17 41 14 C4 C3 19 51 43 35 11 27 44 58 37 57 48 3 29 15 25 34 45 15 59 65 40 7 69,71,72 46 63 63 20 47 30 31 26 38,39 68 68 21 49

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 345 Hudson St., 12th Floor New york, Ny 10014 (212) 620-7224 Fax: (212) 633-1863 jchalon@sbpub.com

AL, AR, IN, KY, LA, MI, MS, OH, OK, TN, TX emily Kalmus 20 South Clark Street, Suite 2450 Chicago, il 60603 (312) 683-5021 ekalmus@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 345 Hudson St., 12th Floor New york, Ny 10014 (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 2450 Chicago, il 60603 (312) 683-5026 Fax: (312) 683-0131 hdisabato@sbpub.com

GLObAL ADVERTISEMENT SALES, EXCEPT ITALY, ITALIAN-SPEAKING SWITZERLAND, JAPAN, AND NORTH AMERICA Donna edwards advertisement Manager Suite K5 & K6 The Priory, Syresham gardens Haywards Heath, RH16 3lB United Kingdom +44-1444-416368 Fax: +44-1444-458185 de@railjournal.com.uk

AuSTRALIA, CZECH REPubLIC, HONG KONG, INDIA, KOREA, MIDDLE EAST, NETHERLANDS, NEW ZEALAND, RuSSIA, SCANDINAVIA, SOuTH AFRICA, SOuTH AMERICA, SPAIN, WORLDWIDE RECRuITMENT Steve Barnes international area Sales Manager Suite K5 & K6 The Priory, Syresham gardens Haywards Heath, RH16 3lB, UK +44-1444-416368 Fax: +44-1444-458185 sales@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 345 Hudson St., 12th Floor New york, Ny 10014 (212) 620-7211 Fax: (212) 633-1325 cwilson@sbpub.com

September 2012 Railway age 73

pRoducts & seRvices

New High Speed Turnout Design For a free report in PDF format send request to HerbLandow@yahoo.com

pRoFessioNal diRectoRY

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

strAteGic PLANNiNG: • Commuter rail tranSitionS • fra ComplianCe programS • operationS auditing

Kansas City Office (913) 661-2424 oPerAtioNs trAiNiNG & coNsULtiNG: www.tcsrailservices.com • engineer training & CertifiCation other services: • exCellent HiStory witH fra, ntSB • Staffing • interim management • meCHaniCal & part 238(Qmp)

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

Rail-seRved Real estate

HOUSTON AREA LAND FOR SALE

(ROSENBERG, TEXAS) • 216 ACRES, KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN & HWY 59 FRONTAGE • 214 ACRES, UNION PACIFIC & HWY 90A FRONTAGE Call for Other Rail-served Properties Contact FRANKLIN DENSON, Broker, at 713-334-1114 fmdenson@yahoo.com F.M. DENSON & Co

74

Railway age

September 2012

tRaiNiNG

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

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

equipMeNt sale/leasiNG

Available For Lease

◆ 4,200 cu. ft. Gondolas - Interior bracing removed and tub bottoms reinforced for C&D, coke, scrap, aggregates, etc. ◆ 3,600 cu. ft. Open Top Hoppers.

45 degree slopes for aggregate or coke service, etc. ◆ 5,750 & 5,852 cu. ft. Pressure Differential (PD) Covered Hopper Cars.

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

ATTENTION CONTRACTORS, ENGINEERS, AND AGENTS Wanted to buy – all railroad scrap you have.

Wanted: car bodies for 150- and 300-ton railroad cranes. Also heavy lifting and hauling of large loads over the road. 24 hrs emergency repound unit. Environmental clean up train wrecks, construction-demolition-HAZMAT chemical cleanup.

Railroad car cut-up. Also, engines cut too. Bridges torn down and replaced with new structures.

No job too big or small.

USA Kentock Group Ltd, contact Jerry Stanton for quote or email jerrystanton95@gmail.com. Fax or call: phone 215-285-2930, 267-997-8133, fax 215-864-9665.

Contact us for all your railroad needs. eMploYMeNt

Manager, Parts Sales Opportunity eMploYMeNt

Superintendent Trac-Work is an established railroad track construction company that has been in business for 42 years. We are currently seeking a superintendent in Mobile, AL. The successful candidate must be willing to relocate and travel. Must have experience in scheduling, cost control, crew management, materials, tools and equipment management. Successful candidate will exhibit strong technical and railroad construction related background including 5+ years managing railroad construction operations with direct supervisory responsibilities. We offer a competitive benefits package. Salary is negotiable. Please forward resume including salary requirements to eallen@trac-work.com or fax your resume to 972-875-1298. EOE

A leading manufacturer of freight rail equipment, has an immediate opening for the position of Parts Sales Manager in its sales department located in Chicago, Il. The primary function of this position is to lead, plan, and execute direct marketing and sales activities for the railcar parts business in agreement with the approved business plan. The Parts Sales Manager will also be responsible for monitoring market activity, maintaining existing and developing new customer relationships, and completing annual sales plans and long-term forecasts accordingly. Effective written and oral communication skills as well as the ability to develop realistic, appropriate solutions to problems are a must.

The ideal candidate should possess a bachelor’s degree or an equivalent of five or more years of sales experience in the rail industry or similar manufacturing industry. Extensive overnight travel and willingness to work outside of normal business hours as necessary is required.

Please submit resume to railgroup@sbpub.com.

For advertising information call

Find your

Classified Sales Representative

rail industry job opportunities at

Craig Wilson

www.rtands.com & www.railwayage.com

•

phone

(212) 620-7211

• fax (212) 633-1325 e-mail

cwilson@sbpub.com September 2012 Railway age 75

Financial Edge anthony KRuglinSKi

Tank cars are still hot. The rest of the market?

I

write to you ensconced in my summer place on the Jersey Shore (no Chris Christie sightings recently) where I have been collecting a series of bits and bobs to share with our readers this summer. I have already written about the red hot market in general-purpose tank cars for service moving crude oil—frankly, the biggest equipment story this summer.

Here are some additional musings about the various car markets: Plastic pellet cars: Apparently there has been some recent secondary market activity for 5,800- to 6,200-cubic-foot plastic pellet cars. We heard a report that cars built in the early ’90s were recently sold for a price in the high $30,000 range. What does this indicate? The values for used car prices continue to climb along with new car prices.

Sand cars: We also hear that the market for new sand cars is slowing down, apparently in response to the market supply for these smaller covered hoppers meeting the current demand.

Another reason cited is the depressed price for the natural gas that is being “fracked” out of various shale deposits.

Grain cars: No surprise here. We understand that the leasing market for grain cars continues to crater. Clearly, this is all due to the national drought situation and the poor state of this year’s corn crop. Given the equally sorry state (shallow) of the rivers that transport significant amounts of barge traffic, one would hope that there would be some countervailing traffic coming off barges to rail. If you have a view on that, we would be happy to hear from you.

Coal cars: This market continues to be soft with a future that is “mixed” at best. As long as the price of natural gas remains low, utilities with the option 76

Railway age

September 2012

will be burning more gas than coal.

Add in EPA-motivated activities hitting some plants and the situation is not good. Don’t look for any dramatic changes prior to the elections that might or might not signal a shift in national coal policy.

Autoracks: We hear that an order has recently been placed for trilevel autoracks. This is the first time we have heard of such an order in some time.

The bank appetite for new railcar leases appears to have little or no saturation point.

We believe that the pricing on these racks (not including the flat cars on which they sit) was just shy of $100,000.

Finance leasing: The bank leasing market still appears hot for mediumterm leases to good credits. Even more interesting, there appears to be little or no saturation point for the bank appetite for new railcar leases. Again, finding an attractive market for 5- to 10-year leases on new railcars is a relatively new situation for the lessees involved. What happens if you are not a good credit? You may not qualify for the super-skinny bank net-lease pricing, but our friends in the operating leasing fraternity would rather have a lease behind their purchase of new cars rather than do it on spec.

If and when you do seek out bank lease financing, pay attention to the rents you are quoted. If you are in the

middle of a finance lease negotiation, make sure that the quoting bank lessor does not suggest that the bonus depreciation that is available for rolling stock delivered in 2012 carries over to deliveries in 2013. We have heard that at least one bank has suggested that this might be the case—and then asked the lessee to “indemnify” them (the bank) for any assumed tax benefits that aren’t eventually forthcoming.

Operating lessor profit taking: We’re told that the usual slow summer of activity relative to fleet sales is not the norm. Apparently, some owners are taking advantage of current high prices for used railcars under lease to take some profits. This activity appears to have no end in sight. (No matter how much operating lessors tout their interest in building their fleets, virtually all will sell amortized equipment to record a gain.)

Open access: We hear that there is a bit of buzz concerning the fact that the STB is looking at the Canadian model of open access to potentially force a single-source carrier to interchange cars from that single-service location to a competing railroad a short distance away (25 to 30 miles). Our friends who are studying this development point out that if shippers obtain this tool they will attempt to use it first to drive down the highest “rated” traffic on single-source points. The result, we’re told, is likely to be a significant loss of operating income to the existing single-source railroad. The fact that this matter is part of a formal STB proceeding is what’s news. Stay tuned.

Finally, for Rail Equipment Finance 2013 (March 3-6, 2013, Palm Springs, Calif.), we will open registration (www.railequipmentfinance.com) Oct. 13th. We hope to see you all there!

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