November Railway Age 2016

RailwayAge

November 2016 | www.railwayage.com

Serving the railway industry since 1856

HANDLING HEADWINDS CSX holds its own in a stormy economic climate

C&S FOCUS: PTC M/W FOCUS: RAIL WELDING TRANSIT FOCUS: SAN FRANCISCO

RailwayAge

November 2016

visit us at www.railwayage.com Features Class I Focus: CSX

14

M/W Focus: Rail welding

21

Transit Focus: San Francisco 25 C&S Focus: PTC

32

TTCI special trackwork

37

News/Columns From the Editor

2

Update

8

Watching Washington

12

Financial Edge

44

Departments

14

Industry Indicators

4

Industry Outlook

6

Market

7

People

38

100 Years Ago

38

Meetings

38

Products

39

Advertising Index

41

Professional Directory

42

Classified

43

21

25

On the Cover CSX on the move Photo courtesy CSX Railway Age, USPS 449-130, is published monthly by the Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation, 55 Broad St., 26th Fl., New York, NY 10004. Tel. (212) 620-7200; FAX (212) 633-1863. Vol. 217, No. 9.

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November 2016 Railway Age 1

From the Editor William C. Vantuono

Editorial and Executive Offices Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp.

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

From icon to legend

I

n the Merriam-Webster dictionary, an icon is “a person who is very successful or admired.” A legend is “a famous or important person who is known for doing something extremely well,” but who has passed on. Former Norfolk Southern senior executive James W. “Jim” McClellan, who played a significant role in shaping the structure of the modern North American railroad industry, transitioned from icon to legend on Oct. 14, 2016. He was only 77.

Throughout a career in the railroad industry that spanned almost a half-century, Jim worked at Southern Railway, New York Central, Penn Central, the Federal Railroad Administration, Amtrak, the U.S. Railway Administration, the Association of American Railroads and Norfolk Southern in marketing, planning and policy roles. He retired from NS in 2003 as Senior Vice President Planning.

Jim is best known for his strategic behind-the-scenes work in the mid-1990s during the split of Conrail between NS and CSX. He is credited with NS’s so-called “go crazy” strategy that ultimately stopped CSX and then-Chairman John Snow from grabbing 100% of Conrail, enabling NS to acquire 58% of Big Blue and effectively creating a competitively balanced Northeastern freight rail network.

Jim was among the core group of people in the U.S. Railway Administration who created Amtrak and laid the groundwork for Conrail, and later was a part of the teams that created Norfolk Southern from a merger of the Norfolk & Western and the Southern, in addition to his later involvement in the Conrail split. Railroad executives and transportation planners relied on Jim’s encyclopedic railroading knowledge and interpretations of railroad system maps and rail traffic flows.

Jim is the focal point of several chapters in Rush Loving Jr.’s 2006 book, “The Men Who Loved Trains: The Story of Men Who Battled Greed to Save an Ailing Industry.”

Loving, a long-time friend of Jim’s, 2

Railway Age

November 2016

RailwayAge

referred to him as “The Forrest Gump of Railroading,” in the sense that he always was in the right place at the right time. But unlike Winston Groom’s hero, Jim’s presence was no random event.

Railway Age honored Jim with the W. Graham Claytor Jr. Award for Distinguished Service to Passenger Transportation, and he was named one of “75 People You Should Know” in the November 2015 issue of Trains magazine. McClellan’s own book, “My Life with Trains: Memoir of a Railroader” is slated for a May 2017 publication.

A self-professed life-long rail enthusiast from age five—the Atlantic Coast Line ran next to his backyard— Jiom was an accomplished rail photographer for almost 60 years. Post-retirement from NS, he joined Woodside Consulting as a Vice President. He gave numerous speeches dealing with railroading’s past and future. He was also a painter, a model railroader, and a passionate boater, both sail and power.

Jim graduated in 1961 from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, where he earned a B.S. in Transportation Economics. He served as an officer in the U.S. Navy, with the Atlantic Fleet Destroyers.

“Jim foremost and always was a visionary, and his enthusiasm made tomorrow an exciting place to be. He drew the roadmap for modern railroading and never stopped asking, ‘What’s next?’” said NS Chairman, President and CEO Jim Squires. “Jim’s friends and colleagues at Norfolk Southern join railroaders around the country as we mourn his passing.”

Jim is survived by his wife, Joanne; a son, Mike (Vice President Industrial Products at Norfolk Southern); a daughter, Susan Abagnale; and several grandchildren.

He will be missed for a very long time to come.

ARTHUR J. McGINNIS, Jr., President and Chairman JONATHAN CHALON, Publisher jchalon@sbpub.com WILLIAM C. VANTUONO, Editor-in-Chief wvantuono@sbpub.com BEN VIENT, Managing Editor bvient@sbpub.com Contributing Editors: Roy H. Blanchard, Alfred E. Fazio, Lawrence H Kaufman, Bruce E. Kelly, Ron Lindsey, Ryan McWilliams, David Nahass, Jason H. Seidl, David Thomas, John Thompson, Frank N. Wilner Creative Director: Wendy Williams Art Director: Nicole Cassano Graphic Designer: Aleza Leinwand Corporate Production Director: Mary Conyers Digital Ad Operations Associate: Shannell Beckles Production Director: Eduardo Castaner Marketing Director: Erica Hayes Conference Director: Michelle Zolkos Circulation Director: Maureen Cooney Western Offices 20 South Clark Street, Suite 1910, Chicago, IL 60603 312-683-0130; Fax: 312-683-0131 Engineering Editor: Mischa Wanek-Libman mischa@sbpub.com Assistant Editor: Kyra Senese ksenese@sbpub.com International Offices 46 Killigrew Street, Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 3PP, United Kingdom Telephone: 011-44-1326-313945 Fax: 011-44-1326-211576 International Editors: David Briginshaw, db@railjournal.com Keith Barrow, kb@railjournal.com Kevin Smith, ks@railjournal.com Customer Service: 800-895-4389 Reprints: PARS International Corp.

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Industry Indicators TRAFFIC ORIGINATED CARLOADS MAJOR U.S. RAILROADS

SHORT LINE AND REGIONAL TRAFFIC INDEX FOUR WEEKS ENDING OCTOBER 1, 2016

by Commodity Grain Farm Products ex. Grain Grain Mill Products Food products Chemicals Petroleum & Petroleum Products Coal Primary Forest Products Lumber and Wood Products Pulp and Paper Products Metallic Ores Coke Primary Metal Products Iron and Steel Scrap Motor Vehicles and Parts Crushed Stone, Sand, and Gravel Nonmetallic Minerals Stone, Clay & Glass Products Waste & Nonferrous Scrap All Other Carloads Total U.S. CarLoadS

SEPT ’16 97,879 3,852 35,420 25,364 120,263 42,784 356,856 4,582 12,805 22,590 23,285 17,043 32,863 13,265 73,478 95,294 20,260 30,965 16,641 23,155 1,068,644

SEPT ’15 88,019 3,839 35,461 24,977 119,664 54,594 410,752 6,049 13,414 24,827 22,611 15,852 36,322 13,685 72,384 96,439 18,846 32,857 12,916 26,591 1,130,099

% CHANGE 11.2% 0.3% -0.1% 1.5% 0.5% -21.6% -13.1% -24.3% -4.5% -9.0% 3.0% 7.5% -9.5% -3.1% 1.5% -1.2% 7.5% -5.8% 28.8% -12.9% -5.4%

314,448

299,048

5.1%

1,383,092

1,429,147

-3.2%

CARLOADS

Chemicals Coal Crushed Stone / Sand / Gravel Food & Kindred Products Grain Grain Mill Products Lumber & Wood Products Metallic Ores Metals & Products Motor Vehicles & Equipment Nonmetallic Minerals Petroleum Products Pulp, Paper & Allied Products Stone, Clay & Glass Products Trailers / Containers Waste & Nonferrous Scrap All Other Carloads

COMBINED U.S./CANADA RR INTERMODAL

FOUR WEEKS ENDING OCTOBER 1, 2016

MAJOR U.S. RAILROADS

by Commodity TRAILERS CONTAINERS TOTAL UNITS

SEPT ’16 89,214 951,720 1,040,934

SEPT ’15 113,357 972,769 1,086,126

% CHANGE -21.3% -2.2% -4.2%

4,164 238,611 242,775

5,759 237,391 243,150

-27.7% 0.5% -0.2%

93,378 1,190,331 1,283,709

119,116 1,210,160 1,329,276

-21.6% -1.6% -3.4%

CANADIAN RAILROADS TRAILERS CONTAINERS TOTAL UNITS

COMBINED U.S./CANADA RR TRAILERS CONTAINERS TOTAL COMBINED UNITS

Source: Monthly Railroad Traffic, Association of American Railroads

average weekly U.S. Rail Carloads: all commodities (not seasonally adjusted) 340,000

2014

300,000 2015

280,000

SEPTEMBER 2015 - 350,510 280,000 290,000 300,000 310,000 320,000 330,000 340,000 350,000 360,000 370,000

2016

240,000

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Data are average weekly originations for each month, are not seasonally adjusted, do not include intermodal, and do not include the U.S. operations of CN and CP. Source: AAR

4

Copyright © 2015 All rights reserved.

Railroad employment, Class I linehaul carriers, SEPTEMBER 2016 (% change from SEPTEMBER 2015)

Transportation (train and engine) 59,831 (-11.18%)

Executives, Officials, and Staff Assistants 9,145 (-6.07%)

Professional and Administrative 13,344 (-6.85%)

Total employees: 152,486 % change from SEPT. 2015: -8.70% Maintenance of Equipment and Stores 28,284 (-8.31%)

Maintenanceof-Way and Structures 35,879 (-5.77%)

Source: Surface Transportation Board

260,000

220,000

% CHANGE 3.4% 0.6% -15.1% -5.4% 20.6% 4.0% -6.1% 15.4% -3.8% 7.5% -40.1% 6.1% -8.8% 5.5% 3.8% 4.5% -0.8%

SEPTEMBER 2016 - 351,401

Transportation (other than train & engine) 6,003 (-10.08%)

2006 (peak year)

320,000

ORIGINATED SEPT ’15 44,722 23,861 29,780 11,012 21,582 6,151 9,245 3,110 16,270 8,350 2,504 1,913 18,912 12,853 48,729 9,190 82,326

TOTAL CARLOADS, SEPTEMBER 2016 vs. 2015

CANADIAN RAILROADS ALL Commodities

ORIGINATED SEPT ’16 46,222 23,996 25,287 10,417 26,021 6,395 8,683 3,589 15,648 8,973 1,500 2,029 17,249 13,562 50,602 9,599 81,629

BY Commodity

Railway Age

November 2016

class I employment dropS ON YEAR, BUT STEADY ON MONTH Figures released by the STB show Class I total railroad employment dropped 8.70% in September 2016, measured against September 2015.

But total railroad employment stayed nearly even compared to August 2016, declining only 0.17%. On the yearly comparison, Transportation (train and engine) dropped the most at 11.18%; followed by Transportation (other than train & engine), which dropped 10.08%; followed by Maintenance of Equipment and Stores, which dropped 8.31%.

Industry Outlook $1.56 billion new train station for New York

GE and Intel’s locomotive “superbrain” GE Transportation, in collaboration with Intel Corp., introduced a “superbrain” platform solution for locomotives that transforms them into mobile data headquarters, “helping make trains smarter and faster.”

GE says its best-in-class embedded solution, improves operations, fuel efficiency, horsepower and emissions, and enhances a locomotive’s tractive effort.

The GoLINC™ system—network, communication and application management platform capable of turning any locomotive into a mobile data center—features the 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 processor.

GoLINC interfaces with both on-board and off-board GE and third-party systems to create a Predix™-edge-enabled device. It’s the “brain of the train” on more than 6,000 locomotives today. The new offering aims to improve data management and video analytics on the locomotive, and enables the creation and deployment of future technologies into the GoLINC platform.

“Our partnership delivers the most advanced connectivity across the rail industry to create a smarter rail ecosystem,” says GE Transportation President and CEO Jamie Miller. “It enables operators to transfer data, host applications and interface with third-party systems, and can boost operational productivity.”

OmniTRAX pilots crossing technology Chicago Rail Link, LLC (CRL), a managed affiliate of OmniTRAX, Inc., is presenting a new and innovative grade crossing pilot project. It is the first such test of this technology in North America.

The CRL, a 72-mile short line railroad located on the Southside of Chicago, maintains a local grade crossing where industrial, weather and drainage conditions no longer support traditional track circuits for its signal system. To remedy the situation, the CRL has procured a new grade crossing train detection system from Next 6

Railway Age

November 2016

Generation Rail Technologies S.L (NGRT) that utilizes sound and vibration to detect oncoming trains.

The technology does not rely on traditional track circuits that can be falsely triggered. It will also be used to count axles and detect flat wheels that may prevent future derailments. The CRL is working with the Federal Railroad Administration to submit an Informational Filing to operate the system in a shadow mode during the trial with the goal of obtaining Product Safety Plan certification for the system to be used permanently in revenue service.

In January 2016, Empire State Development, the New York MTA, Long Island Rail Road and Amtrak issued an RFP soliciting proposals for the comprehensive redevelopment of the historic midtown Farley Building, including a Train Hall and the surrounding office and retail space. The winners have now been announced.

Related, Vornado, and Skanska (RVS) have all provided guarantees to complete the $1.56 billion project on time and, as part of the agreement, will pay the state a total of approximately $600 million in recognition to the value of the development opportunity within the Farley Building. The remainder of the project will be supported by $570 million from Empire State Development and $425 million from a combination of Amtrak, LIRR, Port Authority and federal government sources.

The Moynihan Train Hall will include shops and restaurants located under a new skylight on the building’s historic and architecturally dramatic steel trusses. The building will increase floor space 50% from Penn Station, and service riders on NJ Transit, LIRR, Amtrak and eventually accommodate passengers from Metro-North. A total of nine platforms and 17 tracks will be accessible from the train hall.

In addition to the train hall, RVS will redevelop the entire Farley Post Office Building. Pre-construction work will begin this fall, with the new train hall expected to be completed by December 2020.

Market

60 more M-8s for ConnDot/Metro-North The State of Connecticut will purchase an additional 60 M-8 EMU (electric multiple-unit) cars by 2019, each equipped with 105 seats, to accommodate more than 6,000 expected additional commuters on MTA Metro-North Railroad’s New Haven Line.

Connecticut has already purchased 405 M-8s, which entered service in 2011 and are now standard on the New Haven Line. Most of the older M-2 rail cars have been retired, but a small fleet remains as backups.

North America Brookville’s first LRV for Detrot’s QLINE arrived nearly two months ahead of schedule.

The City of Atlanta, Department of Procurement (“DOP”), announced a bid for FC-9139, Emergency On-Call Repair and Maintenance for the Atlanta Streetcar Track System.

Herzog Technologies, Inc. (HTI) contracted with short line holding company Watco Companies, LLC to provide PTC (positive train control) program management and back office hosting services.

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) selected Talgo for a contract to

refurbish up to 74 Los Angeles Metro Rail A650 rapid transit cars.

to the new Carajás Serra Sul (S11D) mine in the state of Pará.

Siemens will provide 122 new S70 light rail vehicles (LRVs) for Sound Transit, the regional transit system serving the Seattle and Central Puget Sound area in Washington state.

St. Petersburg Metro awarded a contract to Oktyrbrsky Electric Plant (OEVRZ), a subsidiary of Transmashholding (TMH), for 27 six-car metro trains.

Canada’s export credit agency, Export Development Canada (EDC), has agreed to provide Angola with a $US 429.5 million loan to finance the purchase of 100 locomotives from General Electric.

Worldwide: Brazilian mining giant Vale obtained a 10-year operating license from the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Natural Resources (Ibama) for a rail link

The first of 19 metro trains being supplied by CRRC Corporation to Izmir arrived in the Turkish city.

Gothenburg Tramways contracted with a consortium of Bombardier and Vossloh to supply 40 Flexity lowfloor LRVs. Georgian Railway signed a preliminary agreement with a joint venture of CRRC Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive and Georgia’s BMI Partners and AS Group for the supply of 28 electric locomotives.

November 2016 Railway Age 7

Update Supply Briefs Industry-Railway Suppliers Inc. partners with Panduit Industry-Railway Suppliers Inc. announced a new partnership with Panduit Corp., a family owned business based in Tinley Park, Ill. The focus, says the company, “will be on developing and providing existing innovative electrical and network infrastructure solutions to several segments within the railway industry.”

Panduit describes itself as “a global brand committed to delivering a consistently high level of quality products. Panduit sells all products in all markets through distribution and felt it necessary to align themselves with a partner 100% railway focused in order to increase their chances for growth and development with railway customers in North America.”

With a presence in more than 100 countries, local Panduit sales representatives and technical specialists will offer guidance to Industry-Railway Suppliers.

Panduit says its products “are engineered for all aspects of designing, installing and maintaining rail infrastructure globally.”

Caltrax launches in Calgary Caltrax Inc announced the Oct. 3 launch of its Mobile Repair Unit in the Calgary area.

Repairing railcars since 1992, Caltrax Inc. expands further in Western Canada with the Calgary shop, which offers on-site or mobile services to manufacturing facilities, rip tracks, terminals, sidings and loading facilities.

“Caltrax is very excited about our new venture in the railcar repair business launching,” said Derek Kissick, President of Caltrax Inc. “We have diversified our services to include mobile and on-site repairs.

With this new venture we will bring our same high level of quality and service from the shop to the field.”

8

Railway Age

November 2016

Industry to Congress: STB is over-reaching

O

n the offensive following the Surface Transportation Board’s recent flurry of activity on multiple proposed regulations, the Association of American Railroads wrote to leaders of the Senate Commerce Committee and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

AAR President and CEO Ed Hamberger’s letter covers “concerns over three primary issues that we see as STB overreach: Forced access, commodity re-regulation and rate caps.”

The industry groundswell attacking the Surface Transportation Board’s pending actions on forced access and commodity reregulation also grew to include the railway supply community, including the three principal trade associations (REMSA, RSI and RSSI) and numerous members, the Railway Tie Association and the railway contracting community, led by the NRC. Congressional leaders—Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) and the committee’s ranking Democrat, Bill Nelson of Florida; and House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) and the committee’s ranking Democrat, Peter DeFazio of

Oregon—have received a letter signed by dozens of suppliers and contractors pointing out the STB’s “recent trend of imposing regulations first, and discovering the consequences later.”

The letter continues: “Reciprocal switching, or more accurately, forced access, would upend longstanding precedent. It would force railroads to switch traffic to competitors without any suggestion that the incumbent railroad failed to offer competitive services, or has otherwise engaged in any sort of unreasonable behavior. A rash of new switches could possibly advantage a few, but in the aggregate it would strain a 140,000-mile network and degrade services for the majority of customers.

“We are deeply concerned that this regulatory effort could greatly cut into capital spending by the railroads. Past analysis by the Association of American Railroads found that a similar proposal could affect an estimated 7.5 million carloads of traffic, placing nearly $8 billion in revenues at risk. Reduced revenues mean reduced money for investment in the rail network and reduced demand for businesses like ours.

Continued investments are critical for maintaining safe and efficient rail.”

RailComm iTrack: No more “lost cars” RailComm’s new, patented iTrack Intelligent Yard Inventory system has been successfully deployed at Terminal Railway Alabama State Docks (TASD). “iTrack solution is a new capability of RailComm’s yard automation portfolio,” says President Joe Forgione. “It is a realtime, fully automatic railcar inventory system that allows yard personnel to identify and follow the location of every car and locomotive entering the facility.

The system and data reside on our secure and reliable Cloud infrastructure.” iTrack is designed to provide managers, supervisors and customers with the yard-status information they need to make decisions, such as the ordered list of cars on a track, car dwell times, track length availability, and car arrival and departure times. iTrack also keeps track of missing AEI tags, or tags with incorrect car information, and allows the user to make corrections. With analytics and reporting capabilities, the system supports management with decision-making.

TASD serves customers mostly in chemicals and bulk goods, including containers, coal, metal products, lumber/building supplies, paper, chemicals, petroleum products, aggregates, cement, grains, and agricultural products, and also handles movement and storage of freight cars for CSX, Norfolk Southern, CN, Kansas City Southern, Alabama Gulf Coast, and CG Railway. TASD needed to deploy a realtime system to automatically track all

STORAGE

railcar yard movements and know exactly when each car enters and exits the yard, with time stamped movement transactions. It also needed to see the ordered lineup of cars on each track in real-time with no delay in processing switch lists or waiting for EDI messages, and to find the current location of any car by entering all or part of a car’s ID, even those with defective AEI tags, with all cars detected and metrics collected on AEI tag defects. The system also needed to provide car location and transaction information to carriers, car owners, and freight customers.

TADS’s system is comprised of car tracking portals installed at the yard’s four entrance, an axle tracking system with 116 wheel sensors at 56 switch locations, an industrial 802.11 Wi-Fi radio communication network, the iTrack application, and RailComm’s

DOC. The Car Tracking system, which provides a graphical representation of the car inventory and tracking reports, is accessed from a yard office central workstation and can also be accessed from anywhere through a web user interface. iTrack solution provides the us with a real-time view of our railcar inventory and traffic on the interchange, said TASD General Manager Mike Russell. “It enables us to move from hand-written lists to a fully automatic car inventory.

We can locate ‘lost’ cars—misplaced, put on the wrong track, etc.—and go back in history. We are looking forward to providing access to this system to the five other carriers that switch cars on our interchange.”

Russell adds that Norfolk Southern “was a partner in making this project a reality.”

GREATER PHILADELPHIA REGION METRO NEW YORK REGION SHORT TERM AND LONG TERM COMPETITIVE RATES LOADED, EMPTY & RESIDUE NON­HAZARDOUS & HAZARDOUS

November 2016 Railway Age 9

Update Trolley developments track forward in San Diego The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) finalized a $1.04 billion federal FFGA (Full Funding Grant Agreement) with the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) to extend existing Blue Line San Diego Trolley service from downtown San Diego to the growing University City area.

The 10.92-mile light rail extension, referred to locally as the Mid-Coast Trolley, will serve major activity centers such as Old Town, Mission Bay Park, the Department of Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center, University of California at San Diego, and the Westfield UTC shopping center (formerly known as University Towne Centre, a one-million-square-foot, three-level outdoor shopping center in the University City community).

Officials estimate the project will serve 24,600 transit trips every weekday, with service anticipated to start in 2021.

With the signing of the federal FFGA, FTA is committing a total of $1.04 billion through its Capital Investment Grant (CIG) Program to the $2.17 billion Mid-Coast Corridor Transit Project. In addition to the $100 million that will be awarded with the signing of the grant agreement, the remaining federal funds will be provided over the course of 10 years on an annual payment schedule, subject to Congressional approval during the annual appropriations process.

Mid-Coast Transit Contractors, a joint venture of Stacy and Witbeck, Herzog and Skanska, was awarded the $921.8 million construction manager/ general contractor contract from the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) to construct the Mid-Coast Trolley.

Skanska USA Civil will include its $307.3 million portion of the contract in its Q3 2016 order bookings. Stacy and Witbeck is the joint venture lead.

Parsons Brinkerhoff, Kimley Horn and HDR are the project designers.

10

Railway Age

November 2016

KCS opens transloading in Dallas with Watco The Kansas City Southern Railway Company (KCSR) has opened a new, multi-commodity transload terminal at its former Zacha intermodal terminal in Dallas, Tex. KCSR has named Watco Transloading, L.L.C. (Watco) as its operator for the facility, effective Oct. 17, 2016.

The new Zacha transload facility offers 9,523 feet of track space within the terminal and 80 acres of outside storage for customers with ample room for expansion as business grows. KCSR’s TransLoad Center (TLC) network has the capacity to handle a wide variety of products and strives “to become an integral part of customers’ supply chains by improving their economics and response times.”

The former Zacha intermodal terminal closed when KCS opened a new, state-of-the-art intermodal facility in Wylie, Tex. Since that time, Zacha has

provided limited transload operations under an interim operator.

“Kansas City Southern is focused on growth through key business relationships and a strategically positioned network,” said KCSR Executive Vice

President and Chief Marketing Officer Brian Hancock. “Providing customers with supply chain solutions through our TLC network and partnerships with companies like Watco are important components of that growth.”

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November 2016 Railway Age 11

Watching Washington Frank n. wilner

STB’s tempest in transparency

P

ity economic regulators. The more they seek the middle-ofthe-road, the greater risk both sides assail them. Economist Sidney L. Miller wrote, “It seems clear that our railways are regulated well, rather than wisely.”

As lawmakers examined the consequences of the regulatory leviathan during the latter 20th century, lessened were the limits on market freedoms for domestic transportation providers.

Retained were protections for shippers lacking effective alternatives to rail.

Captive shippers are a crabby assembly, annoyed that attainment of those protections mirrors playwright Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot.” In 1886, then-Sen. Benjamin Harrison (R-Ind.) said, “What we want is a tribunal to which a man who thinks he has a grievance against a railroad can go and tell his story and then go home and attend to his business, and [regulators] will do the rest.” As the Brits say, “Would that it were so simple.”

Railroads fret regulators are prone to overreach. Economist Jim Miller, President Reagan’s budget director, said, “Regulation, once established, is very difficult to curtail or eliminate.”

Within the belly of the regulatory beast—the Surface Transportation Board (STB)—there rages a tempest in transparency, with Democrat Deb Miller and Republican Ann Begeman agitated over the closeted leadership of Chairman Dan Elliott, a Democrat. No rail regulator has filed as many dissents as Begeman; while Miller increasingly vocalizes displeasure with Elliott.

Consider two recent Elliottordered consultancy studies central to simplifying and making less costly procedures for determining the reasonableness of rates charged captive shippers. One, at a cost of $1 million, was, in Miller’s view, supposed to

12

Railway Age

November 2016

fulfill Congress’ desire to develop meaningful procedural alternatives, but instead serves to defend the status quo. The second, prepared more than a year ago and marked “confidential,” was released in late October in a belated effort by Elliott to portray greater agency transparency.

Buy-in by Begeman and Miller is problematic. Elliott failed to invite their input or review, and both studies lack alternatives Miller advocates while endorsing processes and procedures Begeman considers defective and deficient.

“I want to improve the functioning of the agency, not embrace the status quo.”

—Ann Begeman Collegiality is a rare commodity under Elliott, notwithstanding impressive credentials of his fellow board members.

Few rail regulators in modern history were as well-equipped as is Begeman. For two decades she advised Senate Republicans on transportation policy—among them Senate Commerce Committee doyen John McCain (R-Ariz.), on whose presidential campaign she worked. Had he not derailed his run by choosing as a running mate that wack-a-doodle soccer mom from Alaska with the made-for-tabloid-journalism dysfunctional family, Begeman might have become the cabinet-level transportation secretary. Her term now expired,

she departs the STB Dec. 31.

Miller’s bonafides, too, are impressive. She is a former Kansas transportation secretary under governors of both political parties, is well respected among state rail planners, and has experience in transportation consulting. Former Republican Federal Railroad Administrator Allan Rutter, also with an extensive background in state rail planning, said of Miller, “She is not unreasonable in wanting collaboration, not dictation.”

At an August Senate Commerce Committee hearing chaired by John Thune (R-S.D.), Begeman and Miller pronounced their displeasures.

Begeman: “I have had many frustrations. I certainly was aware of the Board’s reputation for its sometimes glacial pace … but to experience it first-hand, in a position from which I expected to positively influence that pace through collaboration with my fellow members, I was in for a big surprise. I strongly disagree with the chairman’s stated view that he alone is ‘the person responsible for moving the docket forward.’ I want to improve the functioning of the agency, not embrace the status quo.”

Miller: “[A recent letter to Congress by Chairman Elliott explaining a consultant’s rate methodology study] was sent without Board member Begeman’s or my knowledge, and it was done contrary to my preference that the Board provide its own analysis of [the consultant’s] conclusion …

Unilateral actions such as this are contrary to the reason Congress established a multi-member Board.”

Sometime in 2017, the Senate will be asked to confirm three new nominees to join Elliott and Miller. Legendary New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia famously urged “patience and fortitude.” Indeed.

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Handling

Headwinds

By WILLIAM C. VANTUONO, Editor-in-Chief

2

016 will be remembered as a year when CSX battled storms on two fronts: an actual storm, Hurricane Matthew, which inflicted heavy damage on the Southeastern coast of the U.S., and an economic storm of proportions not seen since the Great Recession of just a few years ago.

On a positive note, CSX is winding down its $2.4 billion 2016 capital expenditure program. The railroad is spending 52% of its program, or $1.24 billion, on infrastructure investments that target rail safety and performance. The infrastructure portion of the capital program is up slightly compared to 2015 numbers. CSX is devoting 23%, or $552 million, of its program to equipment, which will focus on upgrading its locomotive fleet, at a price tag of $23 million, when compared to 2015 numbers. Strategic investments make up 13%, or $312 million, of CSX’s program, for supporting growth and productivity. CSX is spending $300 million in 2016 on Positive Train Control and by most accounts is on track to meet the Dec. 31, 2018 implementation deadline.

But like much of the industry, the third quarter was a struggle. Citing “macroeconomic and energy headwinds impacting most markets,” CSX posted third-quarter 2016 net earnings of $455 million, or $0.48 per share, down from $507 million, or $0.52 per share, in the prior-year period, and a 69.0% operating ratio, a year-over-year 70 basis points increase.

14 Railway Age November 2016

These results—which beat Wall Street consensus estimates—“reflect continued strong cost performance,” CSX said. Revenue for the quarter declined 8%, consistent with volume declines of 8% overall, including coal volume declines of 21%. Operating income declined 10% to $841 million. Expenses improved 7% in the quarter, primarily driven by $112 million in “efficiency gains” and $53 million of “volume-related cost reductions.”

“CSX continues to drive strong cost performance and efficiency in this dynamic market environment while meeting or exceeding customer expectations,” said Chairman and CEO Michael J. Ward. “Our financial results demonstrate CSX’s ability to deliver value for shareholders and customers in the current business climate as we position the company to maximize opportunities in 2017 and beyond. While the U.S. dollar strength and low global commodity prices persisted in the quarter, CSX is positioning itself to maximize shareholder value by leveraging network improvements, technology enhancements and superior service to capture growth opportunities and achieve a mid-60s operating ratio longer-term.”

“CSX reported a 3Q16 top-to-bottom beat to our and consensus estimates, as better-than-expected cost management and efficiency gains helped offset volume declines and tempered pricing,” said Cowen and Company Managing Director and

Railroad photos courtesy CSX. NASCAR photos by William C. Vantuono

In a stormy economic climate, CSX is holding its own.

Shipper Survey, in which shipper expectations registered at 2.1%, down from 2.9% in our 2Q16 survey. CSX’s merchandise and intermodal pricing was 3.6% in 3Q16, down from 4.0% in 2Q16. While the company’s overall pricing result is still above rail inflation, we are somewhat concerned that it appears to have been driven in good part by intermodal, an area facing stiff competition from a weak truck pricing environment. That said, our Oct. 10 private trucking call pointed to a normal seasonal improvement in truck demand in September and stronger spot rates. If this proves sustainable, intermodal pricing could begin to increase in the coming quarters.”

Can Coal Come Back?

A CSX manifest freight crosses the Hudson River at Iona Island, N.Y.

Railway Age Wall Street Contributing Editor Jason Seidl. “Pricing continued to moderate, but we believe it is approaching bottom and could begin to tick up slowly in 2017.”

CSX’s operating ratio deterioration by 70 basis points (bps) to 69% “was 80 bps better than our assumption and 90 bps better than the implied consensus OR,” Seidl noted. “CSX achieved an impressive $112 million in efficiency gains, following $96 million in 2Q16 and $133 million in 1Q16. This brings the YTD total to $341 million. At our September conference,

“CSX continues to drive strong cost performance and efficiency while meeting or exceeding customer expectations.” the company raised its guidance for 2016 efficiency gains from ‘approaching $350 million’ to ‘exceed $350 million.’ Given the impressive year-to-date gains, we believe efficiency gains could end the year well above $350 million.”

“All-in pricing came in at 2.3%, representing a 60 bps moderation from the 2.9% achieved in 2Q16, which was a 20 bps moderation from 3.1% in 1Q16, which in turn followed 4.1% in 4Q15,” Seidl noted. “The sequential 3Q16 moderation is consistent with our proprietary 3Q16 Rail

CSX’s coal business accounts for 17% of its revenue. Coal revenues nosedived 20% in the third quarter due to that steep 21% decline in volumes. Despite this, several analysts believe that coal could make a comeback at CSX, as well as other carriers. Says one Seeking Alpha analyst: “CSX, can expect some stability in the coal segment going forward due to rising natural gas prices that will make electricity generation from the commodity expensive. The cost of generating electricity from coal will increase just 3.7% next year, while the power generation fuel cost from natural gas is expected to rise almost 20% going into 2017. CSX might also benefit from favorable coal policy in the U.S. if the next President scales back on the curbs on greenhouse gas emissions to promote energy independence.

“CSX has managed to keep its performance on the stock market strong this year despite a continuous drop in volumes. For instance, in the third quarter, revenue fell almost 8% on a year-over-year basis. The decline in the company’s revenue was in line with a drop of 8% in volumes, with the majority of the volume decline being driven by the coal segment.

“CSX’s coal revenue, which accounted for 17% of its overall revenue last quarter, fell 20% year-over-year to $467 million last quarter. This is a trend that we have seen for the past few quarters at CSX as oversupply and weak demand for coal have weighed on the company’s results. But, the good news is that CSX has managed to overcome this weakness in the coal segment by way of its focus on enhancing efficiency and reducing costs. For instance, its expenses dropped 7% in the last reported quarter on a year-over-year basis. This was the result of efficiency gains of $112 million and $53 million in volume-related cost reductions.

“On account of its cost reductions and operational efficiency improvements, CSX was able to post earnings of $0.48 per share, beating the consensus estimate by 3 cents.

However, investors should not miss the fact that on a yearover-year basis, CSX’s net earnings in the third quarter fell more than 10%. As such, it can be said that even though CSX’s cost cuts have allowed it to beat forecasts, the fact that its bottom line is on the decline cannot be ignored.

“Given that coal accounts for a substantial portion of CSX’s revenue and this segment has been under pressure, a turnaround in this segment will play a key role in improving the company’s financial performance going forward. But, is a November 2016 Railway Age 15

CLASS I FOCUS: CSX

turnaround in coal likely?

“All is not lost for CSX in the coal segment. This is because the recent rise in natural gas prices could arrest the coal-togas switch in the country, which will be a tailwind for CSX going forward. For instance, the price of natural gas has gone up from around $1.70/MMBtu (million BTUs) in the beginning of March to almost $3.00/MMBtu currently. As a result of this rise in natural gas prices, the cost of generating electricity from the commodity will increase. In fact, the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts that the price of natural gas will increase to an average of $3.16/Mcf (million cubic feet) next year from $2.59/Mcf this year. This will lead to an increase in the power generation fuel cost from natural gas to $3.61/MMBtu in 2017 as compared to $3.02/ MMBtu this year.

“In comparison, power generation fuel costs from coal have been on the decline over the past few years. This year, the cost of generating power from coal is expected to go down to $2.16/MMBtu as compared to $2.23/MMBtu last year.

Even though the cost is expected to rise to $2.24/MMBtu next year, this will be an increase of just 3.7%. In comparison, power generation fuel cost from natural gas is expected to rise almost 20% going into 2017. As a result, favorable coal market dynamics could prove to be a tailwind for CSX going forward and allow the company to arrest the slide in its financials.

“Potential policy changes could favor CSX. If the U.S. can focus on increasing the domestic production of fossil fuels, railroad companies such as CSX would be in a better position to improve coal volumes.

16 Railway Age November 2016

“CSX has been making the right moves to overcome the challenge posed by a weak commodity pricing environment. It could benefit from a coal demand increase.”

“Additionally, CSX might benefit from another potentially favorable policy development.

“Both presidential candidates aim at spending heavily on infrastructure in order to strengthen the economy. For instance, Hillary Clinton recently proposed a $275 billion infrastructure plan for the next five years, while counterpart Donald Trump said that he would be spending approximately $500 billion to rebuild infrastructure in the U.S. This news should be a welcome sign for CSX, which spends approximately 16% to 17% of its revenue on infrastructure every year. Therefore, both candidates’ focus on spending on infrastructure will allow CSX to reduce infrastructure investments going forward, which will free up more cash.

“CSX has been making the right moves to overcome the challenges posed by a weak commodity pricing environment. More important, the company could benefit from an increase in coal demand going forward, while help from the government in creating more infrastructure will be another tailwind.”

A story on CSX’s NASCAR Sprint Cup program with Front Row Motorsports and driver Chris Buescher follows. RA

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CLASS I FOCUS: CSX

“IF WE CAN SAVE JUST ONE LIFE, IT WILL HAVE BEEN WORTH IT” CSX’s “Play It Safe Around Railroad Tracks” publicsafety-themed NASCAR Sprint Cup Series sponsorship program has notched five consecutive seasons.

For a fourth consecutive season, CSX and Front Row Motorsports joined forces to promote public safety around railroad tracks with the No. 34 “Play It Safe” Ford Fusion. In the 2016 season, 2015 Xfinity Series Champion Chris Buescher drove the 34.

CSX was the 34’s prime sponsor for eight races. The 23-year-old Buescher “served as an ambassador to 18- to 34-year-old males among NASCAR’s fan base, the demographic mostly likely to be involved in a train collision and the targeted audience of CSX’s safety campaign,” CSX said.

Buescher, who worked with CSX in 2015 when he drove the 34 in several races in the latter part of the season, says he “really respects what CSX is doing with its NASCAR program. It’s all about safety and spreading the message to race fans. If we can reach people and prevent even one collision, it’ll be a successful campaign.” The No. 34’s graphics feature CSX’s blue and

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gold locomotive livery, with the CSX logo emblazoned on the hood of the 850-hp racecar.

“We were thrilled to have a champion driver like Chris Buescher in the CSX ‘Play It Safe’ car in our fourth season with Front Row Motorsports,” said John Claybrooks, CSX Director, Brand and Marketing Communications.

“They both understand our cause and safety message as we strive to keep people safe around railroad tracks.

If we can save just one life, the program will have been well worth it.”

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“At CSX, safety is a way of life, and our NASCAR sponsorship continues to help CSX promote railroad safety education across our network,” said CSX Vice President of Safety Jim Marks. “We can reach a large, key demographic to remind race fans to not stop, walk or play on the tracks or near crossings, and encourage them to use safe driving practices at railroad crossings.”

With Ford engines supplied by Roush-Yates, Front Row Motorsports fielded two Sprint Cup Ford Fusions this season—the 34, and the 38, driven by 26-year-old Landon Cassill.

Chris Buescher is one of NASCAR’s most successful up-and-coming young drivers. The 2015 Xfinity Series Champion in his racing career has so far notched 1 Sprint Cup win, 3 Xfinity Series wins; 16 Xfinity Top 5s; 36 Xfinity Top 10s; 10 ARCA Series wins; 33 ARCA Top 5s and 43 ARCA Top 10s. He was 2012 ARCA Series Champion and 2011 ARCA Rookie of the Year. This season, Buescher’s Sprint Cup victory at Pocono helped him qualify for The Chase, NASCAR’s “playoffs” to determine the Sprint Cup Series champion.

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November 2016 Railway Age 19

THE Flash behind welding innovations Service providers strive for advancements to extend weld life that ultimately extends rail life.

By MISCHA WANEK-LIBMAN, Engineering Editor

R

ail welding service providers are developing new and safer technology, trying new equipment combinations and automating processes all in the name of producing improved and more cost-effective welds.

the narrow HAZ profile improving weld life.” At its plant in Pueblo, Colo., Holland and EVRAZ are working on a postweld heat treatment. The process reduces HAZ soft zones in the head of the rail, which improves weld life.

New, Safer Technology

New Product Combinations

Holland LP has developed training programs to educate and demonstrate its flash-butt welding process and makes its Continuous Improvement team available for on-track visits.

“We look for ways to improve and/or omit inefficiencies. For example, our welding and track service crews have achieved as many as 146 welds per day, resulting in repairs costing less than when made with thermite welds,” says Vice President, Maintenance-of-Way Sales Russ Gehl.

Holland says it is investing significant resources into researching welding processes,and notes that several projects are under way to evaluate new technology. “We anticipate the outcome will lead to further improvements in quality and efficiency for fixed-plant as well as mobile rail welding,” says Gehl. “We are also expanding laboratory capabilities to analyze these new technologies and are partnering with rail manufacturers to further evaluate new rail and welding technologies. For instance, in cooperation with Sumitomo, we implemented a narrow HAZ (heat affected zone) weld along with a web post-weld heat treat process in the Stockton, Calif., long rail plant. This relieves web stresses from

Lincoln Electric Co. has expanded into the gas heating and cutting portions of the railroad welding sector, adding new combinations for products to increase safety and improve the quality of welds. The Harris Products Group is a whollyowned subsidiary of Lincoln Electric, and plays a major role in the overall railroad product offering for Lincoln Electric.

“On the electric welding side, we have the engine-driven welding machine, wire feeder, gun assembly, and welding wire—a complete system,” says Lincoln Electric Global Manager-Railroad Welding Brian Meade. “We have been able to accomplish the same type of unified system on the heating and cutting side, thanks to the products designed by Harris.

We start at the cylinders and provide the most efficient regulators, flashback arrestors, check valves, test gauges, torches and heating heads. This gives the track welders full control of the parameters, increasing safety and reducing some inconsistencies that can cause defective welds. There are many applications for these products, so we want to develop more safety training materials for our customers to keep them safe while increasing quality and productivity.”

November 2016 Railway Age 21

rail welding Vetting New Processes

Orgo-Thermit Inc. says the railroad industry has a need for improved wear resistance of thermite welds. Director of Quality and R&D Frik Hefer notes the improved surface wear resistance offered by the company’s Head Alloying Thermit® Welding Process utilizes a special diverting plug with a container of micro-alloys below the plug that are dissolved and distributed in the head of the rail. Hefer says the process gives rise to higher head weld metal hardness and increased wear resistance on the running surface of the weld, while the base of the weld remains softer and more ductile.

TTCI is performing research on mitigation of thermite weld HAZ (heat affected zone). Engineers are evaluating the overlay treatment in revenue service test welds. Hefer says test welds with the overlay treatment have shown a 45% to 75% reduction in the width of the soft HAZ, thereby increasing the overall hardness of the weld’s running surface.

Another weld being tested at TTCI is Orgo-Thermit’s new Thermit® 2.0 alloying concept. The welds have been tested in the laboratory and are scheduled to be installed at FAST in late October. “This alloying concept for thermite welding of pearlitic premium rail steels has shown considerable increased ductility and mechanical strength over conventional alloying elements of the weld metal. Enhanced slow bend testing results, in both deflection and break load

requirements, with high hardness rails (360-420 BHN) being achieved in R&D welds,” says Hefer. “The welding portions are characterized by low visual reactivity with extremely stable weld metal chemistry and hardness. Significantly reduced susceptibility for welding defects, such as hot tears, has also been observed with R&D test welds.”

Robot Welding

Plasser American Corp. has automated the welding process with its APT 1500 R welding robot, available on rail bound, hi-rail truck, or container platforms. The company says automation rules out operator errors and results in high reliability and documented welds of consistent high quality.

The welding head automatically aligns the height and running surface, as well as crowns the rail, while the automatic centering device measures rail alignment via weld head distance transducers. A record of each weld is created and stored; measurements are saved for quality assurance reasons.

The APT1500R features working parameters of up to 10 inches stroke with 168 tons of pulling force, which allow closure welds to be made without additional rail pullers. The welder can make conventional and low-consumption welds.

AC current with a medium frequency of 1,000 Hz allowing use of tiny weld head transformers. The head runs on DC, which Plasser says has a positive effect on weld quality.

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Railway Age

November 2016

rail welding

The built-in welding shear places a load only in the direction of compression utilizing separate hydraulic cylinders.

A non-contacting temperature measuring system allows for precise cooling of high alloy rails with the help of a post heating process. The hydraulic system allows for very fast movements of the weld head, even for closure welds under full load. The clamping jaw design eliminates the need to grind off rail web company marking, reducing prep time.

Performance and Quality

Progress Rail Welding Division’s Weld Data Trending and Analytic Tools was developed to identify variances in material, equipment, and the environment in answer to its customers’ interest in improving equipment utilization and dependability. “Our enhanced sampling and curve fit routines accurately predicts reactive track forces during forging to ensure the proper forging force is applied to every weld,” says Technical Services Manager Treavor Franklin.

Over the past two years, the Division has continued to expand its AC fleet of In-Track machines. Coupled with the company’s existing fleet of DC machines, the new In-Track machines “offer customers the most comprehensive welding fleet in the business. We’re pleased to say, that in addition to technology advancements, Progress Rail has minimized downtime, thus offering our customers the highest level of

on track reliability and operational excellence,” says Vice President of Rail Welding Chuck Ewing.

Enhanced Rail Integrity

Railtech Boutet’s Head-Wash Repair (HWR) Weld removes head-only defects with a single weld. “The HWR Weld can now be used to repair head defects in electric flash-butt (EFB) welds by modifying the design to include a felt pad, which can compress against the EFB seam,” says Product Manager Louis Flenner. “This is a major step in repairing a weld with a weld, while not jeopardizing rail integrity.”

To compliment this welding process, Railtech Boutet has developed the Railtech Matweld 09300 Head Wash Grinder (HWG), “a smaller, lighter, hydraulically powered, trackmounted grinder designed to efficiently grind the head of the rail in preparation for the an HWR Weld.”

Flenner notes that customers have asked for a way to make the ignition procedure safer for welders. Railtech Boutet’s answer is the Startwel® Ignition System, which uses a small electric charge, not sparklers, to start the aluminothermic reaction. “The Startwel® cannot be activated until the grounding pin is removed, making it a non-hazardous classification, safe for standard shipping. This element alone allows us to quickly and safely ship refills, parts, and Startwel® kits overnight,” says Flenner. RA

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November 2016 Railway Age 23

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Noises Off in San Francisco Amidst all the rail development noise in San Francisco, BART innovates with wheel-quieting projects for smoother rides.

T

here’s a lot of rail development noise in the City by the Bay: both BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) and SFMTA (San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, Muni light rail) are undergoing expansion, and a new CBTC (communications-based train control) system is in the works at BART. Bombardier is supplying 775 new “Fleet of the Future” rapid transit cars to BART to begin operation at the end of 2016. Siemens recently hosted San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) for a behind-the-scenes look at the first of 215 Californiabuilt light rail vehicles currently under production at the Siemens rail manufacturing hub in Sacramento, Calif.

The first SFMTA advanced technology S200 high-floor LRV is expected to arrive in San Francisco in December and will enter into final testing and commissioning prior to revenue service, scheduled for 2018.

Amidst all this development noise, BART is also working on innovative approaches to quiet the wheel-squealing problem of urban transit.

At one of its noisiest stretches of track—between Balboa Park and Daly City—BART began installing custom made rail dampers to help quiet the tracks this past Labor Day weekend.

These dampers, made of steel and rubber, physically clamp onto the rail every 30 inches and help lessen the vibration that causes the well-known screeching noise when November 2016 Railway Age 25

TRANSIT focus: SAN FRANcisco

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Siemens SFMTA S200 high-floor LRV in production.

“When people talk about noise on BART and other rail transit systems, they are usually talking about ‘rolling noise,’ sound generated by the vibration of wheels rolling over the rails,” BART points out.

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26

Railway Age

November 2016

trains travel over the track.

Crews installed the dampers near Balboa Park over Labor Day weekend when BART shut down a section of track for vital repairs as part of its rebuilding and rail replacement program.

West Oakland installation will occur later in the year and will not require a track shutdown.

“The cost to purchase and install the equipment is $1 million per mile, so we can’t do the entire system,” Tamar Allen, Chief Maintenance and Engineering Officer said. “Instead we are targeting the nosiest areas and will evaluate the success and the cost benefit of not needing to grind rail in those spots as frequently to determine how to move forward.”

BART is also implementing a revised wheel tread profile across its entire fleet of rapid transit railcars to reduce flange squeal and improve ride quality.

Bombardier Transportation developed the revised wheel profile for the “Fleet of the Future” railcars it’s

supplying to BART. A prototype car has been operating on BART’s test track, “and the early reviews are glowing. According to the train operators, the ride quality, compared to our existing cars, is like night and day,” says BART Chief Vehicle Engineer Henry Kolesar.

BART’s Operations department has decided to apply the revised wheel profile to all existing railcars as they undergo regularly scheduled maintenance, a program that will take 12 to 36 months to complete.

“When people talk about noise on BART and other rail transit systems, they are usually talking about ‘rolling noise,’ sound generated by the vibration of wheels rolling over the rails,” BART points out. The agency points to rail running surface corrugation and flange squeal encountered in sharp curves as the two biggest causes of excessive noise. Combine these factors in a tunnel and noise increases significantly.

BART says it “has spent considerable

time and energy over the years trying to reduce this noise with varying degrees of success.” Mitigation efforts include an ongoing rail grinding program to eliminate corrugation. BART owns two rail grinders that work overnight. “It’s a never-ending task,” BART notes. “Think of the Greek myth of Sisyphus, the king condemned to repeatedly roll a rock to the top of a mountain only to have it roll back again.”

“It wasn’t until about a couple of years ago that we reached a real breakthrough in solving the root cause of excess rolling noise,” BART says.

“When we sought a builder for our new fleet of railcars, we provided some challenging requirements to Bombardier, among them some pretty tough-to-meet noise specifications.

Luckily for everyone, Bombardier had one of the top experts in the world.”

Bombardier’s engineer, using recently developed computer modeling technology, devised a slightly tapered wheel profile that promised to not only reduce noise, but to reduce rail corrugation and excessive wear caused by wheel flange/rail head contact.

“It all looked great on the computer but we proceeded cautiously,” says BART Assistant General Manager for Operations Paul Oversier. “The [big] question was, what about unintended consequences? Is there any risk that we would potentially have a negative impact on safety?”

Two years of testing followed.

BART evaluated the tapered wheel profile, and an independent third party confirmed the results. These were sent to a second set of experts who validated the results. “All the data showed that the new wheel profile would not only be quieter, it would be as safe if not even safer than the current cylindrical wheel profile,” BART says.

Henry Kolesar says the testing shows the new wheel profile could cut noise by as much as 50%. As well, since the new wheel profile doesn’t create the same amount of corrugation as the previous profile, “rail grinding will eventually be reduced to a manageable rate, saving time and money.” RA

TIMES HAVE CHANGED. HAVE YOU? 1960

Manual rail unloading is labor intensive. Personnel are placed in the line of fire when untying the rail on the manual tie down car, fish plating rails together on the end car, and tying off the rails as sticks are unloaded.

we listened to our customers and developed a better approach

2005 The Rail Unloading Machine (R.U.M.) unloads CWR from one or both sides of the machine with just two qualified Herzog operators. Risk of injury is drastically reduced because there is no longer a need to fish plate the rails together or fasten them to the rail.

2012 The Automated Tie Down Car produces an even safer outcome. There is no longer a need to place personnel in harms way to clamp and unclamp rails. The R.U.M. operators can open and close the clamps from the safety of the R.U.M. cab.

The Herzog R.U.M. and Automated Tie Down Car improve the safety and increase the efficiency of unloading rail trains.

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November 2016 Railway Age 27

Railserve LEAF® Gen-Set locomotives incorporate AutoStart proprietary software, which is in compliance with EPA Tier 4 standards.

State of rest state-of-the-art

How to keep a locomotive warmed up and ready for duty,

By WILLIAM C. VANTUONO, Editor-in-Chief without excessive idling.

I

n the railway industry, “every day is a day to think about improving efficiency,” in the words of locomotive builder/ rebuilder NRE. “There has always been a focus on improving locomotive power, capacity and speed. But is there a way to improve when a locomotive is not working?” There is, with idle reduction/AESS (Automatic Engine Stop/Start) technologies offered by companies like NRE, HOTSTART, ZTR Control Systems, PDI Power Drives and Railserve.

NRE’s NLIMIT AESS system “exceeds the EPA’s AAR S-5502 standard governing parameters for powering down locomotives during idle time,” according to Tom Chenoweth, NRE Director of Electrical Engineering. “The EPA switch duty cycle includes 59.8% idle time. Most Class I’s have switcher duty cycles with 70% to 80% idle time.”

“Governed by a microprocessor, NLIMIT features a compact design that allows for flexible installation in a variety of locomotives, regardless of age or manufacturer,” Chenoweth says. “NLIMIT is modular: Functions can be added without overhauling the entire system. While net or brake-specific fuel savings and emissions reduction depend on the locomotive model and customer duty cycle, the cost and environmental benefits of NLIMIT are indisputably substantial. NLIMIT is an EPA-verified technology. We are certified to apply a 50% idle reduction factor. We typically reduce idle

fuel consumption, weather permitting, and idle emissions by more than 50% each. AAR S-5502 standards for such factors as load shedding, automatic ground relay reset, highand low-idle control, and additional recording functions (locomotive kilowatt-hour, speed and distance) are exceeded.

In ideal weather conditions, locomotives with NLIMIT can be cranked and working in as little as one minute, with two minutes being typical. Additionally, NLIMIT tracks useful data that not only offers insights into its benefits, but also serves as troubleshooting information.

“Data is available that can provide input to customers on their operating duty cycle, including differentiation of idle time between AESS shutdown and running idle time.

NLIMIT also provides indications of events where AESS was unable to shut down or was forced to restart due to a parameter violation, such as low main reservoir pressure. These indications can drive troubleshooting and defect repairs, resulting in increased fuel savings and system effectiveness.”

NLIMIT features system indicators (lights and sirens) that report system status. An integrated recording function logs fuel report statistics, locomotive statistics, events and alarms. A Governor Assist Pump works in conjunction with the engine governor during restarts to provide sufficient fuel necessary to start the locomotive. During restarts, an EPD November 2016 Railway Age 29

idle reduction

PDI’s DWS-APU consists of two modules.

HOTSTART equipment is now available in modular form.

(engine protection device) Override prevents false engine shutdown as a result of a false sensor reading. LOS Override holds pressure in the governor during shutdown and restarts, preventing fault engine shutdown resulting from LOS governor activation. Load Shedding eliminates repeated and unnecessary engine restarts resulting from a low battery voltage condition by turning off battery loads, such as headlights and air conditioners. The Automatic Ground Relay Reset activates after every NLIMIT restart. High Idle Control can help maintain operational engine temperature in cold weather, while Low Idle Control can provide additional fuel savings while waiting for an NLIMIT engine shutdown. Additional recording functions include locomotive kilowatt-hour, speed and distance.

Since 2010, Railserve LEAF® Gen-Set locomotives have incorporated AutoStart proprietary software, which is in compliance with EPA Tier 4 standards that require new locomotives to include AESS. AutoStart uses static settings for battery voltage. Operators can set variable parameters for engine temperature, compressor temperature, and brake pressure. The engine can be shut down during idle periods.

It automatically starts when one parameter falls below the set point, “thus maintaining optimum operating status,” Railserve says. “AutoStart is particularly beneficial in the types of switching operations for which the Railserve LEAF is designed. These include operations involving lengthy stops where idling would result in wasteful fuel consumption. The system is also useful in cold climates, where component temperatures must be maintained at minimum levels.”

HOTSTART has tackled the problem of small locomotives where installation space is at a premium. “Offering our heater in modular form targets switcher-type locomotives that have limited room inside the carbody for a complete heater,” says HOTSTART’s Jason Barnes. “Another feature is the removable control box lid for ease of access.”

HOTSTART’s diesel-driven DLV Coolant/Lube Oil Heating System is the first to be offered in modular form, which in some applications provides the benefit of having unrestricted short suction lines. “Having the coolant/pump motor assembly closer to the supply creates less vacuum and better flow to the pump,” says Barnes. “There are fewer line restrictions, and the system is easier on seals.” HOTSTART’s electric CLV heaters 30

Railway Age November 2016

will be the next to be available in modular form.

HOTSTART’s AESS system is the APU, available in two versions. The APU5-110-100 features coolant/oil heating, battery charging, and an AESS interface and plumbing kit.

The APU5-110-110 adds cab heat to these functions.

ZTR Control Systems’ SmartStart® IIe features SAVER™ remote reporting with a smartphone app called Near Me™with three functions: LOCATE, a mapping module that locates locomotives, with a geographic overview with status and alarm conditions allowing users to view an entire fleet relative to their current position; SELECT, which allows the user to see all locomotives or narrow in on the closest units; and VIEW, which provides up-to-date alarm information, fault codes and other equipment parameters. There is also a feature that shows shutdown, run and idle times.

PDI Power Drive’s PowerHouse™ Diesel Warming System (DWS) is available in two configurations: The DWS-APU and the DWS-120. The DWS-APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) incorporates a Tier 4, 9.5 hp single-cylinder Kubota® engine. The DWS-120 operates from a 120/240 VAC, 5/2.5-amp external electric power source. Both feature the Powerhouse™ Heat Exchanger, rated at 136,000 BTUs/hour (40kW). The heat exchanger’s diesel burner draws fuel directly from the locomotive fuel tank. A 25 GPM (gallons per minute), 72 VDC electric water pump circulates heated water and/or coolant. A 5 GPM oil circulating pump is available.

The DWS-APU consists of two modular components, the APU and the heat exchanger/pump, that can be mounted up to 20 feet apart, “providing installation flexibility and a smaller footprint,” says PDI. Its Kubota engine drives a 72 VDC, 80-amp alternator that supplies power to electronic controls and a 35 amp locomotive battery trickle charger.

It consumes, on average, 0.38 GPH (gallons per hour) of fuel once at temperature. The DWS-120 consumes, on average, 0.35 GPH of fuel. This unit, says PDI, “is ideal for captive locomotives not employed in interchange service.” Its technology is U.S. EPA SmartWay-verified and Tier 4-compliant.

Both units now feature remote monitoring through PowerHouse™ Dashboard, displayed on a desktop computer, tablet or smartphone. Dashboard shows ambient air temperature and coolant temperature, and for the DWS-APU, locomotive battery voltage and APU starter battery voltage. RA

PTC: Challenge or Opportunity?

At the Railway Age/Parsons 2016 Next Generation Train Control Conference, experiences and opinions

By WILLIAM C. VANTUONO, Editor-in-Chief

varied widely among Positive Train Control practitioners.

By WILLIAM C. VANTUONO, Editor-in-Chief

P

robably the most accurate word to describe Positive Train Control, six years after the Congressional mandate of 2008 and more than 20 years after early iterations of this form of advanced train control were tested, is “problematic.”

Any discussion of PTC, whether it’s in an organized setting such as the Railway Age/Parsons Next Generation Train Control Conference or in an informal gathering of signal engineers, is bound to produce spirited discussion.

Small Railroad, Big Issues

“Conrail Shared Assets is a relatively small company, yet we are dealing with all the PTC implementation issues of Class I’s, on a smaller scale,” Conrail Vice President and Chief 32

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November 2016

Engineer Tim Tierney said in a session with Railway Age’s William C. Vantuono. “It is becoming apparent that many of the smaller railroads like us are just starting to figure out their PTC requirements, and there is a huge learning curve that needs to be supported by the industry and the FRA to meet the PTC deadline.”

Tierney detailed Conrail’s progress to date: “We’ve upgraded our dispatch office software to be compatible with Wabtec’s IETMS PTC platform, and are pursuing a hosted BOS (back office system) option for supporting our PTC requirements. Our track subdivision file has been built and tested, but isn’t certified. We’ve upgraded field interlockings from relay-based to solid-state to accept PTC. Field installations of WIUs on the Lehigh Line is complete, and WSRS

(Wayside Status Relay Service) has been is installed in our dispatch office to connect with the field. We’ve installed an ITCM (Interoperable Train Control Messaging) system at Mount Laurel, N.J., as a gateway to our BOS. The required radio towers are in place and base stations are being tested, and we’ve completed preliminary radio coverage test and WIU verification. We plan to equip the required locomotives with Amtrak’s ACSES (Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System) PTC platform for our operation on the Northeast Corridor between New York and Philadelphia. We have a system integrator working to integrate all PTC systems, and we’ve completed an initial simulation test with a mock TMC (train management computer) and are outfitting a hi-rail vehicle for continued testing. We’re currently constructing 20 Wi-Fi sites in the Shared Assets areas for parent train PTC initialization.”

Going forward, Conrail’s concerns with PTC implementation include the timing of FRA certification, and interoperability testing, “a critical milestone in declaring PTC operable,” said Tierney. On Day 1 (Jan. 1, 2019), we must be interoperable with NJ Transit’s ASES (Advanced Speed Enforcement System) platform and our parents’ road-train IETMS platform.” (ASES and Amtrak’s ACSES are considered interoperable).

“The timing to get a hosted BOS in place, our connection to the federated link for interoperability, is critical,” Tierney noted. “As we are not a Class I, we have to link to the federation through a third party. Development of the required safety and testing plan for submission to the FRA is complex, so we’re looking for the FRA to support us in attaching our plan to other submissions. The timing of NJT trains being compliant with Amtrak’s ACSES on the NEC could impact the timing of our Lehigh Line PTC implementation. Our goal is to get NJT ready to operate ASES on our Lehigh Line concurrent with their ACSES operation on Amtrak.”

If the PTC deadline gets pushed back to 2020, will Conrail’s office and field equipment require updating? “We have concerns with ongoing maintenance costs, both in manpower and equipment,” Tierney said. “We fully expect many system upgrades that we don’t control because they are driven by Class I’s. Also, there is no direction on how NORAC operating rules will support PTC, so prior to beginning extensive employee training, NORAC PTC operating rules must be written.”

Planes, Trains and PTC

Steve Ditmeyer, who has spent his career pushing the envelope on advanced technologies, gave a forward-looking luncheon talk at the conference, with an unexpected twist: “The Federal Aviation Administration’s NextGen Air Traffic Control program involves shifting air traffic control from analog voice to digital data communications; shifting from radar to GPS, augmented with WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) for aircraft position information; shifting from old to new control center computers and displays; and requiring airlines and aircraft owners to equip their aircraft with on-board computers and sensors.

“FAA does not say that NextGen is just a system overlaid on radar to improve air traffic safety, or just a system to improve airline and airport efficiency. FAA says that NextGen consists

of integrated systems that will improve both aviation safety and efficiency—but won’t be tied to radar.

“So, what are the similarities between NextGen Air Traffic Control and NextGen Train Control? Both will use continuous real-time information transmitted over a digital data link communications network, GPS positioning with WAAS augmentation to get one- to two-meter accuracy, graphic and textual cab displays, new sensors and on-board and control center computers, and a focus on situational awareness.

“NextGen Train Control is what comes next after PTC implementation is completed. But because the railroad and FRA people who work on PTC have defined it as a safetyonly non-vital overlay of wayside signal systems, I am not going to try to change their definition.

“NextGen Train Control should focus on improving PTC safety, and increasing railroad economic viability and profits—in other words, generate a significant rate of return for the railroads on their large investments in both PTC and Next Gen and help them generate new traffic. Some railroads are working on some of these issues.

“NextGen Train Control is what comes next after PTC implementation is completed.” — Steve Ditmeyer “What should be done to NextGen Train Control to improve safety beyond PTC? Work on situational awareness for train crews and dispatchers.We need to make sure that end-oftrain and front-of-train locations are known to the dispatchers and locomotive engineers to prevent rear-end collisions.

Carl Wood from Parsons made this point in his talk at this conference. Even though FRA says in the regulation that this information is not necessary, common sense says that it is.

The Rail Safety Improvement Act states that PTC systems should prevent collisions, and in my mind that means all collisions, not just head-on collisions. We need to add GPS and data radios on m/w vehicles and machines to make sure that dispatchers and trains know where they are. We need on-board cab map displays showing track profile and alignment.

“New, simplified rulebooks for NextGen to replace NORAC and GCOR that reflect the new paradigm of train operations will have to be written. We need to investigate systems for broken rail detection that use something other than track circuits. A recent Canadian Transportation Safety Board report describes six derailments caused by rail breaks at insulated joints on Canadian Pacific in the past several years; none of them were detected by track circuits. We also need to incorporate Intelligent Grade Crossings into both NextGen Train Control and the Intelligent Highway System program. FHWA, FRA and the AAR worked together in the late 1990s to develop the specifications for Intelligent Grade Crossings, and they are in the ITS National Architecture.

“All lines that have passenger trains and that carry crude oil, ethanol, and other hazardous materials besides PIH and TIH should be equipped with NextGen Train Control, and November 2016 Railway Age 33

positive train control

there should be no exceptions for short lines. I also believe it makes sense that PTC implementation be continuous on through routes with no interruptions of coverage for intermediate sections where there is insufficient PIH and TIH traffic.

“What should be done to NextGen Train Control to improve railroad efficiency? We need to integrate several information systems that will populate locomotive on-board computers with data from multiple railroad information systems. For example, an on-board computer calculating braking algorithms needs to know train consist, weight and length, as well an any enroute changes; locomotive air brake and dynamic brake status; and the route profile and alignment and locations of temporary and permanent speed restrictions. Further deployment of energy management systems such as New York Air Brake’s LEADER system is necessary to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

“There are two big-ticket items needed to improve railroad efficiency: NextGen Train Control should be based on moving-block operations, moving away from fixed blocks and track circuits. New control center computers to manage this new paradigm will cost $50-$100 million per large railroad. These new control center computers will need to incorporate precision dispatching, tactical and strategic traffic planning, and locomotive, freight car and crew scheduling.

NextGen control center computers will keep the trains on schedule so that locomotives, freight cars and crews don’t need to be rescheduled. I believe that control center computers should be installed collaboratively by all the major railroads overseeing a single team of contractors, perhaps with RAILINC in the lead.

“Electronically controlled nneumatic (ECP) brakes will also enhance railroad efficiency when integrated with NextGen Train Control. There is a disagreement between FRA and the AAR on how much of a safety improvement ECP brakes will provide by reducing the number of tank cars derailed in an oil train derailment. Actually, the safety benefits are dwarfed by the efficiency benefits resulting from shorter braking distances, improved running time because the brake system does not have to be recharged, improved train dynamics resulting from the simultaneous application of the brakes, reduced wear on wheels, brake shoes and rails, and reduced fuel consumption resulting from having to accelerate from fewer stops to recharge the brake system.

“Don’t limit yourselves to what FRA requires. We need systems-level thinking on the part of an entire railroad, and the total support of the chairman and CEO. At every railroad, we need a team consisting of full-time representatives from every department that will be affected by NextGen Train Control: Operations Planning; Transportation;

Keeping Technology in Motion

34

Railway Age

November 2016

ALSTOM IS USA

 Over 150 years of USA manufacturing expertise  More than 8,000 cars assembled in Alstom’s factory in Hornell, NY  2,000 employees accross the USA, with more then 350 suppliers in 30 States

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positive train control

Mechanical; Track Maintenance; Signaling and Telecommunications; Dispatching; Marketing and Pricing; Information Systems; and Safety and Rules. This should be augmented by part-time people from Human Resources and Training; Labor Relations; Finance; and Corporate Communications, to inform employees, suppliers, and customers.

“Can NextGen Train Control actually be pulled off? The answer is yes, but it takes a commitment to changing the paradigm by which railroads operate in order to make them safer, more secure, more efficient, and more profitable. It will make your customers more satisfied.”

Supplier Perspectives

What are suppliers of PTC (and transit CBTC) thinking. They took the opportunity to weigh in at the Supplier Roundtable, moderated by Nick LaRocco, Vice President, Parsons.

The supliervrepresentatives included John Paljug, President and CEO, Siemens Rail Automation; Denny Lengyel, Staff Vice President, Surface Transportation and Critical Infrastructure, IMS, Rockwell Collins; Glen Dargy, AVP Advanced Systems, Herzog Technologies, Inc.; Nicholas Columbare, Solutions Director, Alstom Signaling Inc.; Jason Lauffer, Director Business Development, Thales Transport & Security, Inc.; Mark J. Gruber P.E., Head of Wayside USA Signaling, Engineering & Commissioning, Ansaldo STS; and

Joe Greco, Bid Manager, Bombardier.

A few general comments: • There is no “right way” to manage risk. It must be projectspecific, based on customer needs, identified as a team, and based on schedule risk as well as technical factors.

• There is far too much emphasis on penalties, which are written into contracts. It would help the suppliers to be ahead of the project—the “carrot instead of the stick” approach. Project scope needs to identify who is responsible for what. We’ve seen good and bad projects under the same model—it depends upon the people and their intentions.

• Those who can control the risk should own the risk.

• The biggest challenges with PTC are that there are few standards and a lot of variables as to what FRA calls “acceptable.”

There is uncertainty as to what FRA expects. FRA may not know the best way to get from provisional acceptance to formal approval. There is no roadmap as to how we get there. Interoperability is the issue, though we’ve seen some great strides in solving this issue, as on the NEC; it’s befuddling to us at times, because everybody has a different flavor. There’s too much tweaking.

The final question: Why did the Class I’s choose Wabtec’s IETMS as their standard onboard platform? “BNSF happened to have the best system at the time,” remarked one panelist.

It was a matter of timing. The railroads normally don’t agree on anything.” RA

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Railway Age

November 2016

Fix it before it breaks

(b)

Detecting rail defects using phased array ultrasonic testing

By Dr. Matthew Witte, Scientist, TTCI, for Railway Age

I

nspections are performed on a regular basis to assure the integrity of rail, but some rail defects are not discovered during inspection. Rather, they are discovered when the rail breaks. More-reliable rail inspection methods are needed to detect the undetected defects.

The most common inspection technique is ultrasonic (UT) inspection. Conventional UT uses single-element probes oriented at fixed angles to inspect high-risk areas of the railhead and web. Limitations of UT include worn rail misdirecting the inspection beams, and surface defects such as shelling obscuring a hidden defect. Phased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT) offers ways to improve detection in these situations.

TTCI has created a prototype demonstration rail inspection vehicle based on existing phased array ultrasound technology.

Phased array probes have many elements at the tip of each PAUT detection of a TD under shelling: (a) Rolling B-scan with indication. (b, above) Example of TD under shell. (c) A-scan showing flaw indication.

probe. This gives the ability to steer and focus the inspection beam without reorienting the probe. The TTCI phased array prototype was created to demonstrate the application of phased array to rail inspection. The design represents an optimized configuration for maximizing the inspected volume of the head and web using commercially available technology.

A novel application of the beam-steering capability of phased array assures inspection of the intended volume on worn rail without requiring any profiling equipment. Maintaining or improving overall inspection efficiency was also a goal. Railroad operational efficiency requires minimizing inspection time without compromising inspection fidelity. As such, the phased array system is designed to provide 20-mph continuous inspection. Efficiency is further enhanced with a dual-mode operation, where the operator can switch to high-resolution inspection mode to validate defects without leaving the vehicle.

The TTCI demonstration prototype inspects at up to 28 unique angles. This provides areas of redundant inspection where many defects are detected by more than one probe simultaneously. This redundancy provides confidence in the detection event and should facilitate automated identification of rail defects.

The phased array prototype is performing well in testing at the Rail Defect Test Facility at TTCI in Pueblo, Colo., especially on detecting defects under shell. The figure shows an example of the detection scan for a transverse defect (TD) under shell. Since its successful demonstration, TTCI has licensed the technology to several commercial developers that are working to bring phased array rail inspection to the North American market. RA November 2016 Railway Age 37

People

Meetings High profile R.J. Corman Railroad Group, LLC has

appointed Edward Quinn III as President and CEO, effective Oct. 24, 2016. He succeeds Fred Mudge, who has been serving as Interim President and CEO since Craig King retired in June. Mudge will continue to serve as chairman of the R.J. Corman Board of Directors.

Quinn returns to R.J. Corman, where he served as General Manager of the Material Sales Company and later as Vice President of R.J. Corman Derailment Services, LLC. Most Edward Quinn recently, Quinn was Vice President of Big Ass Fans, a R.J. Corman manufacturer of large-scale commercial and residential fans.

R.J. Corman said he has “diverse experience in engineering, marketing and sales and the management of geographically dispersed operations teams.”

Canadian Pacific Senior Vice President, Operations Western Region Guido De Ciccio is retiring from CP after four decades of service.

Urban Services, Inc. named Sherry Williams, P.E., a senior project manager.

RailWorks Corp. named Kevin Riddett President and CEO. The Greenbrier Companies Inc. appointed Jim Cowan President of Greenbrier International, reporting to Greenbrier Chairman and CEO William A. Furman.

The law firm Thompson & Knight LLP named Charles W. Shewmake a partner in the Trial Practice Group.

Prior to joining Thompson & Knight, Shewmake served for more than eight years as Vice President and General Counsel for BNSF Railway.

Powerbrace Corp., a subsidiary of Miner Enterprises, promoted General Manager John Swezey to President.

WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff named long-time Amtrak executive Drew Galloway as Vice President, Transit and Rail Planning Director; Yassmin Gramian as Northeast Business Development Director for the Transportation and Infrastructure sector; Dale A. Brown as Assistant Vice President, Transit and Rail Systems; Pamela Townsend as Senior Vice President and Southeast Region Business 38

Railway Age

November 2016

Manager for the Transportation and Infrastructure sector.

Jannet Walker Ford, Vice President and North America Director of Policy and Strategic Programs at Parsons, has been elected to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) Board of Directors.

Gregory A. Kelly, president and chief executive officer of the U.S. and Latin America region of WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, has been named the 2016 Gallery of Success awardee by Temple University College of Engineering.

100 YEARS AGO in

December 7-8 2016 Rolling Stock Fleet Maintenance Cost Reduction Congress 2016 Grange St.Paul’s Hotel, 10 Godliman Street, London Contact: http://www.rolling-stockmaintenance.com/

December 15-16 2016 2016 Big Data in Railroad Engineering Conference University of Delaware Newark, Del. Contact: http://www.engr. udel.edu

January 11-12, 2017 Midwest Association of Rail Shippers (MARS) Winter Meeting, Hilton Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Resort, Oak Brook, IL Contact : (630) 513-6700 www.mwrailshippers.com

January 24-27, 2017 2017 APTA Business Member Board of Governors’ Annual Business Meeting Opal Sands Resort 430 South Gulfview Boulevard Clearwater, FL 33767 Contact: Ann-Marie Glanville (202) 496-4836 aglanville@apta.com

April 18-20, 2017

November 17, 1916 “Daylight Saving” The American Railway Association’s Committee on Standard Time reporting on the “daylight saving” movement says that the correct stand for the railways to maintain is: 1. That the present zone system of dividing time is scientifically correct. 2. That any change in sub-divisions of time would result in endless confusion, and would be disastrous to the railroads. 3. That in the event of a nationwide movement to change the hands of the clock in order to readjust the hours of daylight to the hours of labor, the railroads should not antagonize the movement.

Railway Age/RT&S Light Rail Conference: Planning, Engineering, Operations, followed by Rail Transit Finance.

Grand Hyatt Denver, Colorado.

Information: http://www. railwayage.com/index.php/ conferences/lightrail. html?channel=00; conferences@ sbpub.com

June 7-8, 2017 Railway Age Third Annual Rail Insights Conference Union League Club of Chicago http://www.railwayage.com/index. php/conferences/rail_insights. html?channel=00; conferences@ sbpub.com

Products FLIR Systems FLIR RSX-F thermal fire sensor FLIR Systems, Inc. unveiled the FLIR RSX-F intelligent sensor for advanced fire detection inside railway passenger vehicles. The FLIR RSX-F uses the FLIR Lepton® thermal sensor and high-definition visual imaging for fire and occupancy detection as well as CCTV monitoring.

The FLIR RSX-F uses a thermal sensor with on-board fire detection algorithms, which FLIR says detects a fire faster and more accurately than conventional methods.

The FLIR RSX-F detects thermal energy emitted from objects within its field of view and sees through smoke.

The video detection algorithms also determine the size, rate of temperature increase, and movement of a hot spot.

FLIR says this approach allows for lower false alarms by distinguishing hazardous events like cigarettes or lighters.

The FLIR RSX-F also measures seat occupancy in a passenger train, which allows train operators to optimize passenger flow or improve comfort by sensing temperature and adjusting train-based HVAC systems. The FLIR RSX-F mounts to walls or ceilings and tilts up to 45 degrees for optimal viewing. The FLIR RSX-F sensor is also fully compliant with the EN 50155 standard covering electronic equipment used for railway applications.

“The FLIR RSX-F sensor provides a significant new asset for train operators to improve safety,” said Andy Teich, President and CEO of FLIR. “By leveraging Lepton and advanced fire detection algorithms, the FLIR RSX-F provides train operators with a ‘sixth-sense’ to detect hot spots early and effectively to increase passenger safety.”

Contact: www.FLIR.com.

Trace the history of passenger-train travel from its heyday to the formation of Amtrak, the government-subsidized railroad created as a for-profit carrier.

Frank Wilner chronicles the roles of Amtrak both as a business and as a public entity dependent on political support. It reviews Congressional and White House policies and strategies that contribute to neither business failure nor prosperity. It also details the revolving door of Amtrak presidents.

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November 2016 Railway Age 39

Products 850W converters and battery chargers for extreme environmental conditions

Schaefer, Inc. introduced the C/B3500 Series of 850 Watt DC-DC and AC-DC converter modules and battery charger. Utilizing industrial grade components, Schaefer says the compact and robust 6U design provides a highly efficient, space-saving solution for the most extreme environments including a variety of onboard (74VDC to 110 or 24VDC) and wayside installations (115VAC to 12 or 24VDC). Other industrial applications include military, transportation, alternative energy, and process control systems.

The C3500 converters are available in seven standard DC input voltage ranges from 18VDC up to 640VDC. AC input options are single-phase 115VAC or 230VAC (with or without PFC) or three-phase inputs of 3x200, 3x400 and 3x480VAC. Single outputs are available in twelve standard ranges encompassing 5VDC-400VDC. All outputs are adjustable and fully regulated to 0.2% or better (load) and 0.1% (line).

Schaefer says the C3500 has comprehensive protection circuitry and efficiencies are up to 92%. Safety and construction standards meet both EN 60950-1 and EN 50178. EMI according to EN 61000-6-4, Class A (optional Class B upon request). Featuring natural convection cooling and a standard operating temperature range of –20°C to +75°C (derate 2.5%/°C from +55°C), with an option for –40°C to +75°C. DC-DC and AC-DC models have remote sensing capability. Options include increased mechanical strength, tropical protection, extended operating temperature, input diode, input MOV (600+ VDC), and active current sharing interrupt.

Contact Schaefer, Inc., 45 South Street, Hopkinton, MA 01748. Tel: 508/435-6400 Fax: 508/435-6401 Email: sales@schaeferpower.com.

40

Railway Age

November 2016

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Phone #

Alstom Transport SA

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elaine.west@transport.alstom.com

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35

Chet’s Shoes

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Danella Rental Systems, Inc.

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Dixie Precast

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Graham-White Manufacturing

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jkuhns@grahamwhite.com

17

Herzog Railroad Services, Inc.

816-233-9002

816-233-7757

tfrancis@hsri.com

27

LTK Engineering Services

215-641-8826

215-542-7676

tfurmaniak@ltk.com

19

MAC Products

973-344-0700

973-344-5891

edward.gollob@macproducts.net

34

Michael Baker International

215-430-5506

215-568-1349

mailisesky@mbakerintl.com

26

NRE

618-241-9270

618-242-8519 sales@nre.com

ORX

814-684-8484

glenn@orxrail.com

C4

Penn Northeastern Railroad

215-855-7110

212-855-7033

info@pnrailroad.com

9

Plasser American Corp.

757-543-3526

757-494-7186

plasseramerican@plausa.com

Power Drives, Inc.

716-822-3600

716-824-4817

r.panzica@powerdrives.com

28

Progress Rail Services

256-505-6402

256-505-6051

info@progressrail.com

22

Railquip Inc

770-458-4157

770-458-5365

sales@railquip.com

36

Rails Co.

973-763-4320

973-763-2585

rails@railsco.com

11

Railway Educational Bureau, The

402-346-4300

402-346-1783

bbrundige@sb-reb.com

RJ Corman Railroad Group

800-611-7245

859-885-7804

www.rjcorman.com

Road & Rail Services, Inc.

502-365-5198

23

Siemens Industry, Inc.

412-944-6533

amanda@weir@siemens.com

24

Soft Rail

888-872-4612

sales@signalcc.com

11

Trainyard Tech LLC

724-443-8881

cra2@zooninternet.net

18

724-443-8881

Page #

5

31

3

18, 39, C3 20

Zhuzhou CSR Times Electric Co

C2

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

Advertising Sales MAIN OFFICE Jonathan Chalon, Publisher 55 Broad St., 26th Floor New York, NY 10004 (212) 620-7224 Fax: (212) 633-1863 jchalon@sbpub.com AL, KY, Jon Chalon 55 Broad St., 26th Floor New York, NY 10004 (212) 620-7224 Fax: (212) 633-1863 jchalon@sbpub.com CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, RI, SC, VT, VA, WV, Canada – Quebec and East, Ontario Jerome Marullo 55 Broad St., 26th Floor New York, NY 10004 (212) 620-7260 Fax: (212) 633-1863 jmarullo@sbpub.com

AR, AK, AZ, CA, CO, IA, ID, IL, In, KS, LA, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NE, NM, ND, NV, OK, OR, SD, TN, TX, UT, WA, WI, WY, Canada – AB, BC, MB, SK Heather Disabato 20 South Clark Street, Suite 1910 Chicago, IL 60603 (312) 683-5026 Fax: (312) 683-0131 hdisabato@sbpub.com The Netherlands, Britain, France, Belgium, Portugal, Switzerland, North Germany, Middle East, South America, Africa (not South), Far East (Excluding Korea /China/India), All Others, Tenders Louise Cooper International Area Sales Manager The Priory, Syresham Gardens Haywards Heath, RH16 3LB United Kingdom +44-1444-416368 Fax: +44-(0)-1444-458185 lc@railjournal.co.uk

Scandinavia, Spain, Southern Germany, Austria, Korea, China, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Russia, Eastern Europe Baltic States, Recruitment Advertising Julie Richardson International Area Sales Manager The Priory, Syresham Gardens Haywards Heath, RH16 3LB United Kingdom +44-1444-416368 Fax: +44-(0)-1444-458185 jr@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 Jeanine Acquart 55 Broad St., 26th Floor New York, NY 10004 (212) 620-7211 Fax: (212) 633-1325 jacquart@sbpub.com

November 2016 Railway Age 41

equipment Sale/Leasing

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Available for Lease 3000 cu ft Covered Hopper Cars 4650 cu ft Covered Hopper Cars 3600 cu ft Open Top Hopper Cars 4480 cu ft Aluminum Rotary Open Top Gons 65 ft, 100-ton log spine cars equipped with six (6) log bunks Contact: Tom Monroe: 415-616-3472 Email: tmonroe@atel.com

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Railway Age November 2016

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products & services

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The celebration with and Reidler continues. Mention this ad to receive 10% off your railroad graphics order; includes consolidated stencils, tank qualifications, & Chemtrec markings. (FRA delineators excluded) 264 Industrial Park Rd. PO Box 8 St. Clair, PA 17970 Fax 1-888-826-0108 www.reidlerrailgraphics.com Email: csweigert@reidlerdecal.com

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November 2016 Railway Age 43

Financial edge DAVID NAHASS

Not in my railcar, you don’t—right?

R

ailcar buyers are frequently of habit. It stands to reason. The costs of operating a railcar for moving a commodity are generally transportation, rent or debt expense (unless the asset is owned outright by the end user) and maintenance expenses. Additionally, anyone using a railcar wants to insure that the car will perform well. Try a new valve in your tank railcar and risk loading or unloading problems or even worse a car that leaks commodity in transit? No thank you sir!

For years, railcar buyers and fleet and maintenance managers that make the decisions about the components that are used to manufacture railcars were purely a “Buy American” crowd. They had history on their side when making these decisions, because the railroad industry is littered with safety-related recalls on components manufactured outside the U.S. Why the history lesson? As new railcar orders flounder amid decreasing loadings, high system velocity, a strong dollar and stagnant global economies, new entrants into the manufacturing marketplace have surprised (positively and negatively) the existing manufacturers, many railcar lessors and even some customers. The most out-in-front company is Vertex Railcar Corp. Based in Wilmington, N.C., Vertex began production early in 2016. Vertex has an interesting pedigree for a railcar builder in North America. Its primary investor is CRRC Corporation Ltd. CRRC is the Chinese state-owned company that came into existence after the merger of two other Chinese state-owned companies: CSR (China Southern) and CNR (China Northern).

Vertex is China’s first direct entrance into the U.S. freight car manufacturing market. Vertex’s website says that it is the “first new large-sized railcar manufacturer in 82 years, where there are

44

Railway Age

November 2016

only six main competitors in the industry.” Vertex’s entrance has caused quite a stir in the market. Certainly, the plans to enter the U.S. market were conceived in the latter part of the bull market for railcars tied to CBR and hydraulic fracking. While North American manufacturing moved to a production high of 80,000 units, adding additional capacity for a pie that might have seemed like it would never stop growing seemed like a great idea.

However, as production moves to the 50,000s in 2016 and likely 20% to 30%

Foreign-made componentry has long been a significant part of North American railcar production. lower in 2017, adding manufacturing capacity is rubbing people the wrong way. Layer on top of that a complex global economic puzzle, and China’s entrance into North American rail looks like a creative way to dump Chinese steel, take American jobs and potentially create another safety-related recall that will have to be managed sometime in the near future.

The unspoken part of the puzzle here is that foreign-made componentry has been a significant part of North American railcar production for more than a decade. Parts used in truck components and in manufacturing have been and continue to be cast in China and shipped to the U.S. For example, in the AAR field manual, there are codes that specify where a casting is made so that

if there is a systemic failure of a series of castings, those casting can be identified and removed from service. The AAR field manual has codes for, among others, the U.S., China and Mexico.

How ubiquitous is the use of Chinese parts?

I spoke with Art Lewis, who retired from American Electric Power (AEP) and now runs AELewis Railcar Management Services. Art placed his last new car order on behalf of AEP in 2006. He told me that when specifying componentry for aluminum coal cars, he “would always spec (require in the specification of a railcar) American-made components.” As the manufacturers began to source more and more railcar from China, Art notes, “it got to a point where you could no longer control where the parts were coming from.”

This is not to put down or judge the economic decisions made by railcar manufactures and component suppliers. We’re all adults here: Components are (and were) not being sourced from China for any reason other than price.

Whatever the reason, the rail industry needs a vibrant manufacturing community that can survive the volatility swings that move a market to double and then halve manufacturing totals in a six-year span. In the cyclical downturns in the early 2000s, many component suppliers were squeezed on price until they were either merged or driven out of business. That’s not good business for anyone.

Many industry observers would say the same thing about adding manufacturing capacity during a cyclical downturn. Considering the momentum, depth and secular loadings shift in this downturn, that seems like a true statement. That’s not a China issue by any means.

Got questions? Set them free at dnahass@railfin.com

We’re current, are you? FRA Regulations Mechanical Department Regulations

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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

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