Railway Age May 2019

MAY 2 01 9

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AILWAY GE S e r v i n g t h e r a i lway i n d u s t r y s i n c e 1 8 5 6

Golden

AT 150

How Union Pacific Helped Build A Nation

RAIL FLAW DETECTION

Tracking Internal Defects

RAILINC LOCOMOTIVE REPORT Shift to AC Continues

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August 2017 // Railway Age 1

GREX SALUTES A REAL RAIL PIONEER Congratulations

UNION PACIFIC on celebrating 150 years in business.

Real Rail Solutions At GREX, we’re working hard to help Union Pacific and other railroads around the globe work safer and more efficiently than ever before through new technologies.

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COMPANY

+1 512.869.1542 www.georgetownrail.com G

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AILWAY GE

MAY 2019

32 FEATURES

12

Golden at 150

27

Rail Flaw Detection

32 36

UP marks a milestone

Seeing the unseen

Class Yard Management Lambert’s Point logistics

Railinc Power Report Locomotive facts and figures

DEPARTMENTS 4 6 7 40 40 40 41 42 42 43

Industry Indicators Industry Outlook Market People 100 Years Ago Events Products Classified Professional Directory Advertising Index

NEWS/COLUMNS 2 8 11 44

From the Editor Update Watching Washington Financial Edge

On the Cover: Queen of the Steam Fleet: Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 Photo: Union Pacific

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. 220, No. 5. Subscriptions: Railway Age is sent without obligation to professionals working in the railroad industry in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. However, the publisher reserves the right to limit the number of copies. Subscriptions should be requested on company letterhead. Subscription pricing to others for Print and/or Digital versions: $100.00 per year/$151.00 for two years in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico; $139.00 per year/$197.00 for two years, foreign. Single Copies: $36.00 per copy in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico/$128.00 foreign All subscriptions payable in advance. COPYRIGHT© 2016 Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced without permission. For reprint information contact PARS International Corp., 102 W. 38th Street, 6th floor, New York, N.Y. 10018, Tel.: 212-221-9595; Fax: 212221-9195. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Canada Post Cust.#7204564; Agreement #41094515. Bleuchip Int’l, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Address all subscriptions, change of address forms and correspondence concerning subscriptions to Subscription Dept., Railway Age, PO Box 1407 Cedar Rapids, IA. 52406-1407, Or call toll free (US Only) 1-800-553-8878 (CANADA/INTL) 1-319-364-6167. Printed at Cummings Printing, Hooksett, N.H. ISSN 0033-8826 (print); 2161-511X (digital).

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May 2019 // Railway Age 1

FROM THE EDITOR

AILWAY GE Subscriptions: 800-895-4389

Requiem For a Heavyweight

B

y the time you read this, the largest steam locomotive ever built will have thundered her way from Union Pacific’s Steam Shop in Cheyenne, Wyo., to Ogden, Utah, to take part in ceremonies marking the 150th anniversary of the Golden Spike, which completed the nation’s first transcontinental railroad.

I’m talking about the locomotive that graces this month’s cover, and that also appears on pp. 12-13: “Big Boy” 4014, built in 1941 by the American Locomotive Co. to UP specifications for hauling heavy trains over the Wasatch Mountains between Ogden and Green River, Wyo., on a 1.14% ruling grade.

A UP design team led by Mechanical Department Research & Mechanical Standards Vice President Otto Jabelmann, working with ALCO, re-evaluated the railroad’s 4-6-6-4 Challenger locomotives. They enlarged the Challenger’s firebox to 235 x 96 inches (157 square feet), increased boiler pressure to 300 psi, added four driving wheels and reduced driving wheel diameter from 69 to 68 inches. The resulting single-expansion, articulated, 975.75-ton (with tender, in working order) 4-8-8-4 featured an axle loading of 67,800 pounds, and a maximum starting tractive effort of 135,375 pounds with a 4.0 factor of adhesion.

ALCO manufactured 25 Big Boys for UP, 20 in 1941 and five in 1944. They saw service until their fires were dropped for the last time in 1961. Eight survived; UP re-acquired 4014

in 2013 from the RailGiants Museum in Pomona, Calif., and meticulously restored her to operating condition.

A nine-page Railway Age article (Oct. 4, 1941, pp. 519-526, 528) describes the Big Boy in detail, listing all component suppliers, some of which are still in business: Adirondack Foundries & Steel. American Arch. American Brake Shoe and Foundry.

American Throttle. Barco Mfg. Bethlehem Steel. Buckeye Steel Castings. CarnegieIllinois Steel. Champion Rivet. Chase Brass & Copper. Elastic Stop Nut. Electro Chemical Engineering. Flannery Bolt Co. Franklin Railway Supply. Garlock Packing. Gatke Corp. General Steel Castings. Gustin-Bacon Mfg. Hewitt Rubber. Homer D. Bronson.

Johns-Manville. Jos. T. Ryerson & Son. Lunkenheimer Co. Masonite. Nathan Mfg. National Lock Washer. National Tube. New York Air Brake. Phelps Dodge Copper Products. Pittsburgh Plate Glass. Prime Mfg. SKF Industries. Standard Stoker. Superheater Co. Symington-Gould. Timken Roller Bearing. Tube-Turns Inc. T-Z Railway Equipment. Ulster Iron Works. Union Asbestos & Rubber. U.S. Rubber. Waugh Equipment. Westinghouse Air Brake. Wm. Sellers. Wilson Engineering.

We salute Union Pacific, its Steam Team, and all suppliers, past and present, who returned 4014 to glory.

WILLIAM C. VANTUONO Editor-in-Chief

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 ARTHUR J. McGINNIS, Jr. President and Chairman JONATHAN CHALON Publisher jchalon@sbpub.com WILLIAM C. VANTUONO Editor-in-Chief wvantuono@sbpub.com ANDREW CORSELLI Managing Editor acorselli@sbpub.com PAUL CONLEY Engineering Editor pconley@sbpub.com Contributing Editors: David Peter Alan, Roy Blanchard, Jim Blaze, Peter Diekmeyer, Alfred E. Fazio, Bruce Kelly, David C. Lester, Ron Lindsey, Ryan McWilliams, David Nahass, Jason H. Seidl, David Thomas, John Thompson, Frank N. Wilner Art Director: Nicole D’Antona Graphic Designer: Aleza Leinwand Corporate Production Director: Mary Conyers Digital Ad Operations Associate: Kevin Fuhrmann Production Director: Eduardo Castaner Marketing Director: Erica Hayes Conference Director: Michelle Zolkos Circulation Director: Maureen Cooney 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.co.uk Keith Barrow kb@railjournal.co.uk

Railway Age, descended from the American Rail-Road Journal (1832) and the Western Railroad Gazette (1856) and published under its present name since 1876, is indexed by the Business Periodicals Index and the Engineering Index Service. Name registered in U.S. Patent Office and Trade Mark Office in Canada. Now indexed in ABI/Inform.

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Railway Age welcomes the submission of unsolicited manuscripts and photographs. However, the publishers will not be responsible for safekeeping or return of such material.

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Industry Indicators The Windshield, or the Bug That Gets Splattered On It? “Sometimes you’re the windshield and sometimes you’re the bug,” the AAR reported in late April. “In March, railroads were the bug. Total U.S. rail carloads in March 2019 were down 8.9% from March 2018. That’s the biggest percentage decline for any month since May 2016. Just 4 of 20 carload commodity categories saw gains, the fewest since July 2016. In addition, U.S. intermodal originations were down 1.5%. Combined with a 0.9% decline in February, this marks the first two-month decline for intermodal since October 2016. A slowing economy may be having an impact on rail traffic, but bad weather is a more likely culprit. Western carriers accounted for the vast majority of the decline.”

Railroad employment, Class I linehaul carriers, MARCH 2019 (% change from MARCH 2018)

TRAFFIC ORIGINATED CARLOADS

MAJOR U.S. RAILROADS

by Commodity

Total employees: 144,948 % change from MARCH 2018: –1.00%

Transportation (train and engine) 61,673 (–1.00%)

MARCH ’19

MARCH ’18

% CHANGE

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 & Steel Scrap Motor Vehicles & Parts Crushed Stone, Sand, & Gravel Nonmetallic Minerals Stone, Clay & Glass Products Waste & Nonferrous Scrap All Other Carloads

82,436 2,872 35,835 23,519 127,710 47,572 275,053 4,545 13,550 21,325 15,311 14,349 38,595 15,887 69,622 87,455 15,634 29,787 13,801 22,286

94,273 3,322 38,026 24,363 133,803 39,282 339,857 4,249 14,238 22,259 18,352 16,044 39,509 16,373 68,407 96,187 14,707 30,382 13,842 23,285

-12.6% -13.5% -5.8% -3.5% -4.6% 21.1% -19.1% 7.0% -4.8% -4.2% -16.6% -10.6% -2.3% -3.0% 1.8% -9.1% 6.3% -2.0% -0.3% -4.3%

Total U.S. CarLoadS

957,144

1,050,760

-8.9%

321,970

323,756

-0.6%

1,279,114

1,374,516

-6.9%

Executives, Officials, and Staff Assistants 7,928 (–1.00%)

CANADIAN RAILROADS

Professional and Administrative 11,424 (–1.00%)

COMBINED U.S./CANADA RR

Maintenance-of-Way and Structures 31,861 (+1.00%) Maintenance of Equipment and Stores 26,478 (–1.00%) Transportation (other than train & engine) 5,584 (–1.00%) Source: Surface Transportation Board

Employment stats mirror last month Like February 2019, year-over-year changes in Class I railroad employment figures mirrored those from the previous month. All categories except for one, Maintenance-of-Way and Structures, declined a miniscule 1%, and that category rose a mere 1%—almost flat. However, as Railway Age continues to report, that may not last very long, as major personnel cuts are still in the works at carriers like Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, both of which are moving to a Precision Scheduled Railroading operating model.

4 Railway Age // May 2019

Four WEEKS ENDING MARCH 30, 2019

total CANADIAN carloads

Intermodal

FOUR WEEKS ENDING MARCH 30, 2019

MAJOR U.S. RAILROADS

by Commodity

MARCH ’19

MARCH’18

% CHANGE

93,933 971,857 1,065,790

100,248 981,929 1,082,177

-6.3% -1.0% -1.5%

0 281,692 281,692

4,154 273,538 277,692

-100.0% 3.0% 1.4%

Trailers Containers

93,933 1,253,549

104,402 1,255,467

-10.0% -0.2%

TOTAL COMBINED UNITS

1,347,482

1,359,869

-0.9%

Trailers Containers TOTAL UNITS

CANADIAN RAILROADS Trailers Containers TOTAL UNITS

COMBINED U.S./CANADA RR

Source: Rail Time Indicators, Association of American Railroads

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TOTAL U.S./CANADIAN CARLOADS, MARCH 2019 VS. MARCH 2018

1,279,114

AILWAY GE

1,374,516

MARCH 2019

MARCH 2018

Short Line And Regional Traffic Index CARLOADS

by Commodity

ORIGINATED MARCH ’19

ORIGINATED MARCH ’18

% CHANGE

48,876 22,203 26,361 10,323 24,747 7,331 8,635 3,167 17,124 10,874 2,762 2,408 17,646 12,488 52,519 9,524 75,271

47,490 22,764 29,254 11,884 28,910 6,531 10,764 3,462 18,777 10,914 2,423 2,338 18,616 12,671 40,004 10,423 82,464

2.9% -2.5% -9.9% -13.1% -14.4% 12.2% -19.8% -8.5% -8.8% -0.4% 14.0% 3.0% -5.2% -1.4% 31.3% -8.6% -8.7%

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

Copyright © 2019 All rights reserved.

average weekly U.S. Rail Carloads: all commodities (not seasonally adjusted) 278,000 2018

270,000 262,000

ARE YOU A RAILROAD OR SUPPLIER SEARCHING FOR JOB CANDIDATES?

254,000 246,000

2017

238,000 230,000

2019

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

Visit http://bit.ly/railjobs To place a job posting, contact: Jeanine Acquart 212-620-7211 jacquart@sbpub.com

May 2019 // Railway Age 5

railwayage.com RA_JobBoard_1/3Vertical.indd 1

8/17/17 10:59 AM

Industry Outlook

OLI Cites Public Safety Stats

NJT: $800MM in Contracting Plans For New Jersey Transit, the days of subsisting on a starvation capital diet imposed by former Gov. Chris Christie appear over. The agency recently hosted an open house for prime contractors, small businesses and DBEs (Disadvantaged Business Enterprises), the first such event in 10 years. On the table: More than $800 million in contracting opportunities for capital projects that will be available in the upcoming year.

Roughly 150 people attended the event, which showcased upcoming capital construction projects, and opportunities to connect and do business with the agency.

Attendees heard from NJT Executive Director Kevin Corbett and New Jersey State Diversity Officer Hester Agudosi, “who underscored the State’s commitment to rebuilding infrastructure and investing in state-of-good-repair projects, and the commitment to diversify and build capacity in the contracting pool,” NJT said. “This is NJT’s first contracting outreach event since the Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) tunnel project was canceled. Due to an overwhelming response to this event, a second engagement event is already being discussed for Fall 2019.”

NJT discussed its state-of-good-repair, 6 Railway Age // May 2019

rail infrastructure and resilience projects, such as the Long Slip Fill and Rail Enhancement Project, worth more than $150 million; Delco Lead, estimated at more than $200 million; and Task Order Contract Opportunities. The agency also provided information on a recently upgraded Electronic Bidding Process “that creates efficiency for contractors and the agency.”

NJT said it “has made significant progress in executing contracting dollars in the [Gov. Phil] Murphy Administration. In 2018, the agency awarded more than $264 million in construction and professional service related contracts, compared to $47 million in 2017.

“Speed to market” has increased from 340 days in 2017 for federal procurements to 180 days in 2018. Additionally, recently passed legislation enables NJT to, among other things, “conduct cooperative purchasing and make purchases through federal supply schedules. This flexibility has resulted in transformative new draft regulations that will save time and cost and improve speed to market and overall procurement turnaround times.”

NJT noted that, in 2018, it awarded $165 million in Federal Transit Administrationfunded contracts. Of that amount, $31 million, or 19%, was awarded to DBE firms.

OPERATION LIFESAVER INC. (OLI) Executive Director Rachel Maleh last month reported that railroad grade crossing collisions and trespassing deaths increased in 2018.

Citing preliminary Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) statistics, Maleh said from 2017 to 2018, U.S. crossing collisions rose 4.3%, crossing deaths remained constant and crossing injuries decreased 2.9%. Total casualties—deaths and injuries— from rail trespassing were up 2.8%, trespass deaths grew 12% and trespass injuries fell 6.3% in 2018.

States with the most crossing collisions in 2018, according to the rail safety education nonprofit, were Texas, California, Indiana, Georgia, Illinois, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Ohio and Pennsylvania. States with the most trespasser casualties last year were California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina and New Jersey.

“We are troubled to see that these tragic railroad crossing incidents and pedestrian trespass casualties continue to rise,” said Maleh. “Some indicators were better in 2018, however. Crossing deaths were flat from the previous year, while crossing and trespass injuries both dropped. Rail Safety Week, Sept.

22-28 in the U.S. and Canada, will focus attention on these key public safety issues. These statistics show that our efforts to save lives, working with the FRA and safety partners at freight, passenger and commuter railroads, are more important than ever.”

“It is vitally important that we continue to strengthen efforts among all public, private and government stakeholders to prevent and reduce grade crossing collisions and trespass incidents,” said FRA Administrator Ronald L. Batory. “There is still much work to do, but through our longstanding partnership with Operation Lifesaver, Inc., more Americans understand how to safely traverse grade crossings and refrain from risky behavior along rail lines.” railwayage.com

Market Trackmobile, Zephir, LEAF Join Forces Trackmobile, Zephir S.p.A. and LEAF locomotive have joined forces under the Berkshire Hathaway, Marmon Holdings, Inc. umbrella to form Global Railcar Mover Group (GRMG), which “provides a full spectrum of choices to handle railcar movement needs,” the company said.

Offering tractive effort capacities from 27,000 to 80,000 pounds using Tier 4 compliant engines ranging from 130 to 1,200 hp or electric motors that range in drawbar pull from 3,475 to 40,465 pounds “represents the best options available for industrial operations, shipping, and receiving materials and finished goods via rail transportation.”

WORLDWIDE German open-access rail freight operator RheinCargo has ordered two Vossloh DE 18 diesel locomotives and acquired three Bombardier TRAXX AC2 electric locomotives from DB Cargo, as it continues the modernization of its fleet. The 1.8MW fouraxle centre-cab DE 18s will be delivered in October, joining six locomotives of this type already in service with RheinCargo. The DE18s will be used around Cologne, Neuss and the Ruhr region. The 5.6MW TRAXX AC2 (class 185) locomotives will be used on a new intermodal service from Cologne to

Hamburg, which is due to begin operating next month. RheinCargo already operates a fleet of 10 TRAXX AC3 locomotives. “By investing in the five new vehicles, RheinCargo is consistently pursuing its strategy of focusing on efficient, high-performance and environmentally friendly vehicles,” said Wolfgang Birlin, managing director of RheinCargo’s railway division.

Finnish Railways (VR) has awarded Škoda subsidiary Škoda Transtech a contract worth around Koruna 600 million (US$25.9 million) to supply seven new double-deck dining cars. The cars, which will be produced in Kajaani, Finland, will be put into operation in 2021-22.

NORTH AMERICA Georgia Port Authority selected RailComm, LLC as the yard management system provider for the new Port of Savannah Multi-Modal Connector. There will also be an expansion of the rail facilities supporting the port, which will allow for a much larger percentage of containers using rail—a much more efficient and environmentally sound way to transport cargo in railwayage.com

and out of the port, the rail yard management systems supplier said. RailComm’s yard management system “will allow for remote control of 83 powered rail switches and 38 powered derail devices. From either a centralized office location or from a remote touchscreen kiosk, switches can be remotely thrown individually or lined as part of a route by either a yardmaster or by work crews on the ground. The yard control system will allow crews to move intermodal cars carrying containers through the facility without manually throwing switches and even queue a set of routes as needed to assemble and disassemble trains on the appropriate tracks,” the company said.

Ottawa (Ontario) City Council, in a landmark 19-3 vote, has approved Stage 2 of the city’s Confederation Line LRT project, as well as a crucial extension to the Trillium Diesel Multiple Unit operation. This represents the largest capital project in the National Capital’s history. Meanwhile, in Alberta Province, the Government of Canada, through its agency Infrastructure Canada, recently announced federal funding totaling more than C$1 billion for two Edmonton LRT projects.

May 2019 // Railway Age 7

Update

Greenbrier buys ARI

for $400 Million

I

n a transaction valued at $400 million, the Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (GBRX) has entered into an agreement to acquire the manufacturing business of American Railcar Industries (ARI) from ITE Management LP (ITE), the hedge fund that bought ARI from investor Carl Icahn in December 2018. GBX said the result will be “a larger U.S. railcar manufacturing footprint, adding ARI’s two manufacturing facilities in Arkansas. It will employ more U.S. workers at cost-competitive and flexible facilities, with a more-efficient delivery model throughout North America, due to lower transportation costs.”

GBRX will gain two ARI railcar manufacturing facilities in Arkansas and five other operations that provide a range of railcar component and parts supply. These operations build hopper car outlets, tank car valves, axles, castings and railcar running boards, among other ancillary railcar products. “Significant manufacturing efficiencies and cost savings are expected from the acquisition, along with a skilled workforce and geographic advantages throughout North America,” the company noted, adding that, within the first 12 months, it expects adjusted diluted earnings per share accretion to exceed 20%, with free cash flow accretion 8 Railway Age // May 2019

and “at least $30 million in annual run-rate synergy opportunities.”

GBRX said it expects the acquisition to “strengthen [our] core North American product base through complementary and supplementary railcar and component offerings, including vertical supply chain benefits; enhance [our] production footprint to better serve a geographically diverse customer base; provide new cost-saving opportunities through use of best practices, increased vertical integration, maximized production runs, improved supply chain efficiencies and lower transportation costs to key markets; increase railcar offerings with access to vertically integrated parts and components; and broaden the customer base, capitalizing on non-overlapping relationships with strategic operating lessors, Class I and short line railroads and shippers.”

The $400 million purchase price is based on adjustments for net tax benefits accruing to GBRX valued at $30 million. The gross purchase price totals $430 million. It includes $30 million for capital expenditures on railcar lining operations and other facility improvements at ARI. Also included in the gross purchase price are convertible notes issued by GBRX to ARI in the principal amount of $50 million. The balance is a cash consideration.

Icahn sold ARI to ITE in December 2018, realizing a 423% return on investment— roughly $757.2 million. Icahn’s involvement with ARI goes back to the 1980s, when he originally acquired a controlling interest in ACF industries (ARI’s predecessor) as part of a leveraged buyout, where he outbid E.M. Warburg, Pincus & Co. In the early 1990s, Icahn recapitalized ACF and took roughly $475 million for his firm, Highcrest Investor Corp.

The deal brings Greenbrier full-circle, as Icahn unsuccessfully attempted to acquire GBRX and merge it with ARI—twice, in 2008 and 2012.

gbrx will gain two railcar plants and five supply operations.” railwayage.com

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Update Virgin Trains USA, Morgan Stanley: $1.75B in PABs Virgin Trains USA (formerly Brightline) has closed on $1.75 billion in private activity bonds (PABs) underwritten

by Morgan Stanley and purchased by 67 different investors to help fund the company’s expansion from West Palm Beach, on the Florida East Coast Railway, to Orlando.

Virgin described the closing as “one of the largest PAB transactions to date.”

With the closing, Virgin says it has the funds to begin construction for service to Orlando, including 170 miles of new track to an intermodal facility located in the new

South Terminal at Orlando International Airport. Construction is expected to begin shortly, with completion slated for 2022.

Construction of the new rail line between West Palm Beach and Orlando “is expected to have a significant economic impact in the State of Florida, including the creation of more than 10,000 jobs, and is anticipated to generate more than $650 million in federal, state and local tax revenue,” Virgin said. “The project is 100% privately financed and represents a total investment of $4 billion.”

“Today is affirmation that our vision for passenger rail holds great promise and highlights a tremendous appetite in the private markets for large-scale transportation and infrastructure projects,” said Wes Edens, co-founder and co-CEO of Fortress Investment Group and Chairman of Virgin Trains USA. “Connecting Miami and Orlando makes tremendous business sense, but even more, it provides a public benefit to the State of Florida, including thousands of

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jobs that will keep the state economically competitive for decades.”

“We have already seen first-hand the economic benefits our project has delivered in South Florida, from revitalizing downtown Miami to spurring growth in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach,” said Patrick Goddard, Virgin Trains USA President. “This private investment will create a critical infrastructure corridor that is essential to the state’s continued growth and high quality of life. We are revolutionizing train travel and realizing a decades-long vision of operating express passenger rail in Florida.”

“We are proud to be associated with such a transformational project that generates sustainable increased economic activity, reduces traffic congestion and benefits the environment,” said Brian Wynne, Managing Director and Head of Public Finance at Morgan Stanley. “We look forward to working with Virgin Trains USA as it continues to build much-needed infrastructure in the U.S.”

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Watching Washington

Shipper Frustration Turns Contemptuous

O

h, the contempt that drippeth from a judicial petition of the Western Coal Traffic League (WCTL), whose members ship and receive by rail some 175 million tons of coal annually. It accuses the Surface Transportation Board (STB) of impersonating a regulatory agency by not acting on longpending rulemakings, and asks a federal court to order the STB to do as its statute instructs—timely decide cases brought before it.

The WCTL wants the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to issue a writ of mandamus—an order to a government agency to fulfill properly its official duties and “take action” in a proceeding lingering almost five years.

The case cited stems from a $181 million shipper overcharge where the STB acknowledged a flaw in its mechanism by which railroads recover higher locomotive fuel costs.

In 2014, the STB opened a rulemaking to determine a fix. And that is when the STB’s gears stopped rotating. Other rulemakings also loiter.

More than 132 years ago, when STB predecessor Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was created, its framers foresaw grievances presented to the agency being decided promptly.

Yet Congress occasionally has had to step in, such as after the ICC wiggled, waggled, waffled and wavered for more than a decade in deciding a railroad merger application (Union Pacific+Rock Island). Subsequently, statutory deadlines were imposed

175MM TONS OF COAL ARE SHIPPED

ANNUALLY BY THE WCTL

railwayage.com

for deciding merger and rate reasonableness cases. But not for rulemakings with broad public policy implications.

Now festering—beside a fix for a flawed fuel-cost recovery formula—are rulemakings on how more accurately to measure revenue adequacy; to resolve when and how rate relief should be applied when revenue adequacy is achieved; to determine whether sole-served shipper facilities are to be opened to a second railroad via mandated reciprocal switching or trackage rights; and how to make more efficient and less costly the review of maximum rate cases.

Alleging justice delayed is justice denied, affected shippers are confounded, frustrated and contemptuous, as evidenced by this WCTL pleading.

STB chairmen, appointed by the President from among Senate-confirmed agency members, exclusively control the docket and staff work assignments.

Since 2015, when Congress increased STB membership from three to five, former Democratic Chairman Dan Elliott did not resolve these rulemakings, and current Republican Chairman Ann Begeman has declined to move them, awaiting reinforcements yet to arrive.

But the STB statute has no quorum requirement. As recently as 2003, the STB operated efficiently for 54 weeks with but a single member—Roger Nober. Moreover, there is no indication the STB will reach five members soon. Democrat Deb Miller wasn’t renominated, departing Dec. 31 following term expiration. That leaves Republican nominee Michelle A. Schultz awaiting a Democrat with whom to be paired for Senate confirmation—with no indication another nominee is even being considered by the White House.

The relief sought by the WCTL—and, by extension, other shippers similarly invested in long-pending rulemakings— is that the STB either decide or dismiss them, enabling shippers at least to seek judicial relief.

While railroads today may benefit from this delay—although the decisions could be in their favor—circumstances change. Not long ago, amidst shipper

THEY SAY JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED, AS EVIDENCED BY WCTL.” unrest, lawmakers came within a single committee vote of advancing legislation reversing the partial economic deregulation afforded railroads by the 1980 Staggers Rail Act. The consequence of regulatory inaction can be more wicked than shipper contempt.

While the STB still has but three members, relatively new arrivals—Republican Patrick J. Fuchs and Democrat Martin J. Oberman—seem impatient change agents.

Begeman has joined them in utilizing statutory provisions enacted in 2015—written, in part, by Fuchs when a senior Senate staffer—allowing STB members to meet collectively with staff to exchange views.

They also are utilizing relaxed rules to meet with stakeholders.

As former Chairman Linda J. Morgan said at her 1999 second-term confirmation hearing, “Parties that bring disputes to the board want and should have the certainty of resolution … we are here to make decisions in hard cases.”

Voluntary forward movement may help burnish an image tarnished by protracted inaction.

FRANK N. WILNER Contributing Editor May 2019 // Railway Age 11

union pacific We salute Union Pacific as it marks a milestone in railroading and U.S. history.

By WILLIAM C. VANTUONO, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

12 Railway Age // May 2019

New York to San Francisco in six days, or say at an average speed of about 24 mph. The entire distance, via Chicago and Omaha, is stated to be 3,353 miles, and at 30 miles to the hour—and that is not an unusual speed for our express trains—the passage could be made in five days.

“But taking the slower rate of speed, and

that certainly is not excessive, let us see what changes are likely to ensue in the mail and passenger movement between Europe and the East, according to some speculation by a contemporary. At San Francisco, the mail will connect with the various steamship lines running on the Pacific, and may be landed at Honolulu in nine days from railwayage.com

Union Pacific (all photos)

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ailway Age antecedent American Railway Times, May 15, 1869: “On May 10, the last rail connecting the tracks of the Union and the Central Pacific Railroads was spiked in place, thus giving a continuous railway line across the continent.

The blows of the hammer driving home the last spike were heard simultaneously by the aid of the telegraphic wires at the extreme eastern and western sides of the continent; and in many places the marked event was celebrated by the ringing of bells, the firing of salutes, and the interchange of congratulations between the different sections of the country.

“Turning back to our files in the Railway Times of 1849 and 1850, we find this enterprise pretty well shadowed forth, by discussions, communications and appeals, all of which probably gave some aid in educating the public mind as to the feasibility and necessity of this great national highway. We well remember the derision with which P.P. Degrande’s statement was received, that the road between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Coast could be built in seven years; but he spoke wisely; the road has been built in about four and a half years’ time, and we are already beginning to see the commercial results which were then promised.

“A direct importation of teas has already reached New York City via the Pacific Railroad, and the papers of that city chronicle the arrival of a passenger from San Francisco in eight days’ time, even with the road in its unfinished state.

Now, with the new highway in a finished condition, and with systematic management, passengers can easily pass from

union pacific

GOLDEN At

that city, or 15 days from New York. They can reach Japan in 19 days from San Francisco, or 25 days from New York, or 33 to 34 days from Great Britain—thus beating the British mail sent via the Suez Canal, three to four weeks.

“The trip between Yokohama, Japan and either Hong Kong or Shanghai, is railwayage.com

readily accomplished by the Pacific Mail steamships in from five to six days, which added to the time in reaching Japan, will give the through time necessary to reach either of the above named ports of China.

The American steamships belonging to the China branch of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company are unequaled in beauty and

150

stability, by any vessels afloat. As they excel all other steamships afloat—except the Great Eastern—in size and capacity, so they also excel them in their various appointments and comfortable accommodations for first class passengers.

“The mail for Australia, it is thought, will hereafter go via San Francisco, as the May 2019 // Railway Age 13

union pacific

Australian and New Zealand Steamship Company intend transferring the terminus of their line, which has been running from Sydney to Panama, [to a] run from Australia to Taluti, thence to Honolulu, and thence to San Francisco, making 28 days schedule time, which will give us monthly mail to Australia in 34 or 35 days through time.

“The lighter and valuable traffic of China and Japan with Europe will quite likely come over the Pacific Railroad; the teas, spices, silks, and 1,000 other articles of Asiatic commerce, will seek this line in preference to those now in use, as being less dangerous, taking very much less time, and therefore cheaper.

“The main thing now is to put the whole line in the best possible condition. Let there remain no doubt in the public mind as to the character of the road as to strengthen efficiency in every detail, from Omaha to San Francisco. Put the entire line under one efficient and vigorous management, let the tariff be put in reasonable rates, and the favorable results of the building of this great national highway will soon be approved.”

One-hundred-and-fifty years later, the “efficient and vigorous management” we described is the Union Pacific, whose name and purpose have not changed throughout the years, even as the railroad whose moniker is “Building America” has grown in size and scope, mostly through consolidation.

14 Railway Age // May 2019

The building of the Pacific Railroad, and the driving of the Golden Spike at Promontory Summit, Utah, has been chronicled in scores of books, photographs, movies, television documentaries and museum exhibits. Andrew J. Russell’s famous photograph of Union Pacific’s 119 and Central Pacific’s Jupiter (above) nearly touching pilots, which he titled “East and West Shaking Hands at Laying of Last Rail” but also known as “The Champagne Photo,” preserved a defining moment in U.S. history. It was one of several glass-plate exposures taken by three photographers who were present at the Golden Spike Ceremony. Following the driving of the last spike, 119 and Jupiter were “run up until they nearly touched,” according to one account. “Railroad officials retired to their cars, leaving the engineers and workmen to celebrate. The champagne flowed, and engineers George Booth and Sam Bradford each broke a bottle upon the other’s locomotive.

Samuel S. Montague, Central Pacific’s Chief Engineer, and his counterpart, Grenville M. Dodge, shook hands to symbolize the end of the race to build the nation’s first transcontinental railroad.”

Union Pacific, founded when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act on July 1, 1862, has commemorated this transformational, nation-building project with “The Great Race to Promontory,” which can be found at www.up.com/goldenspike/index.html: “The Central Pacific

Railroad of California, chartered in 1861, was authorized to build a line east from Sacramento. At the same time, the Act chartered the Union Pacific Railroad Company to build west from the Missouri River. The original legislation granted each railroad 6,400 acres and up to $48,000 in government bonds for each mile completed.”

Those government bonds, needless to say, have been repaid countless times over by the contribution that UP continues to make to the global economy.

The most spectacular part of the Golden Spike sesquicentennial celebration is the restoration and return to operations of “Big Boy” 4014 (https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/4014/index.htm). One of 25 built for UP by the American Locomotive Company, the massive 4000-class 4-8-8-4 was delivered in 1941. As the story goes, the class series originally was to have been designated the “Wasatch,” as these locomotives were designed to haul freight over the Wasatch Mountains between Ogden, Utah, and Green River, Wyo. But an unidentified Alco worker wrote “Big Boy” in chalk on the smokebox of one unit during construction, and that’s the nickname that stuck.

Originally coal-fired, 4014, like sister units 844 (a 4-8-4 Northern type) and 3985 (a 4-6-6-4 Challenger class), was converted to an oil-burner by UP’s skilled Steam Team.

Eight of the 25 survive; the remaining seven are on static public display at various locations around the U.S. We thought we’d leave you with some additional perspective from our archives.

Like all monumental, history-defining projects, the Pacific Railroad, or at least the idea for it, began many years prior to its completion—1832, according John Debo Galloway’s The First Transcontinental Railroad, which Simmons-Boardman published in 1950. (Perhaps not by coincidence, Railway Age’s earliest antecedent, the American Rail Road Journal, was founded in 1832.)

Following are several excerpts of note.

“The building of the Pacific Railroad was preceded by the usual discussion that accompanies proposals of this kind.

Dreamers, writers, politicians, and promoters precede the practical men who finally take up the project and carry it through to completion. The promotional effort was necessary in order to arouse public interest, inasmuch as an undertaking of the railwayage.com

Celebrating a Century in Oregon

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union pacific magnitude of the Pacific Railroad could be accomplished only by the assistance of some portion of the public, either as investors or as those who influence the representatives of the people in state or national legislatures.

“While it is not possible to determine with certainty who first suggested a railroad to the Pacific Coast, there is a definite record of such a proposal being made by a writer in the Emigrant, a weekly newspaper published by Judge S. W. Dexter in Ann Arbor, Mich. The editorial was probably written by Judge Dexter in the issue of Feb. 6, 1832. After remarking on the probability that the public would consider the idea a visionary one, the writer outlines the project for a railroad in the following terms: “‘The distance between New York and Oregon is about 3,000 miles. From New

York, we could pursue the most convenient route to the vicinity of Lake Erie, thence along the south shore of this lake and of Lake Michigan, cross the Mississippi between forty-one and forty-two of north latitude, cross the Missouri about the mouth of the Platte, and thence to the Rocky Mountains, near the source of the last named river, thence to Oregon, by the valley of the south branch of that stream, called the southern branch of the Lewis River.’

“The writer suggested that the United States should build the road, or that a company be permitted to do so. This article in the Emigrant is remarkable for two reasons. First it appeared at a time when just two railroads were getting started in the country, the Charleston and Hamburg in South Carolina, and the Baltimore

and Ohio, and when there were probably less than 200 miles of track in operation. However, news of English railroads was available to the American public. The other remarkable feature was the editorial writer’s location of the line, which was followed in later years by the railroads west from Chicago and specifically by the Union Pacific across the plains and over the Rocky Mountains by way of the Snake River and the Columbia River on to Oregon.

“In 1833 or 1834, a fairly complete scheme for a Pacific Railroad was outlined by Dr. Samuel Bancroft Barlow, a physician of Granville, Mass. He wrote an article for the Intelligencer, a weekly journal published in Westfield, Mass. Dr. Barlow states that he had read the article in the Emigrant.

He assumes a railroad of a length of 3,000

The Future of Rail Starts Now By Lance Fritz, Union Pacific Chairman, President and CEO

T

he transcontinental railroad’s completion 150 years ago fulfilled President Abraham Lincoln’s dream of uniting America from east to west. We will have honored the hard work and sacrifice that gave birth to our incredible legacy with commemoration events in Ogden and Promontory. Looking back on the achievement helps shed light on today’s modern era for Union Pacific and the freight rail industry. It is vital we continue building on progress made by generations before us in the midst of rapid change, market disruptors and competition from yet-to-be-discovered technologies.

Future success requires seeing ourselves through the eyes of our customers. We recently asked for feedback to learn about their service pinch points.

It’s no surprise unpredictable shipment arrivals were high on the list. In response, our Information Technology, Operating and Commercial teams developed Advanced Arrival Notification, a web-based system that alerts customers when their facility is the train’s next stop. Approximately 11,000 customers receive notifications, allowing them to line up necessary resources and betterprepare for deliveries. Working to improve the customer experience will help the freight rail industry become a preferred freight transportation mode as new competitors enter the marketplace.

Advanced Arrival Notification is one

16 Railway Age // May 2019

of hundreds of features available through NetControl, an innovative transportation system built by our employees. Its microservices-based architecture makes it easier and more efficient for our core transportation platform to communicate with new applications. We coupled NetControl with machine learning and real-time GPS to develop more accurate train estimated time of arrival calculations, operating models and customer shipment tracking.

As technology continues advancing, it’s important to remember a fundamental industry truth—railroads are powered by people. The dedication and ingenuity of the men and women serving Union Pacific and our railroad peers are truly unmatched. Ever-present change will require us to become life-long learners and adapt to evolving roles. New technologies will enhance employees’ ability to operate safer, more productive railroads.

The freight rail industry should help train and prepare employees to successfully transition to new roles as automation and artificial intelligence continue penetrating the industry. At the same time, it’s critical we attract and maintain a diverse workforce. Drawing on different experiences and expertise improves decision-making, problem solving and strategic thinking. Inclusive workplaces where people can be their authentic selves and openly share ideas helps build high-performing teams needed to main-

tain freight rail’s competitive edge.

Union Pacific believes supporting communities where our employees live and work is an integral part of our future. As railroads and communities grow together, we must maintain open lines of communication. Strong community relationships allow opportunities to address concerns and our neighbor’s needs.

Union Pacific and our employees take pride in strengthening our communities by sharing our time, money and expertise. Last year, we supported more than 2,600 nonprofit partners and donated $20 million to community efforts. Our public affairs representatives are members of more than 180 local civic organizations. These efforts help us better connect with each other and make a positive difference for future generations.

Union Pacific and other railroads have come a long way in 150 years. I can’t imagine what the freight railroad industry will look like in 2169, but I hope our path continues building America and serving as the economic backbone of its economy.

railwayage.com

Celebrating the 150th anniversary of Union Pacific Railroad driving the Golden Spike Pandrol are proud to have partnered with Union Pacific Railroad for 41 years. www.pandrol.com

Design.indd 1

01/05/2019 13:17:52

union pacific

miles, and reaches the conclusion that while the cost per mile in the settled sections of the country might be $10,000, that for the regions beyond would be greater. If the average cost was $10,000 per mile, 3,000 miles would cost $30 million, which was a cost that the United States could stand, since the annual service of the national debt was then from $12-$13 million. The plan called for three years to be devoted to surveys, estimates, and other preliminaries, during which period the then existing national debt would be liquidated. When work on the railroad was undertaken, expenditures would range from $6-$15 million a year, a sum that the country could bear without effort. The writer then goes into rhapsodies over the results to follow from the building of the road in integrating the country. The gorgeous West would be brought to our doors and ‘riches and glory would ultimately be conferred upon a great and magnanimous people.’

“Another of the early advocates of the Pacific Railroad was a civil engineer who had had considerable experience in railroad work as it was then understood. John Plumbe, who lived in Dubuque, Iowa, published a pamphlet in 1836 advocating a railroad from Lake Michigan to Oregon, and on March 31, 1838, he called a convention in Dubuque to discuss the subject. Resolutions were passed and sent to Congress asking for an appropriation for surveys, and a small sum was granted. In 1839-1840, Plumbe 18 Railway Age // May 2019

secured a memorial from the Wisconsin legislature addressed to Congress, asking that the surveys be continued west of the Mississippi. He took the memorial to Washington and spent considerable time on the subject, but nothing tangible resulted from his labors. His plan proposed a company

The Central Pacific broke ground in January 1863.

Union Pacific followed in December of that year. capitalized at $100 million, to which would be given a land grant of alternate sections along the line of the railroad. Plumbe was the first to appreciate the magnitude of the task of building the railroad and to outline a practical method for accomplishment of the work.

“The second stage in the agitation for the Pacific Railroad began with the work of Asa Whitney in the decade 1840-1850 …

Whitney was a merchant from New York City, who, in the course of business, had visited England and had made a trip over

the Liverpool & Manchester Railroad. In 1842, he visited China and spent two years there. He was impressed with the extent of Oriental trade and with the possibility of diverting a large part of that trade across the United States. From the time when he returned to this country until his death, he devoted his entire fortune and efforts to promoting the project of a Pacific Railroad.

“In 1845, Whitney made a 1,500-mile trip up the Mississippi, but before starting he presented to Congress a memorial that was introduced in the Senate and the House, in which he outlined his project of a railroad to the Pacific Coast. His first plan was for a railroad from Lake Michigan to the mouth of the Columbia River, in Oregon. The cost was estimated at $50 million, and incidental expenses would increase the amount to $65 million. The cost was to be defrayed by the sale of public lands to colonists who would build the railroad and afterwards settle on the land. A strip of land 60 miles wide would be granted to the settler and the railroad and the land would be his property, but the control would rest with the national government. Excess profits would be devoted to education and other public purposes. However, despite the merits of the plan, no action was taken by Congress.

“Whitney’s second memorial to Congress was presented in 1846 and was favorably reported by the Senate Committee on Public Lands on July 31, but after some debate nothing was done. A third memorial presented to Congress in January 1848 was referred to the Committee on Public Lands, but instead of reporting on the memorial, the committee, in June, reported a resolution for survey and exploration of one or more routes for a railroad from the Mississippi below the Falls of St. Anthony to the Pacific Ocean. As the committee would not report Whitney’s bill, another introduced

by Senator Niles favored the grant of land to Whitney. Referred to a select committee, it was reported on favorably, but was lost by a vote in the Senate, largely owing to the opposition of Senator Benton of Missouri.

In January 1849, the bill was re-introduced but dissension prevented action and the bill died. The 31st Congress referred all memorials and projects for a railroad to the Committee on Roads and Canals, with the result that an exhaustive report was made favoring the grant of lands to Whitney. railwayage.com

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union pacific

Nothing came of it except that the discussion informed the country of the merits of the project. A final bill was presented to the 32nd Congress on April 1, 1852, permitting the sale of public lands to Whitney to enable him to build a railroad from the Mississippi River, to commence south of Memphis

and proceed by way of the Rio Grande to San Francisco. Sectionalism defeated the bill and this action terminated Whitney’s efforts. His fortune had been dissipated, and he lived in comparative poverty until he died. “[Another] plan was proposed by P. P. Degrand, whose railroad was to extend from St. Louis to San Francisco. Stock was to be sold to raise $2 million, and the government was to loan $98 million and to give a ten-mile strip of land. Another man whose name is connected with the Pacific Railroad projects was Josiah Perham of Boston. His plan, which he called the ‘People’s Pacific Railroad,’ was for the general public to subscribe $100 each, and with one million subscribers, he would build the railroad.

“The inability of Congress to reach a decision finally forced the men there to resort to the only sensible procedure, which was to have surveys made over a number of routes to determine the best possible railroad location. Senator Gwin of California finally moved an amendment to the Army

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“It was not until Feb. 27, 1855, that Secretary of War Jefferson Davis was able to

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15O

Genesee & Wyoming Board of Directors, 1899

The

Younger Generation of short line railroaders

Salutes Union Pacific

on the 150th Anniversary of the driving of the Golden Spike.

1869 - 2019

Fun Fact... Jupiter #1195 [left], one of the two locomotives that met at Promontory Summit for the joining of the Transcontinental Railroad, later became the first locomotive of the Gila Valley, Globe & Northern Railway, predecessor of today’s Arizona Eastern Railway [above], one of 28 G&W railroads interchanging with Union Pacific.

union pacific submit a somewhat incomplete report. His the Army. Maps were made of the entire annual report of December 1855, contained western part of the country, the first a summary of progress, and it was not until correct ones ever prepared. The reports his annual report of December 1856, that from different engineering parties, with the project was completed. It had taken lithographs of drawings of important nearly three years to make the surveys and scenery, detail maps of each line, cost estito formulate the report. Much work was mates, data regarding railroads, and everydone both in the field and in the office, thing that could pertain to the subject, and judging by the extent of the surveys were printed in eleven quarto volumes and the difficulties encountered, the time that remain today models of the way such consumed was well spent. The selection of information should be presented.

“The several routes were compared by the routes to be examined apparently was left up to Secretary Davis, and he undoubt- means of cost estimates. On account of the edly had the advice of many men who length of the lines, it was not possible to favored different routes, but his final selec- make detailed estimates, nor was it necestion showed his sincere desire to determine sary. On the other hand, the several men the merits of many possible routes and to on the surveys used their judgment and obtained their cost figures by comparison balance one against the other.

“A great mass of information was with costs on railroads built in the eastern obtained. In difficult regions, actual states. They tried to adapt such costs to surveys with transit and level were made, conditions as they found them in the unsetgrades determined, and sufficient infor- tled regions of the West, with the result mation taken to determine quantities that the estimates are approximations only. and costs … When the data came in, it Captain A. A. Humphreys, the officer who edited the comments on the fact that was arranged and edited by an officer of1 8/17/16 1_2pgHorzWrkStTraining2016.qxp_Layout 3:25reports, PM Page 1

over similar territory, the estimates varied from $35,000 per mile to $50,000 per mile.”

The Central Pacific broke ground in Sacramento in January 1863. Union Pacific followed in December of that year.

Henry Varnum Poor, a financial analyst and founder of H.V. and H.W. Poor Co. (now Standard & Poors), around 1840 established a law firm in Bangor, Me., with his brother, John. By investing in Maine’s growing timber industry, the Poor brothers became wealthy. In 1849, John purchased the American Rail Road Journal, of which Henry became Manager and Editor. In 1862, Henry Poor was appointed a government commissioner to the newly chartered Union Pacific Railroad, and left his position as Editor of the Journal. That year, he was elected as UP’s first Secretary.

Railway Age, 150 years after the driving of the Golden Spike, is proud and pleased for the opportunity to continue reporting on Union Pacific, a railroad that, in at least some small yet significant way, it had a hand in creating.

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Rail Flaw

Tracking Internal defects

Sperry’s Adaptive Testing System (ATS) is a smaller, easily deployable system that allows for a high-frequency rail flaw detection system that attaches to existing hi-rail equipment.

The science—and state of the art—of rail flaw detection advances.

R

BY Bob Tuzik, Contributing Editor ail breaks initiated by internal defects are the primary cause of track-related derailments in North America.

There are two ways to find them: through rail breaks initiated by highimpact wheel loads or cold snaps; or by regular internal, ultrasonic (UT) inspection. Given the choice, railroaders will opt for rail flaw detection every time.

UT inspection has proven effective at finding 90% of the internal defects in rail before something catastrophic happens.

Due to limitations of the technology, however, 10% of the defects remain, hidden in the rail base, the mid-web and web/head fillet of the rail where the existing technology cannot “see,” and under shells and other rail surface anomalies that mask their presence and prevent detection by conventional UT inspection systems.

UT rail flaw detection, which dates to railwayage.com

1928, when Dr. Elmer Sperry introduced the world’s first non-destructive method of detecting internal rail defects, uses transducers housed in the roller search units (RSUs) of a detector car to emit ultrasonic waves into the rail. The system then “listens” for the echo of reflected energy that occurs at internal discontinuities and the surfaces of the rail. The amount of reflected sound energy is displayed on a time chart, which provides information about the features that reflect the sound. A trained operator learns to discern the difference between defects and normal features, such as bolt holes and welds.

“Several factors limit the detection capability of conventional ultrasonic systems,” Matthew Witte and Anish Poudel, engineers at the Transportation Technology Center, Inc., reported in TTCI’s Technology Digest (TD-16-030). “Foremost is the directionality of the ultrasonic beam.

Ultrasonic waves are direction-specific, which works both for and against the inspection objectives. The benefit is that measurements are accurate in a given direction; the drawback is that the directions must be selected and controlled.”

Since a single-crystal probe cannot provide broad enough coverage, conventional ultrasonic inspection systems use several probes pointed in specific directions to inspect certain volumes of the rail material. The inspection angles are pre-determined and fixed by the hardware, which inherently limits the area of the head that gets inspected. As a result, they said, “only ‘high likelihood’ areas are inspected for defects.”

One of the biggest acknowledged problems in testing today is the inability to get full coverage of the rail. On northern railroads, for example, rail breaks occur under high tensile stresses induced by May 2019 // Railway Age 27

rail FLAW RAIL flaw

Sperry’s Adaptive Testing System (ATS) is a smaller, easily deployable system that allows for a high-frequency rail flaw detection system that attaches to existing hi-rail equipment.

low temperatures in the winter months.

Investigations into broken rails have shown that the defects found at rail breaks are essentially undetectable with the current technology.

The number of service failures caused by detail fractures, for example, is outweighed by the number of breaks that occur in the base, the web/head fillet and mid-web areas of the rail—defects that can’t be found with the current technology.

Due in large part to effective management of testing cycles, the bulk of the defects found on most Class I’s are categorized as “small”—evidence of an effective testing cycle. But those “undetectable” defects in the rail base or web continue to lead to track outages and service interruptions. And finding the “undetectables” requires coverage of the entire rail.

Another issue is the current technology’s inability to detect detail fractures, vertical split heads, and other types of defects beneath shelled or spalled rail, conditions that are often considered components of rolling contact fatigue (RCF)—damage to the surface or subsurface of the rail that is caused by wheel/rail contact.

“The masking of defects by RCF is one of the biggest challenges and shortcomings of ultrasonic testing,” said Brad Spencer, CSX Transportation’s director of track testing.

Continuous Testing The introduction of continuous testing, which can be done after obtaining a 28 Railway Age // May 2019

route-specific waiver from FRA, can have a significant impact on how and how frequently railways test their rail. Under continuous testing, the test car operates essentially as a data-collection vehicle, continuously moving forward without stopping to verify indications.

Indications must be done via hand testing within two days. Under the traditional start-and-stop method of testing, a verify-

The bulk of rail defects found on most Class I’s are categorized as “small” due to effective testing. ing hand test takes place immediately. Once an indication is verified as a defect following a continuous test, it is treated like any other defect and must be repaired, or the track slow ordered, as required by the FRA’s Track Safety Standards.

Norfolk Southern is among the Class I’s that use continuous testing. Of the 13 Sperry rail test vehicles on NS, four operate in continuous-test mode, working on four

different routes. During a continuous test, the vehicle sends the test data wirelessly to one of Sperry’s offices where an analyst reviews each of the indications. By comparing the current scan to the scans of prior tests, the analyst can determine whether an old indication has changed, or a new indication has appeared. An old, unchanged indication that was previously hand-tested and confirmed not to be a defect does not require another hand test. “Only changes in indications or indications that clearly suggest that something may be wrong need to be verified,” said Brad Kerchof, NS’s Director of Research and Tests. Reducing the number of hand tests that is required represents a significant advantage of continuous testing.

“Depending on the route, we get anywhere from two to four times the daily production from continuous testing,” Kerchof said. That means that NS can double and, in some cases, quadruple the number of miles it tests. And while the daily cost for a continuous-test vehicle is higher, the cost per mile can be significantly less.

By covering more miles per test day, NS has been able to increase its test frequency.

For example, a line that had been tested six times per year under stop-and-start can be tested monthly under continuous test. More frequent testing reduces the likelihood for a defect to grow undetected and potentially break under a train, Kerchof said.

Regardless of the method, rail testing is often compromised by spalls, shells, or corrugation associated with RCF. railwayage.com

rail flaw Sub-surface shells that are as small as 2 inches are not only big enough to originate a transverse defect (TD), they’re big enough to hide one, as well, Kerchof said. Safety of operations becomes a particular concern when there is more than one shell. It’s unusual to have a single shell. Shells develop because of a combination of circumstances, relating to metallurgy, wheel/rail conditions, loadings, track geometry, etc., that are present at more than just one spot. “Where there’s one shell, it’s not uncommon for the same combination of circumstances to result in multiple shells and possibly multiple TDs,” he said.

Ongoing R&D In work performed under the Association of American Railroads’ Strategic Research Initiative to improve detection of rail flaws/defects, TTCI has been looking into various types of defect-detection technology over the past several years. Responding to the industry’s need for complete coverage of the rail, TTCI recently completed research into the application of phased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT), a headcontacting UT inspection method that can compensate for rail wear and detect defects under shells. While a PAUT prototype was able to characterize defects at speeds up to 20 mph, it was not able to inspect the flange of the rail base, a critical area that railroaders agree must be covered by the next, improved technologies.

More recently, TTCI began investigating the application of the neural network to identify non-linear relationships between a set of variables that relate to the development of rail flaws in order to predict the development of defects, such as bolt hole cracks, vertical split heads and crushed heads (RT&S, April 2019, p. 9).

Regardless of the approach, railroaders would like the industry to move beyond the interpretive nature of UT testing. While providers have been steadily improving their hardware, software and detection algorithms, much of the process is still left to analysts to interpret the data and determine what is or is not a defect. Eliminating or reducing the number of false positives, such as fillet indications on welds, would improve overall efficiency.

In simple terms, railroaders would like UT testing to get to where geometry testing railwayage.com

is today, identifying precisely where exceptions are located. They want less reliance on the type of assessment that is done by people in the field or in an office in the current UT testing environment. It’s generally agreed that some sort of Artificial Intelligence will be needed to get to the point of truly automated defect detection.

Toward that end, Herzog Services, Inc. (HSI), has begun incorporating vision systems that integrate photos of the rail into the operator’s view, with future development aimed at automatically measuring the depth of crushed heads. HSI is also developing neural network-type of review capability within its continuous-test software to help analysts review rail conditions faster than it can with the current process.

Sperry Rail has begun incorporating additional technologies, such as joint bar inspection, eddy current and vision systems to its non-stop testing equipment.

The application of eddy current, a nondestructive inspection method that uses electromechanical induction to detect and characterize defects that occur on or below the surface of the rail, will enable Sperry to detect the types of damage associated with RCF. Sperry Rail has also introduced Elmer®, an artificial intelligence tool named after the company’s founder, that uses machine

learning based on neural networks to process data from detection systems to identify patterns that may indicate the presence of defects. The system learns from the data gathered by ultrasound, induction and eddy current inspection methods, and applies modern, AI-driven data analysis.

Further research, development, application, and regulatory relief will all be required to take rail flaw detection to the next level.

Suppliers Step Up HSI: The new Series 7000 system, successor to the Series 6000 system, is a conventional ultrasonic inspection system with upgraded hardware and software components. With the introduction of the Series 7000 platform, HSI has finalized the first phase of its new vision system, which takes photos of the rail and integrates the images into the operator’s inspection workflow. Future development is aimed at automatically measuring the depth of crushed heads, identifying specific track structures and monitoring rail conditions more accurately.

HSI is also completing development of equipment for continuous-test operations, which expand the rail inspection process into three separate phases with various timeframes between inspection

An analyst reviews data collected by Herzog’s Series 7000 inspection vehicle. HSI recently automated the ability to simultaneously review results from the previous five inspections.

May 2019 // Railway Age 29

rail flaw

Sperry’s ultrasonic testing vehicles have tested more than 18 million miles of track and identified more than 6 million rail defects.

and remediation, much like current track inspection capabilities, said HSI Vice President Carlo Patrick.

This process is part of HSI’s strategy

to transition the current rail flaw detection processes to a more cost-effective rail management process. A reduction in rail failures will reduce maintenance costs and

the number of track outages associated with rail failures. The goal of the process is to detect potential defects before they reach a critical size, and to reduce the potential for rail failure.

Herzog continues to develop its database of inspection data, an improvement that the company has found to be integral to the continuous-testing project and a valuable tool for the quality assurance team, said Tim Coolman, HSI R&D software manager. HSI recently automated its ability to simultaneously review results at specific locations with the previous five inspections.

Development of a neural network-type of review capability within its continuous-test software will help analysts review certain rail conditions faster than it can with the current process, Coolman said.

HSI and Herzog Technologies, Inc., are collaborating to add Rail Flaw Detection with Video Track Chart™ data storage to provide access to up-to-date imagery, track charts and geographic maps of track. One of the benefits of the software is the ability

Build • Operate • Maintain Herzog provides the most comprehensive rail solutions for Class 1 railroads, short lines, and transit clients in North America.

30 Railway Age // May 2019

• Ultrasonic rail testing • Maintenance-of-way • Positive train control • Rail construction • Passenger rail operations • Rail transit maintenance

herzog.com •

railwayage.com

rail flaw to view defect trends along with LiDAR and geometry data, said HSI President Troy Elbert.

Sperry Rail: Ninety years after starting the world’s first rail inspection company, Sperry Rail has more than 500 rail flaw detection systems in service throughout the world. Its technology has been used to test more than 18 million miles of track and has identified more than 6 million rail defects.

Building on the foundation that Dr. Elmer Sperry established in 1928, Sperry’s global reach includes relationships with railways from heavy-haul networks to metropolitan transit systems in North America, South America, Europe and Asia.

Among the Sperry innovations is nonstop testing, which increases test frequency and maintains test quality while interfering less with day-to-day rail operations.

Non-stop testing, which can provide earlier detection and a reduction in service failures, has driven quality, efficiency and operational improvements. It also has enabled Sperry to incorporate additional

THE NEWS DESTINATION FOR THE RAIL INDUSTRY

technologies, such as joint bar inspection, eddy current and vision systems to nonstop testing, all of which will improve efficiency and productivity.

Sperry is enhancing its non-stop testing by applying eddy current technology to detect small fractures on the rail head surface. By adding eddy current, a nondestructive inspection method that uses electromechanical induction to detect and characterize defects that occur on or below the surface of the rail, Sperry will be able to detect the types of damage that are associated with RCF. Sperry’s Adaptive Testing System (ATS) offers a smaller, easily deployable system that allows for high-frequency track testing at a lower cost. Once installed, ATS, which can couple to existing railway-owned equipment, requires no additional drivers or maintenance crews to operate.

Sperry’s newest rail safety innovation is Elmer®, an artificial intelligence tool that uses machine learning based on neural networks to identify patterns in the

detection data that may indicate the presence of defects. The system learns from the data gathered by ultrasound, induction and eddy current inspection methods by applying modern, AI-driven data analysis.

Autonomous identification of defects is continuously improved by Elmer®’s machine learning. The number of defects that are missed by human inspectors are reduced by use of this data-driven system.

Sperry uses this technology in its own analysis as part of its effort to remove defectrelated decision making from operators.

Sperry’s 360° solution, a full scope technology suite that captures the Rail Health® of an entire network, combines comprehensive testing techniques and technologies, such as eddy current for full surface coverage of the rail head, while leveraging the Elmer® AI tool and big data predictive analytics. The solution utilizes algorithms and tools as a predictive tool to measure probability and consequences of failure from detected exceptions and provide a complete view of the infrastructure.

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PM31 May 2019 // 4/16/18 Railway1:17 Age

Yard Management

Process ContRol at NS Lambert’s Point

How Trainyard Tech adapted a hump yard system for flat switching.

N

By David C. Lester, Contributing Editor

orfolk Southern’s Lambert’s Point Pier 6 coal transloading facility has served coal mines and export customers for more than 50 years. Since 2006, Trainyard 32 Railway Age // May 2019

Tech, LLC has provided much of the Pier 6 yard control software with a version of its CLASSMASTER™ hump yard process control system. Norfolk Southern recently announced that it had awarded Trainyard Tech with a contract to upgrade

the existing CLASSMASTER™ system.

This upgrade is ongoing and targeted for completion in 3Q2019.

However, since Pier 6 does not have a hump yard, but essentially a flat switching yard, why is a hump yard process control railwayage.com

All photos: Norfolk Southern

Yard Management

system needed? To answer this question, we need to understand the workflow at Pier 6.

When loaded coal trains arrive in the yard serving Pier 6, the railroad moves them to the receiving and classification yard. Then, they move to the “barney” yard, where they are lined up in the correct order for the dumping process. Many customers require a specific blend of coal, and the ordering of the cars ensures correct blending. Next, railwayage.com

the cars are uncoupled by an operator and allowed to roll by gravity through a series of retarders to control the speed of the car.

The process control system calculates this speed control. Once the cars go through the retarders, they will slow to about one mph, then pass a car reader and on to the scales for weighing, and the weight is associated with the car in the system.

Norfolk Southern maintains two separate

scales to ensure continuity of operation.

From the scales, the cars roll into a “thaw shed,” which warms the coal to more than 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit to ensure that it does not exit the car in frozen lumps when dumped. In the summertime, the cars roll through the thaw shed but do not stop.

Once the cars are released from the car shed, a “barney mule,” located in the center of the tracks, pushes them up an incline to two tandem rotary dumpers. Each dumper can handle two cars (four cars total), then the coal is dumped into a pit below and onto a conveyor belt. Once the car is empty, another car arriving in the dumping shed will push the empty car down an incline, where it will gain speed and travel up an incline known as the “kickback,” then starts the journey down, going through a spring switch that directs the car to the empty yard. The car goes through several retarders to achieve the proper speed to reach its assigned location in the empty yard. Trains are assembled from the cars in the empty yard and head back to the mine to pick up another trainload of coal.

“Although the Lambert’s Point Pier 6 yard is not a hump yard, it works like a hump yard,” according to John Aliberti, President of Trainyard Tech. “Our system controls the retarders and the switch machines, much like it does when installed in a hump yard,” he adds. The system has sophisticated algorithms that account for many variables for determining the speed of a car. For example, some cars are “good rollers,” and other cars are “bad rollers.” The system detects and measures whether the car is a good roller or bad roller, and bad rollers are allowed to go faster through the retarders and switches since they are inherently slower. Other factors taken into account by the system’s algorithms are wind (whether a headwind or tailwind) and temperature. Cars do not roll as well in the cold, rain or snow. The Trainyard Tech system has an automated calibration system—it is essentially learning from each car. This system is essential in hump yards, where the cars have different weights, lengths and rollability characteristics. At Lambert’s Point, all cars released will be the same weight and length, but the calibration system still aids in the rollability of the cars.

Trainyard Tech began operation in 2003, is headquartered in Naples, Fla., May 2019 // Railway Age 33

Yard Management

and is managed by the husband and wife team of John Aliberti and Cynthia Ruddy.

While John handles the technical, operations and installation part of the business, Cynthia is responsible for administrative and financial affairs, and also serves as a liaison for contracts and legal work. The company also has offices in Pittsburgh; Bend, Ore.; and Bellville, Mich.; and employs 17 people.

Hardware assembly occurs at the Bellville facility, where Dan Niemiec runs the wiring and assembly shop, and the other locations focus on software development. The software is maintained and developed by software engineers, while former members of the railroad industry work on the hardware preparation in Bellville. Trainyard Tech has partnered with Norfolk Southern since 2003. Marketing is mostly word-of-mouth.

In addition to the CLASSMASTER™ hump yard product, Trainyard Tech also offers ROUTEMASTER™ NX (entranceexit) interlocking control and SHOVEMASTER™ a flat yard process control system. Like CLASSMASTER™, these products run on a Windows 10 64-bit 34 Railway Age // May 2019

operating system, which provides ease of installation, flexibility, lower cost and straightforward upgrades.

While the CLASSMASTER™ system has been serving the Pier 6 yard well for more than 12 years, Norfolk Southern and Trainyard Tech are enthusiastic about the system upgrade. Many of the enhancements have resulted from Trainyard Tech’s work on hump yard classification technology with other railroads, including CSX, Belt Railway of Chicago, Indiana Belt Railroad, Terminal Railroad Association in St. Louis, CN and Conrail.

One part of the upgrade will include replacing four I/O servers, and the comm server, and all of the software that they run. These are mainframe servers, but they are smaller and more powerful than the ones they’re replacing. And, the system will interface to Norfolk Southern’s Thoroughbred Yard Enterprise System (TYES), through two additional servers, which will help manage their car inventory. The interfaces run on the IBM MQ protocol. These interfaces will include the real-time system, along with a redundant, automatic failover

system. Trainyard Tech is also installing AEI readers that will leverage the RF tag already installed on railcars, and pass this information on to TYES. These readers are similar to the ones you see at highway toll booths. “Also, the barney yard and the empty yard systems will integrate into one process control system as part of the upgrade, which will aid in tracking cars through the facility,” says Paul Johnson, NS Control System Engineer.

One of the most significant parts of the upgrade is the installation of TyT Reporter, an SQL report writer that will provide NS with meaningful information to which it’s never before had access. TyT Reporter will capture data from the local database to provide various daily reports of activity at the Lambert’s Point coal facility. It provides individual car records, maintenance reports, performance reports, summary reports, along with reports available in graphical format. Essentially, any report contained in the system can be presented as numbers/text or graphically.

TyT Reporter comes standard with more than 50 reports that focus on specific cars railwayage.com

Yard Management based on the identification through the AEI reader and can provide car utilization and car downtime reports, along with information on switches and retarders, including the speed at which cars pass through the retarders. Data from wheel sensors is essential for determining the speed and location of the car in the yard. TyT Reporter is enhanced often through ideas from clients, as well as the in-house team. Also, custom reports can be written for clients if none of the standard reports meet a particular need.

The Trainyard Tech team will maintain the system’s software and hardware.

Using hump yard process control software to facilitate the operation of the Lambert’s Point coal delivery operation is an innovative use of technology that’s been around for a few years. Upgrading this technology confirms that it has been instrumental in making processes more efficient, and is a harbinger for continuing advancement of technology to support the railroad industry.

railwayage.com

While the CLASSMASTER™ system has been serving the Pier 6 yard for more than 12 years, Norfolk Southern and Trainyard Tech are enthusiastic about the upgrade.

May 2019 // Railway Age 35

RAILINC LOCOMOTIVE REVIEW

ShiftTo North American Locomotive Review

AC CONTINUES

36 Railway Age // May 2019

railwayage.com

RAILINC LOCOMOTIVE REVIEW The fleet is a little older, not much larger, but more productive.

By David Humphrey, Ph.D., Senior Data Scientist, Railinc Corp., for Railway Age

R

Bruce Kelly

ailinc’s analysis of the North American locomotive fleet reveals that the size of the total fleet was unchanged in 2018. Detailed analysis reveals the following trends: • At the end of 2018, the locomotive fleet totaled 39,518, essentially unchanged from 2017. That is down from 0.7% year-overyear growth in 2017, which ended eight consecutive years of growth for the fleet (see Figure 1).

• The average age increased 0.7 years, to 26.5 years, and the median age increased 0.9 years, to 22.8 years. This was the ninth consecutive year the average and median ages increased.

• Most new additions to the fleet since the mid-1990s have been six-axle locomotives with a horsepower rating of 4,000 or higher. Locomotives with alternating current traction motors (AC units), which perform well at hauling heavy loads, account for the majority of new additions to the fleet in the past decade. And, locomotives with the highest fuel capacity— more than 4,500 gallons—make up the largest percentage of the fleet.

Right-sizing the fleet Fewer than 100 new locomotives joined the North American fleet in 2018, down from about 200 the previous year (see Figure 2).

It was the first year since the early 1960s that the fleet grew by fewer than 100 new units and the lowest number of new units added to the fleet in decades.

Historically, the average age of the fleet and the number of locomotives added to the fleet mirror the economic environment. When the economy is strong—as in the mid-1990s and mid-2000s—and there are more railcars in service, the average age is lower and the fleet tends to grow. During periods of recession, fewer new locomotives join the fleet. However, the decrease in 2018 reflects excess supply of locomotives rather than any broader economic trends.

As new locomotives join the fleet railwayage.com

each year, larger railroads move older units to less-demanding roles, sell them to regional and short line railroads, or make them available to be rebuilt or refurbished.

AC locomotives have dominated additions to the North American fleet in the past ten years.

A locomotive has a long service life and can be used in a variety of ways over that time. It can make long hauls during its first decades of service. Then, work on regional and short line railroads in middle age. Finally, it can perform lighter duty service—such as moving railcars in a classification yard—at 60 or 70 years old.

AC shift continues DC traction locomotives still make up 65% of the North American fleet, down one percentage point from the previous year. The share of AC traction locomotives has increased nine percentage points since 2009 as more AC units join the fleet (see Figure 3).

Although DC locomotives continue to make up almost two-thirds of the North American fleet, AC locomotives have dominated among additions in the past 10 years. Fewer than 50 DC units were added in the past two years, and in the past six years about 94% of all new locomotives were AC units.

Locomotives with a horsepower rating of 4,000 or higher continue to make up the majority of the North American locomotive fleet (see Figure 4).

As a percentage of the fleet, locomotives between 2,000 and 3,999 horsepower comprised 33% in 2018, down from 38% in 2009. This reflects the trend of new additions being concentrated in either the high-horsepower road locomotives or the low-horsepower switcher locomotives.

The fleet does continue to add lowerhorsepower locomotives, though at

May 2019 // Railway Age 37

RAILINC LOCOMOTIVE REVIEW generally decreasing rates. These lowerhorsepower additions to the fleet are made up of rebuilt locomotives as well as new switcher locomotives.

Locomotives with a horsepower rating of 4,000 or higher dominate among AC locomotives, which tend to be newer. There are about twice as many DC units in the North American fleet than AC. However, DC units are more evenly distributed by horsepower rating, though DC locomotives with horsepower ratings of less than 4,000 make up the largest share.

Six-axle locomotives make up 69% of the North American locomotive fleet. This value has only decreased by about 2% in the past decade.

Six-axle locomotives distribute the weight of a locomotive to the rails across more wheels and deliver tractive effort through more wheels and traction motors.

The majority of six-axle locomotives were built in the past 30 years.

Locomotives with fuel capacity of more than 4,500 gallons make up 55% of the North American fleet. This share has grown in recent years, while the share of locomotives with fuel capacity between 3,500 and 4,500 gallons continues to decrease (down six percentage points since 2009). This is consistent with the recent trend of the fleet adding new high-horsepower, six-axle locomotives, which have larger fuel tanks.

Road vs. switching locomotives To distinguish locomotives used in road service from those used in switching service, Railinc has applied the following definitions: • A road unit is a locomotive with six axles and a horsepower rating of 2,500 or higher. • A switcher is a locomotive with four axles and up to 2,500 horsepower.

Road units make up 68% of the North American locomotive fleet, while switchers account for about 23% of the population.

Locomotives with four axles and a horsepower rating higher than 2,500 make up 9% of the fleet. The industry shifted away from making this locomotive type in the mid-1990s, and most additions of this type are refurbished units.

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

38 Railway Age // May 2019

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People / 100 years / Events CLARELLE DEGRAFFE PATH

High profile: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

(PANYNJ) has promoted PATH (Port Authority Trans Hudson) Deputy Director Clarelle DeGraffe to General Manager and Director of Rail Transit, effective March 25. The first woman in the position in PATH’s 111-year history, she succeeds Mike Marino, who announced his retirement late last year. A civil engineer by training, DeGraffe has served the Port Authority for 29 years. In her new role, she will be tasked “with carrying out PATH’s mission of moving nearly 300,000 daily passengers across the Hudson River safely and effectively,” PATH said. She will oversee implementation of PATH’s capital program, including the ongoing project to replace equipment and rebuild tunnels that were damaged during Superstorm Sandy in 2012, as well as completion of the remaining phases of CBTC (communications-based train control).

A

ECOM named Beth McCluskey Associate Vice President, Director of Business Development, Transit and Freight Rail of the global infrastructure service firm’s Chicago office.

Amtrak promoted Roger Harris to Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer, with responsibility for all business lines.

Thomas Mangold joined HNTB Corp. as Rail Program Manager in the firm’s King of Prussia, Pa., office. He comes to HNTB from SEPTA. Richard Schaefer, P.E., joined New Jersey Transit as Chief Engineer in the Capital Planning and Program department.

Schaefer comes to NJT from HNTB Corp., where he spent more than 18 years in various roles with increasing responsibility. Most recently, he served as Associate Vice President and Chief Bridge Engineer, and prior to

that, Senior Technical Advisor and Project Engineer, based in the firm’s Parsipanny, N.J., office. Lookman Fazal was appointed NJT Chief Information & Digital Officer.

Patrick Foye is now Chairman of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Norfolk Southern promoted three company officers to new executive positions.

Effective April 1, John Scheib is Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer.

Annie Adams is Executive Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer, and Vanessa Allen Sutherland is Senior Vice President Law and Chief Legal Officer.

Jared Weismantel has joined global design and engineering firm Stantec as a senior industrial architect.

Strategic Rail Finance named Scott Spencer as Executive Consultant of the firm’s business advisory practice.

100 years ago in railway age May 1919

A Financier on the Railroad Problem Three things appear essential to be done before consideration is given to the return of railroad property to private operation: first, reconstruction of the Interstate Commerce Commission, with rate-fixing authority and responsibility definitely established; second, an immediate rate increase sufficient to take up the burden of the wage increase granted during government operation; and third, the passage of such legislation as will provide for a division of profits above what shall be determined to be a reasonable return on invested capital.

40 Railway Age // May 2019

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Midwest Association of Rail Shippers 2019 Summer Meeting Lake Geneva, Wisc. https://www.mwrailshippers.com/ event/2019-summer-meeting/

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RAILWAY INTERCHANGE 2019, PRESENTED BY RSI, REMSA, RSSI, AREMA, and the CMA. Minneapolis https://railwayinterchange.org. info@railwayinterchange.org. exhibitionsponsorships@ railwayinterchange.org. aremaconferencesponsorships@ railwayinterchange.org.

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Products Diesel-Electric Locomotives – How They Work, Use Energy, and Can Become More Efficient and Environmentally Sustainable by Walter Simpson. Simmons-Boardman Books, 2018. Softbound, 230 pp. $45 While the documentation of diesel locomotives is extensive, Walter Simpson’s new book brings a fresh perspective to the literature. The book is an excellent primer on diesel locomotives that is well-illustrated with photographs and colorcoded drawings of diesels and their parts.

However, the underlying theme of the book is locomotive energy efficiency, fuel economy and the Environmental Protection Agency’s emissions standards, leading to Tier 4 compliance. There is also a chapter on the environmental sustainability of railroads.

The author has a deep interest in railroads, but his professional background is in energy management and environmental education; he served for 26 years as Energy Officer at the State University of New York at Buffalo (UB).

He mentions in the Acknowledgements section that he was very grateful to rail industry experts who strengthened his precise technical understanding of locomotives and railroads.

He notes, “Because locomotive manufacturers and railroads generally don’t talk about dieselelectric locomotive energy efficiency, investigating [this] topic was at times like peeling back an onion—or what one consultant called penetrating the code of silence.”

Chapter Three is devoted to locomotive fuel economy and energy efficiency. Simpson

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discusses some well-known efficiencies inherent in rail transportation, such as rolling resistance and aerodynamic advantages, when compared to other forms of transportation. He adds that poorly maintained track is energy inefficient because the rolling resistance is greater than on well-maintained track. Aerodynamic advantages, Simpson notes, are inherent in trains “because they are long and narrow and have a very small cross section per unit of cargo or per number of cars or passengers.”

Simpson goes on to discuss the differences between locomotive fuel use vs. locomotive fuel economy. As most readers know, the most prevalent measure publicized by the industry is the amount of tonnage that can be moved a certain distance with a given amount of fuel—usually one gallon. Actual fuel usage, on the other hand, depends on a number of variables, “such as total annual hauling, train load management (i.e., the amount of freight or passengers per car and per train), rail system traffic management, fuel consumed in yard activities and whether the railroad runs largely on flat territory (e.g., CN) or predominantly mountainous territory (e.g., Canadian Pacific).” Simpson provides additional examples of variables affecting locomotive fuel use—locomotive

“Investigating this topic was at times like peeling back an onion, or penetrating the code of silence.” age, model and design efficiency; fuel type; train length and weight; congestion; twoway hauls; track work en route; maintenance; wheel/rail interface management; and weather and season. Each of these areas is the subject of significant engineering research and testing, and the author discusses many of these issues in greater detail in subsequent chapters. There is an especially valuable discussion of the EPA Tier 4 emissions standards program in Chapter Five.

While this book can certainly stand alone as an introduction to diesel-electric locomotives, prior knowledge of at least the basics of motive power proves helpful to understanding the workings of locomotives, and the myriad ways that fuel economy and fuel use can be improved. Concern about global warming and decreasing humankind’s carbon footprint are key themes in the last two chapters of the book, which explore future directions for diesel-electric locomotives, along with railroad efforts to improve sustainability and contribute to a cleaner, healthier environment.

The chapters are followed by sections on acronyms and abbreviations, sources and recommended reading, useful notes, and an index. Also, there is a helpful website devoted to the book found at www.diesel-electriclocomotives.com. This book is highly recommended to anyone interested in dieselelectric operation and maximizing the environmental benefits of rail transportation.

Order from Simmons-Boardman Books at http://www.transalert.com/cgi-bin/ details.cgi?inv=BKDIESEL&cat=8.

—David C. Lester May 2019 // Railway Age 41

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The Weekly RT&S Email Newsletter Subscribe at: http://bit.ly/railbrief

ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED 42 Railway Age // May 2019

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Ad Index Company

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312-928-0850

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tbaun@freightcar.net

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corpcomm@gwrr.com

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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.

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May 2019 // Railway Age 43

Financial Edge

Amtrak: Freedom From Responsibility is Illusory

I

n a recent TED talk, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey suggested that, in an attempt to combat abusive speech and harassment, Twitter would consider moving from threads written by individuals to topic threads. Dorsey suggested these interest networks would be easier to monitor for Twitter code of conduct breeches.

If Twitter implements this strategy, among all the other relevant categories important to the Twitterverse such as Beyoncé, the President of the United States, and NFL players and the fan bases that love/hate them, Twitter will need to find a special place to put the Twitter feud currently ongoing between Amtrak and Norfolk Southern.

In an attempt to seem technologically contemporary, Amtrak tweets about its passenger train delays under the thread @AmtrakAlerts. The tweets contain the train name and number, date and point of departure, and the delay and cause.

Naming of names in Amtrak’s tweets got Norfolk Southern’s attention—a specific tweet that tagged NS for prioritizing freight trains and delaying an Amtrak train six hours.

Norfolk Southern, it turns out, did not appreciate being called out by Amtrak for prioritizing a freight train. Using good corporate scare tactics, NS dutifully wrote a kind of cease and desist letter to Amtrak, threatening further action if Amtrak did not stop the Twittersphere disparagement.

Amtrak is addressing a chronic passenger train problem. Anyone who has ridden

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BILLION 44 Railway Age // May 2019

Amtrak, Metra, Sound Transit or Metrolink knows that the difficulties of moving freight and passenger trains over the same tracks have been around for a long time. In the first crude by rail heyday (circa 2014), news stories of passenger trains sitting outside of Chicago’s congested rail hub while CBR trains made their way through the system were readily available.

Unfortunately for Norfolk Southern, Amtrak is correct to expect a better level of prioritization for passenger trains. Precision Scheduled Railroading notwithstanding, passengers likely have more reason to arrive on time than most freight. Unfortunately for Amtrak’s riders, the wrangling over who should, could, would or might impact each other’s traffic will continue for some time. (Amtrak and the Association of American Railroads have been battling the setting of new standards for passenger train prioritization in federal court for more than a decade and are now seeking an audience before the Supreme Court.)

Considering the current Precision Scheduled Railroading momentum shift, it is not surprising to see that Amtrak’s agenda and a freight railroad’s agenda are moving further apart. Amtrak’s response to being delayed by a freight train is to pull a Han Solo and say, “It’s not my fault.”

Therein lies the problem with Amtrak’s solution: While tweeting out a problem and cause outside of Amtrak’s control may give the impression that Amtrak is standing up for itself, the impact of the tweeting policy is quite the opposite. The lack of available resolution to the problem (a delayed train) instead has Amtrak abdicating responsibility for a problem long plaguing its passengers. The freedom from responsibility Amtrak seeks is illusory. Tweeting out a problem neither frees Amtrak from its obligations to its passengers nor gives Amtrak the upper hand vs. big brother Class I’s.

Amtrak has been on somewhat of a charm/budgetary offensive in the past few months. Earlier in the year the test shopping of a five-year plan increased focus on shorter-haul routes (think Atlanta-Charlotte or Cleveland-Cincinnati). The plan hopes to stem losses Amtrak is generating every year (Amtrak lost roughly $20 million

Amtrak needs to solve problems in a manner beyond pointing fingers.” in 2018). To pursue this new business, Amtrak looks to get funding of approximately $2.5 billion for this initiative.

Disregarding the technical and logistical issues with this regionalized service plan, it would seem that adopting a strategy of consistently pointing out how Amtrak struggles to deliver passengers to destinations on time is not a good policy if you are looking to embrace a change in strategy and grow market share. The fact that the delays may be the result of factors outside Amtrak’s control is not a panacea to the reality of being six hours late. A force majeure event (an act of God) is one thing; a sibling squabble with a Class I is another thing entirely.

Delays are a part of modern life. Airports have responded to security and travel delays by plowing money into dining and retail to improve the customer experience. Autonomous driving, driver-assist technology and in-vehicle web access improve the drudgery of the great American road trip. Amtrak has to solve its problems in a manner that extends beyond ascribing blame and tweeting photos of the bar car.

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

DAVID NAHASS President Railroad Financial Corp. railwayage.com

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