Railway Age September 2021

SEPTEMBER 2021

W W W. R A I LWAYA G E .C O M

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

HIGH-ENERGY

INNOVATIONS

Railroads and Suppliers Embrace Advanced Technology

ANALYTICS AND BIG DATA

Workforce Management Systems

TTCI R&D railwayage.com

Optimizing Hunting August 2017 // Railway Age 1 Speed Restrictions

CONGRATULATIONS AND THANK YOU

Honoring John Wories for a legacy of leadership and over 50 years of service

If a person can be measured through accomplishments, few people would measure up to John Wories. After an exemplary career spanning 50 years, John will be retiring from Amsted Rail.

He will be deeply missed by all who appreciated his fairness, his values, his demand for excellence, and his commitment to a culture of innovation.

Over the past half-century, John has been a force of transformation across the industry. In his early days at American Steel Foundries, John focused on empowering employees to reach unparalleled productivity and quality improvements.

During the last 14 years, as President of Amsted Rail, John’s laserfocus on leveraging breakthroughs in engineering and operational practices kept Amsted Rail ahead of the curve. Under John’s leadership, Amsted Rail implemented its Innovation in Action program enterprise-wide, contributing to the advancement of rail technology well into the future.

We at Amsted Rail salute John on his remarkable accomplishments, we honor his legacy and we wish him well on his retirement with a sincere thank you on behalf of the entire Amsted Rail family.

AILWAY GE

February 2020 SEPTEMBER 2021

44

FEATURES

11 30

Supplier Innovations

Biodiesel Developments From 5% to 20% Blend

38

Alstom’s New Americas

43

TTCI R&D

44

Heartwood

Product Showcase

Insight From Michael Keroullé

Hunting Speed Restrictions

Workforce Management

DEPARTMENTS 4 6 8 49 50 50 51

Industry Indicators Industry Outlook Market People

COMMENTARY 2 52

From the Editor Financial Edge

Professional Directory Classified Advertising Index

COVER ILLUSTRATION: Irini Shi/Shutterstock

Single Source of Truth

Railway Age, USPS 449-130, is published monthly by the Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation, 88 Pine St., 23rd Fl., New York, NY 10005-1809. Tel. (212) 620-7200; FAX (212) 633-1863. Vol. 221, No. 9. Subscriptions: Railway Age is sent without obligation to professionals working in the railroad industry in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. However, the publisher reserves the right to limit the number 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© 2021 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: 212-221-9195. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Canada Post Cust.#7204564; Agreement #41094515. Bleuchip Int’l, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Address all subscriptions, change of address forms and correspondence concerning subscriptions to Subscription Dept., Railway Age, PO Box 239 Lincolnshire IL 60069-0239 USA, Or call +1 (402) 346-4740, FAX +1 (847) 291-4816. Printed at Cummings Printing, Hooksett, N.H. ISSN 0033-8826 (print); 2161-511X (digital).

railwayage.com

September 2021 // Railway Age 1

FROM THE EDITOR

AILWAY GE

Positive Steam Train Control

SUBSCRIPTIONS: SUBSCRIPTIONS:1 (402) 800-895-4389 346-4740

I

f you want to run trains out on the Class I main lines of America, you’ve got to have your lead locomotives equipped with Positive Train Control. No exceptions. That includes those beautiful, firebreathing, smoke-belching beasts called steam locomotives, the sight of which—in action, of course—would cause even the most jaded, cynical railroad detractor to say, “Wow!” There are few words to describe Union Pacific “Big Boy” 4014, the world’s largest operating steam locomotive—at this writing rolling through the American heartland with a full-function, state-of-the-art PTC system. UP’s Steam Team had, by late August, operated “more than 1,500 miles of flawless execution with PTC” on 4014.

So, just how can a steam locomotive mostly devoid of electronics be fitted with PTC? UP devised a rather creative way: “Back when it was first discussed in 2016, there wasn’t a clear, feasible technical path to accomplish this,” said General Director-Operating Technologies Greg Richardson. “The steam locomotive was simply not able to provide the electronic inputs needed by PTC.” By January 2021, UP had a new design approach—using the PTC onboard computer of a trailing diesel locomotive: “Solutions were engineered to address placement and powering of the PTC display unit in Big Boy’s cab; communications between the PTC display unit and PTC computer in the trailing locomotive; and interconnection of the brake systems on the 4014 and the trailing locomotive.”

Key employees from the UP Operating

EDITORIAL AND EXECUTIVE OFFICES Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp.

88 Pine Street, 23rd Fl. New York, NY 10005-1809 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

Technologies’ PTC team—Associate Systems Consultant William Boyd, Associate Systems Engineer Jason Baumeister and DirectorOperating Technologies DJ Morais—worked with the Steam Team to install the equipment and test its operation.

“It provides a lot of good information for train crews and is a real improvement for safety,” according to Manager-Heritage Operations and Steam Team head Ed Dickens.

“We have a [Wabtec] PTC monitor, so the system is fully compliant. We have a map that is constantly upgrading, shows us any speed restrictions, signal indications, any type of work zones and other impacts.”

The next step is to place all PTC gear directly onto 4014. Big Boy’s sister 844 is also slated for PTC. How about 3985?

I can think of only a few places at large companies that could rival the fun and excitement of working on UP’s Steam Team. One would be Corvette Racing at General Motors, working with the C8-R. Maybe they’d let me take it out for a few laps ...

WILLIAM C. VANTUONO Editor-in-Chief

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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SIMMONS-BOARDMAN PUBLISHING CORPORATION

MARYBETH LUCZAK Executive Editor mluczak@sbpub.com BILL WILSON Engineering Editor/Railway Track & Structures Editor-in-Chief wwilson@sbpub.com DAVID C. LESTER Managing Editor, Railway Track & Structures dlester@sbpub.com HEATHER ERVIN Ports and Intermodal Editor/Marine Log Editor-in-Chief hervin@sbpub.com Contributing Editors David Peter Alan, Roy Blanchard, Jim Blaze, Nick Blenkey, Sonia Bot, Peter Diekmeyer, Alfred E. Fazio, Don Itzkoff, Bruce Kelly, Ron Lindsey, Ryan McWilliams, David Nahass, Jason H. Seidl, David Thomas, John Thompson, Frank N. Wilner, Tony Zenga Art Director: Nicole D’Antona Graphic Designer: Hillary Coleman Corporate Production Director: Mary Conyers 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 011-44-1326-313945 International Editors Kevin Smith ks@railjournal.co.uk David Burroughs dburroughs@railjournal.co.uk David Briginshaw db@railjournal.co.uk Oliver Cuenca oc@railjournal.co.uk CUSTOMER CUSTOMERSERVICE: SERVICE:1 (402) 800-895-4389 346-4740 Reprints: PARS International Corp.

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Industry Indicators ‘EXTERNAL FACTORS HAVE LED TO A RECENT DECELERATION IN RAIL VOLUMES’ “U.S. rail traffic in July 2021 was up over July 2020, but for most commodity categories the percentage increase was significantly lower than in other recent months, both because of more difficult comparisons and because various external factors have led to a recent deceleration in rail volumes,” the Association of American Railroads reported last month. “Total U.S. carloads were up 6.6% over July 2020 and down 13.3% from July 2019. The 6.6% is the smallest year-over-year gain for total carloads in four months. Total carloads averaged 226,168 per week, which is the smallest weekly average for any month since February 2021 and the smallest weekly average for July—other than July 2020—since our records begin in 1988.”

Railroad employment, Class I linehaul carriers, july 2021 (% change from JULY 2020)

TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 115,670 % CHANGE FROM JULY 2020: -1.33%

Transportation (train and engine) 47,498 (+6.09%)

Executives, Officials and Staff Assistants 7,321 (-2.66%)

TRAFFIC ORIGINATED CARLOADS

FOUR WEEKS ENDING july 31, 2021

MAJOR U.S. RAILROADS

BY COMMODITY

JULY ’21

JULY ’20

% CHANGE

Grain Farm Products excl. Grain Grain Mill Products Food Products Chemicals Petroleum & Petroleum Products Coal Primary Forest Products Lumber & Wood Products Pulp & 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

77,094 2,478 35,236 22,138 128,713 41,112 256,565 3,956 12,473 22,854 24,418 14,896 36,751 17,204 45,502 77,877 15,012 32,702 15,975 21,714

83,206 3,087 37,098 23,022 121,616 41,316 224,946 3,956 13,005 19,514 10,267 11,473 26,949 12,929 57,811 74,242 15,023 32,538 14,208 22,495

-7.3% -19.7% -5.0% -3.8% 5.8% -0.5% 14.1% 0.0% -4.1% 17.1% 137.8% 29.8% 36.4% 33.1% -21.3% 4.9% -0.1% 0.5% 12.4% -3.5%

TOTAL U.S. CARLOADS

904,670

848,701

6.6%

284,776

286,245

-0.5%

1,189,446

1,134,946

4.8%

CANADIAN RAILROADS TOTAL CANADIAN CARLOADS

COMBINED U.S./CANADA RR

Professional and Administrative 10,087 (-2.83%)

Maintenance-of-Way and Structures 28.514 (-4.73%)

Maintenance of Equipment and Stores

Intermodal

Four WEEKS ENDING JULY 31, 2021

MAJOR U.S. RAILROADS

BY COMMODITY Trailers Containers TOTAL UNITS

17,519 (-10.39%)

CANADIAN RAILROADS

Transportation (other than train & engine)

Trailers Containers TOTAL UNITS

JULY ’21

JULY ’20

% CHANGE

88,197

1,066,169

962,522 1,050,719

-9.2% 2.5% 1.5%

0 256,849 256,849

0 271,843 271,843

— -5.5% -5.5%

88,197

80,050 986,119

4,731 (-6.79%)

COMBINED U.S./CANADA RR

Source: Surface Transportation Board

Trailers Containers

80,050 1,242,968

1,234,365

-9.2% 0.7%

TOTAL COMBINED UNITS

1,323,018

1,322,562

0.0%

Source: Rail Time Indicators, Association of American Railroads

4 Railway Age // September 2021

railwayage.com

TOTAL U.S./Canadian CARLOADS, july 2021 VS. JUly 2020

1,189,446 july 2021

1,134,946

LEADER® improves your operation from the cab –

july 2020

Short Line And Regional Traffic Index CARLOADS

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

ORIGINATED JULY ’21

ORIGINATED JULY ’20

% CHANGE

57,452 25,037 23,036 10,936 23,725 8,504 8,889 2,915 18,017 9,491 1,741 2,206 18,932 15,940 53,061 11,748 77,589

49,565 13,547 18,164 9,976 23,672 8,195 8,800 2,518 13,932 8,568 1,574 1,768 17,571 14,881 40,799 9,063 71,131

15.9% 84.8% 26.8% 9.6% 0.2% 3.8% 1.0% 15.8% 29.3% 10.8% 10.6% 24.8% 7.7% 7.1% 30.1% 29.6% 9.1%

Copyright © 2021 All rights reserved.

TOTAL U.S. Carloads and intermodal units, 2012-2021 (in millions, year-to-date through july 2021, SIX-WEEK MOVING AVERAGE)

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September 2021 // Railway Age 5

Industry Outlook

One Wild Week, Courtesy TCI, STB THE WEEK SPANNING AUG. 30 -SEPT. 3 WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS AMONG THE MOST MOMENTOUS IN RAILROADING. THE TIMELINE LOOKS A LOT LIKE A SOAP OPERA. The Surface Transportation Board—as expected by many industry observers and financial analysts—on Aug. 31, 2021, by unanimous vote, rejected the CN-Kansas City Southern voting trust, effectively killing the merger, and opening the door for Canadian Pacific to re-engage with KCS on the CPKC (“Canadian Pacific Kansas City”) deal it struck with KCS on March 21, albeit with a sweetened offer. KCS cancelled its Sept. 3 shareholder meeting for voting on the CN offer, and was, under a Sept. 12 deadline, considering CP’s offer. CN was not expected to attempt moving ahead with its merger, absent a voting trust—and especially after a game-changing event on Aug. 30.

Activist hedge fund TCI Fund Management Ltd., on Aug. 30 became a “beneficial owner” of CN, grabbing 5.2% of the railroad’s shares, putting principals Sir Chris Hohn and Ben Walker in a position to make CN an offer it probably can’t refuse.

TCI, in all likelihood confident that STB would reject the voting trust, launched a blistering attack on CN board Chair Robert Pace and the railroad’s management team a few short hours after the ruling. Hohn and Walker sent a letter to the CN board full of scathing language that would make even the most experienced professional railroader cringe. It was accompanied by a presentation painting 6 Railway Age // September 2021

the railroad as a dismal failure. Hohn and Walker tempered their tough talk and financial charts, which are filled with withering comparisons to CN’s peer Class I’s, by professing that CN “owns a unique asset—the best rail network in North America.”

In summary, TCI, reiterating points it originally made in May, when its ownership in CN was 3% and it did not have the financial position and power it acquired on Aug. 30, made these demands: • “CN should immediately withdraw from its agreement to buy Kansas City Southern.

• “CN needs a management team with more operational experience.

• “A railroader with a proven track record should be appointed as CEO to create a culture of operational excellence.

• “Jim Vena is the outstanding candidate for the job as CEO and has TCI’s full support.

• “The board must take responsibility for the company’s recent underperformance and failure.

• “The board needs more railroad experience and expertise and should therefore appoint Gil Lamphere as a director.”

“The opinion of the STB is clear: It does not want CN to buy KCS, so persisting in the face of explicit opposition from the STB would be hugely damaging to the reputation of CN and potentially financially disastrous because it would expose the company to the risk of forced divestment and damaging remedies,” Hohn and Walker said. “The board has a choice. It can withdraw from the merger agreement, appeal the ruling or try to proceed

without a voting trust. An appeal cannot be won, and it is not an appeal you would want to win, so do not embark on what would be an expensive and undignified charade.

Continuing with the bid would not only be futile, but knowing it will ultimately end in failure would also be unprofessional and disrespectful to everyone involved in the process. Instead, the company should withdraw and save billions of dollars in break fees.

Proceeding without a voting trust would be reckless, irresponsible and massively value-destructive.”

Cowen and Company Managing Director and Railway Age Wall Street Contributing Editor Jason Seidl summarized STB’s ruling: “The proposed use of the CN voting trust did not meet public interest standards, and did not meet the standards under current merger regulations. We believe STB’s language puts CN’s potential of purchasing KCS, even without the use of a voting trust, in extreme doubt. We also believe CP to be in an advantageous position to move forward with KCS. “In our opinion, STB made it very clear that, due to competitive risk, downstream effects and President Biden’s Executive Order, it would likely not support the deal itself, not only because of its failure to meet public interest, but also to preserve and protect ‘the small number of remaining Class I railroads.’

The decision highlights that the CP and CN deals are ‘substantially different,’ and the CP deal ‘is an end-to-end merger, whereas, here, the CN system overlaps with that of KCS.’ STB disagreed with CN’s statement that there is no competitive concern, and found that a voting trust ‘could result in a dampened incentive for the merging parties to compete vigorously during the pendency of the voting trust.’

“Most important, the decision highlights that ‘the possibility that a CN-KCS transaction would trigger downstream effects (something we have long contended) and, potentially, further consolidation initiatives, creating additional risks and uncertainties during the voting trust period.’ STB gave us enough information to tell us how it likely feels about the overall transaction—very negative. While it’s hard to predict potential next moves from the involved parties, when it comes to regulations, we may just have to ask CP President and CEO Keith Creel, given he has been the only one—ourselves included— who has consistently been correct in how this process will play out.” railwayage.com

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market Wabtec: Locomotive Overhaul No. 1,000 Wabtec last month modernized its 1,000th locomotive in North and South America with delivery to Norfolk Southern of AC44C6M 4463, a rebuilt GE Dash-9.

Wabtec’s modernization program covers replacing control systems to transforming DC-traction units into AC units. 4463’s transformation into an AC44C6M—a joint effort of Wabtec and NS engineering teams—involved a complete rebuild of the 7FDL primer-mover to Tier 1 Plus emissions standards, upgrading the engine control system, and installing Trip Optimizer SmartHPT and LOCOTROL® eXpanded Architecture (XA) Distributed Power (DP).

WORLDWIDE

NORTH AMERICA

The UNIÓN TEMPORAL MOVIUS consortium, which is led by SYSTRA, has been awarded a contract to design Line 2 of the Bogotá, Colombia, metro. Line 2 will serve Chapinero, Barrios Unidos, Engativá and Suba. It will be 9.8 miles long with 8.4 miles underground, running in tunnels of 23-foot diameter. There will be 1.2 miles of groundlevel running and a quarter-mile elevated section. Eleven stations will be built on the line, which will be operated with a UTO (unattended train operation) system.

THE GREENBRIER COMPANIES, INC. has received new orders for 5,500 railcars valued at more than $530 million during its fourth fiscal quarter that began on June 1, 2021. The orders, which the company said “are from a diverse mix of customers—shippers, railroads, lessors and other railcar investors—and comprise a broad range of railcar types, including intermodal platforms, boxcars, tanks, covered hoppers and gondolas,” represent Greenbrier’s fifth sequential quarterly order increase. They also “increase Greenbrier’s backlog and provide further visibility entering fiscal 2022.”

Brandon Wade/AP Images for Wabtec

MIAMI METRORAIL’S final two rapid transit railcars from a 136-car order are now serving passengers on the 25-mile, two-line network. They arrived in February 2021 for testing. HITACHI RAIL, which handled assembly at its plant in Medley, Fla., delivered the first cars on Nov. 30, 2017. The new cars have replaced the original Metrorail fleet dating from 1984. The Miami-Dade County Commission originally awarded the contract to ANSALDOBREDA in 2012.

Hitachi completed the purchase of AnsaldoBreda from Finmeccanica in 2015.

8 Railway Age // September 2021

POWERRAIL ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY has acquired MAUREY INSTRUMENTS CORP. of Alsip, Ill., which has been manufacturing rheostats and other electronic components for nearly 70 years.

Bringing production to PowerRail “will allow us to better serve our customers, providing a one-stop shop for all electronic locomotive components, complete with the quality and workmanship they have come to know from PowerRail,” said Director of Manufacturing Adam Earnheart. PowerRail Electronics Technology, a division of POWERRAIL, INC., is an aftermarket parts provider that offers EMD and GE control stands and electrical cabinets; contactors; controllers; electronic components; relays; modules; panels; power supplies; and other related electronic items.

THE ANDERSONS, INC. has sold its railcar leasing business to AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL TRANSPORT, INC. (AITX) for approximately $550 million in cash, and also intends to sell off its remaining railcar repair business, including 29 U.S. facilities, as part of a “strategic decision” to jettison all of its railcar interests and focus on its agricultural businesses, which include commodity trading, ethanol and plant nutrient sectors. railwayage.com

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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

PRODUCT INNOVATIONS SHOWCASE 2021

As the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the coronavirus continue, many industry meetings and trade shows have gone virtual or have been postponed, out of an abundance of caution.

As the industry’s partner for generations, Railway Age recognizes the importance of the supply community continuing to interface with customers. We’re pleased to present our 2021 Product Innovations Showcase, spotlighting many of the industry’s top suppliers—innovators all.

2021 Product & Innovations showcase

ALSTOM

GREEN AND SMART MOBILITY SOLUTIONS As the leader in Green Mobility, Alstom is the only rail manufacturer to offer the full range of green traction solutions, from battery to hydrogen, all developed to meet specific market and customer needs.

A pioneer of sustainable and smart mobility, Alstom introduced the world’s first hydrogen train, which has been running in Germany since 2018 and has accumulated more than 200,000 km of operational service. Alstom now has firm contracts for 59 hydrogen trains in Germany, France and Italy and multiple partnerships in other countries. Alstom also has a great deal of experience with battery solutions with some notable ongoing projects in this field. Among them is a product test agreement signed earlier this year with the Long Island Rail Road to study the feasibility of converting the railroad’s M-7 cars to battery-operated electric multiple-units. Both hydrogen and battery-based technologies provide benefits to the environment, operators, passengers and the general public. Within their applicability range, they offer efficient alternatives for non-electrified lines. They can reduce harmful emissions in comparison to traditional diesel locomotives or diesel multiple units, improve operability due to fleet standardization, and provide opportunities to combine electrified and non-electrified networks. Furthermore, these solutions reduce noise and vibrations, increasing passenger comfort and providing a quieter environment for residents in communities along the railway. Alstom is also minimizing CO2 emissions of trains that will run on diesel by developing hybrid powertrains that combine battery or hydrogen and diesel. Looking ahead, Alstom is already working on ways to improve, focusing on reducing the cost of green traction and enhancing the range and autonomy of both fuel cell and battery trains.

BENTLEY SYSTEMS

RAPIDLY DEPLOY LINEAR ANALYTICS TO IMPROVE TRACK MAINTENANCE Bentley Systems (Nasdaq: BSY) is the infrastructure engineering software company. We provide innovative software to advance the world’s infrastructure—sustaining both the global economy and environment. Bentley Systems employs more than 4,000 colleagues and generates annual revenues of more than $800 million in 172 countries. Proven and trusted by the world’s rail community, Bentley’s software helps increase productivity, reduce cost and exposure to risk, helping private and national owner-operators, municipal governments and transit agencies, plus leading engineering consultants and contractors improve overall service, safety and reliability of rail and transit infrastructure. Comprising applications and services for the design, construction, plus operations and maintenance of rail infrastructure, Bentley’s rail and transit solution advances BIM to facilitate collaboration, coordination and compliance through digital twins and a connected data environment provisioned in Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform. Recently, Bentley launched AssetWise Rail Condition Analytics, which enables small- to medium-sized agencies to unlock the full potential of data they already own. Drawing on industry best practices and using the latest innovations in linear analytics, the solution uses predictive technology to provide the insight and visibility needed to optimize and future-proof key maintenance and renewal decisions, while ensuring networks are maintained in a state of good repair. www.bentley.com/en/products/product-line/asset-performance/assetwise-rail-condition-analytics 12 Railway Age // September 2021

railwayage.com

2021 Product & innovations showcase

DEUTA AMERICA

SAFETY-RELEVANT HMIS WITH DEUTA TRUST TECHNOLOGIES Requirements for safety-relevant Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs) for train operators are becoming more common around the world. With the increasing complexity of train control systems, additional functionality requires HMI devices to be safety critical. This includes requirements on information displayed (for example, current train speed), as well as input to the HMI from a human operator (a selection or acknowledgement). The solution: IconTrust® with SelectTrust® function. IconTrust detects display errors and differentiates between the safety-related input areas on the HMI. The contained SelectTrust function checks the activation or release of the touch area, or the single or continuous transmission of the activation.

Always safe: display and input.

• Assessment up to SIL 3.

• Safe input and output.

• Software and hardware from a single source.

• Easy assessment of application changes.

• Cost-efficient.

Deuta’s Trust Technology is the solution for all HMI displays that need to meet safety requirements. This includes train control displays (aspect display units) and train operator displays. As Deuta has already deployed this technology since 2014, the risks of new technology introduction are largely mitigated. Deuta Trust Technologies have an installed base of approximately 12,000 units, deployed in 35 countries and have become a standard in many train control supplier’s platforms. www.deuta-america.com/us/

DUOS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

RAILCAR INSPECTION PORTAL (RIP®) Duos deploys advanced wayside inspection technologies that transform precision railroading with improved safety, increased velocity and predictive maintenance. In collaboration with Class I railroads and industry technology leaders, Duos continues to innovate and expand the capabilities and performance of the Railcar Inspection Portal (rip®). The rip® automates rolling stock inspections by capturing extremely high resolution, undistorted images from up to 35 different angles of a railcar traveling at track speeds. Our latest addition to this fully modular system is the obliquevue™ which adds eight new oblique undercarriage perspectives for inspection. The system can be utilized to remotely conduct inspections manually or when combined with our artificial intelligence platform, automatically detect defined defects. The system can also be directly integrated into back office maintenance systems to automatically generate repair orders.

More information on this system and others is available at www.duostech.com Features & Benefits • Completely modular solution can be deployed for specific & unique inspection applications.

• Ability to image over 100 inspection points and defects at full track speeds.

• Latest generation includes 8k and 5MP imaging capabilities for unmatched image quality.

• Cooperatively developed with Class I railroads and industry leaders such as Dell and Nvidia.

• Aligns with precision railroading objectives to improve safety, velocity, operational efficiency and reducing dwell time.

• Available for international and domestic freight, transit and high-speed railroads. railwayage.com

September 2021 // Railway Age 13

2021 Product & Innovations showcase

GREENKOTE

PLC HIGH-PERFORMANCE ANTICORROSION RAIL FASTENER COATINGS Greenkote® is an advanced anti-corrosion metal coating that can significantly extend the service life of rail fasteners and fixtures with long-term exposure to weather and harsh environments. Employing a patented zinc thermal diffusion process, Greenkote coating is literally diffused into the surface of metal parts, for an exceptionally strong, permanent metallurgical bond. Its corrosion resistance lasts longer, without chipping or peeling, even when crimped or bent. Plus, Greenkote coverage is highly conformal and uniform, allowing it to coat ID and OD geometries, blind holes, threads, filets and sharp corners. Greenkote also provides increased hardness, up to HV 400-420. Recently, Greenkote PLC has introduced a higher-performance Greenkote coating called G5k™ which extends anticorrosion protection to over 5,000 hours of standardized testing, allowing it to meet ASTM Specification B117. The Greenkote name derives from its eco-friendliness. Unlike many coating processes, Greenkote uses no hazardous materials, generates no toxic wastes and is benign to the environment. It passes even the strictest environmental regulations around the globe. Users may schedule parts for fast-turnaround coating at the Greenkote headquarters facility in Ohio or at many other Greenkote locations internationally.

Contact: 1 (440) 243-2865 or contactus@greenkote.com. www.greenkote.com

HEARTWOOD

VIRTUAL INTERACTIVE SIMULATIONS AND GUIDES Heartwood helps railroads improve maintenance efficiency and streamline compliance training by leveraging Virtual Interactive Simulations and Guides. Our customers reduce workforce training costs (travel, facility, student/instructor time) by up to 60% and see an ROI of up to 7x, while their employees–conductors, mechanics, engineers–perform complex procedures faster, safer and with fewer errors. As new normals at work are being set, deploying remote training tools will save money, engage your railroad employees and keep them regulation compliant. Furthermore, next-generation railroaders expect to learn differently–visual and interactive technology is changing knowledge and skill transfer efficacy. Today’s training keywords are–Virtual, Digital and Asynchronous. Our technology ensures that employees and contractors demonstrate proficiency on critical regulatory tasks like Brake Test (CFR 232, 238), Pre-Departure Inspection (CFR 215, 238), Locomotive Daily Inspection (CFR 229) & other 49 CFR Part 243 training requirements. Deploy FRA approved sims on PC, Tablet or LMS (SuccessFactors and more).

Leading freight and passenger railroads (BNSF, Union Pacific, Amtrak, Norfolk Southern, CSX, CNl, KCS and more) deploy our virtual training technology every day. Heartwood is one of Inc. Magazine’s 500|5000 Fastest Growing Companies, 10 Most Trusted Simulation Solution Providers and is featured in major rail publications. More information at www.hwd3d.com; info@hwd3d.com; 888.781.0274.

14 Railway Age // September 2021

railwayage.com

2021 Product & innovations showcase

HERZOG

SURVEY PLATFORM Herzog has developed a single-pass solution, the Herzog Survey Platform, that gathers many types of data with a single vehicle during a single pass of a railway corridor. During a survey, up to 4K UHD video, 360° imagery, and LiDAR point clouds scanned at 500,000 points per second can be collected. All scanners in the Herzog Survey platform are integrated with GPS or IMU technologies, allowing the collection of data to meet or exceed customer accuracy requirements. LiDAR point clouds and imagery can be collected at track speeds, reducing the time required on track and maximizing railway worker safety.

Herzog’s internally developed software can process those point clouds for use in multiple applications and analyses. The survey data captured is suitable for PTC asset identification and clearance profiling and is configurable in response to each customer’s needs. For example, with the survey data collected, PTC-critical features can be precisely located and extracted. Herzog can apply all the necessary attributes to the data to produce PTC data, either in the interoperable PTC data model, or in the onboard data file format. Clearance analysis reports can be used to calculate the vertical and horizontal clearances from track centerline to requested assets, assist in the planning of manual and automated material placement along the right-of-way, generate horizontal track curvature, and identify areas in the corridor requiring vegetation maintenance. Herzog’s data processing methodology is efficient, providing data quickly to minimize impact to customer deadlines and operations. Our data deliverables are carefully inspected to ensure they meet Herzog’s standards for quality and completeness, and that they satisfy necessary customer requirements. Herzog’s data processing methodology is efficient, providing data quickly to minimize impact to customer deadlines and operations. Our data deliverables are carefully inspected to ensure they meet Herzog’s standards for quality and completeness, and that they satisfy necessary customer requirements.

HEXAGON

SECURITY AND SURVEILLANCE PORTFOLIO FOR RAIL The seconds between detecting a threat and resolving an incident can be costly for rail operators. Hexagon’s Security & Surveillance portfolio for rail protects passengers and personnel while also safeguarding critical infrastructure and property, helping you restore operations as quickly as possible. By integrating and connecting infrastructure, assets and people, our portfolio provides endto-end workflows for detecting, assessing, responding and collaborating to prevent and contain incidents.

Benefits of the Hexagon Security & Surveillance portfolio include: • Choice of solutions: Use one, some or all the solutions within the Security & Surveillance portfolio to meet your needs.

• Less hassle: Work with a single, trusted partner for all your security, surveillance, and infrastructure management solutions. www.hexagonsafetyinfrastructure.com • Build on your investment: Leverage your existing security and alarm systems, sensors, and video assets within our common operational picture software.

• Complete lifecycle management: Go beyond monitoring and assessment to collaborating and responding with other organizations to resolve issues as quickly as possible.

• Scalability: Seamlessly transition from simple security monitoring and response to managing diverse teams and complex operations across large and diverse organizations and regions.

Hexagon’s Security & Surveillance portfolio provides capabilities proven to protect railways around the globe, including some of Europe and North America’s busiest networks. Use it to ensure safe passage for the people and freight traveling your tracks, too. railwayage.com

September 2021 // Railway Age 15

2021 Product & Innovations showcase

HUMATICS

RAIL NAVIGATION SYSTEM Partner with Humatics to help your clients modernize their signaling systems. Humatics’ Rail Navigation System is a drop-in replacement for traditional railway odometry sensors such as tachometers, transponders and inductive loops. Humatics’ systems consist of industrial-grade ultra-wideband (UWB) beacons, Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) sensors whose data is fused together providing position, speed and acceleration to vital and non-vital carborne systems. Humatics’ Rail Navigation System operates similarly to traditional satellite positioning serving as a “terrestrial satellite” network and works by continually ranging from carborne beacons to a constellation of UWB beacons. Given this architecture, UWB ranging is especially well-suited to augment GNSS positioning on sections of track with poor or no signal reception. A built-in IMU is included for dead reckoning and to augment system availability. Through its high-availability and ultra-precise localization system, Humatics enables safety-critical train positioning in all environmental conditions for Positive Train Control (PTC), Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC), European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS) and other Automatic Train Protection (ATP) systems. Humatics was awarded a contract in July of 2021 by the new York MTA to develop interoperable UWB train positioning. Humatics previously partnered with New York City Transit to launch the first-ever UWB deployment for train control, outfitting 5.5 miles of track with UWB infrastructure and equipping four trains with UWB radios and inertial measurement units. The successful pilot demonstrated that UWB ranging technology is better-suited to NYCT’s 24/7 operation than the conventional CBTC odometry.

To learn more about the Humatics Rail Navigation System, see https://www.humatics.com/contact/.

ICOMERA

X5 HIGH-PERFORMANCE ROUTER Designed to meet the need for fast, reliable mobile Internet connectivity, the lcomera X5 is ideally suited to support future-proof connectivity solutions. The X5 is the latest high-performance router to give vehicle manufacturers and operators access to lcomera’s advanced X-Series platform, supporting multiple, resource-intensive applications such as Passenger Wi-Fi, Infotainment, and Digital Video Surveillance simultaneously as part of a single solution. With the X5, operators can offer a significantly-improved passenger experience, allowing travelers to enjoy Wi-Fi with faster browsing speeds and enhanced media streaming options. The X5 can run multiple virtual applications from a single piece of hardware, providing a simple, one-box solution—operators can cache their own video or media content onboard, perform quick, over-the-air upgrades and install new applications remotely. Supported by robust and scalable back-end management software, operators can easily configure, monitor and report on system performance. With no need for additional hardware such as media servers or video recorders, the lcomera X5 provides a powerful one-box solution. In real-world trials, the X5 successfully achieved industry-record-breaking levels of throughput, surpassing the benchmark referred to as “the Gigabit Train” The train received more than 1 gigabit of data per second using only commercially available 4G and 5G cellular networks. The trial presents an early look at the throughput achievable when using 5G-enabled hardware and cellular network aggregation technology, even before 5G rolls out.

16 Railway Age // September 2021

railwayage.com

2021 Product & innovations showcase

LORAM TECHNOLOGIES INC.

AREA MONITORING SYSTEM

While on track, working around or near track equipment and other people, being aware of your surroundings is important. Loram Technologies’ Area Monitoring System kits have been designed to monitor configurable zones around work equipment without the need for wearable technology. Operators are alerted of area violations through various notification devices including audible alarms for heads up operation, light panels, and real time video feeds. The equipment can be installed in the equipment cab or where the operator is performing their work.

Other key features include the ability to combine multiple sensors for complex area monitoring, and wireless communication for remote sensor operation. Once an area violation is signaled, equipment operators should always take the safest approach to avoid all objects in their path. Loram Technologies’ Area Monitoring System isn’t a substitute for current protocols to keep the roadway workers safe, but it can help in the operators’ awareness of their surroundings while performing their tasks and constantly monitoring the work zones at the front and the rear of the equipment, adding a layer of awareness.

NEW YORK BLOWER COMPANY LOCOMOTIVE BLOWERS AND FANS

Locomotive blowers typically provide cooling air to critical electrical components, including traction motors, electrical lockers, main generators and other various equipment. Fans are used for dynamic braking systems, electrical room filtration/dust control, and loading/off loading bay dust collection systems. Fans can be customized, with heavy gauge construction, corrosion resistant materials and compact designs based on the application requirements. In addition, innovations in technology allow for easy remote monitoring devices to be installed to measure airflow, vibration, temperature, and/or airstream particulate. There are numerous benefits of incorporating fan sensor systems, including the ability to minimize power usage/energy costs, avoid unpredictable downtime, increase longevity of the machinery, and reduce operating expenses. NYB-manufactured locomotive fans are designed by experience engineers and undergo rigorous testing, which can involve finite element analysis (FEA) and computational flow dynamics (CFD) modeling, overspeed testing, seismic analysis/testing, modal analysis and/or air, sound and performance testing in our AMCA accredited laboratory. Both testing before installation and remote monitoring after help to ensure a longer service life while fans endure constant vibration, cycling, temperature fluctuations and elevation changes. NYB fans carry the AAR M-1003 Certificate, which is earned by satisfying the strict requirements put forth by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) quality assurance program. To speak with an expert on specific application requirements or to request more information, visit www.nyb.com or call 800.208.7918. railwayage.com

September 2021 // Railway Age 17

2021 Product & Innovations showcase

NISUS CORP.

QNAP COPPER NAPHTHENATE PRESERVATIVE One of the biggest innovations in crossties and bridge ties has been dual treatment using Cellu-Treat liquid borate with QNAP copper naphthenate as the oil borne preservative. Dual treatment of crossties has proven to more than double the life of a crosstie in high hazard zones where a standard tie might last 10 years. Why? A Cellu-Treat borate dip treatment done prior to air seasoning stops the incipient decay that starts in the middle of the tie during air seasoning.

QNAP copper naphthenate has become the fastest growing preservative in the U.S. for pressure treating crossties and bridge ties, mainly because of its safe handling characteristics and the fact that QNAPtreated ties don’t drip or bleed—particularly important for bridges over pedestrian walkways, roads and rivers. Bridge ties present a significant challenge to dual treat since most are ordered and delivered quickly without time to be dipped and air dried. To address this issue, Dr. Jeff Lloyd invented the BTX system, where reservoirs are drilled into bridge ties, filled with Cellu-Treat liquid borate and plugged. The bridge ties go through the Boulton cycle during pressure treatment, and as the vacuum is pulled to draw the water out of the bridge ties, the borate is pulled into the heartwood of the tie. Most Class I railroads are using these products and will be reaping the benefits of doubling the life of their crossties and bridge ties. Innovation in wood preservation from Nisus Corporation—Better Science for a Better World. www.nisuscorp.com

PLASSER AMERICAN

CLEANING BALLAST QUICKLY AND EFFICIENTLY Plasser American has a long history in manufacturing maintenance-of-way equipment in North America. In 2021, the 60th anniversary kicked-off an enormous extension project at the main location in Chesapeake; doubling the output-capacity in the next years. It is a clear commitment to the U.S. railroad system and should prepare Plasser American for future challenges. For more than 30 years, Plasser American has been operating several undercutters in North America with an incomparable average machine availability of 98%. Plasser American supplies various high-production machines to maintain ballast. The workhorse of this fleet of machines is the RM80, which can undercut and clean plain track, as well as switches. Additionally, there are highcapacity double screening units such as the RM2003 and the RM802 High Speed Undercutter-Cleaner with performance values up to 2,000 feet per hour. Plasser American has several undercutters in their fleet available for contract services. However, in the last years we have recognized the market’s need for a full-range supplier that offers an all-in one solution. As a consequence, we have extended our contracting fleet with tampers and ballast regulators providing high-performance surfacing and supplementary services to our existing undercutters. Plasser American is your full-service integral provider providing the highquality, high-production and reliable products, which it is known for. Please contact us for further information. www.plasseramerican.com.

18 Railway Age // September 2021

railwayage.com

2021 Product & innovations showcase

POWER DRIVES INC.

COMPRESSED AIR WATER SEPARATOR Originally designed for GE locomotives, the Compressed Air Water Separator is a drop-in solution that packs a punch by tackling the basics: It separates water from the air so that water does not build up in the air lines, since those air lines feed all air requirements, specifically the brake lines. In the winter, that water can freeze and cause the braking system to malfunction, which is obviously a big problem. The Compressed Air Water Separator helps operators avoid this dilemma, and is installed after the air compressor, right off the intercooler. www.powerdrives.com

POWER DRIVES INC.

DIESEL DEHYDRATOR™

The Diesel Dehydrator™ from Power Drives, Inc. is a patented engineered system that removes water and filters particulate matter from diesel fuel. Designed to be the main fuel filtration system and tested to filter down to 5 microns, it removes 99.5% of water from the fuel. This, in turn with its extendedlife filter, removes particulate matter from fuel, increases fuel injector lifespan and overall performance of the locomotive.

PDI’s Diesel Dehydrator™ units have been installed on many Class I locomotives and have been sold to rebuilders, who make inclusion of the unit standard in a rebuild, due to the increase in fuel injector longevity. “Our fuel injector lifespan has already increased more than four times thanks to the Diesel Dehydrator,” says Richard Elgin, Director of International Maintenance National Railway Equipment Company. “In removing 99.5% of water from the fuel, it has solved one of our biggest headaches and significantly decreased the amount of wear and tear that we were experiencing in our locomotives. Not only that, but the overall performance has also increased, all of which has allowed us to retain a client who had otherwise been ready to terminate their lease. The team at Power Drives provided us with a perfect solution to one of our most pressing problems.” www.powerdrives.com

railwayage.com

September 2021 // Railway Age 19

2021 Product & Innovations showcase

POWER DRIVES INC.

POWERHOUSE™ HYBRID

The PowerHouse™ Hybrid was developed based on customer needs. Railroads do not want to maintain another engine on the locomotive; eliminating the engine as part of the APU was a message PDI heard loud and clear. That’s why PDI developed the PowerHouse™ Hybrid. The newest in the PowerHouse™ line-up, the Hybrid completely eliminates the engine as part of the APU and powers itself directly from the locomotive battery bank. The Hybrid can run off the locomotive batteries for up to seven days without starting the engine, and when plugged into an external 120 VAC power source, the Hybrid charges the locomotive batteries. The PowerHouse™ system heats the engine oil and circulates heated coolant through the locomotive engine block and cooling system to maintain a fluid temperature above 100°F, even in the coldest of temperatures, via a diesel fired heating unit. The system requires, on average, less than 5 amps. The PowerHouse™ Hybrid will monitor the “health” of the locomotive coolant system as well as battery life and will send warnings via text messaging to railroad personnel if there are any concerns. More Class I’s and short lines alike realize how this one-time purchase saves them money and maintenance time over the long haul, with typical usage saving over 10,000 gallons of fuel in just one season. Actual customer savings have surpassed the investment in as few as three months. Not only that, but it helps railroads comply with U.S. and global emissions standards and operates in the harshest conditions with proven dependability. www.powerdrives.com

PROGRESS RAIL, A CATERPILLAR CO.

NITROMP—MOVEMENT PLANNER

Railways are looking to streamline and simplify their operations to manage complexity, increase agility and reduce cost. These challenges demand intelligent and integrated solutions. Progress Rail is developing just that—a suite of products that work together to provide increased operating efficiency and capacity, while lowering emissions and fuel cost. NitroMP comes to Progress Rail through its recent acquisition of leading decision support software company Nitryx. NitroMP uses cutting-edge machine learning and optimization tools to improve railroad network operations.

Current customer deployments are seeing an over 10% increase in network capacity without additional assets or infrastructure investment. Nitryx is a software and consulting company with extensive experience in the transportation and supply chain industry. The Nitryx team has been developing complex Decision Support Systems for the railways, mining industry and general supply chain for over 20 years. NitroMP is a service and software package that provides a complete solution for intelligent train movement planning, resolving in seconds meets/passes and routing conflicts, significantly reducing delays, saving fuel and ensuring a more robust rail operation. Rumo is the largest rail operator in Brazil, moving 59,000,000 tons across approximately 14,000 kilometers of railways, and a NitroMP user. “Nitryx has excelled in optimization, artificial intelligence and for its railway knowledge and experience in the sector, which is not common. Nitryx and Rumo have already a five-year partnership with NitroMP to guarantee the increase in operational capacity,” said Rafael Pinto, Innovation Manager at Rumo. Recap: By adding and combining two products like Talos™ Energy Management (EM) the Nitryx solution such as NitroMP, Yard and Crew Optimizers and the Pacing Tool, Progress Rail strives to further improve the efficiency and fluidity of the rail networks. www.progressrail.com.

20 Railway Age // September 2021

railwayage.com

2021 Product & innovations showcase

PS TECHNOLOGY

DISTRIBUTED POWER TRAINING How do you safely train engineers for longer trains while also letting them practice on realistic routes, without the expense and risk of on-the-job training (OJT). The in-train forces of heavy, long trains require specialized handling when the routes are through winding and rolling terrain. These complex behaviors and characteristics can be difficult to understand and teach consistently.

PST created DistributedPower™ Training to make common-sense use of today’s technical tool sets: computer-based training (CBT), physically realistic simulation and testing with integration into LMS platforms. There are some significant things PST knew they needed in this training. First, it was important to create a solution that didn’t require using two computers: one for training and then another for the simulation practice. Consequently, the testing and simulation all occur on the same computer/simulator workstation.

Secondly, the training needed to be on-demand with no requirement for an on-site instructor. This would allow training that didn’t require synchronizing schedules or advance planning and travel time. Also, not everybody learns the same way or remembers the same way. DistributedPower Training uses the best-known methods to improve learning and retention with a multi-sensory curriculum. As a result, this training includes professional animation, videos, spoken narration that matches the reading, re-enforced learning quizzes, and hands-on-practice before any final testing takes place. Ultimately, this training is not about weeding out engineers from distributed power operations, but instead, successfully training them to become safe engineers who know exactly how to use distributed power. pstechnology.com.

RAILINC

TRANSMETRIQ: REMAINING WHEELSET LIFE INTELLIGENCE TransmetriQ—Powered by Railinc. Trained on data from millions of wheelset lifecycles, TransmetriQ’s Wheelset Intelligence puts control of wheelset maintenance decisions back in the hands of equipment owners. With wheelsets accounting for nearly half of maintenance spend each year, improving control over wheelset maintenance has long been a goal of equipment owners. Without an accurate prediction of when wheelsets will fail, equipment owners often experience unexpected foreign repairs with no choice between turned or new wheelsets. TransmetriQ’s wheelset remaining life intelligence gives control back to equipment owners. Employing the latest in artificial intelligence and machine learning, Wheelset Intelligence accurately predicts remaining wheelset useful life, giving equipment owners the opportunity to optimize wheelset maintenance decisions. With improved lifespan predictions, equipment owners can confidently maximize equipment mileage while reducing the risk of failure and expensive maintenance interruptions. Owners will get more mileage out of equipment while avoiding foreign wheelset repairs. Available as a simple probability of failure within 5,000 miles or in detailed, custom predictions, remaining wheelset life intelligence gives owners all the data they need. Wheelset Intelligence’s quick-view reporting informs maintenance decisions for every car in a fleet or for individual cars as needed, enabling owners to control wheelset spend at scale. Backed by Railinc, the TransmetriQ team are experts in leveraging data to improve any freight rail industry business. Learn more about how Wheelset Intelligence can improve your business at www.transmetriq.com. railwayage.com

September 2021 // Railway Age 21

2021 Product & Innovations showcase

RAILROAD SOFTWARE

TRACKASSET

Railroad Software’s TrackAsset recently underwent an important upgrade. There is now a more intuitive user interface along with added functionality in our work order process. The dashboard allows users to view past due, current, and upcoming inspections as well as work orders. The dashboard can be filtered to show inspections/work orders by asset type, group, location, inspector and date range. Another advantage with the new UI update is that the asset list, inspections and work orders are all visible on the same page. As a track inspector traverses the track, a blue dot shows their location. When a defect is found, the inspector simply clicks the location, and the defect window appears with FRA part 213 compliance rules loaded. The inspector can then take a photo of the defect and attach it to the inspection. Railroad Software is excited to be working with Herzog Contracting Corporation as a new client. They are tasked with maintaining the MOW assets for the Southern California Regional Rail Authority commonly known as Metrolink. Herzog maintains approximately 500 miles of mainline track within TrackAsset. TrackAsset will allow Herzog to visualize and maintain FRA compliance on all MOW assets. It will also provide for visibility to the contractor’s client (Metrolink). www.railroadsoftware.com.

RAILS COMPANY

RAILWAY MAINTENANCE-OF-WAY PRODUCTS AND SIGNAL EQUIPMENT Rails Company has been designing and manufacturing railway maintenance-of-way products and signal equipment for more than 50 years.

Based in Maplewood, N.J., it supplies: • Switch point products: automatic switch point locks, switch point clamps, switch point protectors.

• Rail/track products: compression rail anchors, Flexiclip® rail fasteners, bridge tie anchors, gauge rods, automatic track lubrication systems, fiberglass switch covers.

• Rolling stock track products: car retarder, track skates, wheel stops.

• Switch heaters (gas) and air blower systems: hot air blower systems, HAB system layout with duct tie, 15” hot air blower system, cold air blower systems, Rail-Tel (RTS) switch heaters and parts, LP track switch heaters (low pressure natural gas), all electric hot air blower systems.

• Electric switch heaters and accessories and controls: tubular electric switch heaters, tubular electric switch rod heaters, tubular electric ballast heaters, insulated heat retainers, electric switch heater controls— AC and DC, electric switch heater controls with heater layout.

• Switch heater air distribution ducts and accessories.

• Snow detection products: snow detection systems, compact snow detector.

• Batteries, channels, utility boxes and compressors.

All are made in the USA. When snow blows, we blow back. Call us before you get snowed in. (800) 21 RAILS (72457) or (973) 763-4320; FAX: (973) 763-2585; Rails@Railsco.com; railsco.com.

22 Railway Age // September 2021

railwayage.com

2021 Product & innovations showcase

RAILWAY EQUIPMENT COMPANY

MULTIFUNCTIONAL EVENT RECORDER

One of our Class I railroad customers came to us with a request that we create a multifunctional event recorder for switches, grade crossings, battery banks and other wayside equipment with features not offered from the current products on the market. Our engineering team got to work on this powerful system and was able to meet all the customers’ requirements and more. We were able to duplicate all current features of existing event recorders on the market today and make significant updates including industry leading clock accuracy with less than 5 seconds of drift/month and optional GPS antenna to eliminate any drift. This accurate time calculation ensures that if an event occurs, the railroad will have an accurate account of what was functioning during an event. Other updates to this system include: If connected to a time server via Ethernet, the clock is auto updated. It is equipped with a 7-inch color touch-display for user-friendly navigation, setup and use.

Two dry contacts to alarm when outside user programmable limits.

Provides up to 96 analog and digital inputs. Transmits data via Ethernet in SNMP or ModBus. Large internal memory that can record up to one million events. Event logs can be saved to a USB drive in CSV format with an encrypted CRC hash at the end of the file. The Event Recorder has a small footprint with quick connect plugs, is compatible with existing crossing controllers for simple installation, and has the ability to integrate with existing maintenance call out systems. Contact Randy Honeck, Director of Engineering. www.rwy.com.

STRATO INC.

SHEAR PAD AND BEARING ADAPTER SET STRATO’s essential purpose is to design and manufacture the most reliable products in the rail industry that return the greatest value for our customers. Developed by extensive research, realworld simulation and analysis, the STRATO Shear Pad and Bearing Adapter set provides superior durability and service life. Designed with high resistance to abrasion and wear, STRATO’s Shear Pad has excellent dynamic fatigue performance. STRATO conducted laboratory tests simulating truck hunting conditions on a bearing adapter. Results show that STRATO’s shear pad averages twice the fatigue life in this loading condition when compared to other adapter pads in the same testing spectrum. STRATO’s Shear Pad and Bearing Adapter delivers AAR M-976 performance when used as part of an M-976 approved truck package. The T-BE1311 adapter, T-BE1340 adapter pad and the T-WG1174 split wedges are defined as an M-976 approved system when they are installed on an S2-HD or S2-HD-9C truck in accordance with AAR Field Manual Rule 46.

The extended fatigue performance and lesser stiffness degradation over time of STRATO’s Shear Pad and Bearing Adapter allows for prolonged steering performance and truck hunting resistance of the M-976 package, increasing the service life of the shear pad. STRATO’s Shear Pad and Bearing Adapter design improves 110T truck performance and wheel life while greatly reducing maintenance and material costs to car owners. www.stratoinc.com. railwayage.com

September 2021 // Railway Age 23

2021 Product & Innovations showcase

TEKTRACKING

TIMPS AND SITE MOBILE AND DESKTOP APPLICATIONS Advancements in technology have created avenues for railroads to leverage mobile applications to improve employee safety, increase performance and boost overall organizational efficiency. Introducing TekTracking’s TIMPS (Track Inspection, Maintenance Planning, and Scheduling) and SITE (Signal Inspection Testing Efficiency) mobile and desktop applications. TekTracking’s suite of applications have been developed to streamline Signal and Track departments’ planning, scheduling and management of inspection and maintenance activities. Our applications ensure that testing and inspection of all signal and track assets occurs per the frequency prescribed by the railroad and FRA Part’s 213, 234, and 236. TIMPS and SITE help optimize the inspection process by providing Executive Management, Administrators, Track/Signal Managers, and Maintenance/ Inspection crews with real time inspection status and information.

• Saves hours of data entry for every Maintainer/Inspector.

• Log maintenance/test data and results with audio and images.

• Mimics existing Railroad work practices – TIMPS & SITE uses your railroads custom forms and reports.

• Meets Regulatory Authority Maintenance, Inspection, Testing, Safety, Auditing and Reporting requirements.

• Continuous review and improvement of processes to maximize efficiency.

• Fully customizable reports – report and filter all data generated by the apps.

• Optimized assignment of assets due for inspection/maintenance to improve overall worker efficiency.

Recent railroads to adopt TIMPS are the Belt Railway of Chicago (BRC), Essex Terminal Railway (ETR), and the TNW Corporation (TNW).

Our growing base of users are benefitting from the customizable TIMPS architecture that is ever evolving to meet new challenges and further increase railroad maintenance/inspection effectiveness. Contact: 855-655-8600; sales@tektracking.com; www.tektracking.com.

THERMOMEGATECH®

GURU PC® WITH HEATER ASSEMBLY ThermOmegaTech®’s self-actuating GURU PC® is a thermostatically operated freeze protection valve for passenger train cars. Innovatively designed, the valve monitors ambient temperature to protect rolling stock with potable water-bearing systems from freezing when the car heat is turned off during a layover or locomotive switch. As the outside air temperature drops below the valve’s set-point (35°F), the GURU PC® will automatically modulate open to drain the water from the system before freeze damage can occur.

Once the car heat is restored and the valve warms up, it will modulate closed, allowing the passenger car’s water tanks to be refilled before returning to service. 100% mechanical and requiring no outside source of electricity to operate, these valves are the ideal solution for any situation, even in instances of a power outage. The GURU PC® is available with an electric heater assembly that attaches to the valve’s thermal actuator to quickly warm it up once power is restored to the car. ThermOmegaTech® recommends implementing the heater assembly to ensure a rapid refill process to get the car back into service quickly after a valve activation. The GURU PC® is NSF 61 Certified for use in potable water systems, and shock and vibration tested to withstand harsh conditions. Compact, reliable, and in-line serviceable for ease of maintenance, the GURU PC® is the ideal solution to protect your passenger train toilet modules and galleys from freeze damage. Link: www.thermomegatech.com/product/ guru-pc/?utm_source=railway-age&utm_campaign=&utm_medium=passenger-car-freeze-protection.

24 Railway Age // September 2021

railwayage.com

2021 Product & innovations showcase

TRAINYARD TECH, LLC

CLASSMASTER™ HUMP YARD PROCESS CONTROL

The Classmaster™ system has been controlling humping operations safely and accurately for over 15 years now, increasing throughput efficiency and providing detailed, useable analytics. What exactly does the Classmaster™ hump system do? Once a car is uncoupled at the top of the hump, it is rolling freely down the hill, gaining speed, increasing momentum, completely uncontrolled until Classmaster™ takes over, gently nudging it or forcefully slowing it down, measuring its weight, height, resistance; calculating and recalculating speeds and distances as they change in real time, empowering devices to retard, or allow it to speed up, to throw switches to line a route and insure that it enters the correct track through the many choices in the yard; avoiding full tracks, obstructed tracks; compensating on-the-fly for the unexpected: brakes that stay on, contaminated tracks and, finally, insuring that it reaches the designated final track at a speed that just allows for a soft coupling. That is what the Classmaster™ system does, and has done, for more than 100 million cars since 2005. How does Trainyard Tech, LLC accomplish this?

By creating and continually refining very sophisticated and complex algorithms for: • Stall detection.

• Stall protection.

• Anti-cornering.

• Hump engine speed control.

• Look ahead logic.

• Automatic calibration.

• Special car handling.

We continue to respond to the changing needs of the railroad industry by constantly improving and adding abilities and transparency to the Classmaster™ system and its reporting programs. We work closely with each customer to streamline the system’s abilities to their unique needs. Contact us at www.trainyardtech.com.

TRIMBLE

TREADVIEW SYSTEM WHEEL SURFACE INSPECTION Trimble’s TreadView system employs state-of-the-art digital high speed imaging and 3D laser scanning technology to automatically inspect the wheel tread, flange and plate surface areas across the entire circumference of the wheel. The system utilizes image processing algorithms to assess wheel surface conditions from acquired multispectral multiillumination images. The high resolution images and high density 3D data of the wheel surface are used to determine any external surface abnormalities of the wheel tread that can be detected. The TreadView imaging system and processing algorithms are designed to operate in all ambient light and weather conditions. Processed data and images from the Trimble TreadView system are integrated into the Trimble CMMS™ (Condition Monitoring Management System) software to provide webbased access for data visualization, alarm management and data analytics. The system can generate automated alarms identifying wheel surface defect facilitating condition based maintenance workflows. TreadView’s rugged design enables operation in harsh rail environments and at mainline operational speeds. It can also operate at very low speeds where traditional impact and force measurement-based systems are unable to operate. The system is designed for continual operation with minimum manual maintenance. Trimble TreadView automates wheel surface inspections, reducing out of service time, costs and manual inspection labor. The system can improve efficiency in maintenance processes through the early detection of defects and data driven optimization of wheelset lifecycles. Trimble Beena Vision Solutions: rail.trimble.com. railwayage.com

September 2021 // Railway Age 25

2021 Product & Innovations showcase

VSP TECHNOLOGIES

RIDETIGHT® PROGRAM— NARS GRAND SLAM AWARD

The RideTight® Fluid Sealing Management Program was developed to tackle the unique challenges of fluid sealing in the transportation industry and to ensure compliance with industry regulations. The program is Six Sigma-based, and defines and controls the specification, selection, assembly, and QA/documentation process of seals (gaskets/o-rings) for bulk transportation equipment. This “Best Practice” approach eliminates the variables that have historically contributed to NARs (Non-Accidental Releases). With increased regulatory enforcement, the need for improved compliance, documentation traceability, and the ongoing industry goal of reducing the frequency of NARs, the RideTight® Program has proven to be a successful compliance solution. The cornerstone of the RideTight® program is rooted in a commitment to training and education, chemical compatibility analysis, and continuous improvement through root cause failure analysis supporting OTMA’s.

Multiple companies using RideTight® have won the NAR Grand Slam Award, awarded to hazmat shippers recognized by at least four Class I railroads with zero non-accident releases the previous calendar year. RideTight® exclusively from VSP Technologies. If you want to win the NAR Grand Slam Award give us call: 800.334.6613; sales@vsptechnologies.com; vsptechnologies.com/ridetight

WABTEC

FUEL MANAGEMENT APPLICATION As the world’s foremost rail technology company, Wabtec continues to lead the way in creating a more sustainable freight and passenger transportation network. Its values are based on safety, innovation for customers, operational excellence and teamwork. With the growing concern about our environment, Wabtec continues to develop technology that allows railroads to achieve their environmental, social and governance approaches.

The Wabtec fuel management application is a web- and mobilefriendly solution that allows railroads to get a real-time and onestop solution about the fuel consumption on their locomotives.

The app aims to simplify how railroads monitor their fuel operations, costs, related alerts and performance across their entire fleet. The application interfaces directly with the locomotive control system, event recorder systems and fuel sensors to accurately measure the consumption of fuel; in addition, it applies geo location to identify the location of all fuel-related events and accurately timestamps them. The application also provides a real-time dashboard for railroads to understand the productive utilization ratio for every liter of fuel burned during a locomotive operation. The application also builds in a financial component that enable railroads in real-time to understand the fuel expense relative to journey, day or any duration of time. The applications’ machine learning algorithm also enables railroads to understand how the locomotive is performing relative to its OEM burn table and helps highlight potential issues. Wabtec is excited about the new capabilities and one-source of truth visibility that railroads will achieve with the fuel application. www.wabteccorp.com.

26 Railway Age // September 2021

railwayage.com

LOCOMOTIVES

BIODIESEL BUMP Progress Rail green-lights raising the biodiesel bar to 20% for two EMD prime-movers. UP has embraced the change. xperiments with biodiesel as a locomotive fuel—actually, blending biodiesel in small percentages with conventional petroleumbased diesel—have been around for at least a decade in the North American rail industry, and have been more prevalent in Europe. Biodiesel, as explained by Wikipedia, “is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically 30 Railway Age // September 2021

made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat (tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oil with an alcohol, producing a methyl, ethyl or propyl ester by the process of transesterification.

Unlike the vegetable and waste oils used to fuel converted diesel engines, biodiesel is a drop-in biofuel, meaning it is compatible with existing diesel engines and distribution infrastructure. However, it is usually blended with petrodiesel (typically to less than 10%), since most engines cannot run

on pure biodiesel without modification.”

Up to recently, OEM locomotive manufacturers such as Progress Rail, a Caterpillar Company, subsidiary Electro-Motive Diesel (when it was the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors) and Wabtec (formerly GE Transportation) have placed stiff restrictions on the percentage of biodiesel that could be blended with petrodiesel, stipulating that they would not honor warranties on new units. Typically, the threshold was 5%. railwayage.com

Bruce Kelly

E

BY MARYBETH LUCZAK, EXECUTIVE EDITOR

WHEN YOUR BUSINESS RELIES ON RAIL, RELY ON US. TrinityRail® is North America’s leading railcar equipment and services provider. With a comprehensive platform of leasing, manufacturing, maintenance and professional services, you can rely on TrinityRail to fully deliver trusted expertise, innovative solutions and supply chain optimization. Learn more at TrinityRail.com.

That is beginning to change. Last month, Union Pacific EMD locomotives equipped with 710 and 645 series prime-movers can now operate with a higher biodiesel fuel blend content. Progress Rail approved using up to 20% biodiesel blend in such units. Previously, the EMD 710s and 645s were approved to operate at 5%.

“The updated fuel recommendation comes after testing high-horsepower locomotives, used for hauling freight long distances, and monitoring performance for things such as fuel consumption, as well as impact on engine oil and fuel filters,” said UP, adding that Progress Rail is continuing testing and development.

The EMD units that can use the higher biodiesel blend are deployed “across the UP system,” according to a railroad spokesperson, who told Railway Age she could not provide details on the number of locomotives or operating locations.

32 Railway Age // September 2021

“Union Pacific is dedicated to reducing its carbon footprint, and this is another step toward achieving our long-term goal to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 26% by 2030,” said UP Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resource Officer Beth Whited, who oversees the railroad’s ESG (environmental and social governance)-related efforts. “We continue to identify opportunities to increase low carbon fuel usage in our locomotives, and appreciate Progress Rail’s partnership in our efforts.”

“At Progress Rail, we are committed to offering sustainable solutions by providing products that facilitate fuel transition, increase operational efficiency and reduce emissions,” Progress Rail President and CEO Marty Haycraft said. “Through continually investing in new products, technologies and services, we offer a wide range of fuel flexibility, making a

meaningful, positive impact on the environment and supporting our customers in achieving their GHG reduction goals.”

According to UP’s 2020 Building America report, the railroad’s locomotives “produced 8,537,679 metric tons of GHG emissions in 2020, down from 9,688,964 metric tons in 2019 from decreased freight volume. This decrease was in large part due to the economic effects of the COVID19 pandemic, combined with increases in operational efficiency and modernization of locomotives.” The railroad also overhauled about 175 locomotives “to meet more stringent emissions standards, and achieved a 14% increase in locomotive productivity compared with 2019.”

In addition, UP used more renewable and biodiesel fuel, and said, “A higher percentage of our emissions came from non-petroleum based products. Our biomass source emissions were 187,265 railwayage.com

Bruce Kelly

LOCOMOTIVES

LOCOMOTIVES metric tons, including 98,930 metric tons, or 53%, from renewable fuels. This is an increase from 127,645 metric tons in 2019, which included 49,555 metric tons, or 39%, from renewable fuel. This rise is largely due to increasing renewable diesel consumption by almost 5 million gallons in 2020.”

BIODIESEL, A LOOK BACK Biodiesel is not new to the railroad industry. Railway Age reported on trials in late 2010: “Soybeans, corn, rapeseed, panicum vergatim (switchgrass), Jatropha plants, sugar cane—as locomotive fuel? All of these plants can be processed into biodiesel fuel, which has been considered for many years as a partial substitute for traditional, petroleum-based diesel.

“Citing concerns like the long-term effects on power assemblies and injector systems, the railroads and the locomotive builders have been extremely cautious with biodiesel. While blends like B-5 (5%

34 Railway Age // September 2021

biodiesel) are OK to use as far as warranties are concerned—‘the engine barely knows it’s there,’ says EMD Director, Engine and Engine Systems Design Marti Lenz (now Chief Engineer at Progress Rail –Editor)—higher blends like B-10 and B-20 can be problematic. For example, since biodiesel is closer to alcohol than petroleum-based diesel, it has a greater tendency to absorb water contamination, which can occur in a locomotive fuel tank, and introduce corrosion problems. It can adversely affect engine deposits and wear, causing problems like piston ring blowby.

Also, not much is known about its coldweather effects.

“Considering biodiesel’s potential benefits—lower cost (aided by federal subsidies to farmers who raise the soybean and corn used to manufacture it, as well as user incentives) and potentially lower particulate matter emissions—is biodiesel worth pursuing? Could its benefits outweigh its potentially harmful effects? Can anything be done to lessen them?

“There’s only one way to find out, and that’s through testing under actual service conditions. EMD and Norfolk Southern, in partnership with Archer-DanielsMidland, are currently conducting a test program to study biodiesel’s long-term effects. Testing, which will last up to one year, began in June 2010 in the Decatur, Ill., area. NS is operating eight SD70M2s equipped with 710 engines in pairs, in captive service. Two pairs (four units) are fueled with a biodiesel blend; the others with straight diesel. Also, two MP15s equipped with 645 engines are operating, one with biodiesel. “‘Our prime focus is on engine wear and deposits, the effect on lube oil, and coldweather operation,’ says Lenz. ‘We started with B-11, ran it for three months, then went to B-15. We’ll conclude with B-20, the most popular biodiesel blend. In terms of performance, horsepower so far is basically flat, and fuel consumption is up, but only slightly. We’ve seen a 2% increase in NOx emissions, but up to a 10% drop in

railwayage.com

locomotives particulate matter.’

“Justifying biodiesel means taking many factors into consideration. For example, one can argue that, since biodiesel comes from plants, and plants absorb atmospheric CO2, railroad use of this fuel will contribute more to greenhouse gas reduction than railroads already claim using conventional diesel. All things considered, biodiesel may someday bolster the power of green.”

Yet, since these initial trials, little has happened with biodiesel for locomotives.

One exception was Brightline, which in mid-2017 became the first to apply biodiesel across a locomotive fleet, albeit a small one. The Siemens-built, Cummins QSK95-powered Charger diesel-electric locomotives hauling Brightline higher-speed express passenger trains connecting West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami along the Florida East Coast Railway main line were fueled with blended biodiesel under a two-year contract with Florida Power & Light Company (FPL).

FPL, which at the time said it was using

“clean, high-quality biodiesel” as a fuel for its trucks for nearly two decades, supplied Brightline with two million gallons of B5 (5% biodiesel)-blended fuel annually. FPL had been using biodiesel as the primary fuel source for more than 1,750 vehicles in its fleet. Biodiesel is “a cleaner-burning replacement produced from renewable sources like corn, soybeans and used cooking oil,” Brightline said. “It is cost-competitive and reduces engine wear, and can lower operations and maintenance costs.”

A Cummins EPA Tier 4-compliant QSK-95 16-cylinder, four-stroke, high-speed (1,800 RPM), 4,000-hp diesel engine powers the Charger locomotive. Siemens and Cummins told Railway Age in 2017 that no modifications were needed to run the QSK-95 on the biodiesel Brightline is sourcing from FPL. Cummins added that it “has conducted durability testing with biodiesel similar to the fuel sourced by Brightline and it passed our high standards. In addition, Cummins does not anticipate any measurable changes to emissions with this fuel. Cummins focuses

on high-speed diesels for their increased ability to meet lower emissions, superior combustion efficiency, and overall increased performance over medium-speed products.

We haven’t tested biodiesel fuel on mediumspeed engines.”

“This fueling partnership with FPL is a great example of two Florida-based companies working together to create jobs and utilize local resources,” said Brightline Chief Mechanical Officer Tom Rutkowski.

“Brightline is investing in the nation’s economy, from the trainsets to the rail infrastructure, all of which are manufactured in America. I’ve visited with many of the manufacturing plants supplying the components of our trainsets, and there is always a strong sense of pride from the teams who are creating the products.”

Four years later, Progress Rail and Union Pacific are breaking new ground, at least as far as “conventional” diesel-electric locomotives are concerned.

Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono contributed to this story.

TAKING PRIDE IN OUR TRUCKS AND EQUIPMENT FOR OVER 40 YEARS. RENTAL SYSTEMS, INC. railwayage.com

PHILADELPHIA 800.969.6200 DENVER 800.713.2677 DANELLA.COM/RENTALS September 2021 // Railway Age 35

AILWAY GE

SPONSORED CONTENT

PLASSER AMERICAN AT 60 Focus on Digital Solutions

Streamlining data flow and analysis—for your benefit Plasser American is a leading measurement and data technology provider, with more than 110 track geometry machines in operation globally.

The company’s Digital Solutions group ensures that these machines deliver the data railroads need to maintain track—and keep rail traffic running safely and smoothly.

Through automation, the Digital Solutions group is working to streamline data flow. It is developing a seamless way to move data from the track geometry machines to the cloud to the railroads to the tampers, for use in the work zone. The aim: to provide railroads with a comprehensive view of track condition, so they can prioritize and perform maintenance.

Plasser American’s Digital Solutions group and a North American transit customer are working to accomplish this. Data collected from the customer’s geometry car and a hi-rail vehicle will be sent automatically to the cloud. The customer’s back office experts will review and use that data to

update their tamping plan and their tamper—all in near real time.

Plasser American’s Digital Solutions group can collect and harness the data you need to make the best maintenance decisions.

Beyond a single-run “snapshot,” the experts will be able to see how track geometry data is trending, run after run. The benefit is clear: Current track condition data plus degradation rates will help any railroad best prioritize maintenance.

The Digital Solutions group is also bringing automation to turnout tamping. Teaming with a Class I railroad, the group will equip a Plasser American tamper with an artificial intelligence (AI) system that will “learn” and “remember” turnouts. No longer will tamping operators be required to manually adjust the machine before tamping ties. Instead, the “smart” tamper will make adjustments automatically—following the operator’s approval or verification—as it moves from one tie to the next in the turnout.

Research and development isn’t stopping there. The Digital Solutions group is now building a low-cost “pervasive measurement” system for mount on almost any on-track vehicle. This innovative autonomous system will measure anything—anytime, anywhere—from geometry, profile and gauge to ballast, providing even more value.

Plasser American: The right partner, at the right time, for 60 years and counting.

This advertorial is based on an interview with James Resio, Director, Digital Solutions, Plasser American.

HIGH CAPACITY I PRECISION I RELIABILITY

Data Collection Plasser’s multi-function track recording cars integrate various measuring and video systems, which in combination allow for comprehensive analysis of the track and the track structures. Collecting as much data as possible in one run reduces track occupation time and provides tremendous operational and economic advantages. Video systems installed on a multi-function track recording car support track walking inspections. Plasser’s high speed, high tech multi-function track recording cars have provided railroads worldwide with accurate track data for many decades. The data recorded by the multifunction track recording cars can be directly input into the guidance systems of Plasser’s tamping machines, increasing track quality and productivity.

Plasser – helping to keep the railroads safe.

www.plasseramerican.com “Plasser & Theurer”, “Plasser” and “P&T” are internationally registered trademarks

ALSTOM AMERICAS

“EVERY REGION IS EXCITING”

Railway Age talks with Alstom Americas Region President Michael Keroullé on the Bombardier Transportation integration and the Western Hemisphere railway market. ichael Keroullé is President of the Americas Region at Alstom and is based at its regional headquarters in Saint-Bruno, Quebec. He is part of the Alstom Leadership Team and reports to Henri Poupart-Lafarge, CEO. The Americas Region has 13,000 employees across

38 Railway Age // September 2021

North America and Latin America. Prior to assuming his position in 2021 following Alstom’s acquisition of Bombardier Transportation, Keroullé was President and CEO of GE (General Electric) Steam Power, a $4.5 billion business with 10,000 employees in 60 countries worldwide. During his 24-year career, he held a number of global leadership roles at GE, Alstom Power and

Lurgi, and has worked on four continents. Keroullé holds a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the Université de Technologie de Compiègne (UTC) in France and is an INSEAD Executive Education alumnus.

Keroullé, relatively new to the rail transport sector, spoke with Railway Age Editorin-Chief William C. Vantuono about railwayage.com

Alstom

M

BY WILLIAM C. VANTUONO, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Every day, locomotive engineers ensure freight trains arrive on time and travel safely. Progress Rail’s Talos™ enables the locomotive operator to focus on safety and situational awareness while Talos does the rest. Talos leverages cutting-edge AI technology to create customized strategies for the route and each train’s specific operational conditions. Improving our customers’ operational efficiency is just one way we keep you rolling.

We keep you rolling. +1 800-476-8769 • progressrail.com •

@progressrail •

@Progress_Rail

Alstom’s recently expanded role in the Americas, and opportunities for growing rail transportation both here and abroad.

RAILWAY AGE: What are the similarities between the power sector, where you’ve spent most of your career, and transportation?

MICHAEL KEROULLÉ: The two businesses are very similar in the way they operate, with large projects, services and infrastructure. The transportation business is growing very fast, and getting involved with the integration of two large companies after having lived the same kind of integration at GE a few years back was a natural move for me.

RA: Tell me about integrating Bombardier Transportation. What’s involved, on an organizational level?

40 Railway Age // September 2021

KEROULLÉ: Alstom doubled in size after the acquisition of Bombardier Transportation. We decided to rationalize the structure and create fewer but bigger regions. That’s why we decided to merge the former North America and Latin America regions. When we say regional, for us, a region is everything. I have, under my responsibility, rolling stock, signaling, integrated projects, maintenance, operating and maintenance activity, so all of that is part of the region. We don’t do much in rolling stock for freight, but we do have a large activity in signaling for freight. Most of the freight companies, when they buy signaling equipment, they buy it from us. It’s the business we took over from GE in 2015.

RA: Can we expect additional consolidation? What do you see as the primary

drivers behind it?

KEROULLÉ: I think the industry is going to go through more consolidation.

That’s what we’re seeing, like the acquisition

by Hitachi of Thales. I don’t know exactly whether we’ll see anything as big as what we did with Bombardier, but consolidations are part of this industry. It’s not specific to this business, but consolidations happen because you need scale to be able to rationalize your investments. The investments needed are heavy, and there are long cycles businesses. You need sufficient capital to be able to invest in research and development, to be able to develop the right products, but you also need quite a far reach in terms of where you can place these products if you want to have the right return on the investments. It’s clear that this is an industry that’s suffered because it’s very cyclical. If you’re only in one market, you see the highs and railwayage.com

Alstom

ALSTOM americas alstom AMERICAS

ALSTOM AMERICAS the lows, but it’s very difficult to balance.

When you’re in more markets, when you have a better geographic reach, then you can balance investments better, and also execute better. The Bombardier acquisition is really about that. It’s many, many things, but it’s also about being stronger in places where we were not, which also helps us even out the cycles.

RA: Certainly, rolling stock is quite cyclical. Right now, the need for replacement equipment has really ramped up. With signaling and train control, that’s more evolutionary, moving to CBTC, PTC, automation technology. Cyclicality on one side can be offset by growth in another.

KEROULLÉ: The Americas and the U.S. in particular are going to face something that’s never been faced before in terms of development. We are much less concerned with cyclicality going forward as we used to be because of all the need for replacement, repairs for the infrastructure, and the growth of collective mobility as well. If we

railwayage.com

look at the market, we believe that it’s going to be much more dynamic than it was in the past few years. The potential for North America business is huge, and it was a big driver for the acquisition of Bombardier.

RA: A lot of it is going to hinge on government funding. There’s a lot of it on the table now, in various streams, some of which are still unclear, but the general consensus is that regardless of what amount is ultimately passed, there is going to be a lot more available funding than we’ve seen in a long time.

KEROULLÉ: There’s a real need. I’m European, so comparing the rail transportation in France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, to what we see in the U.S., we see tremendous room for progress.

RA: There has been a lot of movement with commuter rail and Amtrak, and light rail has grown almost exponentially.

And now, high speed rail, where we have an opportunity to actually get a true high speed system in place. Where do you see

the most growth opportunities in passenger rail, regardless of mode?

KEROULLÉ: We’re very proud to be the supplier of high speed in the U.S., the new generation coming with the Avelia Liberty for the Northeast Corridor, which we’ll be delivering in 2022. We’re really happy about this contract. It’s a high speed train made in the U.S. Some people say there’s no high speed train or no way to build high speed trains in the U.S., but yes, there is. We have as a company developed high speed trains over many decades in France. We’re very happy to see some of that coming to the U.S. It would be a great thing to have a high speed train between LA and San Francisco, but it’s still a long shot. We hope it’s going to happen, but it’s been in the cards for a long time.

My hometown in France is about 300 miles from Paris. Today, it’s an hour and 40 minutes by high speed train. When I was younger, the line was not high speed all the way. It was taking three and a half hours.

Nobody was taking the train because three

September 2021 // Railway Age 41

ALSTOM AMERICAS and a half hours is too long. We were driving, which was four hours. Today, if I want to commute between my own place and Paris, I just hop on the train. It’s one and a half hours. No one drives anymore.

If you want that to work—300 miles, one and a half, two hours max—that’s what you should target because then people will never try to do anything else. Flights are not going to be competitive anymore.

Driving is not going to be competitive, so if you’re serious about that, you have to target 350 miles, 400 miles, in two hours or less, door to door. That would be a great game-changer. We’re watching very carefully all the high speed projects in the U.S. We would love to be part of more of those. We have the technology, we can build in the U.S., we can be 100% Buy America compliant. We have to see if the funds are going to be dedicated to that in this round. Probably a more pressing need is regional or commuter trains, bi-levels. Amtrak has a large number of bi-levels that need to be replaced as well.

42 Railway Age // September 2021

We hope that will be part of that.

RA: You seem to be very enthusiastic about your new role in Alstom’s rail business. What is it about rail that excites you?

KEROULLÉ: Trains are fantastic. When you take interest in them, you realize how great they are technologically speaking, but also for what they bring to communities. It’s incredible. For me, running our Americas business, every region is exciting.

There’s growth in transportation equipment solutions, but in this region the need is big, and it’s across vehicles, signaling systems, airport systems. That’s also an area that came in through the Bombardier acquisition, the people-movers. These are great systems. We do everything. We supply the vehicles, the signaling; we operate and maintain; we have long-term agreements to do all that. I went to visit some of those during my first round of visits in the U.S. I went to Dallas, for example. It is a great system. We are really enthusiastic about the potential in that region.

RA: How about emerging technologies?

For example, the Alstom Coradia iLint, the world’s first hydrogen-powered passenger train. There’s a lot of interest here in that technology. We now have a number of light rail and streetcar systems with hybrid vehicles that can run “off wire.” The freight railroads are looking at battery and hydrogen propulsion for main line locomotives.

KEROULLÉ: We are seeing a lot of interest on the development of new technologies related to rail. For example, we see a lot of traffic when we post things on our website or on social media around hydrogen trains, zero emissions. “Green traction” has the highest traffic on our internet posts. For a guy like me coming from the power industry, it’s a very much needed industry, but it’s an infamous industry at the moment.

You don’t want to say that you are involved in operating a coal-fired power generation plant. So it’s very refreshing for me to be able to say, “Hey, I build trains.” There’s a kind of affection associated with them, for many people.

railwayage.com

TTCI R&D

DETERMINISTICALLY

SETTING HUNTING SPEED RESTRICTIONS

T

BY WALTER ROSENBERGER, SCIENTIST; AND KENNY MORRISON, SENIOR ENGINEER I, TTCI

TCI has developed a new method for railroads to optimize hunting speed restrictions. This method uses truck hunting detector (THD) data to assess hunting risks objectively and uniformly, and applies speed restrictions deterministically. Using this method can lower derailment risks and at the same time potentially improve train velocity. This work is part of the Association of American Railroads Car and Truck Systems Strategic Research Initiative program, but it can find application anywhere equipment characteristics and THD data are maintained in a database.

Hunting is a lateral instability that has an onset train speed that depends on various equipment and track characteristics. Historically, railroads managed hunting risks by speed-restricting entire groups of equipment based on derailment or lading damage experience. Each railroad typically had different experiences and put different speed restrictions in place.

The AAR Manual of Standards and Recommended Practices (MSRP) defines hunting in terms of carbody lateral acceleration. As measured by wayside detectors in regular service, hunting is defined by the Hunting Index (HI), with current alert levels at 0.5 (one event) or 0.35 (two events in 12 months).

Previously, TTCI explored the relationships between car type, car condition, lateral accelerations, and HI values.1, 2 TTCI accessed five years of THD pass data comprising the majority of freight cars registered in the Railinc UMLER® database. The equipment restrictions provided by the railroads comprised 236,826 cars. For reference, “Population” was defined as all THD passes by cars that were not listed in any railroad restriction. This study focused on three restricted equipment groups: “E” and “G”—gondolas, empty and loaded; “Flat”—bulkhead, centerbeam, and depressed, empty; and “H,” “J,” and “K”—hoppers and coal gondolas, empty. railwayage.com

Hunting index data are usually shown as a scatterplot in terms of pass speed (see figure).

This format is comprehensive for all passes, but it is difficult to describe the population statistically and to compare one population with another. In this analysis, the THD pass data for each population were grouped by speed at 5 mph intervals. The HI data for each speed were then binned into discrete values in intervals of 0.05, and the population was described as a count of passes in each HI bin.

The count data were normalized by the total count to produce a percentage. Converting the percentages into exceedances and multiplying by 1 million produced a statistical defect rate in parts per million (ppm).

The defect rate shows the number of truck passes out of 1 million that would be expected to reach a given HI level. The inset table in the figure shows how the HI data for a given car condition can be distilled into a defect rate. The railroad would use a threshold HI and a threshold defect rate to set a speed restriction. Using empty hoppers (yellow cells) as an example, choosing the HI ≤ 0.35 (blue cell) and a maximum defect rate of 1,000 ppm suggests a speed

restriction of 50 mph, because the defect rate of 636 ppm (green cell) is less than 1,000. At 55 mph (not shown) the defect rate exceeds 1,000 ppm. The full table would show various types of equipment, in loaded and empty conditions, at speeds ranging from 40 to 60 mph.

A statistical defect rate analysis of HI data provides a means of deterministically setting speed restrictions. The railroad can objectively define the HI and defect rate that will result in an optimized speed restriction. Railroads may still apply restrictions to individual cars as established by current intercept messaging protocols.

REFERENCES 1. Tournay, H., S. Chapman, R. Walker.

“Evaluation of Cars Registering Salient Hunting Indices at or above 0.25.” June 2015. Technology Digest TD06-025. AAR/TTCI. 2. Tournay, H., S. Chapman, R. Walker.

July 2015. “Evaluation of Cars Registering Salient Hunting Indices at or above 0.1.” Technology Digest TD07012, AAR/TTCI.

This methodology turns HI data (as plotted) into actionable control limits as shown in the table (inset).

September 2021 // Railway Age 43

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS – ANALYTICS & BIG DATA

PS Technology offers on-premises and cloudbased crew management solutions.

SINGLE SOURCE OF TRUTH

Workforce management is evolving from paper-based record-keeping to cloud-based applications that improve efficiency and transparency. oday’s workforce management systems are helping railroads to boost accuracy and efficiency and to provide record visibility and an enterprise-wide view. They even help reduce train delays. How? With new software— including Software as a Service (SaaS) applications based in the cloud—railroads, large and small, can electronically record HOS (hours of service), keep track of employee qualifications and certifications, automate crew calling, and integrate training, for instance.

Following are among the suppliers providing these systems to Class I’s, short 44 Railway Age // September 2021

lines (and holding companies), and passenger railroads and transit agencies. They not only address their latest technologies, but also provide Railway Age with a look at what’s next.

CLOUDMOYO CloudMoyo has been working with Kansas City Southern (KCS) since 2017—first building a crew management system for the Class I railroad’s operation in Mexico and then expanding to the U.S., so it now covers roughly 5,500 employees. The project is currently in the final stages of delivery, according to Rajeev Kak, CloudMoyo Vice President, Marketing and Industry

Solutions. Moving from a mainframe to a cloud environment, particularly when keeping up with union rules updates, was among the value propositions. No longer would writing code be required for each change, he reports.

CloudMoyo offers workforce management as a cloud-based SaaS solution. It includes crew management, operational testing, on-the-job training (for 49 CFR Part 243), compliance management (Federal Railroad Administration drug and alcohol, Labor Department), and integrated workforce data analytics. On the crew management side, the company provides crew boards (including automated sequencing, railwayage.com

PS Technology

T

BY MARYBETH LUCZAK, EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Heartwood

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS – ANALYTICS & BIG DATA crew qualification, seniority, labor laws, fatigue indicators), crew assignments and duty calls (duty schedules with HOS considerations and automated calling using IVR/ mobile), yard jobs management (tracking and managing work lists for yard crews with location and timestamps plus job completion tracking), and a self-service mobile app (allowing crews to do tie-ups, accept duties, apply for check duty calendars, apply for leave/vacation).

Crews can not only use their mobile devices to report for duty, but also turn in sick leave requests, for example, Kak says.

The CloudMoyo platform captures all data, including HOS work, cutting down on reconciliations between employees and the accounts payable department, he notes.

“It creates a transparency for employees, right on their mobile phone.” And no more wading through paperwork, he says. “It’s a single source of truth as everybody is following the same log-in time and date.”

The system can also handle qualification testing, so if an employee’s certification is set to expire, it can send out advanced notification, 180-, 90- or 30-days out. That helps railroads ensure that duties are only assigned to people “who are available and able,” Kak says, and trains aren’t delayed.

Among the challenges for railroads moving to such systems is change management, Kak says. That’s why railroads generally implement the technology region by region or terminal by terminal, he notes, to ensure employees are on board. User acceptance testing and training programs help.

Cybersecurity concerns are not uncommon since this is mission-critical software.

“If the infrastructure goes down and the cloud servers are not accessible, that could bring a railroad to a stop,” Kak says. “I will tell you that we have used Microsoft Azure as the platform that we have built our applications on, and Microsoft gives you all of the capabilities of building redundancy.” Virtually 100% (99.99999%) uptime is guaranteed, he says, which “is a source of comfort to a lot of people. If any one data center has a problem, it’s an automatic switch-over; copies are maintained at other data centers, so you can activate the same applications running at a different data center.” The KCS system has never gone down, he reports.

CloudMoyo is currently working on railwayage.com

With Heartwood technology, 49 CFR Part 243 training requirements can be practiced or learned on an iPad, web browser or any computer, anywhere in the world.

system enhancements like operational testing. Now live at KCS, it ensures operating procedures and best practices are being followed. Clipboards and paper questionnaires have been replaced with mobile tablets, Kak says.

HEARTWOOD Learning is based on three pillars, says Heartwood CEO Raj Raheja: You see it, you do it and you receive feedback. Heartwood takes all three and provides them “at scale,” so hundreds or thousands of railroad employees can learn from anywhere, at any time, he explains—an advantage during the pandemic. “Our interactive simulation and virtual interactive guides are a way for employees to perform procedures in the same manner they would in real life as well as some that they couldn’t,” he says. Simulations can replicate hazards, for instance, removing any safety or personal injury risks. These simulations as well as training records can tie into a railroad’s workforce management system.

The simulations—which are consistent and assess employee knowledge through skill demonstration—do not require haptic feedback like a “big-box” locomotive simulator does. “There’s only a finite set of procedures that need it,” Raheja points out. Through digital software, Heartwood focuses training on maintenance procedures, hazards and defect identification, familiarization, and troubleshooting. This includes brake tests (49 CFR 232, 238), predeparture inspection (49 CFR 215, 238), locomotive daily inspection (49 CFR 229) and other 49 CFR Part 243 training requirements. “These are among the many things

we can take into a virtual, digital environment and do it at scale, so you can practice or learn them on an iPad, web browser or any computer, anywhere in the world,” Raheja says.

Another benefit: “All of the simulations are recorded in a railroad’s workforce management system so they can ensure that the people they are putting on the job are trained, and so they can track who hasn’t been trained yet and who needs to be trained,” says Heartwood Training and Sims Specialist Brian Keller.

Heartwood works hand-in-hand with railroads, constantly updating its simulations. The company is now building simulations for mechanical and maintenance as well as safety, including blue signal inspection, crane safety and roadway worker training.

It is also moving into the passenger rail space, and is slated to complete simulation development by first-quarter 2022. Amtrak has already signed on.

What’s next for training technology?

Heartwood is exploring how it can use all the captured data to improve training and railroad safety procedures. “For example, we could look back over three months and say, 60% of conductors are missing this hazard,” Raheja points out. “Why do you think they’re missing it? Is this happening in real life? We can take this to the railroads, and it may mean a change in either protocols or something on the training side.

The data has so much potential.”

MAXACCEL MaxAccel’s web-based software platform, SafeTrack, offers a core set of crew September 2021 // Railway Age 45

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS – ANALYTICS & BIG DATA

MaxAccel’s Scheduling View allows job management selection from filtered lists of rested and qualified employees.

payroll with claims and arbitraries.

While SafeTrack is designed for railroads of any size, the company’s “sweet spot” is the medium- to small-sized market

MaxAccel

management functions, including employee certification status, extra board management, employee communications, HOS compliance, job/territory qualification, and

as well as holding companies, plus passenger rail, according to Managing Partner Peter Sutcliffe.

“Customers like having the ability to access data in a central database from anywhere instead of having a filing cabinet full of paper records,” Sutcliffe says. And with the web-based system, all the data is “live” as long as there is Wi-Fi or cellular connectivity. It will also operate in “disconnected mode,” as the data is stored locally in a phone, for instance, until connectivity is regained.

SafeTrack HOS encompasses all crafts and a complete range of use cases for both freight and passenger operations. Territory qualifications, seniority, certification status and extra board management assist dispatchers. The system also manages Type 1 and Type 2 tour information.

In addition, railroads can drive payroll through the interface, by capturing details about employee shift activities, job IDs, mileage, equipment and related information, according to MaxAccel. Bulletins,

46 Railway Age // September 2021

railwayage.com

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS – ANALYTICS & BIG DATA orders and notices can also be delivered to employees.

The HOS application allows employees to log in their activities, creating visibility for management. “They can see how many hours the employee has been working and what the availability may be for additional work that day or upcoming work,” Sutcliffe points out.

The company recently deployed mobile infrastructure plus analytics integration with Microsoft Power BI. “Our interactive SafeTrack analytics really makes the data come alive, making it easy to answer ad hoc questions or spot trends,” Sutcliffe says.

Also recent is its accident/incident reporting application, as well as an integrated LMS (learning management system). MaxAccel is now developing a track inspection application, and a SafeTrack Crew application for more robust crew management functionality. Among its features: job scheduling and staffing, more robust extra board management and territory qualification management, as well as vacation management. “All of those things are important for quality of life planning,” Sutcliffe says. Release is expected in fourth-quarter 2021 or firstquarter 2022.

NAVIS RAIL Navis Rail, powered by Biarri Rail, offers an integrated platform for freight railroads to produce scheduled train, railcar, locomotive, yard and crew plans based on customer demand. The system allows users to see asset interdependencies—for example, being able to identify that there are insufficient locomotives to run a set of trains or that a train plan cannot be crewed based on its dwell locations, the company says. Additionally, users can run “what if” analyses on changes in traffic volume and composition, or changes to asset availability or network constraints.

Navis Rail Ops, powered by Biarri Rail, allows the operating department to manage locomotives; develop, analyze and change train routes; manage crew schedules and rosters as well as crew changeovers; and manage train and other rolling assets in real-time at key locations on the network.

“You can say, ‘I’m going to build this train; I have these locomotives and railcars; and I’m going to run it from A to B to C to D, but if you don’t have the personnel to put railwayage.com

on that train, with the right qualifications to drive it, that train isn’t going anywhere,” says Tom Forbes, Vice President of Navis Rail. “In developing our solution, we realized that having this integration, where you can see the interplay between the train, the locomotives, the railcars, the yard and the crew would be highly valuable to the freight railroads.”

For Navis Rail, security is at the forefront.

“We’ve seen a rapid change in the amount of questions we get asked about security,” Forbes says. “There was always a security check list through the procurement process, but the diligence and extent has gone up dramatically, as you might expect with the news around various hacks and attacks.” Navis Rail’s offerings started as on-prem (on-premises), and the company is now migrating customers to the cloud

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TECHNOLOGY FOCUS – ANALYTICS & BIG DATA with its SaaS solutions. Navis Rail uses AWS (Amazon Web Services), and parent company Navis offers the added security of a product security incidence response team.

What’s next for Navis Rail? “We originally focused on longer-term, strategic planning, and we are now moving into the tactical space—planning for tomorrow or next week, or I need to make decisions right now because that train is delayed,” reports Forbes.

PS TECHNOLOGY PS Technology (PST) offers on-prem and cloud-based crew management solutions.

CrewPro manages crews/employees and the work they perform, from job scheduling to work/time reporting; allows for rule configuration; and lets employees take charge of activities via web or mobile. The benefits include automatic honoring of complex union rules; mitigating FRA scheduling violations and potential fines; and reducing manual record-keeping. The short line version includes crew calling as well as weekly and semi-annual assignment bulletin processing; employee vacation and timeoff management; and a fully implemented time-to-gross timekeeping process.

Currently, the CrewPro solution for Class I’s is on-prem; shorts lines have the option for on-prem or in the cloud.

“Our crew scheduling solution does everything: automatic processing of who has seniority to get the positions that open up; automatic extra board sizing; and automatic crew calls through IVR or mobile applications to reduce the number of crew callers a railroad needs, all while maintaining a complete record of every transaction,” Senior Marketing Director Mark Bremmer explains. And during an FRA audit, he points out, “you don’t need to be down for three weeks while they go through all sorts of Excel spreadsheets. The information is all right on the system. You can simply print a report.”

PST’s QualPro offers centralized management and test scheduling for rail positions covering work queue, assignments, licensing, field training, and certification and familiarization for conductors, engineers and remote-control operators.

Management is alerted about upcoming 48 Railway Age // September 2021

timelines, and employees have visibility into their own records. In addition, the company offers CrewWatch for drug and alcohol program management.

What’s next in workforce management?

Continued automation, says Bremmer, who uses employee retirements as an example.

“How do we make sure as Joe walks out the door with his 35 years of rail experience that we don’t lose his insight? How do we see what Joe sees, and how do we take somebody who’s fresh out of college and help them see the same things, with the same level of fidelity and sophistication? We’re building dashboard systems and turning data into intelligence for something actionable,” Bremmer explains.

The biggest trend for workforce management is “platforming,” he adds. “Workforce management is starting to be wired into everything else. Workforce management is well understood. PST has been doing it for more than 30 years. But what’s new to us and to the business is this ‘platform mentality,’ and how it ties into asset management, and how do we start getting our demand balanced with the workforce ahead of time.”

On the QualPro side, Bremmer says, there is interest in using electronics for route familiarization. “If I wanted to go from Denver to Los Angeles, and I’m qualified on everything except 100 miles of track that goes through one section of Utah, I have to physically sit in the train to do that, so that immediately takes me out of the loop,” he explains. “What we’re trying to do with QualPro is to show the map of the route, and show the crew caller where an engineer is qualified and where they’re not. This will take the effort of a couple of railroads and some wheels are already turning, but we have all this cab footage, all of [this data], and we can simulate these routes. Why don’t we start making familiarization available on a digital platform? Right now, you can only do recertification rides digitally.”

Such a move would need FRA approval, he notes.

RAILROAD SOFTWARE Railroad Software provides terminal management and FRA compliance software. TrackHOS offers web-based and mobile time entry; a horizontal timeline to

view all employee hours; user confirmation at the end of each tour; an administrator dashboard to monitor employee service; and an employee dashboard to monitor current hours for each service type.

The benefits, says Sales and Marketing Associate Evan Mitchell, are clear: Employees no longer have to do the calculations in the field, and supervisors and administrators have visibility into all tours of duty at any time—without traditional paperwork.

The system also helps during FRA audits. In the past, many railroads would have to collect paper HOS records, making sure they were correct and up to date (and legible), Mitchell says. With Railroad Software’s system, everything is done electronically, and when FRA comes on site, they can be given a login for report access.

The system also includes compliance reporting, covering FRA 49 CFR Part 228 Compliance Engine, which evaluates each time record against FRA regulations; and end-of-month and month-todate reporting to document any current or past compliance issues for self-reporting requirements. Additional features include payroll integration and noncovered hourly employees support.

Railroad Software’s newest application is TrackWorker, which was designed with a FRA 49 CFR Part 228 compliance engine to assist users with their employee FRA compliance for training, efficiency testing, qualifications and certifications.

The advantage, Mitchell says, is “HR can go into any of their employees’ profiles in the system and see all the certifications they currently have, see when they expire, and set [expiration] reminders.”

Both applications are straightforward.

“That was the intention when we built them,” Mitchell explains. “We didn’t want to overcomplicate the lives of the railroaders using them. We just want to provide them visibility into these aspects of their job.”

Railroad Software’s SaaS offerings are hosted by AWS. “For some railroads, knowing they’re not on-prem is attractive because that means railroads don’t have to handle them in-house or put a strain on their IT departments,” Mitchell says. railwayage.com

People TINA BECKBERGER SMBC Rail Services

HIGH PROFILE: Tina Beckberger has been promoted to Senior Vice

President, Leasing at SMBC Rail Services LLC, leading the railcar lessor’s Commercial and Customer Service teams. She had served as Vice President of Portfolio Management since joining the company in 2016. She worked previously at General Electric, and spent most of her 16 years there with the GE Rail Services business, holding operations, quality, asset management and marketing roles. Beckberger also held the position of Vice President, Business Intelligence at Wells Fargo Rail. “Tina has been an instrumental senior member of the Rail Services team since she joined, and we are excited she is taking on this new leadership role,” said Michael McCarthy, President and CEO of SMBC Rail Services, part of the SMBC Group. (McCarthy succeeded Eugene Henneberry as President and CEO in July.)

SMBC Group’s operating companies in the Americas include Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC); SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc.; SMBC Capital Markets, Inc.; SMBC Rail Services LLC; Manufacturers Bank; JRI America, Inc.; SMBC Leasing and Finance, Inc.; Banco Sumitomo Mitsui Brasileiro S.A.; and Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Co., Ltd.

I

conic railroader Lowell S. “Jake” Jacobson died in Oro Valley, Ariz., on July 24, 2021, from heart failure.

He was 80. Jacobson was Railway Age’s 1994 Railroader of the Year as President and Chief Operating Officer of Hayden, Ariz. Class II Copper Basin Railway (CBRY), the first short line operator to win the award. In 1993, a section of track near Kearny, Ariz., was washed away by rising flood waters from the Gila River. Jake and all the employees of the railroad worked tirelessly to save the short line, even going against the Army Corps of Engineers at one point, building a dike to force the river back where it belonged.

His actions during the flood and during the long months rebuilding the damaged sections of the railroad earned him the Railroader of the Year award. In December 1999, Railway Age named him one of the Great Railroaders of the 20th Century. In 2000, the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association renamed its annual safety awards the Jake Awards, presented

railwayage.com

annually to Class II, III and Switching & Terminal railroads that have an injury-free year. “Jake has been compared to American railroad folk heroes Casey Jones and John Henry,” CopperArea.com wrote in 2012. “He has been called many things in his life, including a living legend, a leader, innovator, hero, and a safety fanatic. You might say that railroading is in his blood. His mother, father and grandfather worked with the railroads. Jake was exposed to hard work and the railroads while growing up in Kansas. It is not fanaticism that drives Jake’s quest for safety—it is just that he cares for the people that are railroad workers and the people he works with. Jake and CBRY use a family approach to safety. He has helped create a family-style safety culture that inspires his employees to be safe and has built a work environment that motivates employees to want to come to work. He leads by example and believes that safety ‘is a spirit and a morality.’ As signs at the workplace attest, ‘Respect, common sense, safety and a sincere caring about the well-being of your fellow worker’ are mandatory … While other managers talk about the ‘power’ that drives their railroad as being the size or model of their locomotives, Jake coined the phrase that is the company’s motto and painted on the sides of its locomotives: Our ‘Real Power’ Is In The Pride Of Our People.” Jacobson, born in Riley County, Kans., on Sept. 17, 1940, served 29 years with the Rock Island and Union Pacific before joining the CBRY.

Angela Schwarz has joined WSP USA as Vice President for National Rail Systems.

In her new role, Schwarz will collaborate with WSP Transit and Rail systems engineering practice leads across the U.S.; work with the systems leadership team and area as well as the regional executives for operations and business development; formulate and execute business development strategies; and lead the proposal development and delivery of key systems projects. Schwarz has more than 25 years of project management experience. She served most recently as Systems Delivery Package Manager for the Purple Line Project on behalf of the Maryland Transit Administration.

Short line holding company Gulf & Ohio Railways (G&O) has elevated Chris Starnes to Chief Operating Officer.

Starnes was hired in 2008 as the designated Supervisor of Locomotive Engineers for the Knoxville & Holston River Railroad, one of five G&O short line subsidiaries. He became G&O’s Revenue Manager in 2016, and was named General Manager of the company’s Lancaster & Chester Railroad three years later. A qualified steam engineer, Starnes has also helped with G&O’s Three Rivers Rambler tourist train in Knoxville, Tenn.

Burns, an engineering services firm, has named Scott McKelvie Director of Business Development, Railroad and Transit. McKelvie has more than 30 years of experience representing products and services across the rail, telecom and construction industries.

Wabtec has appointed John Olin Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective Oct. 1. He will succeed Pat Dugan, who is leaving the company in the fourth quarter. Olin is the former Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Harley-Davidson. He has also served as Controller of Kraft Foods’ Cheese Division, and spent 12 years in financial leadership positions at Kraft, Oscar Mayer Foods and Miller Brewing Co. Broe Group transportation affiliate OmniTRAX has named Class I veteran Ryan Higgins as Chief Commercial Officer, replacing Peter Touesnard, who is retiring at year-end. Higgins joins OmniTRAX from CSX Transportation, where he held multiple leadership roles in sales, marketing, business development and operations.

September 2021 // Railway Age 49

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STAY IN GEAR WITH RAIL GROUP NEWS RAIL GROUP NEWS brings you a daily round-up of news stories from Railway Age, RT&S, and IRJ. This email newsletter offers North American and global news and analysis of the freight and passenger markets. From developments in rail technology, operations, and strategic planning to legislative issues and engineering news, we’ve got you covered.

From Railway Age, RT&S and IRJ 50 Railway Age // September 2021 RA_RailGroupNews_Third_InGear_2019.indd 1

RAIL GROUP NEWS

ROUND-UP of NE

RAILWAY

railwayage.com 6/30/21 10:23 AM

Ad Index COMPANY 312-922-4516 AMSTED RAIL GROUP

PHONE #

FAX #

312-922-4516

312-922-4597

URL/EMAIL ADDRESS

PAGE #

kskibinski@amstedrail.com

C2 34

530 -272-8194

APEX RAIL AUTOMATION CIT

212-461-5781

212-461-5632

James.Spencer@cit.com

7

DANELLA RENTAL SYSTEMS, INC.

561-743-7373

561-743-1973

SBolte@danella.com

35

EAST CHICAGO RAIL TERMINAL

219-804-0671

alex@eastchicagorail.com.com

3

HERZOG

816-385-8233

jhansen@herzog.com

10

MAXACCEL

303-494-1214

psutcliffe@maxaccel.com

41

NEW YORK AIR BRAKE

315-786-5431

315-786-5676

Janice.Pfeil@nyab.com

5

OKONITE CO

201-825-0300

201-825-3524

info@okonite.com

9

PLASSER AMERICAN CORP

757-543-3526

757-494-7186

plasseramerican@plausa.com

36-37

POWERRAIL INC

570-883-7005

570-883-7006

Sales@ePowerRail.com

42

PROGRESS RAIL A CATERPILLER CON

256-505-6402

256-505-6051

info@progressrail.com

39

PS TECHNOLOGY INC

800-766-1630

info@pstechnology.com

C4

RAILWAY EDUCATIONAL BUREAU

402-346-4300

402-346-1783

bbrundige@sb-reb.com

C3

SALCO PRODUCTS INC

630-685-4661

630-783-2590

sales@salcoproducts.com

27-29

SIEMENS MOBILITY

800-SIEMENS

www.USA.siemens.com

33

TEKTRACKING, LLC

855-655-8600

sales@tektracking.com

47

TRAINYARD TECH LLC

724-443-8881

cra2@zooninternet.net

33

TRINITY RAIL

800-631-4420

trinityrail.com

31

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

Advertising Sales MAIN OFFICE Jonathan Chalon Publisher 88 Pine St., 23rd Floor New York, NY 10005 (212) 620-7224 Fax: (212) 633-1863 jchalon@sbpub.com AL, KY, Jon Chalon 88 Pine St., 23rd Floor New York, NY 10005 (212) 620-7224 Fax: (212) 633-1863 jchalon@sbpub.com CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, RI, SC, VT, VA, WV, CANADA – QUEBEC AND EAST, ONTARIO Jerome Marullo 88 Pine St., 23rd Floor New York, NY 10005 (212) 620-7260 Fax: (212) 633-1863 jmarullo@sbpub.com

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AR, AK, AZ, CA, CO, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, LA, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NE, NM, ND, NV, OK, OR, SD, TN, TX, UT, WA, WI, WY, CANADA – AB, BC, MB, SK Heather Disabato 20 South Clark Street, Suite 1910 Chicago, IL 60603 (312) 683-5026 Fax: (312) 683-0131 hdisabato@sbpub.com

THE NETHERLANDS, BRITAIN, FRANCE, BELGIUM, PORTUGAL, SWITZERLAND, NORTH GERMANY, MIDDLE EAST, SOUTH AMERICA, AFRICA (NOT SOUTH), FAR EAST (EXCLUDING KOREA /CHINA/INDIA), ALL OTHERS, TENDERS Jerome Marullo 88 Pine St., 23rd Floor New York, NY 10005 (212) 620-7260 Fax: (212) 633-1863 jmarullo@sbpub.com

SCANDINAVIA, SPAIN, SOUTHERN GERMANY, AUSTRIA, KOREA, CHINA, INDIA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, SOUTH AFRICA, RUSSIA, EASTERN EUROPE BALTIC STATES, RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING Simone Fahr +01149 175 2411426 sfahr@railjournal. com ITALY, ITALIAN-SPEAKING SWITZERLAND Dr. Fabio Potesta Media Point & Communications SRL Corte Lambruschini Corso Buenos Aires 8 V Piano, Genoa, Italy 16129 +39-10-570-4948 Fax: +39-10-553-0088 info@mediapointsrl.it

JAPAN Katsuhiro Ishii Ace Media Service, Inc. 12-6 4-Chome, Nishiiko, Adachi-Ku Tokyo 121-0824 Japan +81-3-5691-3335 Fax: +81-3-5691-3336 amkatsu@dream.com CLASSIFIED, PROFESSIONAL & EMPLOYMENT Frank Rose 917-856-1808 frose@sbpub. com

AILWAY GE

September 2021 // Railway Age 51

Financial Edge The Board Pieces Clearly Favored Canadian Pacific

F

or investors, industry watchers and rail consumers, August was either the most interesting or frustrating month to date in the reality dating show, “I Want to Buy a Class I Railroad.”

For those of you not keeping score, here are the highlights: • Aug. 10: Canadian Pacific (CP) raises its bid for Kansas City Southern (KCS) to approximately $300 per share, covering roughly half of the spread between its original bid and that of CN. KCS subsequently rejects CP’s bid. Surface Transportation Board (STB) Chairman Martin Oberman indicates the STB will issue its decision on the CN-KCS voting trust by Aug. 31, extending the original Aug. 16 date.

• Aug. 13: KCS pushes back its shareholder meeting to Sept. 3, 2021.

• Aug. 30: Activist hedge fund TCI Fund Management Ltd. ups its stake in CN to 5.2%, becoming a “beneficial owner.”

• Aug. 31: STB rejects the CN-KCS voting trust, citing, among many reasons, that the voting trust does not serve the public interest and—more telling—a CN-KCS merger would generate downstream effects. TCI, reiterating what it said in May, demands the resignation of CN Board Chair Robert Pace and CEO JJ Ruest. CP reaffirms its Aug. 10 offer.

• Sept. 1: KCS adjourns its shareholder meeting and says it is considering CP’s sweetened deal.

All of these stories have been covered in painstakingly delicious detail by Railway Age, including a more-than-appropriate call for forward-facing transparency by Capitol Hill Contributing Editor Frank Wilner for STB to deliver its ruling in a public and open format.

Let’s parse one or two specifics about the situation. First and foremost is CP CEO Keith Creel and his dance with the flames of success and failure. In May’s Financial Edge, Creel was called out for having too much pride (“I’m not increasing CP’s bid”) and trying to be too clever (offering $275 a share and then—oops!—being immediately bested by CN’s $325 offer). Creel waged a political and propaganda war (as expected) to outline the superiority of the 52 Railway Age // September 2021

CP proposal vs. the CN proposal.

Until Aug. 31, Creel was running the risk of being too clever for this chess board.

CP’s “split it down the middle” indicated that it realized something every investor knew back in April—pride be damned. The voting trust rejection alone was not going to be enough for investors to award KCS to CP for $275 a share vs. the CN proposal.

CP’s increase from $275 to $300 provides just enough carrot ($25 per share) to sway voters who had been concerned about the stick’s (STB’s) rejection of the CN voting trust. Strategically, the timing of CP’s move looked like it was hatched to line up with the STB rejection of the CN voting trust.

However, now that some dust has settled and STB has rejected the CN voting trust, the pieces on the board clearly favor CP. Pride is not nearly as important as success, and Keith Creel has shown the difference between being savvy and thoughtful vs. being loud and overconfident. In a classic rope-a-dope, a well-positioned Creel responded to the CN bid with a just-right price increase. This, combined with an executable strategy, may be stronger than the CN $325. Creel turned the possibility of being dismissed for being too clever by relying heavily on early STB support, into being just clever enough. As the kids say, “That is fire!”

The increase in price from $275 to $300 per share gave the STB the freedom to reject the CN voting trust at a shareholder cost of $2.6 billion vs. $5.2 billion. This provides plenty of cover for STB. No one, least of all politicians, likes to give the impression that they are messing with the myth of the free market.

The pieces on the board favor CP. CN’s road to completion looks like a dead end. Yet, probability analysis is a finicky thing easily disrupted by a multitude of circumstantial agendas. The decisions in the final days showed a few things: Chairman Oberman achieved his goal of looking judicial and thoughtful and of enforcing a new style of STB management; proxy services demonstrated their protection of “shareholder value”; and CP demonstrated that it was not outwitted on the big stage.

Finally, CN’s failure to acquire KCS will not portend its merger with another Class I railroad to bring the world back into “balance.” CN has no second act in this performance.

In the end, the STB is the straw that stirs the M&A drink. This places extra emphasis on whether the STB is making decisions in the best interest of rail transportation consumers, railroad shareholders or in the STB itself (STB was sued by CN in April 2021). Once the dust settles, Wilner’s call for greater transparency should be the resonance that survives.

As for CN’s future with an activist hedge fund as a beneficial owner, the emphatic rejection of the CN voting trust by the STB and the “power move” by TCI to turn the CN executive suite upside-down and shake it violently virtually assured (at least on the surface) that CN would not be able to pull off a KCS acquisition under any circumstances, whether via appeal or by offering concessions to appease the regulators. If TCI doesn’t have faith in the existing management team—clearly stating, “The CN board must take responsibility for the company’s recent underperformance and failure,” and going as far as to propose a new CEO, Jim Vena—how can that management team have been trusted to negotiate concessions that would satisfy the volatile mix of customers, competitors, regulators and railroads?

In moments of crisis, people are often directed to “look inward,” evaluate key decisions and adapt to a new normal. But when the unforgiving cold of deep space sucks the air out of the room, and you’re about to be blasted out with it, it’s a better strategy to look for a safe landing spot.

To CN: This is your now. Sorry.

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

DAVID NAHASS President Railroad Financial Corp. railwayage.com

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231 Safety Appliance Standards Updated 5-3-21.

232 Brake System Safety Standards Updated 5-3-21.

49 CFR Part 236. FRA is revising its regulations governing changes to positive train control (PTC) systems and reporting on PTC system performance. First, recognizing that the railroad industry intends to enhance FRA-certified PTC systems to continue improving rail safety and PTC technology’s reliability and operability, FRA is modifying the process by which a host railroad must submit a request for amendment (RFA) to FRA before making certain changes to its PTC Safety Plan (PTCSP) and FRA-certified PTC system. Second, to enable more effective FRA oversight, this final rule: Expands an existing reporting requirement by increasing the frequency from annual to biannual; broadens the reporting requirement to encompass positive performance-related information, including about the technology’s positive impact on rail safety, not just failure-related information; and requires host railroads to utilize a new, standardized report form.

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