RT&S January 2018

January 2018 | www.rtands.com

BNSF, WSDOT ARRA Program: partnership develops corridor for future growth

PLUS Rail-flaw detection Managing vegetation and also AREMA News p.27

Contents January 2018

News

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Features

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Industry Today 5 Supplier News 9 People

W. W. Hay Award: WSDOT and BNSF Washington State Department of Transportation and BNSF worked together on 14 projects spanning seven years.

Columns

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Rail-flaw detection Finding defects quickly, accurately and incorporating that information into a customer’s big data program are new challenges service providers are tackling.

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Herzog Services, Inc.

Vegetation management Keeping the right-of-way clear of brush requires finding a balance between chemical use and brush cutting.

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Kelso Martin’s Bluff -Toteff siding extension work being performed in July 2015. Photo: WSDOT. Story on page 14

On Track What is your resolution?

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NRC Chairman’s Column Thank you

rce equipment solutions

RAILWAY TRACK AND STRUCTURES

22 Departments 11 TTCI R&D 27 Arema News 31 Products 32 Calendar 33 Advertisers Index 33 Sales Representatives 34 Classified Advertising 36 Professional Directory

Editor’s note The Amtrak Cascades 501 accident occurred

a few weeks after we began working on the

W.W. Hay Award story, which highlights a separate portion of the WSDOT ARRA program. BNSF and WSDOT did work together to install crossovers in support of the Port Defiance Bypass project, but the work performed on the bypass was not one of the 14 projects WSDOT/BNSF partnered on and were recognized for as part of the Hay award.

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Railway Track & Structures

January 2018 1

On Track

RAILWAY TRACK AND STRUCTURES

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What is your resolution?

W

elcome to Januar y, where a large chunk of us lay out plans to do better than we did last year. Perhaps it’s through eating healthier, exercising more, finding the ideal balance between work and life or, one of my favorites from a friend’s Facebook feed: engage in less eye rolling. What is your resolution for 2018?

If you’re shor t on ideas, allow me to suggest the idea to get more involved. It may sound like there is a big commitment behind that idea, but it only needs to be as intensive as you want it to be.

If you have not become a member of one of the industry’s associations, take the plunge and join or, if you are already a member, volunteer for a committee assignment. We have a good mix of associations that work to improve our industry and they all depend on the passion and efforts of volunteers. I have yet to speak with a past association president, committee head or committee member who has classified their experience working with an association as wasted time. No matter where your expertise lies or what market you are involved in, there is an industry association that could benefit from your time and knowledge.

If you’re more politically minded, make plans to attend Railroad Day on Capitol Hill taking place this year on March 7, 2018. Year after year, close to 400 railroaders don citizen lobbyist hats and take to the Hill for a day of meetings with elected officials. It can be a long day, but, in the nearly 10 years I have been attending the event, it has always been a rewarding experience.

If the thought of going to Washington, D.C., makes you itch, there is another option to exercise your right to petition your government: pick up the phone or open your e-mail and contact your local elected official. It takes five minutes and is particularly

important, as 2018 could be a banner year for infrastructure.

The trillion-dollar infrastructure package we have been hearing about for more than a year is expected to be one of the hot topics Congress will take on in early 2018. It’s so important that House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA-9) says he will concentrate all his committee efforts this year to making sure infrastructure legislation is delivered. Rep. Shuster has announced he will not seek reelection in 2018 nor will other T&I Committee members Rep. John Duncan, Jr. (R-TN-2), Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ-2) and Blake Farenthold (R-TX-27). Two more T&I Committee members, Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA11) and Rep. Todd Rokita (R-IN-4), are running for the Senate.

With one of the transportation industry’s key congressional committees undergoing a large turnover next year, it will also be important for the industry’s grassroots events to ramp up, which is another area where you can help. Grassroots events are organized by one of the industry’s associations (REMSA, NRC, GoRail, etc.) and allow an elected official to see, first hand, what the rail industry is capable of through a project or facility tour. The folks at the associations aim to make this as smooth a process as possible for the host company, which gains a direct line of communication with an elected official, while the official receives exposure to our robust industry through the eyes of a constituent and everyone gets a little press coverage. Now that’s winning all the way around!

No matter what your resolution is for 2018, I wish you success.

Mischa Wanek-Libman, Editor

Railway Track & Structures

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INDUSTRY TODAY

Amtrak

Letters raise concerns about federal government’s commitment to the Gateway Program

Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Deputy Administrator K. Jane Williams outlined a series of concerns regarding an updated financial plan for the Hudson Tunnel project in a letter to New York State Director of Budget Robert Mujica on Dec. 29.

Among the issues Williams raised was that there is no 50/50 agreement between the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), New York and New Jersey.

“There is no such agreement,” Williams wrote in the letter, which was obtained by Crain’s NewYork Business. “We consider it unhelpful to reference a non-existent ‘agreement’ rather than directly address the responsibility for funding a local project where 9 out of 10 passengers are local transit riders.”

An agreement between USDOT, New York and New Jersey was established in 2015 under the previous Obama Administration. Elected officials from New York and New Jersey met with President Trump and other USDOT representatives in September to make the case for the Gateway Program and called the meeting productive, but inconclusive.

Securing a financial commitment from the federal government for the Gateway Program has also been used as a bargaining chip in the delayed confirmation of Ronald Batory as the Federal Railroad Administrator.

In his response to Williams, Mujica referenced the 2015 agreement, as well as the meeting this summer between administration and elected officials.

“The USDOT stepping away from the 50:50 framework now would represent stepping away from a previously agreed upon path and the entire basis for getting this critical national infrastructure project done,” wrote Mujica.

Williams also questioned the new financial plan’s move toward what she labeled as greater federal reliance. Williams said the project is now 100 percent dependent on federal financial assistance given that the plan calls for 50 percent of the funds from Federal Capital Investment Grants (CIG) and the other 50 percent from a trio of Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing loans. She also explains 4 Railway Track & Structures

January 2018

that the plan’s expectation of $5 billion or more in CIG funds could exhaust the CIG program completely.

Mujica responded that labeling the utilization of federal loan programs to pay for infrastructure as “federal assistance” or “federal dependency” is a misinterpretation that goes “against decades of precedent when it comes to funding infrastructure projects of this scale and importance.”

Williams letter also notes that the project budget was reduced $2.2 billion without explanation.

“We understand this new plan does not address the rehabilitation of the existing tunnels, and now only addresses the building of two new tunnels. Given the age of the existing tunnels was the impetus for the project, we question the decision to ignore any funding commitment to that critical component, and to omit billions in other costs previously acknowledged to be part of the overall project cost,” wrote Williams.

Phase 1 of the Gateway Program includes three elements: the Portal North Bridge Project, the new two-track Hudson River Tunnel and Hudson Yards Concrete Casing. At the time the updated financial plan was released, New York and New Jersey said the cost to rehabilitate the existing tunnels would be addressed in the future, as rehabilitation work on the tunnels was not expected to begin until 2026.

Williams noted that the federal government remains “open to paths that would enable” the Gateway Program to proceed before concluding that infrastructure will be discussed in Congress in the coming weeks. Mujica reciprocated his department’s willingness to engage the federal government and expressed his hope that “any national program with the ambition to improving our infrastructure must begin with Gateway.”

U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ-11), chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, which included $900 million for the program in its proposed Fiscal Year 2018 Transportation-Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill this summer, wrote his own letter to Williams explaining that “there has long been agreement among federal, state and local officials that the Gateway project is an urgent national infrastructure priority.”

He continued, “I believe it is unrealistic for the Administration to expect the most important infrastructure project in the country to move forward without full participation and investment from the FTA and Department of Transportation.”

Rep. Frelinghuysen said pursuing Gateway was imperative to ensure reliability of service in an area that supports approximately 20 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.

He also notes that the rail project serves as a critical choke point for Amtrak’s entire operation on the East Coast from Florida to Maine.

Frelinghuysen concluded his letter by reminding FTA Acting Administrator Williams, “It is the responsibility of the House Committee on Appropriations to assure that such national priorities are met.” www.rtands.com

INDUSTRY TODAY Florida, Texas rail projects progress with key USDOT approvals The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) made strides toward accelerating environmental reviews and project delivery timelines for rail projects in Florida and Texas.

USDOT signed the Record of Decision (ROD) for Phase II of the All Aboard Florida (AAF)/Brightline Project and the Draft Environmental Impact Statement review (DEIS) for the Texas Central Railway (TCR) HighSpeed Rail Project.

USDOT said these steps will enable private sponsors of the rail projects to move forward with their planned work.

Florida East Coast Industries, Inc. (FECI) proposed the AAF, a private passenger rail service that would connect Orlando and Miami, which will include stops in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale.

The ROD signifies the completed environmental review process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

As noted in the ROD, the FRA has chosen Alternative E as the preferred alternative, say-

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ing it will meet the needs identified for the AAF/Brightline Project. The preferred alternative consists of: A new rail corridor extending north through Orlando International Airport (MCO) to Florida State Route 528; a new rail alignment from MCO to Florida State Route 520 and eventual joining to the Florida East Coast Railway Corridor.

The TCR High-Speed Rail Project is a privately-funded proposed new passenger rail system. It would operate within a fully-sealed corridor of about 240 miles between Dallas and Houston, and officials say its travel time is about 90 minutes.

The public has a chance to review and comment on the DEIS. Following the public comment period, the FRA is expected to address any major comments in a Final EIS and ROD. The DEIS evaluated six end-to-end build alternatives as well as a no-build alternative, officials said. The DEIS identifies FRA’s preferred Build Alternative as Alternative A.

Supplier News The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board approved a $1.8 billion design-build contract for 3rd Track Constructors to complete work on the Long Island Rail Road expansion project.

The Delachaux Group has launched a rebranding effort to bring the entirety of its rail businesses under the PANDROL brand.

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. acquired CH2M. Jacobs said this move would strengthen the company’s position to provide innovative offerings for industrial

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January 2018 5

INDUSTRY TODAY Supplier News professional services and government, as well as infrastructure.

Britain’s infrastructure manager Network Rail has introduced into operation the first two of three 492foot long grinding trains, which Loram Maintenance of Way, Inc., and Col as Rail are supplying under a US$48.6million contract.

Amtrak chose Penn Station Partners to negotiate a master development deal for Baltimore Penn Station. The team includes Beatty Development Group, Armada Hoffler Properties, Cross Street Partners, Gensler, WSP USA, Network Rail Consulting and Mace Group and others.

Progress Rail acquired Italybased ECM S.p.A., a signal solutions and technologies provider.

Rhomberg Sersa Rail Group, Sersa Total Track, partnered with Remcan Projects LP to extend its capabilities, including the acquisition of maintenance equipment and staff.

6 Railway Track & Structures

U.S. Depar tment of Transpor tation (USDOT) Secretary Elaine Chao sent a form letter to 47 Class 1, intercity and state and local transit authorities to stress the urgency and importance of implementing positive train control (PTC) by Dec. 31, 2018.

Sec. Chao’s letter explained that the coming year is filled with rail safety-oriented initiatives with PTC implementation among the most important. She noted that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) would continue to work with the railroads as the congressionally-mandated deadline approaches.

“Safety is our top priority at the U.S. Department of Transportation,” said Secretary Chao. “The FRA leadership has been directed to work with your organization’s leadership to help create an increased level of urgency to underscore the imperative of meeting existing expecta­tions for rolling out this critical rail-safety technology.”

According to USDOT eight of the 37 railroads required to implement PTC systems on their own tracks have obtained conditional PTC System Certification from FRA; 12 railroads have completed installation of all hardware necessary and another 12 report having installed less than 50 percent of the required hardware (as of Sept.

30, 2017). USDOT says 26 railroads have begun field testing PTC systems with those systems in operation on 45 percent of the required freight route miles and 24 percent of the required passenger route miles (as of Sept. 30, 2017).

USDOT also said FRA “took significant action to ensure that railroads implement PTC systems in a timely and safe manner, including assessing civil penalties against cer tain railroads that failed to complete hardware installation milestones they scheduled to complete during calendar year 2016 in their PTC Implementation Plans.”

The letter was sent a few days prior to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) releasing its preliminary report on January 2018

the Amtrak 501 accident in Washington state, in which it explains that the train entered a curve in an over speed condition, which is preventable with PTC. The train, which was car r ying 77 passengers and five Amtrak employees on its inaugural run along a new route, derailed on a 30 mph curve with its last recorded speed being 78 mph. The lead locomotive, the power car and two passenger railcars derailed onto Interstate 5 below the right-of-way. Three train passengers were killed and another 70 people, including eight on the highway, were injured in the accident.

NTSB says it has not been able to interview the engineer or qualifying conductor, both in the lead locomotive cab at the time of the incident, due to injuries the two men sustained. NTSB was able to obtain the lead locomotive’s event data and video recorders and the agency notes that the two crew members in the cab did not appear to use any personal electronic devices and the engineer did comment on an over speed condition about six seconds prior to the derailment.

NTSB says a 30-mph speed sign was posted two miles before the curve on the engineer’s side of the track, with another 30-mph speed sign on the wayside at the beginning of the curve on the engineer’s side of the locomotive. The agency also explains that had PTC been operational on the line, the engineer would have been alerted to slow the train and if no action was taken, PTC would have applied the brakes.

NTSB says the investigation is ongoing and will determine a probable cause of the accident at a later date.

washington state patrol

Toronto Tunnel Partners received a contract with Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx to design, build and finance the Highway 401 Rail Tunnel project for the GO Regional Express Rail (RER) program.

PTC spotlight: Sec. Chao’s letter; Amtrak 501 preliminary report

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INDUSTRY TODAY Norfolk Southern opens newly built Portageville Bridge to traffic

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Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern began operating trains across its new Portageville Bridge in early December, following two years of construction. The new 963-foot steel arch, single-track bridge was constructed across the 235-foot-deep Genesee River Gorge in Letchworth State Park and is located on the Norfolk Southern Southern Tier Line.

“This is a very exciting day for Norfolk Southern and for the future of freight rail service in New York’s Southern Tier region,” said James A. Squires, chairman, president and CEO. “The successful completion of this bridge is an excellent demonstration of how the public and private sectors can work together on freight transportation projects that generate significant public benefits and are vital to U.S. commerce. It’s also a testament to Norfolk Southern’s robust bridge program and the ingenuity of engineers and railroaders.”

The $75-million project was funded through a publicprivate partnership among Norfolk Southern, the New York State Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. The design and construction budget for the bridge project included $15.5 million provided through New York state, including a $2 million grant from the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council and $13.5 million in state and federal funds through the New York

State Department of Transportation and $59.5 million from Norfolk Southern.

Norfolk Southern says the bridge will speed up train traffic and enable Norfolk Southern to run heavier rail car loads over the line, eliminating a major rail bottleneck for freight shippers. The old iron truss bridge it replaces, built in 1875, was unable to support modern freight rail needs. When construction began on the bridge in 2015, Norfolk Southern said the bridge would be the linchpin of a vibrant Norfolk Southern rail line that helps businesses in Buffalo and the Southern Tier regions connect with markets east and west.

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INDUSTRY TODAY Sound Transit OKs extension The Sound Transit Board approved the Tacoma Dome Link Extension in mid December, setting a $125.7 million budget for preliminary engineering for the project.

The work will extend light-rail further south from South King into Pierce County, which Sound Transit notes is one of the fastest growing areas in the Seattle metropolitan region.

“The Board took an exciting step forward to make light-rail service a reality for the thousands of people who travel up and down the South Sound corridor every day,” said Sound Transit Board Vice Chair and Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland. “With more people choosing to live and work in Tacoma, our imperative to deliver light-rail service to Pierce County is critical to supporting our quality of life and growing economy.”

The Tacoma Dome Link Extension is part of the Sound Transit 3 (ST3) Plan. The project extends light rail by 9.7 miles to the cities of Federal Way, Milton, Fife, Tacoma and the Puyallup Tribe of Indians Reservation, with service set to start by 2030.

Sound Transit said it will begin technical work on the project next year, which will include an extensive community engagement process to establish a consensus on a Locally Preferred Alternative, and other alternatives, to study in the Environmental Impact Statement to be completed by mid-2019.

The Tacoma Dome project includes the construction of a new light-rail operations and maintenance facility (OMF) to accommodate additional fleet capacity of an expanded regional light-rail system. The facility’s location will be determined during project development, the transit agency said.

Officials said that while the OMF will be part of the Tacoma Dome Link Extension project, its design and size will support the entire Sound Transit lightrail system.

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MBTA receives first installment of grant money for GLX project The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) will be issued the first installment of federal grant, $100 million for the Green Line Extension (GLX) light-rail project.

MBTA signed a $996-million Full Funding Grant Agreement with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in January 2015 for the 4.7-mile light-rail line from Cambridge to Medford with a total estimated cost of $2.3 billion. “[Massachusetts] Gov. Charlie Baker’s commitment to responsibly manage taxpayer dollars in the building of this project was persuasive,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao. “The region can now look forward to an enhanced transportation network as the Green Line is extended to serve tens of thousands of area residents daily.”

FTA is providing the funds from the Capital Investment Grants (CIG) Program after MBTA completed a series of reviews to redesign the GLX project to contain costs without sacrificing schedule. The U.S. Department of Transportation explains that MBTA’s strengthened project management team and governance structure, including a Fiscal and

January 2018

Management Control Board created in 2015, were critical factors in moving the FFGA grant forward.

The Green Line Extension Project was put on hold due to cost overruns in late 2015. The MBTA redesigned and restructured the delivery model and secured cost guarantees from the firms bidding to build the project.

“The Green Line Extension project will provide important public transit service that will have a transformational impact for this region of the Commonwealth to accommodate riders and spur economic growth,” said Gov. Baker.

The project adheres to the scope and benefits identified in the FFGA, including six new light-rail stations, replacement or rehabilitation of eight bridges and a new pedestrian/bike path. The GLX is projected to open in January 2022.

In November, the MBTA Green Line Extension team selected the joint venture of GLX Constructors to carry out the design and construction work on the project. The JV consists of Fluor Enterprises, Inc., The Middlesex Corp., Herzog Contracting Corp. and Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc.

TTC opens Toronto-to-York subway extension The 5.34-mile (8.6-km) Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) Toronto-toYork subway extension opened to the public on Sunday, Dec. 17.

The new extension, also known as the TTC Line 1 Extension, connects Sheppard West Station in Toronto to the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station in York Region in the province of Ontario.

TTC says the extension will reduce commute times and make it easier and faster for residents and tourists to get around.

“This project is an example of what can be accomplished when all levels of government work together to make our communities more connected and more welcoming,” said Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The government of Canada contributed close to CA$700 million (US$544.2 million) to the project, and the province of Ontario provided

CA$974 million (US$757.2 million) through the Move Ontario Trust. In addition, the city of Toronto and the Regional Municipality of York contributed CA$904 million (US$702.8 million) and CA$604 million (US$469.6 million) in funding, respectively.

“This is a historic milestone for the TTC with the opening of a critical extension of our subway system, with six new stations featuring Wi-Fi, public art, transit connections, commuter parking, the Presto fare system and new fare gates. The subway will also be the first time ever that the TTC subway system will cross a municipal border, linking Toronto and York University with York Region with fast and frequent rapid transit,” said TTC Chair and Toronto City Councilor for Ward 15 EglintonLawrence Josh Colle. www.rtands.com

INDUSTRY TODAY E. Hunter Harrison dies E. Hunter Harrison, who began his career as a carman oiler at the Saint Louis-San Francisco Railway and rose to lead four different railways, died Dec. 16, 2017, due to unexpectedly severe complications from a recent illness.

In a statement announcing his death, CSX said, “Hunter was a larger-than-life figure who brought his remarkable passion, experience and energy in railroading to CSX.” Edward J. Kelly III, chairman of the CSX Board of Directors, issued a statement on behalf of the Board of Directors where he called the death of Harrison a major loss, but threw his confidence behind Jim Foote, who was named CEO shortly after Harrison’s death.

Kelly concluded his statement by saying, “...the CSX team will capitalize on the changes that Hunter has made.

The board will continue to consider in a deliberative way how best to maximize CSX’s performance over the long term.”

Illinois Central was the first railroad where Harrison earned the title president and CEO. He would go on to lead Canadian National, Canadian Pacific and lastly, CSX while ushering in Precision Scheduled Railroading.

CP President and CEO Keith Creel, who worked with and was mentored

by Harrison said, “I spent most of the [p]ast 25 years working closely with Hunter. Over that time, he taught me how to railroad, but more than that, he taught me how to be a leader.”

Creel believes Harrison will be remembered by history as the best railroader ever.

“I will remember him first as a friend with a loving and giving heart then as a tremendous, visionary leader who always challenged the status quo. His greatest legacy is not the railroads he changed for the better, but the family and friends he left behind that are all blessed to have known and loved him,” said Creel.

Harrison’s obituary that ran in the Chicago Tribune read in part, “To the public, he was seen as a corporate giant, but those who knew him best will miss the Southern gentleman with a heart of gold and a generous, unstoppable spirit. In lieu of flowers, please hug a loved one and tell them how much they mean to you.” www.rtands.com

PEOPLE The Alaska Railroad promoted Clark Hopp, vice president of engineering, to serve as chief operating officer beginning Jan. 1.

A mt r ak ’ s C h a r l e s “ W i c k ” Moorman stepped down from the co-CEO position Dec. 31, assuming the role of senior advisor Jan. 1.

CALTRAIN announced that John Funghi will serve as chief officer of the Caltrain Modernization Program.

CSX Corp. named James Foote president and CEO. Foote had been acting CEO since Dec. 14. Foote also joined the CSX Board of Directors.

HNTB Corporation brought on Zeyad Alkaisi, CCM, as a rail transit senior project manager and associate vice president.

Kevin Flaherty, executi ve vice

president for Maintenance of Way at Holland LP, retired Dec. 31 after 40 years in the industry.

Arnaud Pierrard, who is based in Raismes, France, is joining Pandrol’s senior team in a newly created position of Manufacturing Excellence and Quality Certification.

ObituarIES

James D. Martin, 74, president of public relations and advertising a g e n c y JDM & Associates M a r k e t i ng L LC , w h i ch h e founded in 1984, died Nov. 27 in Wilmette, Ill. Dr. Albert Reinschmidt, president of D r . T r ack Ra i l w ay Consultants and retired vice president of business development at Transportation Technology Center, Inc., died on Jan. 5 following a long illness.

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January 2018 9

NRC CHAIRMAN’S COLUMN

Thank you

The National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association, Inc. 410 1st Street, S.E. Suite 200 Washington D. C. 20003 Tel: 202-715-2920 Fax: 202-318-0867 www.nrcma.org info@nrcma.org

10 Railway Track & Structures

It seems like just yesterday that Chuck Baker gave me a call to inform me that I had been elected by the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association membership to the NRC Board of Directors.

I was so honored and excited to be able to join the NRC Board, which is full of industry leaders, and to serve the membership of the NRC. Almost 10 years later, I stood on the stage at the Hotel Del Coronado with outgoing Chairman Bill Doris as I became a second generation NRC Chairman.

It has been a highlight of my career to be able to serve the NRC and our members throughout the past 12 years. Working with current and past board members for the betterment of our association and that of our industry has been nothing less than amazing.

I would like to thank Chuck Baker, Matt Bell, Lindsey Collins, Matt Ginsberg, Will Resch, the entire Chambers Conlon & Hartwell, LLC, staff, and all of the board members I have served with for all of their hard work throughout the years.

A huge thank you goes to incoming Chairman Mike Choat, Vice Chairman Jim Hansen and Secretary/Treasurer Steve Bolte. They are some of the most committed, hardworking and passionate people I have ever had the opportunity to work with. The NRC is in outstanding hands with this executive committee.

I would be remiss if I did not also thank my father, my boss and past NRC Chairman Jim Daloisio. He has supported me in every aspect of my life.

I would not be the person I am today without him. He is an amazing person and the best role model and mentor anyone could have. There are no words for how thankful I am for him. If you know my father, you know how special of a person he is.

January 2018

If you don’t, you are missing out, but come say hi at the next NRC Conference, he’s not shy!

Although I will no longer be the NRC’s chaiman, I look forward to continuing to work hard for the NRC. I am excited to work with our newest board members George Caric from Stella-Jones Corporation and Dave Landreth from Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. Congratulation to both of them for their election to the board. Also, congratulations to Scott Norman from Herzog Contracting Corp. and Marc Hackett from Loram Maintenance of Way, Inc., on being re-elected to the board to serve another term.

By the time you read this, you’ll likely already be at the NRC Conference and hopefully having an excellent experience to kick off your new role. If for any reason you see this before then, I hope to see you in L.A., Jan. 10-13, 2018.

To mark your calendar, the next key event on the NRC calendar is Railroad Day on Capitol Hill – it’s Wednesday, March 7, 2018. Put in on your calendar and make sure you and your colleagues attend. It is our day to show Washington, D.C., what the railroad industry is all about. I hope to see everyone there.

After that is the NRC Rail Construction and Maintenance Equipment Auction. The auction’s date and location are still TBD, but it’ll likely be in Arkansas in April or May and it’s always a fun and productive day. We hosted it last year at my company’s yard in New Jersey — that was quite the experience!

For more information on this and other upcoming events, please visit www.nrcma.org or you can always call the NRC office at 202-715-1264.

I wish everyone a safe, happy and successful year!

by Chris Daloisio, NRC Chairman

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TTCI R&D The mongoose versus the snake:

Rail head wear versus rail head fatigue

by G. Fry, Ph.D., P.E., former director, Center for Railway Research, Texas A&M University, Transportation Technology Center, Inc., and P. Tangtragulwong, Ph.D., P.E., former graduate reserch assistant, Texas A&M University

TTCI evaluates century-old field observations that rail head fatigue cracks do not occur under certain conditions of rail head wear.

recent collaboration between Texas A&M University and the Association of American Railroads (AAR) applied analytical methods from solid mechanics to explore century-old field observations that rail head fatigue cracks do not occur under certain conditions of rail head wear. The study, conducted within the Center for Railway Research at Texas A&M University in collaboration with the AAR’s University Affiliated Laboratory program, indicates directly that the mechanisms of rail head wear disrupt the mechanisms of rail head fatigue crack formation.

An operational model of the wear-fatigue interaction helps to determine the minimum rail wear rates necessary to preclude forming rail head fatigue cracks; i.e., Fatigue Crack Preventative (FCP) wear rates. In this study, “optimal” wear rates are predicted to increase the service life of a given rail under heavyaxle-loads by approximately 240 percent while completely preventing the formation of internal rail head fatigue cracks.

One might imagine rail head wear as a predator that stalks, and consumes, the fatigue-damaged steel of the rail head —

much like the proverbial mongoose stalking and consuming a snake.

This computational analysis requires three essential and concurrent effects be quantified and modeled. First, the process of developing internal fatigue cracks in the head of a rail requires that the steel at a critical location below the running surface be exposed to a very large number of wheel passages.

Second, at the same time as the fatigue cycles are accumulating, the passage of wheels is also causing the rail head to wear down — with rail grinding operations further increasing the loss of rail head area. Third, as the head wears down, the critical fatigue location below the running surface moves down as well so that “fresher” steel is being exposed to the effects of fatigue damage accumulation. With a working model of these competing processes, another model is used to determine “optimized” rail wear rates under the constraint of preventing the nucleation and early growth of rail head fatigue cracks.

Surface crack nucleation in rails can be attributed to localized plastic deformation of material close to the wheel-rail interface. By contrast, subsurface cracks nucleate at greater depth below the running surface where the material deforms elastically. 1 Note that this type of fatigue cracking can be found in heavy-axle-load lines more often than in passenger railways due to a larger accumulation of tensile residual stresses in the heavyaxle-load case.

Focusing on subsurface crack nucleation in the head of thermite-welded rail and assuming various forms of pre-existing metallurgical discontinuities within the rail head 2 has shown that if residual stresses are included in the analysis, fatigue damage predicted by a multi-axial fatigue model increases significantly within the region located .39 to .59 inch (10-15 mm) below running surface. These semi-analytical predictions suggest strongly that residual stresses can play an important role in subsurface fatigue crack nucleation within the rail head.

Ekberg and Kabo 3 give an overview of rolling contact fatigue (RCF) under wheel-rail contact with an emphasis on surface and subsurface crack nucleation and propagation. They suggest that RCF differs from classical fatigue behaviors because the state of stress due to rolling contact is multi-axial and non-proportional and rolling contact involves compressive loads.

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Figure 1: This figure shows a log-log plot of fatigue index versus number of cycles to failure for = 1.

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Railway Track & Structures

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TTCI R&D Fatigue analysis

Originally proposed by Fatemi and Socie,6 the fatigue damage criterion used here can be expressed as:

Wheel loads and the “loading unit�

Figure 2: This image displays a contour of maximum fatigue index accumulation at failure for pearlitic rail steel without rail grinding (fatigue nucleation life = 10.16 LU).

A set of representative dynamic wheel loads and corresponding numbers of wheel passages was used in this study. Based on field measurements of a train with nominal 39-kip wheel loads passing at 40 mph, five representative dynamic wheel loads and their corresponding number of wheel passages were selected.7 Specifically, wheel loads of 28, 32, 36, 39 and 44 kips; and wheel passages of 730, 6150, 13820, 8450 and 1390, respectively. This set defines the loading unit (LU) used in this study as a means of comparing the fatigue life outcomes from alternative grinding strategies.

Sequence of analyses

The finite element analyses of wheel-rail contact and fatigue damage calculation approaches used in this study are described completely by Tangtragulwong.4 To summarize, the finite element mesh consists of a full wheel-axle unit and a rail section with contact occurring between the two at the running surface. Multiple sequential passes of each wheel load are applied — rolling with friction. This approach only considers the earliest phases of fatigue crack development. It does not consider further complex phases of fatigue crack development, including micro-crack coalescence and propagation to final fracture. From that point of view, the crack initiation life estimates here are quite conservative and do not reflect the expected life to final fracture of a rail.

Genetic algorithms and grinding

Figure 3: This image shows a plot illustrating crack nucleation life increase versus number of grinding steps.

To accommodate the complex fatigue environment presented by rolling contact, Tangtragulwong4 performed fatigue analyses using stress-based 5 and strain-based6 critical plane approaches. Significantly, Tangtragulwong studied the interplay between rail grinding and fatigue damage development in the rail head under heavy-axle-loading.

This ar ticle describes results obtained by applying genetic algorithm (GA) optimization strategies to fatigue analyses of a rail head subjected to incremental grinding.

The objective is to better understand the interplay between fatigue damage development and rail head grinding and the potential for improved rail head fatigue life attributable to rail grinding.

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January 2018

GA are population-based optimization methods that simulate natural evolution according to various parameter-controlled stochastic processes.8, 9, 10 Eiben, et al.11 and Reed, et al.12 provide guidelines for parameter setting and control for re-combination, mutation, parent-selection, and survivor selection steps.

A study by Eiben and Schippers13 presents capabilities of GA to find global-optimal solutions with a combined use of re-combination and mutation processes. Exploration in the feasible region is performed by the mutation operator, which can abruptly change the components of individuals; thereby helping to prevent the optimization from getting stuck within the local optima.

GA coding for grinding optimization

For the problem at hand, individuals (potential solutions to the problem) are encoded into a chromosome-like string with units representing: 1) the number of loading units (LU), and 2) the incremental grinding thickness (mm) for every grinding step.

Lengths of the strings of individuals vary as the total number of grinding steps changes. A set of number of individuals is called a population.

The feasibility of individuals must be checked against the imposed constraints. In this study, the constraints are: 1) the upper www.rtands.com

TTCI R&D and lower bounds of total allowable grinding steps; 2) the total fatigue damage accumulation at every material point must be not greater than unity; and 3) the maximum total accumulated grind removal is fixed at 20 mm. An individual is considered infeasible if it violates any of the constraints, and must be adjusted accordingly.

Results and discussion

“Crack Nucleation Life with No Grinding”: Without an application of rail grinding, and assuming minimal material loss from wear, Figure 2 illustrates the contour of fatigue index accumulation after 10.16 LU where fatigue cracks begin to nucleate (fatigue damage accumulation reaches unity) at around 4 mm below the running surface. The predicted critical plane of the crack nucleation agrees with the horizontal plane observed often in field tests and is referred to as “shelling.” This service life of 10.16 LU will be used as a benchmark to evaluate the different rail grinding schedules generated by the optimized grinding solutions.

“GA Optimal Grinding Schedules”: Figure 3 is a plot illustrating the increase of fatigue life after exploratory and local search optimizations, compared to the “no-grinding” case (10.16 LU), against numbers of grinding steps of three groups of grinding schedules.

Figures 4 and 5 present schematics and corresponding contours of fatigue index accumulation before the nucleation of the first fatigue crack, for the two best grinding schedules (15 grinding steps with 35.4 LU, and 20 grinding steps with 35.3 LU). Fatigue life increases from 10.16 LU (no-grinding) to 35.4 LU when the grinding schedules developed from an optimization with GA are applied.

This indicates a 248 percent increase of fatigue life and use of a larger volume of rail head steel to resist the wheel loads. More frequent grinding schedules (15 and 20 grinding steps) tend to give longer fatigue life than less frequent schedules (4, 5, 8, and 10 grinding steps). However, the benefit of increasing grinding steps from 15 to 20 is less than the benefit associated with increasing from 8 to 15 steps.

Figure 4: For the optimal grinding schedule yielding 35.4 LU and 0.99968 maximum fatigue index with 15 grinding steps: a contour of maximum fatigue index accumulation before failure.

Conclusions

The optimization framework used in this analysis identified fatigue crack preventative rail head wear rates that increase the life of rails by about 240 percent when compared to not grinding.

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Center for Railway Research at Texas A&M University, the University Transportation Center for Railway Safety and the Association of American Railroads.

References 1. Cannon, D., Edel, K., Grassie, S., Sawley, K. Rail defects: an overview. Fatigue Fract Eng Mater Struct 2003;26:865-886.

2. Fry, G. T. A fatigue model for thermite rail welds. Ph.D. Thesis. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; 1995.

3. Ekberg, A., Kabo, E. “Fatigue of railway wheels and rails under rolling contact and thermal loading—an overview.” Wear 2005;258:1288-1300.

4. Tangtragulwong, P. Optimal Railroad Rail Grinding For Fatigue Mitigation. Ph.D. Thesis. Texas A&M University, College Station; 2010.

5. Findley, W. N. “A theory for the effect of mean stress on fatigue of metals under combined torsion and axial load or bending.” J Engng Industry, Trans ASME 1959;81:301-306.

6. Fatemi, A., and Socie, D. F. “A critical plane approach to multiaxial fatigue damage including out-of-phase loading.” Fatigue Fract Eng Mater Struct 1988;11:149-165.

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Figure 5: For the optimal grinding schedule yielding 35.3 LU and 0.99931 maximum fatigue index with 20 grinding steps: a contour of maximum fatigue index accumulation before failure.

7. Joy, R. B., Oliva, D. C., Otter, D. E., Doe, B. E., Uppal, S. A. “FAST bridge tests.” Association of American Railroads, Report number R-948, Transportation Technology Center, Inc., Pueblo, Colo.; 2001.

8. Aarts, E., Lenstra, J. K. Local search in combinatorial optimization. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ Press; 2003.

9. Eiben, A., Smith, J. “Introduction to evolutionary computing.” Heidelberg: Springer Verlag; 2003.

10. Mitchell, M. An introduction to genetic algorithms. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT press; 1998.

11. Eiben, A. E., Hinterding, R., Michalewicz, Z. “Parameter control in evolutionary algorithms.” IEEE Trans. Evolutionary Comput 1999;3(2):124-141.

12. Reed, P., Minsker, B., Goldberg, D.E. “Designing a competent simple genetic algorithm for search and optimization.” Water Resour Res 2000;36:3757-3761.

13. Eiben, A. E., Schippers, C. A. “On evolutionary exploration and exploitation.”

Fund Inform 1998;35:35-50.

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January 2018 13

2017 DR. W. W. HAY AWARD

BNSF, WSDOT

A worker grinds a weld on the Advanced Wayside Signal rail project to help eliminate signal failure delays.

by Kyra Senese, managing editor Photos courtesy of WSDOT

The Improvements for Passenger Rail Service and Reliability on BNSF Railway in Washington State project won BNSF and the Washington State Department of Transportation the 2017 Dr. William W. Hay Award for Excellence.

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NSF and the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) joined the ranks of nearly 20 previous Dr. William W. Hay Award for Excellence winners this past year for a number of reasons.

Many point to the agencies’ combination of collaborative efforts and endurance as a key factor in their success on the award-winning Improvements for Passenger Rail Service and Reliability on BNSF Railway in Washington State project.

Michael Franke, chairman of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association’s (AREMA) selection committee for the Hay Award, said the joint efforts by the host railroad and the state showed a unique approach to the project, as well as heightened coordination and com14 Railway Track & Structures

munication. He also noted that those communication efforts included working efficiently with consultants and engineering and construction firms, as well.

The Hay Award was originally established in 1999, Franke said, and honors the memory of Dr. William W. Hay, who he once studied under.

The award acknowledges outstanding achievements in railroad engineering work. The 2017 contest had three entries that were judged primarily on factors including innovation, safety and project reliability.

As required by the project, BNSF and WSDOT worked together on the line between Blaine, Wash., near the U.S. Canadian border and Vancouver, Wash., to improve passenger rail service and allow for consistent freight

January 2018

traffic in the region.

David Smelser, WSDOT’s capital program manager, said they chose to highlight the partnership aspect in their application.

“There was no choice but to have a partnership here with the work we wanted to do,” Smelser said. “BNSF has partnered with WSDOT for many years on that service, but this was an unprecedented level of partnership.”

The project required both organizations to build entirely new suborganizations to address certain issues and successfully achieve its delivery, Smelser explained.

“The key was that BNSF and WSDOT both had to get to a point where we weren’t advocating for our own interests, but we were looking at issues from the other party’s perspecwww.rtands.com

HAY AWARD tive and understanding how we could work together to get benefits for both organizations,” Smelser said.

Smelser explained that everyone involved had to adjust their way of thinking to see things from the other party’s perspective.

“There was no way the program could have been successful if we hadn’t both been willing to take a look at it from each other’s perspective and see some new ways to find partnerships,” Smelser said.

In terms of the project scope, Franke noted its complexity.

“The project was very extensive because this construction was [occuring] on an existing route with a lot of traffic, as opposed to building a new route,” Franke added.

Franke also noted that the freight operation has a different demand than the passenger operation, resulting in a different kind of traffic.

“When you work on an existing corridor with existing traffic and carry out this magnitude of projects and don’t totally bring everything to its knees, that says a lot about the coordination of the teams,” Franke explained.

The seven-year program required meticulous collaboration from both parties and entailed five years of heavy construction. The project received much of its support from $800-million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail funds.

The project’s scope was enormous, and required that crews build a new track used for U.S. border and customs inspections and construct the Vancouver Rail Yard Bypass.

Workers also had to reconfigure and upgrade all station tracks and the signal system located at the King Street Station in Seattle, Wash.

Franke noted that in addition to upgrading tracks, the project also entailed developing innovative transportation practices and modifying transportation service plans.

“There were actually 14 unique projects over a 350-mile length of track,” he said, noting the distance would stretch further than that from Chicago to St. Louis.

Crews additionally had to construct two new sections of third mainline at Kelso Martins Bluff to bypass the Port www.rtands.com

Of many tasks involved in delivering the BNSF and WSDOT project, crews also performed track upgrades.

of Kalama and Port of Longview traffic, officials said. Also necessary was the construction of storage tracks at the Delta Yard in Everett, Wash.

The Bellingham and Seattle subdivisions underwent improvements, as well, with the addition of new rail, ties, ballast and turnouts. Crews upgraded signal systems and extended sidings along the entire corridor.

Aside from the project’s impressive feat of being delivered on-time and under budget, having an innovative approach and constant communication, Franke said he was impressed that the leaders developed teams to focus on each of the 14 projects.

“The other factor that was very impressive was the extent of coordination between WSDOT and BNSF and the project execution,” Franke said.

He said the continuous updates were important, noting that at times a general contractor might do his own thing, but trouble can arise when an emergent problem occurs and others have not been kept up to speed on the project’s various steps and progress.

BNSF said that its performance improved consistently while several of the enhancement projects took hold. The railroad said these benefits were seen especially on the southern portion of the corridor, where it had installed 14 miles of new third mainline between Vancouver and Kelso.

Smelser said though the project

was a success, things initially moved very slowly until personal relationships were built at various levels between the two organizations.

“You get a lot further and you get to a lot better resolution when you can share openly about each other’s perspective and understand that there’s new windows that open,” Smelser said.

“It took us probably a year to get to that point.”

BNSF’s Dan McDonald said while accepting the award at the 2017 AREMA Annual Conference and Exposition that the relationship between the railway and WSDOT was the “most important deliverable” of the project and that the project could not have been accomplished without the collaboration of the two main parties involved.

Smelser added that although the two organizations did not co-locate, the two teams having created independent delivery organizations on both sides allowed for the leaders and decision makers to be reached quickly so plans could more forward.

“We had weekly calls, monthly input at meetings,” Smelser explained.

“I can pick up the phone at any time and talk to my counterpart at BNSF and have a very straightforward conversation, get to a resolution and we would agree on it and disseminate the information to our teams so the direction was very clear.”

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January 2018 15

HAY AWARD Though every effort was made to work efficiently, Smelser said there were problems the teams ran into, which is to be expected with a project of this size. However, the teams’ partnership and camaraderie allowed for quick resolutions to the issues, Smelser said.

“Part of that is pushing responsibility down and allowing decisionmaking at the lowest reasonable level,” he said. “Another piece of that is allowing elevation at the appropriate time. It allowed for quick decision making. People stood behind what they said they were going to do and it built a level of trust. ” Of the project’s various achievements, Smelser said one he is most proud of was completing that amount of work and getting through the Federal Railroad Administration grant process, as well as dealing with an environmental assessment that required further collaboration, pulling a lot of strings and eventually giving more habitat improvement for the salmon in a nearby stream that required culvert fixes.

The design for the project was ready, but Smelser said there were permitting issues with it.

“We put together a task force that included several groups, all of the folks that would be required to have a say in the permitting of this,” he said.

Nor mally, that process would take at least 18 months to two years, Smelser added.

“I believe we got it done in six months. We pulled every string we could to get all those folks in a meeting once a month and then going to every two weeks,” he said. “It streamlined the permitting process. That’s when if BNSF and WSDOT had not been on the same page and pulling all the strings we both could at the federal and state level to get this through it never would have happened.”

The groups spent about the same amount of money, he said, adding, “We got exponentially more habitat improvement for the salmon.”

The teams also completed the work in less time than it would have taken to finish the culvert repair, Smelser said.

“Without the partnership and the creative thinking and the willingness to take a chance and move forward, and confidence that the teams could work together, we never would have had that opportunity,” he added.

Another challenge the teams faced during the project was dealing with landslide mitigation, Smelser said.

About six projects throughout the program used federal funding to mitigate landslides, and Smelser said this included handling coastal bluffs and areas that experience frequent landslides, blocking the tracks regularly

The project delivered by BNSF and WSDOT entailed 14 different projects and was on-time and under budget.

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January 2018

during the rainy season.

To address this issue, the teams created the landslide mitigation work group, Smelser said, and BNSF was a part of that as well as local agencies.

Smelser said WSDOT’s work with BNSF primarily involved stabilizing the bluffs, debris removal and walls and more.

As the end of the program drew near, Smelser explained that there was federal funding left over. He said BNSF worked very quickly with WSDOT to put two more small projects together to be able to utilize that funding with about two months left in the program.

“That’s another example of both sides being willing to take a risk— because we didn’t know how it was going to turn out—and put effort into putting together packages quickly and being ready to make use of those federal funds,” Smelser recalled.

Smelser said this was an important moment because both teams reached beyond their agreement to take a risk.

“If either side doesn’t produce, then the money has to be paid back per the requirement of the federal funding,” he said. “Starting something that late when you’ve got the opportunity to say you were successful and were going to be done...taking the chance to say we’re going to do something a little bit risky and understanding what the penalty is if we don’t succeed together … to me, that’s where that trust and the relationships come into play.”

WSDOT had received nearly $800 million total ARRA grants, and they were able to spend 96 percent of that budget, which WSDOT said shows how well all the projects were managed while remaining on time and under budget.

Over the course of the seven years, Smelser said there were more than 200 people from WSDOT, including consultants, working on the program.

WSDOT had set out a specific program delivery organization focused the program, he said.

“One piece of advice is to allocate the resources and the skills and people that have adequate authority to get the job done,” Smelser said. “Be serious about finishing. If it means creating dedicated resources at your organization or hiring consultants...get the right people in the right positions early. Give them every opportunity to finish.” www.rtands.com

tracking down

rail defects

by Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor

Heavy research and development efforts help enhance rail-flaw detection methods to reduce risk and improve response times when issues are found.

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ata collected during rail testing is part of the big data realm and how the raw data is converted into useful information continues to evolve thanks to heavy investments by service companies into their research efforts. The results are systems that can test quicker and help railroads develop more predicative maintenance programs.

Reducing risk

Pressure continues to increase on the global railroad industry to increase efficiency and reduce risk, resulting in the need for a better way to test rail and optimize maintenance. Sperry Rail is helping its clients meet this challenge with its Rail Health® solutions.

The game-changer is now coming from utilization of tremendous amounts of historical and growing data. Sperry’s new 360° solution combines comprehensive testing techniques with artificial intelligence and big data to provide a proactive and predictive rail flaw and maintenance solution.

“Our 360° solution is focused on improved management of failure risk,” states Jamie O’Rourke, general manager of Sperry. “Partnering with the railroads to move to predictive maintenance with our prognostic tools will help minimize avoidable failures and promote a better infrastructure.”

A key component of Sperry’s 360° solution is a patent-pending artificial intelligence tool named Elmer, after the company’s founder, Dr. Elmer Sperry.

“It seemed only fitting to name this technology after Elmer,” states O’Rourke. www.rtands.com

“Dr. Sperry’s innovative spirit and relentless dedication to improvement and safety underscores everything we do.”

Sperry explains that Elmer combines machine-based data processing with predictive analytics and processes terabytes of data to identify exceptions and changes from expected norms.

Elmer’s predictive analytics include algorithms and tools to measure probability and consequence of failure from detected exceptions.

Elmer fits into Sperry’s six-prong approach to target order-of-magnitude reductions in risk, which the company outlined as: 1. Noninvasive logistics – streamlined data collection at higher speeds to mini-

TOP: Sperry Rail combines big data and artificial intelligence as part of its 360° solution.

BOTTOM: Herzog Services, Inc., says its goal is to collect more rail-flaw data in a shorter amount of time.

mize asset interruption time with the fastgrowing Nonstop test process.

2. Sensor technology – Data collection, analysis and verification from multiple complementary sensors including ultrasonics, induction, eddy current, and video systems to confirm defects and anomalies.

3. Location systems – Pinpoint accuracy of all captured sensor information for multi-sensor corroboration, Railway Track & Structures

January 2018 19

rail inspection detailed trending and identification of incremental changes in the rail steel.

4. Artificial Intelligence – Machine-based data processing of terabytes of data to identify exceptions and changes from expected norms.

5. Predictive analytics – algorithms and tools to measure probability and consequence of failure from detected exceptions.

6. Reporting – Presentation of data requiring action to mitigate future risks including feeds directly into railroad databases.

While the company says the 360° solution delivers a comprehensive view of rail health, it still strives to improve how operators manage risk.

“We are continuously improving every stage of the process using our depth of experience accumulated over nearly 90 years of rail inspection with the latest technologies,” stated O’Rourke. “Every step has automated validation to reduce operator dependence and ensure we catch any exceptions for the highest quality inspection.”

Sperry will soon be releasing a workforce engagement app that lets clients view their network, accessing detailed information on suspect location and types, changes to their track conditions and rail health monitors that provide the latest test results, providing both management and local field support with detailed, real-time data.

Improving response time

Herzog Services, Inc. (HSI), continues to actively invest in its research initiatives and puts those initiatives into

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January 2018

practice through improved systems and methods for railflaw detection.

HSI says its research and development team has been implementing a continuous testing, post-verification workflow involving three steps: Herzog’s rail-flaw detector car collects test data in a non-stop mode, then the data is sent across a wireless network to a separate location where a qualified employee analyzes the test data for potential defects or issues; after the possible defective indications, or “picks,” have been prioritized they are sent to an on-site operator for postverification, where the possible indications are verified within 24 but not longer than 72 hours.

HSI says the goal is to collect more rail-flaw data in a shorter amount of time in order to reduce track time allotted to rail testing. HSI tested this project internally and is implementing field testing in the first half of 2018.

The third quarter of 2017 saw HSI release the Series 7000 system, which features upgraded hardware and software components. HSI says the inspection software carries over many features that were first introduced with the Herzog 2020 phased array system, which launched in 2015. In addition to the enhanced B-Scan presentation it incorporates C-Scan, which is a plan-view of the data. HSI explains that the C-Scan is a wire frame side view of the rail, which helps operators interpret the rail by giving them an image that is more representative of the physical shape of the rail.

The Series 7000 system has relational milepost capability, allowing it to utilize a railroad’s database to record a defect’s

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location more accurately, which the company says is useful when repair crews are dispatched.

HSI says an operator now has a complete live diagnostics of all channels and the system integrates vehicle functions with the test system that allows additional features to be added.

“The Series 7000 can also include a vision system, which takes photos of the rail and integrates those images into the operator’s inspection workflow. These pictures give the operator additional information to reduce the likelihood of misinterpreting ultrasonic indications presented to the operator. This will increase production for our customers by allowing our operators to identify structures and rail service conditions more accurately,” explains the company.

HSI also notes that it met the Dec. 18, 2017, U.S. Department of Transportation’s deadline to install Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs), A project the company deployed on its U.S. fleet in October in order to address any potential issues.

“Not only are the ELDs more comprehensible for the drivers, they allow more precise scheduling for our customers. As a result, we have more efficient production hours because we are coordinating and communicating better with our customers,” added Max Lafferty, director of transportation safety. “We have begun testing ELDs with our Canadian fleet in December and are positive the transition will be just as successful.”

Herzog Services, Inc. and Herzog Technologies, Inc. are currently collaborating to add Rail Flaw Detection (RFD) to Video Track Chart™ (VTC) data store. HSI explains that VTC is a software program that provides access to up-to-date imagery, track charts and geographic maps of track.

“There are many benefits to this software, one of them being the ability to see how RFD trends with other data being collected, such as LiDAR and geometry. VTC gives HSI’s customers the option to view various types of imagery, such as LiDAR, video and 360-degree camera functionality, which are all geographically anchored so that the imagery is directly linked to the physical location,” said HSI. “This would allow the customer to see the most current track charts, get an on-track view of a location or watch a tour along a user-selectable route through a subdivision, should the need arrive. Not only would our customers be able to view all the features listed above, they could view our RFD data side-by-side with the standard types of imagery, giving the customer a one stop portal for viewing everything they need to know about their railroad.”

With an eye toward further development, HSI says it continues to develop its database of inspection data, which it says has proven to be integral to the continuous testing project and will be the key to what the company estimates to be countless improvements to its quality assurance team tools by making the audit process more streamlined and automated. HSI says the auditing team will be able to provide its customers with more critical information, faster.

One last project HSI explains is being developed is a dashboard of user-specific information that includes all collected data such as service failure ratio, uptime and test miles. Currently, it is being utilized internally, but the goal is to have this accessible to all of HSI’s customers.

Tim Coolman, R&D software manager, states “We are always looking for new ways to take advantage of our data to be more proactive and efficient, and have also built a new internal application that will help us quickly analyze data, identify trends and catch any irregularities that may arise, so they can be addressed swiftly.” www.rtands.com

Railway Track & Structures

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taking an

Even cut

by Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor

Improved customer-focused tools, modern chemical combinations and new attachments all play valuable roles in the evolution of vegetation management’s tool box.

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n ideal brush control program doesn’t rely on a single method to manage unwanted vegetation. A combination of chemical intervention and brush cutting will mitigate regrowth and keep site lines, switches and crossings clear.

Asplundh

Recent enhancements at Asplundh Railroad Division include a new customer dashboard that incorporates geographical information system mapping, tracking with an Automatic Vehicle Management System and daily real-time data collection, all packaged into a webbased customer portal.

“This provides our customers with immediate access to view the progress 22 Railway Track & Structures

and details of the vegetation management program Asplundh is conducting,” said Kevin Styles, Asplundh Railroad Division Manager.

Styles explains that one of the industry misconceptions he sees is the belief that if there are no weeds visible, then there is no reason to spray.

“With today’s modern chemistry, it is vital to a successful vegetation management program to treat all ballasted areas early, before spring germination of seeds. This provides the most effective vegetation control available. Another misconception is the idea that once you have weeds growing and then they are treated, they miraculously just disappear from sight, which is simply not the case,” said Styles. “The dead weeds will

January 2018

be standing there for some time. This is another reason to treat early, before the weeds get tall.”

He notes that performing a brush treatment with low volume, low application rate herbicides is more cost effective than that of mechanical cutting.

“With the cost of mobilizing large cutting equipment, the short duration before regrowth, and high equipment maintenance costs, mechanical cutting is usually cost prohibitive versus a simultaneous roadbed and brush application using our multiple system spray equipment,” said Styles.

Brandt

Brandt Road Rail Corporation offers the Brandt Rail Tool; a hi-rail-equipped www.rtands.com

vegetation management OPPOSITE PAGE: Progress Rail’s SkyTrim is designed to cut brush on nearly any kind of terrain and comes equipped with a telescopping boom and a saw-type cutter head.

THIS PAGE: RCE Equipment Solutions 120D Brush Cutter. The company launched an all-makes rail gear package in 2017, adding more versatility to their equipment line.

John Deere 225 Excavator that utilizes a 52-inch brush cutter attachment to cut vegetation. The machine has a rear-mounted 200hp auxiliary engine, which provides additional power to the brush cutter attachment.

The company has also incorporated brush-cutting capability into its Brandt RTB130; a hi-rail-equipped John Deere 710 Backhoe. Brandt explains that the machine’s 36-inch brush cutter attachment is especially effective for spot cutting around crossings or signals.

Bruce Dagenais, territory manager

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with Brandt, lays out the safety benefits of proper vegetation management for railway employees and the public.

He explains that signals clear of brush

provide better visibility for train crews while brush clearing around grade crossings optimizes visibility for roadgoing vehicles.

Railway Track & Structures

January 2018 23

vegetation management Dagenais also notes that one of the common mistakes he observes is spraying grass and weeds, but not cutting them down.

“Spraying is great to prevent more weeds from growing, but if you do not perform the brush cutting, you still have standing grass and weeds, which are now brown rather than green and will catch snow and create snow build up problems in the winter. Vegetation along the right-of-way and around switches will cause heavy snow drifting, which can impede regular maintenance and create unnecessary delays,” he said.

Dow AgroSciences

Homer Deckard, railroad vegetation control specialist, Dow AgroSciences, says 2018 will allow the company to build on the success of two herbicides that were introduced last year: Vastlan® and Cleantraxx®.

“Now that we have another season of using them under our belts, we feel even better about when and where to recommend them, as well as at what rates to get maximum value,” said Deckard. “Vastlan is a high-load formulation of triclopyr, perfect for any situation calling for grass-safe brush control. Cleantraxx is our new foundation product for total vegetation control situations and we’ve found that when we pair it with either Milestone® or Opensight® specialty herbicides, it delivers a potent solution for use on track line, in

rail yards or wherever there’s a need for bareground.”

The added time to become familiar with a herbicide’s ideal application is a plus as Deckard explains that the most common challenge with vegetation management programs in this market is an underestimation of the impact weed resistance has on programs, and in turn, on properties.

“Consistently using reduced rates of worn-out chemistry only contributes to that. I like to tell people that: ‘the bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.’ To minimize that resistance and to achieve better long-term control, you have to rotate your herbicide mixes and introduce new active ingredients into those mixes. It’s why we’ve seen customers so excited about incorporating Cleantraxx as a new foundation herbicide in their total vegetation control programs; it brings dual modes of action with an ALS herbicide and a PPO inhibitor herbicide for excellent weed control and to help us manage resistance,” said Deckard.

He believes taking an integrated approach to brush management means coordinating the right balance between using herbicides and mechanical methods in managed areas.

“Head-to-head, brush control using herbicides will always be more cost-effective than using straight mechanical treatments. Both in terms of up-front labor and material costs, but also when you look at long-term control of target species.

Spray encroaching brush with the right herbicide mix and you might not have to come back and treat again for several years.

Go in and only mow that same area, and you’ll see the brush come back twice as dense the next season, requiring another mowing cycle much sooner than you’d need to do another herbicide application,” said Deckard. “It’s my job to evaluate the areas in need of treatment, recommend an integrated approach with herbicides and rates that will deliver maximum value, not only versus alternative treatments like straight mechanical, but also against other herbicide solutions.”

Progress Rail

Progress Rail has developed and field tested a new brush cutting arm for its Kershaw Ballast Regulator, which has the capability to extend 25 feet for ease of maintaining vegetation near the track beds.

Dean Mackey, general sales manager of Utility & Specialized Products for Progress Rail, says securing ample track time can be a hurdle, but the company continues to develop equipment to tackle jobs quickly and efficiently.

“Our ability to manufacture equipment that can prove nimble, accessing track easily and ensuring flexibility for operations, helps our customers finish the job right the first time,” said Mackey. “Our new 75HRT Hi-Rail Truck is just one example of a product that delivers strong performance and meets these needs. Progress Rail’s 75G2-HR Hi-Rail SkyTrim is a rough terrain, rubber-tired vehicle with telescoping boom and saw-type cutter head designed to trim trees on nearly any terrain. Equipped with hydraulically-controlled rail wheels, this machine can be prepared to propel down the rail track in a matter of minutes.”

Mackey says the company aims to provide vegetation management and MOW equipment that customers can utilize year round. He points to the Kershaw Ballast Regulator as an example: It’s outfitted in the summer with the new 24 Railway Track & Structures

January 2018

www.rtands.com

“Head-to-head, brush control using herbicides will always be more costeffective than using straight mechanical treatments.”

–Homer Deckard, Dow AgroSciences

brush cutting arm for maintaining overgrowth and has an option to transition the machine to divert snow in the winter or maintain ballast throughout the year.

“Having a machine that offers complete, innovative solutions to include maintaining vegetation ties in, not only to cost effectiveness, but also better performance for the railroad’s operations, which is crucial to our customers’ success,” said Mackey.

RCE Equipment Solutions

RCE Equipment Solutions Co. – formerly Rail Construction Equipment, Co. (RCE) - launched an all-makes rail gear package in 2017 that allows the company to equip Caterpillar, Deere and Komatsu 20 metric ton excavators with hi-rail. The company also notes that it has seen an increased number of hi-rail excavators going out with brush cutter heads.

A good sign as the company explains that it commonly sees brush management programs prioritized after other track maintenance practices until they become a critical issue.

RCE Equipment Solutions explains that its hi-rail excavators equipped with a brush cutter head can help customers achieve brush management on and off track and they can be used for a variety of maintenance duties such as tie removal and installation, ballast undercutting, laying new rail and standard excavation tasks.

Supertrak

Spring 2018 will see a new machine introduced to Supertrak’s product line: the Dedicated Mulching Excavator. The company says it is a small package, but is purpose built for vegetation management with high horsepower, high flow and a reversing cooling system.

When it comes to proper equipment, Super track explains that making the selection of on or off rail can be challenging. The company says the right equipment and cutter heads will impact production cost and it encourages operators to understand how components work, such as drum style versus ax style heads, which can help them be more effective.

However, Supertrak notes that no matter what equipment is ultimately selected, it must be maintained.

“Not blowing out coolers or greasing bearings or not using the right teeth will greatly affect performance and productivity,” said the company. www.rtands.com

Railway Track & Structures

January 2018 25

Become a Member Membership in AREMA demonstrates that you are a professional in your field, dedicated to improving your practical knowledge and interested in exchanging information with your peers in order to advance the railroad engineering industry.

JOIN NOW AT AREMA.ORG

SAVE THE DATE CHICAGO • SEPTEMBER 16–19

300+ EXHIBIT SPACES • 65+ TECHNICAL PRESENTATIONS • EDUCATIONAL SEMINARS • KEYNOTE SPEAKERS • COMMITTEE MEETINGS & RECEPTION • DR. WILLIAM W. HAY AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE • STUDENT ACTIVITIES • MEET THE NEXT GENERATION • ANNUAL COMMITTEE CHAIRS LUNCHEON • SPOUSE/GUEST PROGRAM • NETWORKING & SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

WWW.AREMA.ORG

AREMA NEWS Message from the President

Ringing in the new year

Dwight Clark AREMA President 2017–2018

www.rtands.com

Welcome to 2018! I hope you enjoyed the great holiday season and are preparing for an exciting new year. The holiday season is always an important time to be with family and friends. Our families give us the strength and purpose to do the things we do.

Traditionally, resolutions are made at the start of the year. Companies and associations also develop strategic plans, annual operating plans as well as business objectives to achieve their goals for a multiple-year period. Professional as well as individual goals are set, with metrics to measure effectiveness. These goals may need tweaking as the year progresses due to the changing business environment.

As for AREMA, our association ended 2017 very successfully.

We are starting 2018 with a membership of more than 6,000 railway professionals. AREMA continues to grow and there is much work lined up ahead to gain new members. Education remains a primary focus of the AREMA mission. In addition to the seminars held in conjunction with the annual conference, AREMA continues to offer a variety of inperson seminars and web-based educational programs to the industry throughout the year and across the country. Educational efforts expand upon the material produced by our committees and in the best-selling manuals of recommended practices.

In addition, our student activities continue to grow. We are very excited about the continuing increases in student involvement in the association. AREMA now has 22 student chapters on college campuses throughout North America, compared to only one a decade ago. These chapters introduce students to the complexities of the rail industry where many students may have never had exposure. AREMA will end 2017 in sound financial condition despite the headwinds our entire industry has faced this year.

Each year, the president focuses the organization’s efforts on initiatives for the coming year. Initiatives for this year include: continuing ongoing efforts to determine the direction of the association, ensuring the association provides overall value to the railroads and other members, increasing participation of first line track, structure and signals managers, expanding use of conference calls and web meeting services to get more railroad participation and continuing to strengthen relationships with our sister associations.

An enormous asset of our North American railway industry is the positive relationships that exist between the railroads and their professional and supplier organizations. During the second week of January, the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) and Railway Engineering Maintenance Suppliers Association (REMSA) hosted the 2018 NRC Conference & NRCREMSA Exhibition in Los Angeles, Calif. I had the opportunity to attend this conference and the honor to speak on behalf of AREMA. I greatly appreciate both the opportunity to present and the warm hospitality provided at the conference. The title of the presentation was “AREMA Update” and included recent AREMA activities pertinent and useful to both NRC and REMSA attendees. The NRC conference

RESERVE YOUR EXHIBIT SPACE NOW

Sept. 16–19, 2018 Chicago, IL The AREMA 2018 Annual Conference & Exposition is the perfect place to showcase your offerings to the largest targeted audience within the railway engineering industry. Expect to find railway engineering professionals from all segments of the industry – track, structures, passenger and transit, maintenance-ofway, engineering services as well as communications and signals.

The Exposition is an affordable way to reach your target group of railway professionals. The schedule is formatted to give exhibitors face-to-face time with decision makers, as well as time to meet with potential customers outside the exhibit hall.

Join AREMA in the Windy City, Sept. 16–19, 2018, at the Hilton Chicago.

Please visit www.arema.org for more information.

Railway Track & Structures

January 2018 27

Upcoming Committee Meetings Jan. 18

Committee 10 - Structures, Maintenance & Construction New Orleans, LA

Jan. 18 Committee 16 - Economics of Railway Engineering & Operations

Teleconference Jan. 18-19 Committee 8 - Concrete Structures and Foundations

Austin, TX

Jan. 23-24 Committee 15 - Steel Structures Feb. 7

Scottsdale, AZ

Committee 9 - Seismic Design for Railway Stuctures

Feb. 21-23 Committee 7 - Timber Structures

Spring, TX New Orleans, LA

March 13-14 Committee 39 - Positive Train Control

Atlanta, GA

March 14-15 Committee 38 - Information, Defect Detection & Energy Systems

Atlanta, GA

March 26-28 Committee 2 - Track Measurement and Assessment Systems

Colorado Springs, CO April 22

Committee 6 - Building & Support Facilities

Philadelphia, PA

May 15-16 Committee 15 - Steel Structures

New York, NY

If you’d like to learn more about the AREMA Technical Committees and would like to get involved, please contact Alayne Bell at abell@arema.org. For a complete list of all committee meetings, please visit www.arema.org.

Negotiated travel discount information for AREMA Committee meetings can be found online at: arema.org under "Education and Events."

FYI… HAPPY NEW YEAR! We wish you and your family a happy and safe New Year!

BOOK YOUR 2018 AREMA EXHIBIT BOOTH NOW for the AREMA 2018 Annual Conference & Exposition in Chicago, IL, September 16-19, 2018! For more information and to book your exhibit space, please visit www.arema.org.

ORDER THE 2018 COMMUNICATIONS & SIGNALS MANUAL NOW. With over 50 new, revised, reaffirmed or extended Manual Parts, it’s the perfect time to get the 2018 Manual. Order online now at www.arema.org or contact mbruins@ arema.org for more details.

CALL FOR ENTRIES for the 2018 Dr. William W. Hay Award for Excellence.

Entries must be submitted by May 25, 2018. Please visit www.arema.org for more information.

2018: THE YEAR TO ADVANCE YOUR CAREER. The New Year is a chance for a fresh start in your career. Visit www. careers.arema.org and take the first steps into making your 2018 resolution a reality. Employers get a discount with code AREMArail to make 2018 your year to always be recruiting.

BRIDGE INSPECTION HANDBOOK, SECOND EDITION Order online now at www.arema.org or contact mbruins@ arema.org for more details.

is an event where contractors, suppliers and manufacturers meet with railroads to discuss opportunities for this coming year. The NRC-REMSA Exhibition also provided an excellent event to display new and improved products and services.

AREMA has a strong working relationship with NRC and REMSA. I’d like to thank President Chuck Baker for the gracious hospitality and opportunity to speak at the NRC Conference.

Individual AREMA members are the key to being successful in 2018. I appreciate all the contributions, effort and time you all put into this association every day. This is most unique and very atypical of most professional associations or organizations. Good luck with achieving your objectives and resolutions this year in both your professional and personal lives. Wishing all of you a productive, successful and exciting 2018!

Call for Nominations The 2017-2018 Nominating Committee, under the Chairmanship of Immediate Past President David A. Becker, hereby solicits suggestions and recommendations of candidates to serve on the Functional Group Board of Directors of AREMA in the following positions: All must be members of AREMA in good standing •

(1) Senior Vice President – one-year term; Must be a current or past member of the AREMA Board of Directors, and must be

employed by a railway or transit company.

•

(1) Functional Group Vice President – three-year term; (Engineering Services) Must be current or past member of the AREMA Board of Directors.

•

Five (5) Functional Groups will have a vacancy to be filled in the Functional Group Director positions – three-year term (Communications & Signals, Maintenance-of-Way, Passenger & Transit, Structures and Track).

Nominating recommendation should be submitted via letter or fax, and should include all documentation to substantiate the recommendation. This must be signed by the member making the recommendation. The deadline for Receipt of Recommendations is Jan. 31, 2018.

The Nominating Committee will consider all recommendations. Submission of a recommendation should not be construed as affirmative Committee action on that recommendation.

Please fax or mail to: David A. Becker Nominating Committee Chair, AREMA

Not an AREMA Member?

Join today at: www.arema.org 28 Railway Track & Structures

January 2018

4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 130 Lanham, MD 20706 USA FAX +1.301.459.8077

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AREMA NEWS

Getting to know Mike Will Each month, AREMA features one of our committee chairs or committee members. We are pleased to announce that the January featured member is Mike Will, chair of Committee 16 - Economics of Railway Engineering & Operations and director of Engineering Cost at Norfolk Southern Railway.

AREMA: Mike, can you tell us why you chose to pursue a career in the field of railway engineering?

WILL: I’ve always been interested in railroads, so while pursuing a civil engineering degree at Virginia Tech, an associate professor and I developed a railroad engineering course, plus I took several independent study courses geared towards railroading. I loved it!

AREMA: How did you get your start?

WILL: I started at Norfolk Southern by working as a carpenter's helper in the Engineering Department during summers while in college. I was helping to maintain the complex Lambert’s Point coal terminal’s rotary dumpers and 12-story shiploaders, as well as all track NOT on the ground. After graduation, I entered the Norfolk Southern Transpor tation Depar tment's management training program. I then spent the first part of my career in field supervision (Trainmaster).

AREMA: How did you become involved in AREMA and with the committee you now chair?

WILL: I joined AREMA’s predecessor, AREA, when I was in college. When I became Director of Engineering Cost for Norfolk Southern, I then began contributing to Committee 16 as it closely aligned with my job responsibilities at NS. AREMA: What do you do with your spare time?

WILL: I live on the water and I especially enjoy sailing on both large and small boats. However, all water-related activities appeal to me, including paddleboarding, fishing, crabbing, swimming and more.

AREMA: Tell us about your family!

WILL: Wife, and two kids scattered across the country.

AREMA: If you could share one interesting fact about yourself with the readers of RT&S, what would that special fact be?

MiCHAEL D. Will Director of Engineering Cost at Norfolk Southern Railway, Chair of Committee 16

WILL: I would say the story of how I got started at Norfolk Southern would be my interesting fact.

AREMA: What is your biggest achievement so far?

WILL: Being a respected and trusted member of the management team at Norfolk Southern, helping manage an almost $2 billion capital budget are achievements that I’m proud of.

AREMA: What advice would you give to someone else who is attempting to pursue a career in the railway industry?

WILL: Stick with it! Railroads have been around for 200 years and will likely be around for another 200 years, which cannot be said about most other industries.

Renew Your AREMA Membership Membership in AREMA demonstrates that you are a professional in your field, dedicated to improving your practical knowledge and interested in exchanging information with your peers in order to advance the railroad engineering industry.

AREMA helps further your education by offering numerous seminars, webinars and also the recommended practices for railway engineering infrastructure including track, structures and communications & signals.

Through your membership, stay connected as a member of AREMA Technical Committees.

Be sure to renew your membership today to take advantage of what AREMA can offer you. Login now and renew your 2018 dues online at www.arema.org. www.rtands.com

Railway Track & Structures

January 2018 29

AREMA NEWS

Watford Fellowship continues AREMA national outreach

by James Michael, PE, senior vice president, Marsh Global Rail Practice, and Thomas C. Cornillie, Capital Project, Capital Corridor Joint Powers Authorities The AREMA Educational Foundation has been instrumental in introducing college students to the opportunities and rewards of working in our industry.

However, the Foundation created a learning opportunity in 2014 for railroad employees who are new to the industry and are members of an AREMA committee.

Called the “Watford Fellowship,” the program provides paid registrations to the Watford Conference for railway designers held annually in Europe. The 2017 fellow, Thomas Cornillie, AICP, of the Capitol Corridor Joint Power Authority in Oakland, Calif., attended the 52nd Conference in Madrid, Spain, which was held in conjunction with the UIC NEXT STATION biennial conference.

AREMA’s connection to the Watford Group began in 1994 when all members of Committee 6, Buildings and Support Facilities, were invited into the U.S. Watford delegation and became eligible to attend Watford Conferences. Also attending the Madrid conference were Committee 6 members John Lyon and James Michel.

Hosted by the Spanish Railway Foundation (FFE) and Spain’s infrastructure manager, ADIF, the 2017 conference featured 28 presentations from railroads, infrastructure management companies and consultants from four continents.

Many of the presentations related to the conference theme, “Learning from the Past and Looking Forward: Stations in the Information Age” – offering perspectives on improving the efficacy and attractiveness of railroad services.

Other presentations looked at systems integration, innovation and problem-solving in a variety of contexts that embraced both facilities and rolling stock. Cornillie made a presentation about his research on U.S. and British efforts to improve the track shunting reliability of DMU vehicles. The

John Lyon , a member of AREMA Committee 6, Buildings and Support Facilities, also attended the Watford Conference this year.

30 Railway Track & Structures

January 2018

Thomas Cornillie, AICP, the AREMA 2017 Watford Fellow, participated in site visits to Spain’s highspeed network during the conference.

program also included a technical tour to Valencia, traveling on Spain’s high-speed rail system that included a visit to the award-winning regional station at Cuenca.

Cornillie remarked, “I am grateful to the AREMA Educational Foundation for selecting me as the recipient of the 2017 Watford Fellowship, which enabled my participation.”

British Railways created the Watford Group in 1963 to encourage the exchange of ideas and promote design excellence among its operating regions. Other countries were invited to join and subsequently, more than 20 nations are now eligible to send delegates to the annual Watford Conference.

The meetings mostly occur in Europe, but have been held in Japan and the United States. The meetings integrate all aspects of rail transportation under the umbrella of “good design is good business.” Cornillie noted, “The Watford experience has provided invaluable knowledge and contacts that I can use to support my activities as a planner, researcher and member of AREMA Committee 11.”

The 2018 Watford Fellowship program will consist of three paid registrations to the Watford Conference valued at approximately US$1,600.00 each.

The four-day conference, targeted for mid-October in Europe, will feature presentations by the attendees in all aspects of railway planning and design with an emphasis on buildings, bridge and tunnel structures and corporate identity.

The Watford Conference registration fee includes nearly all of the internal expenses including hotel, most meals, all local travel and admissions. The only added cost to a North American attendee would be trans-Atlantic air travel, which could be done using airline rewards and incidental expenses not part of the conference registration.

For 2018, the eligibility will expand to allow consultant employees working on a near full-time basis for a single passenger agency to also apply. Rules and applications for 2018 will be posted on the AREMA Education Foundation website in February with applications due in April. Visit www. arema.org for more information. www.rtands.com

PRODUCTS Digital route learning system

PTSI Transportation has completed work on the application of its all-digital Route Learning System™ to New Jersey Transit’s Newark Light-Rail system. The new generation operations training program is a digital learning system used to teach the physical characteristics of any railway to operating employees, railway or transit police and security officers, and external first responders.

The Route Learning System™ includes a series of digital maps and charts, in both electronic and hard copy format, and a video of the railroad taken from the engineers’ or operators’ vantage points.

The images are shown at the same time on a dual or splitscreen.The program has all key physical characteristics, such as signals, turnouts and crossings, highlighted on both video and charts, and an optional physical characteristics test module, the company said. Website: www.ptsitransportation.com/ index.html

www.rtands.com

Micro tracking unit

Lat-Lon LLC has released the Micro Tracking Unit (MTU).

The new tracking device is the company’s smallest solarpowered unit, measuring at less than f o u r i n ch e s by four inches by by two-andahalf inches. LatLon designed the unit to eradicate pricey cellular data plans within typical telematics units. The device transmits data through LoRa proprietary radio modulation technology, which is matched to a gateway within a one mile range or less. The unit saves messages for later transmission, as well, and creates them as often as every 10 minutes.

The messages can be delivered in real-time while near a gateway. “The LoRa-MTU offers the newest, and smallest version for low-cost asset location applications. You’ll get updates on where an asset is, how fast it is going and when it is in a certain geofence,” the company said.

Website: http://lat-lon.com/

Railway Track & Structures

January 2018 31

CALENDAR JANUARY 17-19. 2018 Annual Kentucky Transportation Conference.

Lexington Marriott Griffin Gate Resort. Lexington, Ky. E-mail: katie@kbtnet. Website: www.kbtevents.org.

18-19. Southwestern Rail Conference. Magnolia Hotel. Dallas, Texas. Contact: Bernie Rodriguez. Phone: 469-569-0136. E-mail: bernie@texasrailadvocates.org.

Website: www.texasrailadvocates.org.

23-25. Association of American Railroads’ 30th Quality Assurance Auditor and Industry Conference.

Historic Hilton Fort Worth Texas. Forth Worth, Texas.

E-mail: QA@aar.com. Website: www.regonline. com/2018qaconference.

7. Railroad Day on Capitol Hill 2018. Washington, D.C. Website: www.aslrra.org.

13. Rail Freight Business Development, presented by Railway Age. Union League Club Chicago. Phone: 212620-7208. E-mail: conferences@sbpub.com.

27-28. 23rd Annual Association of American Railroads Research Review. Cheyenne Mountain Resort. Colorado Springs, Colo., and Transportation Technology Center, Pueblo, Colo. Contact: Lori Bennett. Phone: 303-6173300. Website: www.aar.com.

29-31. 2018 NIT League Transportation Summit.

InterContinental Dallas. Dallas, Texas. Phone: 703-5245011. Website: http://www.nitl.org/events/.

APRIL 7-10. ASLRRA 2018 Connections Convention. Gaylord Opryland. Nashville, Tenn. Phone: 202-628-450 0.

E-mail: aslrra@aslrra.org. Website: https://aslrra.org/ aslrra2018connections.

MARCH 6-7. Railroad Track Construction Project Management

by University of Wisconsin-Madison. Hilton Garden InnChicago O’Hare Airport. Des Plaines, Ill. Contact: Dave Peterson. Phone: 800-462-0876. E-mail: dmpeter5@wisc.edu.

18-19. Sixth Annual California Passenger Rail Summit. DoubleTree by Hilton Los Angeles Downtown.

Los Angeles, Calif. Phone: 760-218-4161. E-mail: info@ californiapassengerrailsummit.com. Website: www. californiapassengerrailsummit.com/index.html.

32 Railway Track & Structures

January 2018

www.rtands.com

Ad Index Company

Phone #

AREMA Marketing Department

301-459-3200

Diversified Metal Fabricators

404-875-1512

Herzog Services, Inc.

816-233-9002

Fax#

Holland LP

708-367-2987

Landoll Corporation

800-428-5655

Loram Maintenance of Way, Inc.

301-459-8077 404-875-4835

816-233-7757

e-mail address

Page #

marketing@arema.org

26

sales@dmfatlanta.com

7

telbert@herzogservices.com

18

708-672-0119

rgehl@hollandco.com

21

888-293-6779

jim.ladner@landoll.com

2

763-478-6014

763-478-2221

sales@loram.com

Cover 4

Neel Company, The

703-913-7858

703-913-7859

jlewis@neelco.com

5

North American Rail Products Inc.

604-946-7272

888-692-1150

cerhart@narailproducts.com

9

Progress Rail, A Caterpillar Company

256-505-6402

256-505-6051

info@progressrail.com

23

RailCet

866-724-5238

217-522-6588

grif1020@yahoo.com

20

RCE Equipment Solutions Co.

866-472-4510

630-355-7173

dennishanke@rcequip.com

25

Railway Educational Bureau, The

402-346-4300

402-346-1783

bbrundige@sb-reb.com

31,32

Sperry Rail Services

203-791-4507

robert.dimatteo@sperryrail.com

Cover 3

Western-Cullen-Hayes, Inc.

773-254-960

773-254-1110

cp@wch.com

24

Willamette Valley Company

541-484-9621

541-484-1987

alisha.barrowcliff@wilvaco.com

Cover 2

Reader Referral Service This section has been created solely for the convenience of our readers to facilitate immediate contact with the RAILWAY TRACK & STRUCTURES advertisers in this issue.

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

Advertising Sales general sales OFFICE AL, KY Jonathan Chalon Group Publisher (212) 620-7224 55 Broad St., 26th Fl. Fax: (212) 633-1165 New York, NY 10014 jchalon@sbpub.com

OR, SD, TN, TX, UT, WA, WI, WY, Canada -­AB, BC, MB, SK (312) 683-5026 Heather Disabato 20 South Clark St. Fax: (312) 683-0131 Ste. 1910 Chicago, IL 60603 hdisabato@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 Business Development Manager 55 Broad St., 26th Fl. (212) 620-7260 New York, NY 10014 Fax: (212) 633-1863 jmarullo@sbpub.com

Responsible for advertisement sales in all parts of the world, except Italy, Italian-speaking Switzerland, Japan and North America.

Suite N2, The Priory, Syresham Gardens, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 3LB, UK

AR, AK, AZ, CA, CO, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, LA, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NE, NM, ND, NV, OK,

Louise Cooper International Sales Manager

www.rtands.com

Suite K5 &K6 The Priory +44-1444-416917 Syresham Gardens Fax: +44-1444-458185 Haywards Heath, RH16 3LB United Kingdom lc@railjournal.co.uk Michael Boyle International Area Sales Manager Dorfstrasse 70, 6393 St. Ulrich, Austria +011436767089872 mboyle@railjournal.com Italy and Italian-speaking Switzerland Dr. Fabio Potesta Media Point & Communications SRL Corte Lambruschini Corso Buenos Aires 8 +39-10-570-4948 V Piano, Int 9 Fax: +39-10-553-0088

16129 Genoa, Italy info@mediapointsrl.it Japan Katsuhiro Ishii Ace Media Service, Inc. 12-6 4-Chome, +81-3-5691-3335 Nishiiko, Adachi-Ku Fax: +81-3-5691-3336 Tokyo 121-0824, Japan amskatsu@dream.com Classified, Professional & Employment Jeanine Acquart (212) 620-7211 55 Broad St., 26th Fl. Fax: (212) 633-1325 New York, NY 10014 jacquart@sbpub.com

Railway Track & Structures

January 2018 33

NEW & USED EQUIPMENT

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ERIC HEADRICK President 205 N. Chestnut/PO Box 404 Arcola, IL 61910 Ph217-268-5110 cell217-259-4823 Fax217-268-3059 email eric@rrcri.com

MOW Equipment Lease & Sale Brushcutting Specialized Hauling Track Surfacing Low Boys with Rail

Exchange Units/Related Tamper Parts and Assemblies

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To purchase parts, contact: New & Rebuilt sales@rrcri.com Electromatic/Hydraulic Units available for same Workheads day shipping

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2016 NRC PlatiNum Safety awaRd wiNNeR

Ph: 315-455-0100 • Fax: 315-455-6008 • Syracuse, NY • www.franktartaglia.com www.rtands.com

Railway Track & Structures

January 2018 35

NEW & USED EQUIPMENT

R. E. L. A. M., INC.

Email: RelamCFE@aol.com Tel: 440-439-7088 Fax: 440-439-9399 Visit our website at: www.relaminc.com EQUIPMENT FOR SHORT OR LONG TERM LEASE HARSCO AND NORDCO TAMPERS 6700S, 6700SJ, 6700SJ2 Switch and Production Tampers Mark IV Switch and Production Tampers 3300 and HST Chase Tampers 3000 Tampers w/Raise & Line or Chase Tampers 2400 Tampers w/Raise & Line HYDRAULIC STABILIZERS HARSCO TS-30HDs TIE INSERTERS/EXTRACTORS Nordco TRIPPs TR-10s and TKOs 925 S/Ss, Standards, KTR-400s KNOX KERSHAW PRODUCTS KBR-860s and 925s, KSF-940 Ballast Regulators & Snow Fighters KBR-940 Dual Head Brush Cutters KTC-1200 Tie Cranes KKA-1000/1050 Kribber-Adzers KPB-200 Plate Brooms NORDCO ANCHOR APPLICATORS, SPIKERS & GRABBERS Models CX and SS Spikers M-3 Screw Spike Machines Model F Anchor Machines and BAAMs Model SP2R Dual Spike Puller/Grabbers RACINE RAILROAD PRODUCTS Dual Anchor Spreaders, Squeezers, Knockers (Anchor Removers), Anchor Applicators, DAACs (Dual Anchor Adjuster Cribber), Dual e-Clip Applicators, Ride-on Regauge Adzers, TPIs, Tie Straighteners, OTM Reclaimers, SAFELOK IIIs (SAR IIIs) HI-RAIL CRANES, SPEEDSWINGS & RAILHEATERS Pettibone Model 445E/445F Speedswings w/Multiple Attachments (F’s with Tier 4 Engine) Geismar 360/360-Tronic Hi-Rail Excavators, (Cold Air Blower, Brush Cutter, Grapple, Heel Boom, Train Air & Knuckle available) Badger 30 Ton Cranes w/Hi-Rails Propane and Diesel Railheaters - Single & Dual Sided, Self-propelled w/Vibrators HI-RAIL TRUCKS, EXCAVATORS, & CARTS Hi-Rail Gradalls, XL3300 Series III w/Digging Buckets & Brush Cutters Hi-Rail Rotary Dumps, Various Hi-Rail Pickups Hi-Rail Grapple Trucks (available w/Magnet, Rail Racks & Creep Drive) 25-ton Hudson Ballast Cars 25-ton Rail and OTM Carts, 5-ton Tie Carts

Sales

aspenequipment.com/railroad

Rentals

Service Parts

New and Used Hi-Rail Trucks Available

Nationwide DELIVERY

- Pickup Trucks - Service Bodies

- Flatbeds - Bucket Trucks

- Welding Trucks - Section Trucks - Grapple Trucks

- Track Inspector Trucks - Boom Trucks

CAll Bruce Harrod: 877-888-9730 BHarrod@aspeneq.com

100 S Paniplus Drive Olathe, ks 66061 main: 913.764.1315 Mobile: 913.972.1013

PARTS • SALES • SERVICE • RENTALS

Available for Lease 3000 cu ft Covered Hopper Cars 4650 cu ft Covered Hopper Cars 3600 cu ft Open Top Hopper Cars 4480 cu ft Aluminum Rotary Open Top Gons 65 ft, 100-ton log spine cars equipped with six (6) log bunks 60 ft, 100 ton Plate F box cars, cushioned underframe and 10 ft plug doors 50 ft, 100 ton Plate C box cars, cushioned underframe and 10 ft plug doors Contact: Tom Monroe: 415-616-3472 Email: tmonroe@atel.com

34 Railway Track & Structures

January 2018

OLATHE, KS • HOUSTON, TX • BRIGHTON, CO • BRANCHBURG, NJ • SAN MARCOS, CA • CALGARY

www.colliscw.com

RTandS.com www.rtands.com

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