RT&S March 2015

March 2015 | www.rtands.com

RAILWAY TRACK AND STRUCTURES

Unloading on ballast maintenance PLUS Shortline M/W: Central Maine & Quebec NRC Conference report and also AREMA News p.44

Contents March 2015

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Features

18

Industry Today 5 Supplier News 9 People

Shortline maintenance Upgrading the track infrastructure was just one item on the “fix it” list Central, Maine & Quebec had to tackle to revitalize its line.

Columns Central, Maine & Quebec

Herzog Railroad Services, Inc.

News

RAILWAY TRACK AND STRUCTURES

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22

Ballast upkeep New enhancements and upgraded technology helps ballast maintenance machines do more.

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NRC Conference report Hollywood, Fla., provided a comfortable back drop for the NRC’s eleventh consecutive record-setting conference this past January.

22 Departments 13 TTCI R&D 44 Arema News 51 Calendar 52 Products 53 Advertisers Index

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Harsco Rail’s Spreader Ditcher spreads ballast.

Story on page 22.

On Track Passion is a driving force for shortlines

53 Sales Representatives 54 Classified Advertising 55 Professional Directory

NRC Chairman’s Column The second quarter start up

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Railway Track & Structures

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On Track

RAILWAY TRACK AND STRUCTURES

Vol. 111, No. 3 Print ISSN # 0033-9016, Digital ISSN # 2160-2514 EDITORIAL OFFICES 20 South Clark Street, Suite 1910 Chicago, Ill. 60603 Telephone (312) 683-0130 Fax (312) 683-0131 Website www.rtands.com Mischa Wanek-Libman/Editor, mischa@sbpub.com Jennifer Nunez/Assistant Editor, jnunez@sbpub.com CORPORATE OFFICES 55 Broad St 26th Fl. New York, N.Y. 10004 Telephone (212) 620-7200 Fax (212) 633-1165 Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr./ President and Chairman Jonathan Chalon/Publisher Mary Conyers/Production Director Wendy Williams/Creative Director Maureen Cooney/Circulation Director Michelle Zolkos/Conference Director

RT&S Railway Track & Structures (Print ISSN 0033-9016, Digital ISSN 2160-2514), (USPS 860-560), (Canada Post Cust. #7204654), (Bluechip Int’l, Po Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2, Agreement # 41094515) is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publ. Corp, 55 Broad St 26th Fl., New York, N.Y. 10004. Printed in the U.S.A. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and Additional mailing offices. Pricing, Qualified individual in the railroad employees may request a free subscription. Non-qualified subscriptions printed or digital version: 1 year Railroad Employees (US/ Canada/Mexico) $16.00; all others $46.00; foreign $80.00; foreign, air mail $180.00. 2 years Railroad Employees US/Canada/Mexico $30.00; all others $85.00; foreign $140.00; foreign, air mail $340.00.

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All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced without permission. For reprint information contact: PARS International Corp., 102 W 38th St., 6th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10018 Phone (212) 221-9595 Fax (212) 221-9195. For Subscriptions & address changes, Please call (800) 895-4389, (402) 346-4740, Fax (402) 346-3670, e-mail rtands@halldata.com or write to: Railway Track & Structures, Simmons-Boardman Publ. Corp, PO Box 1172, Skokie, IL 60076-8172. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Railway Track & Structures, PO Box 1172, Skokie, IL 60076-8172.

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Passion is a driving force for shortlines

T

his may come as a shock, but there are things about my job that I do not like to do (spoiler alert: an Excel spreadsheet is usually involved). However, on the flip side of the coin, are the aspects of work that still get my blood pumping and put a little pep in my step. One of those tasks is getting to write about shortline and regional railroads.

I have found during my years in this industry, that railroaders are a passionate group. I always credited a true team atmosphere as the promoter of this passion. A lot of tasks, and when we reference the maintenance side, most tasks, require more than one person to be accomplished. The railroads work because of their team or they won’t work at all.

The fervent attitude among those involved in Class 2 and 3 railroads can be a bit more intense and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) provides a good reason why.

ASLRRA writes on its website, “[Modern day shortline and regional rail property] was some of the most vulnerable railroad track in the country as the large national railroads were forced to dramatically downsize their systems in the 1970s and 80s. These lines were saved by entrepreneurs who took huge financial risks to purchase and rehabilitate long neglected track.

And these new small businesses have become the workhorses of America’s rail network.”

It just so happens, one of our feature articles in the March issue involves putting the spotlight on the Central Maine & Quebec Railway (CMQ), story begins on page 18.

CMQ operates over the rail industry’s “ground zero,” the former Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway (MMA) line. MMA was sent into bankruptcy

following the Lac-Mégantic accident in 2013, an event the industry is still recovering and looking to learn from.

The railroad is still a couple months away from celebrating its oneyear anniversary, but it has already taken on an ambitious capital program and is committed to maintaining its assets at a level above minimum standards. And the railroad’s definition of an asset extends beyond the physical infrastructure of the railroad to include the people who operate and maintain it, as well as the relationships built with the communities and citizens who live along its line.

While CMQ’s management team are all shortline and regional railroad veterans, many hailing from former RailAmerica proper ties, the work required of CMQ once it took possession of the property in mid-2014 “had industry peers questioning the amount of work that we signed up for with such a short construction season,” according to CMQ President and Chief Executive Officer John Giles.

What CMQ became heir to was a long list of infrastructure maintenance and regulatory issues, as well as broken or non-existent community relations.

Regarding getting the line up to standards, Ryan Ratledge, CMQ’s chief operating officer said, “we knew it would be a steep hill to climb and we knew it wasn’t going to be a layup.”

I don’t want to spoil the article, but CMQ didn’t just put lipstick on the proverbial pig, it took the pig and turned it into a gazelle.

Mischa Wanek-Libman, Editor Railway Track & Structures

March 2015 3

INDUSTRY TODAY Supplier News Continental Rail Corporation says it has established a strategic relationship with energy and infrastructure banking firm TaylorDeJongh that will target transportation infrastructure assets in North America.

Georgetown Rail Equipment Company received a notice of allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for its x-ray backscatter inspection technology.

Harsco Corporation has acquired Protran Technology, which designs and produces safety systems for transportation and industrial applications; Protran will be operated as a unit of Harsco Rail.

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BNSF details planned 2015 capital program for 13 states BNSF unveiled more details about its planned capital expenditure programs for 13 states.

The railroad announced a record-setting $6-billion capital program for its system in 2015 and will spend an estimated $2.53 billion in Nebraska, Minnesota, Washington state, Illinois, North Dakota, Texas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Montana, Colorado, Kansas, California and Oklahoma.

BNSF says its 2015 capital projects in Nebraska will greatly improve capacity on a heavily-trafficked coal route by constructing two double track segments on the Ravenna subdivision between Bradshaw and Aurora and Pleasant Dale and Milford totaling 18 miles.

BNSF’s plans for Wisconsin include the construction of four miles of double track through La Crosse and the installation of Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) in several locations along the Aurora subdivision.

In Minnesota, BNSF will construct double track segments from Big Lake to Becker and from Little Falls to Darling totaling 13 miles, as well as starting to grade for a double track project from Randall to Lincoln to be completed in 2016. The railroad will also install CTC signaling projects along the Monticello, Staples and St. Croix subdivisions, construct a two-mile double track segment from Minneapolis Junction to St. Anthony, convert a section of track in the Dayton’s Bluff area of St. Paul to a third mainline track and build a new train siding along the Noyes subdivision.

The Washington state projects include the completion of construction of double track from Ferndale to Custer totaling nearly seven miles, constructing a staging track west of Custer, Reconfiguring the Bayside and Delta rail yards located in Everett to improve efficiency and provide more capacity and continuing to work through permitting and rightof-way issues involving the replacement of the Washougal River bridge in Camas.

Capital projects in Illinois include starting the grading for the construction of two double track segments from Burk to Savanna and Aurora to Sugar Grove totaling 12 miles, installing CTC signaling projects along the Aurora and Beardstown subdivisions, extending the sidings at Atwater, Concord, Jacksonville, Stewart and Vermont, replacing a bridge in Metropolis, extending tracks in Zearing to facilitate increasing interchange volumes and expanding railcar loading/unloading tracks, support tracks and parking at Continued on page 6

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INDUSTRY TODAY Continued from page 5 the Logistics Park Chicago intermodal and automotive facilities (located in Elwood), as well as, at the Willow Springs Intermodal Facility.

BNSF will also focus on connecting the Chicago Subdivision at Western Avenue with the Chillicothe Subdivision at Ash Street as part of the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency program.

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BNSF’s North Dakota work will include the continuation of construction of double track along the Glasgow subdivision between Minot and Williston totaling 37 miles, installing CTC along the Devils Lake, Dickinson, Hillsboro and Jamestown subdivisions, upgrading the connection track between the Hillsboro and Devils Lake subdivisions, extending the siding along the

Dickinson subdivision and expanding the capacity and classification capability of the Dickinson Yard.

The railroad’s capital projects in Texas include constructing a southeast quadrant connection at Tenaha, building a new siding in Lumberton with CTC, beginning the two-year replacement project of the Trinity River bridge in Fort Worth and expanding parking and support tracks at the Alliance intermodal and automotive facilities in Haslet, as well as the Amarillo Automotive Facility.

Plans for Missouri include constructing two new sidings between Elsberry and Ashburn and milepost marker 94, as well as extending the siding in Gibbs to improve train capacity along the Hannibal subdivision.

In Montana, the railroad plans to begin the grading for four miles of double track along the Glasgow subdivision and improve the tracks from Crane to Snowden Junction. The railroad said both these projects will greatly improve capacity on this heavily-trafficked route.

Planned capital projects in Colorado in 2015 include the extension of sidings along the Brush subdivision in Bijou, Crest, Hudson, Messex, Roggen and Tonville, construction of a new siding west of Commerce City and an extension of the tracks at the Denver and Sterling terminals.

BNSF’s 2015 capital projects in Oklahoma include improvements in the Cherokee Yard and constructing two double track segments on the Panhandle subdivision between Noel and Avard and Loder and milepost 323 totaling 18 miles resulting in the more efficient movement of trains.

In Kansas, the railroad will construct double track from Bonita to Hillsdale along the Fort Scott subdivision totaling 11 miles and improve the switching efficiency at the Logistics Park Kansas City Intermodal Facility (located in Edgerton) through yard track expansion.

BNSF notes that continuous maintenance of its infrastructure ensures an optimized, safe and reliable network.

In addition to the above projects, the railroad plans a maintenance program in each state that will include 14,212 miles of track surfacing and undercutting work, the replacement of nearly 719 miles of rail and more than 2.4 million crossties. www.rtands.com

INDUSTRY TODAY GWI; OmniTRAX affiliate mark acquisitions to their networks Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWI) and OmniTRAX bulked up their shortline portfolios with plans to acquire separate companies.

GWI agreed to acquire approximately 95 percent of the shares of Freightliner Group Limited from Arcapita and other shareholders for cash consideration of approximately £490 million (US$755 million at current exchange rates) and to assume approximately £8.5 million (US$13 million) in net debt and capitalized leases.

Members of the existing Freightliner management team will retain an approximate five percent ownership interest with GWI to own 100 percent by mid-2020. The acquisition is expected to close during the first quarter of 2015.

Headquartered in London, England, Freightliner is an international freight rail operator with operations in the United Kingdom (U.K.), Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and Australia.

In Continental Europe, Freightliner Poland primarily serves Poland and also oper-

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Supplier News

ates in eastern Germany. In addition, Freightliner’s ERS subsidiary, based in Rotterdam, provides cross-border intermodal services.

In Australia, Freightliner currently transports coal and containerized agricultural products for its customers in New South Wales and is also an accredited rail service provider in Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland.

Peru Industrial Railroad, LLC, a managed affiliate of OmniTRAX, Inc., will expand the company’s footprint in Illinois with the purchase of the Peru Rail Line from the city of Peru, Ill. Peru Industrial Railroad will run freight service on three miles of track starting immediately. Terms were not disclosed.

Peru Industrial Railroad has a direct connection with Illinois Railway, LLC, which is also managed by OmniTRAX. Together, the two rail lines encompass 116 miles of track and have interchanges with BNSF, Norfolk Southern, Canadian Pacific, Canadian National and CSX.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority awarded a contract to GCT Constructors, JV, a joint venture consisting of Schiavone Construction Co. and John P. Picone Inc., to build the future Long Island Rail Road concourse at Grand Central Terminal.

Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario have selected Plenary Infrastructure ERMF as the preferred proponent to design, build, finance and maintain the East Rail Maintenance Facility project.

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INDUSTRY TODAY CTA receives approval for $120-million TIFIA loan for Blue Line upgrade project The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has been approved for a $120-million Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan by the U.S. Department of Transportation to be applied toward the Your New Blue project.

The $492-million Your New Blue project represents the largest investment in the O’Hare branch of the CTA “L” system since it was extended to O’Hare International Airport in 1984.

“By modernizing the Blue Line, we are investing in Chicago’s future, as it not only serves as a vital transportation link connecting O’Hare and downtown, but it serves as a key economic engine for scores of Chicago neighborhoods,” said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “This federal funding will help us ensure that we build the infrastructure Chicago needs to succeed economically in the 21st Century.”

The four-year program, which was announced in late 2013, is an ambitious service improvement project on the Blue Line that will benefit more than 80,000 customers who use the O’Hare branch each weekday. In addition to station improvements, the project upgrades tracks and modernizes signal systems to speed train travel and make it more reliable.

The project will also create more than 1,300 good-paying jobs in construction, engineering, design and other construction-related fields.

In 2014, the CTA made substantial progress on Your New Blue, including the completion of the first three of 13 stations that will receive upgrades. Damen and California both received substantial improvements and the Western station, which underwent a major rehabilitation in 2001, also received improvements. All three stations were built in 1895. Also completed was trackwork between the Logan Square and Damen stations that the CTA says is providing a smoother ride and reducing commutes by as much as 10 minutes each way.

Ridership on the O’Hare Branch of the Blue Line is growing rapidly, with more than 25 million station entries in 2014.

Weekday ridership has grown 25 percent during the past five years and 33 percent during the past 10 years—outpacing the growth of the rail system as a whole. Annual ridership on the O’Hare branch increased by 6.3 million rides during the past 10 years, the second highest for any branch after Red North Main, which added seven million rides.

“Chicago has the second busiest mass transit system in the country, but also one of the oldest,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said. “This project will increase Blue Line capacity, improve reliability and de-crowd trains. Importantly, it will also allow passengers to travel more smoothly from O’Hare, the world’s busiest airport, to downtown. Investing in mass transit is good for our infrastructure and economy.”

TCR wants to focus HSR efforts on Utility Corridor Texas Central High-Speed Railway (TCR) informed the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) that it recommends narrowing the consideration of potential high-speed rail corridors between Houston and Dallas to a single preferred corridor known as the Utility Corridor.

TCR says it has concluded the Utility Corridor is best suited to satisfy the goals of the project to provide reliable, safe and economically viable high-speed rail service between Dallas and Houston using the N700-I Bullet System technology.

The Utility Corridors recommendation follows what TCR calls “significant effort” looking for solutions to engineering, construction and economic challenges associated with building high-speed rail in or along the existing freight corridor.

TCR notes, as it continues to examine various alternative alignments that one of the company’s goals is to reduce the project’s impact on communities and landowners to the extent practicable by using existing rights of way. TCR will recommend inclusion of an alternative involving the I-10 corridor as a potential approach to downtown Houston and looks forward to working with the city of Houston to evaluate this option.

The company says it will now focus on potential alternatives keyed to the Utility Corridor that meet the business, environmental and connectivity priorities of the project and will submit additional information to the FRA for further detailed analysis during subsequent phases of the environmental review process.

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PEOPLE

Association of American Railroads’ Senior Vice President of Safety and Operations Robert VanderClute has retired and will be succeeded by Michael Rush.

Canadian Pacific Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Bart Demosky has decided to leave the company, effective May 31, 2015.

Fecon, Inc., named Joe Cox Northeast regional manager.

Kansas City Southern appointed Patrick Ottensmeyer president.

M e t ra a p p o i n t e d J o h n M i l a no to deputy executi ve director for administration.

Norfolk Southern named James Squires chief executive officer, to succeed Wick Moorman, effective June 1, 2015.

Richard Fischer has been named New York City area manager at Parsons Brinckerhoff.

Patriot Rail Company LLC promoted Jennifer Whiteman to chief financial officer and added Justin Broyles as vice president sales.

S o u t h w e s t Ra i l roa d , I n c . , appointed Marc Syring to general manager; Brian Keller, formerly operations manager for Oregon Eastern Railroad, has been appointed to operations manager for Whitewater Division.

Unitrac Railroad Materials, Inc., promoted Lizabeth Albanese to the position of national sales manager.

Union Pacific’s board of directors elected Lance Fritz president and chief executive officer, succeeding John Koraleski, who was named executive chairman.

VIA Rail Canada appointed Susan Williams to general manager for eastern Canada. www.rtands.com

Railway Track & Structures

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NRC CHAIRMAN’S COLUMN

The second quarter start up

The National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association, Inc. 500 New Jersey Ave., N. W. Suite 400 Washington D. C. 20009 Tel: 202-715-2920 Fax: 202-318-0867 www.nrcma.org info@nrcma.org

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When most people hear the term “March Madness,” they think college basketball. But many of us in the rail construction and maintenance industry know the term better as a reference to the last few weeks available before construction season begins to get our crews and equipment onto project sites. It’s almost April and the start of the second quarter is only weeks away. Everyone is well rested and ready to go. Our equipment has been run through our shops, repairs and upgrades have been made and some pieces even got a fresh coat of paint. Our field force has gone through their annual training requirements and it is now time to get back to work for the long haul until the winter weather shuts us down again. The cycle begins anew.

I would like to wish our entire membership a safe and productive 2015. Remember that good preparation will bring success, so plan well, be productive and, most of all, be safe.

At our January conference, the NRC issued our two newest safety training videos, these ones were on grade-crossing planning and replacement and they are free to our membership, as always.

These videos demonstrate and explain the safe practices and procedures to adhere to while performing this type of work. Grade-crossing work involves much more than just coordinating with the railroad customer. The replacement of a grade crossing typically involves a city or town, as well and this outside involvement will necessitate additional planning. Multiple people and jurisdictions will have a say regarding the planning of the road closure. Along with our normal planning around rail service impacts, we must also consider the traveling public since we will be closing a publicly used roadway. Since returning from the conference, I have heard all positive feedback about these two new videos - they are a great addition to the 16 previously issued videos, all pertaining to safe practices in doing various types of trackwork.

They are a welcome training tool that will help our member companies be better prepared to do their jobs safely and productively. The NRC has received many thanks from our membership for the efforts made in creating all 18 videos to date.

A special thank you to the NRC Safety Committee and, in particular, John Zuspan, lead producer and president of Track Guy Consultants, for their time and efforts in making these training videos – great job everyone.

The next NRC event on the calendar is our 2015 Rail Construction and Maintenance Equipment Auction. It will be held on Friday,

April 17, in Little Rock, Ark., this year. This is another annual outing that our membership really enjoys. It is a great opportunity to visit with friends and colleagues in the rail industry, do some networking and maybe make a great purchase on a piece of equipment at the same time. Blackmon Auctions will host the event at their facility in Little Rock, in conjunction with a Union Pacific equipment auction. The UP involvement increases the number of people in attendance and the number of pieces to be sold. I would like to thank the following members of the NRC Equipment Auction Committee for putting this event together: Danny Brown of V&H Inc., Trucks, Jay Gowan of Harsco Rail, Mark Gaffney of Stacy and Witbeck, Paul Laurello of Delta Railroad Construction, Dean Mackey of Progress Rail Services and Greg Spilker of Encore Rail Services. Thank you gentlemen.

Auction Details: • Auction begins 8:00 a.m., Friday, April 17, 2015 – expected finish by 3:00 p.m.

• Location: Blackmon Auctions facility, 425 Blackmon Road, Lonoke, Ark., 72086.

• Equipment inspection available: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., April 16, 2015.

• Happy Hour/Social Event – April 16, 2015, 5:00 p.m. to close - Wyndham Riverfront Little Rock, 2 Riverfront Place, North Little Rock, Ark., 72114.

• Hotel - Discounted room block available at Wyndham Riverfront Little Rock.

• Follow this link: http://www.wyndham.com/groupevents2015/LITNO_ CBIMSL/main.wnt to reserve your room or call 1-866-657-4458. Please refer to the “NRC - National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association” when making your reservation by phone.

Finally, please save the date of Thursday, June 4, 2015, to attend Railroad Day on Capitol Hill this year. Our membership will descend upon Washington, D.C., for the opportunity to talk with our elected officials and their staff about infrastructure spending, shortline railroad tax credits, truck size and weight laws and various regulatory concerns. There is strength in numbers and we look forward to a big turnout to drive our message home.

For further information on all NRC planned events, please visit www.nrcma.org.

Have a safe day.

by Bill Dorris, NRC Chairman Railway Track & Structures

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TTCI R&D Testing of latest top-ofrail friction modification materials at FAST

by Daniel Szablewski, Joseph LoPresti and Tony Sultana, TTCI Principal Investigators.

TTCI investigators report findings of topof-rail friction modifier materials at FAST.

T

ranspor tation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI), evaluated top-of-rail (TOR) fr iction modification (FM) materials from two suppliers at the Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST),

Figure 1: Locations of TOR FM wayside units (Section 5), the load station (Section 25), TOR tribometer measurements (Sections 6 and 25) and GF lubrication application station location.

Counterclockwise train travel direction is indicated by arrows.

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Pueblo, Colo., to determine optimum application rate.

One water-based product tested had the highest percent reduction in lateral curving forces, 67 percent for the low rail and 55 percent for the high rail, with an application rate of 12.26 in 3 /1,000 axles. The highest percent reduction of an oil-based product was 54 percent for the low rail and 43 percent for the high rail, with an application rate of 5.49 in3/1,000 axles.

Background

Fr iction control is a process of applying lubricants and/or friction modifier s to either the wheel or the rail, with the primar y goal of extending rail and wheel life and reducing fuel consumption. Gaugeface (GF) lubrication is applied to the gauge face of the rail, whereas TOR FM mater ial is applied to the top running surface of the rail.

Application of both GF and TOR FM materials can be by onboard or wayside systems. Effectiveness of friction control can be determined by measuring a number of parameters, including rail friction coefficient, curving forces, noise levels and rail Railway Track & Structures

March 2015 13

TTCI R&D

Figure 2: Reduction in lateral curving forces over baseline (GF lubrication only) conditions on the low and high rail measured 2,900 feet away from the applicator in Section 25.

wear rates. Rail friction is measured with manual or automatic high-speed tribometers.1 The study reported here was conducted during seven nights of train operations at FAST to determine the optimum application rate for each FM material.

Test layout and method

FAST is a 2.7-mile loop with approximately 55 percent (body of) curve, 17 percent spiral and 28 percent tangent track. Figure 1 shows the layout of the section of track used for testing. Depending on the night of operation, the train was made up of three locomotives and either 89 or 115 fully-loaded 315,000-pound g ross load railcars operating at an average speed of 40 mph in a counterclockwise direction. GF lubrication was applied wayside in a short spiral (Section 24). TOR FM material was applied wayside in a short tangent (Section 5). The 14 Railway Track & Structures

March 2015

application rates were in accordance with manufacturer’s recommended practice; TOR FM application rates were assessed by each supplier and reported to TTCI. TOR friction was measured in a short spiral (Section 6) and a six-degree curve (Section 25), 100 feet and 2,900 feet respectively from the TOR FM wayside applicator. Strain gauges were applied to the high and low rails 2,900 feet from the wayside applicator for measurement of wheel-rail lateral forces.

Lateral curving forces on the leading axle of each truck were analyzed for each product application rate. The lateral curving force data was compared to baseline (GF lubrication only) conditions. Baseline conditions were established prior to each change in product or application rate by shutting off the TOR FM applicator and using only GF lubrication until the measured forces on the rails reached steady state. The steady-state percent reduction in curving forces of each product application rate was determined from the baseline condition immediately prior to TOR FM application. The baseline runs (prior to application of each product) are included in the steady state where no statistical difference was observed between runs using the log-rank statistic in nonparametric survival analysis. All results are presented as percent reduction in lateral curving forces over the baseline condition.

Distribution results from this analysis are presented as the median of the per-axle calculated reductions.

Confidence inter vals (CI) of 99 percent are used to represent the range of the results at each application rate (Figure 2). Between TOR FM product changes and before each product was applied, a baseline (GF lubrication only) condition was established for comparison of all TOR FM materials. Steady-state lateral curving forces were established for the baseline condition and were used as a target for dry down (i.e., restoring to baseline condition) before testing different TOR FM products.

Supplier A tested one water-based product (red lines in Figures 2–4), whereas Supplier B tested five products, three that were water-based (blue lines in Figures 2–4) and two that were oil-based (green lines in Figures 2–4).

Results

The highest percent reduction in lateral curving forces was for the water-based TOR FM product from Supplier A, Product 1, with an application rate of 12.26 in3/1,000 axles. The reduction was 67 percent for the low rail and 55 percent for the high rail. The highest percent reduction in lateral curving forces for an oil-based TOR FM product www.rtands.com

TTCI R&D

was for Supplier B, Product 4, with an application rate of 5.49 in3/1,000 axles. The reduction was 54 percent for the low rail and 43 percent for the high rail.

There was a decrease in steady-state lateral forces for all products on both the high and low rails as the material application rate increased. In most cases, the percent reduction in lateral force is greater on the low rail than on the high rail. In some cases, confidence intervals overlap between low and high rail results for the same products at the same application rates.

C o n d i t i o n s a l l o we d o n l y l i m i t e d t r i b o m e t e r measurements during testing; this data is included here as information. Lateral force data is the main metric in this testing. Rail friction at the site of the lateral force measurements (2,900 feet away from applicator) indicates that values on the low rail remained at or above 0.40µ for most products tested (Figure 3). However, in the case of Supplier B, Product 4, the TOR running surface friction dropped to 0.32µ at an application rate of 3.66 in 3/1,000 axles. TOR friction for the same www.rtands.com

Figure 3, left: TOR friction on the low and high rails measured 2,900 feet away from wayside applicator.

Figure 4: TOR friction on inside (low rail) and outside (high rail) rails 100 feet away from wayside application location.

product 100 feet from the application location was 0.23µ and 0.26µ at application rates of 3.66 and 5.49 in 3/1,000 axles, respectively (Figure 4). Coefficient of friction measurements on the high rail in Section 25 showed consistently low values in the range of 0.30µ to 0.42µ (Figure 3). These are likely due to GF lubrication applied in Section 24 migrating to the TOR and mixing with the TOR FM materials. Figure 4 shows similar TOR friction measurements of the outside rail in Section 6. Gauge face migration masks the expected drop in TOR friction level due to increased TOR FM Railway Track & Structures

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TTCI R&D

application rates on the outside high rail of Section 25. For points of reference, AREMA recommended target friction levels are: • Gauge face on curves: less than 0.20μ • Gauge corner on curves: less than 0.20μ • Top of rail (curves and tangent): 0.30μ - 0.40μ • Differential: maximum difference between left and right top of rail: less than 0.1μ difference1 The friction coefficient on very dry rail can exceed 0.5µ.

Discussion

Water-Based Products Measurement of TOR fr iction values for water-based products suggests that material is not accumulating on the rail at low application rates and that wheel

conditioning initially produces a reduction in curving forces.

Advantages shown for using waterbased products include: • Up to a 67-percent reduction in low rail lateral curving forces and a 55-percent reduction in high rail lateral curving forces for Supplier A, Product 1.

• Even low application rates resulted in lateral force reduction • Rapid conditioning of the wheels resulted in nearly immediate reduction of lateral curving forces.

Disadvantages include: • Relatively rapid rise in lateral cur ving forces resulted once the product application ceased.

• Some products produced low rail-fr iction conditions near the applicator at higher application rates.

Additional friction measurements after extended operation at higher

application rates are needed to deter mine if adver se conditions would be created.

• Product fling and waste on the ballast were observed at higher application rates.

Oil-Based Products Advantages shown for using oilbased products include: • Up to a 54-percent reduction in low rail lateral curving forces and a 43-percent reduction in high rail lateral curving forces for Supplier B, Product 4, at 5.49 in3/1,000 axles application rate.

• Relatively longer lasting benefits of material once application was ceased as compared to water-based products.

Disadvantages include: • Relatively longer conditioning times compared to water-based products.

• While extended carry distance is a desirable feature, friction at and near the applicator is of critical impor tance. Additional friction measurements after extended operation at higher application rates are needed to determine if adverse conditions would be created.

General comments

Suppliers A and B used different application practices. Supplier A selected pump settings that provided small amounts of product at frequent i n t e r va l s d u r i n g t r a i n p a s s a g e , whereas Supplier B selected settings that provided larger amounts of material less frequently during the train passes. Future testing will address the effects of different application practices, the optimum distance between wayside applicators, the effects of TOR FM materials on wheel and rail rolling contact fatigue and wear and material effectiveness in cold weather climates.

Reference 1. American Railway Engineering and M a i n t e n a n c e - o f - Wa y A s s o c i a t i o n (AREMA), Volume 1, Chapter 4, Manual for Railway Engineering, 2014.

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Central, Maine & Quebec:

Revive, Rebuild

Central Maine & Quebec management faced a massive rebuilding effort of the railroad’s infrastructure, its safety culture and its community relationships.

A before-and-after look at the Newport Sub, which was in excepted status when CMQ first took possession of the line.

by Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor All photos courtesy of Central, Maine & Quebec.

S

afe. Reliable. Secure. Those three words greet visitors to Central Maine & Quebec Railway’s (CMQ) website and within those words isn’t just a statement of what the railroad has become, but a commitment to the communities it operates through of what it will continue to be.

CMQ was formed less than a year ago when Railroad Acquisition Holdings LLC, an affiliate of New Yorkbased Fortress Investment Group, acquired the just under 500 (481) miles of rail line from Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway (MMA) for a reported $15 million. MMA fell into bankruptcy following the tragic accident at LacMégantic, Quebec, in July 2013.

Possession of the U.S. assets took place in the middle of May 2014, while the Quebec assets didn’t close until the end of June 2014. What CMQ also took possession of was a slew of notices and orders from Transport Canada and a railroad that required rebuilding, quite literally, from the ground up.

Capital work

Ryan Ratledge, chief operating officer at CMQ, is one of the shortline industry veterans now in top management at CMQ. Ratledge has extensive experience taking underperforming railroads 18 Railway Track & Structures

March 2015

and successfully turning them around, demonstrating that expertise at a number of former RailAmerica properties.

“When we arrived, we were told, ‘we were a Class 3, 40 mph railroad’, which is what the time table said at the time, but when you looked at the operating bulletins and speed restrictions, it was as a practical matter a couple of sections that were good for 40 mph, but most of the rest of it was 10 mph,” said Ratledge.

“One of the plays we immediately called was to abandon the fiction that it was practical to think about returning it to a 40 mph railway. We decided that we would return it to a continuous maximum authorized speed to 25 mph and get to work fixing the 10 mph slow orders.”

Ratledge says the railroad had two goals for the initial phase of work: Address any regulatory issues and get the railroad up to a solid 25 mph operation.

“The Quebec side needed more attention than the Maine side. That is where we focused our attention and most of our resources. In Quebec, we essentially had a 10 mph railroad and the Newport Sub was in ‘excepted status.’ We had yard tracks in Farnham, Quebec, that were either out of service or in excepted status and the entire mainline through Quebec had notices and orders from Transport Canada that

we inherited,” he said.

While Ratledge says there was a complete list of things to correct, such as crossties and surfacing at select locations, to tackle the regulatory issues from Transport Canada, the railroad spent a good portion of its CA$10-million (US$7.9-million) investment in rail.

“The rail was one of the biggest items. We bought an entire rail train,” said Ratledge. “I’ve been in the shortline industry since 2007, I’ve managed many shortline railroads and I’ve never purchased an entire rail train during the course of a capital season.”

CMQ’s shortened 2014 construction season was spent installing more than 32,000 new crossties, 110,000 linear feet of rail and 25,000 tons of ballast along its line. It also upgraded bridges, culverts and crossings, completed surfacing work and removed more than 300 in-track rail defects from its main tracks and sidings.

Ratledge estimates 80 percent of the work mentioned above was performed in Quebec and gives credit to Ron Marshall, the railroad’s general manager of engineering, for being the architect behind the CMQ’s aggressive and ambitious capital program. “[CMQ needed to perform] a large scope of work in a very short period of www.rtands.com

CMQ Revitalization time. We didn’t close on the Canadian side until June 30, 2014; so naturally, you’re limited to what you can commit yourself to until you own the railroad.

Ron was trying to source ties and rail and things like that in the beginning of July, when he should have had that stuff going in the ground at that time of year [given a normal capital season].

I’m convinced that he’s one of the only guys that could make that happen,” said Ratledge. “In my opinion, it’s tapping into the relationships that Ron has built in the industry over the past 30-plus years, that allowed him to find what little was available.”

On December 5, 2014, CMQ received the official revocation of a series of notices and orders from Transport Canada that confirmed immediate threats no longer existed on CMQ’s line.

At the time of the announcement, John Giles, president and chief executive officer, said, “We had to make this investment. The line was covered in snow last February and March when we were finally able to begin our dili-

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gence, but we made a commitment to Lac-Mégantic Mayoress Laroche and citizens, as well as many regulators, that we would address the years of neglect.

It was an extremely tough undertaking.

We had industry peers questioning the amount of work that we signed up for with such a short construction season.”

While Giles notes that Phase 1 of the line’s transformation is largely completed, he did mention there was more to do.

“Not to say we don’t have a lot more track and infrastructure work to do next spring, but we have already started Phase 2, which focuses on growth, customers and interline partners,” added Giles.

Looking toward 2015 and beyond, the railroad estimates this year’s capital spend to be between $5 and $6 million.

Ratledge notes that the 2015 capital program is a continuation with similar type of work planned in order to maintain a 25 mph railroad.

“We can handle the business that we have, at a pace that gets across the railroad at 25 mph with an operating plan

that lends itself to a 25 mph railroad, so we’re going to continue to do that until there is a business case to do something different,” said Ratledge.

He continued that if a customer or commodity, such as intermodal, presented a need to travel across CMQ property at a faster rate of speed, the railroad would evaluate that option on a case-by-case basis.

“Every time we looked at upgrading a sub-division or section of track [at previous railroads to accommodate faster speeds], we found we frequently didn’t gain that much. With current carload volumes, what little we may gain in velocity could easily be eroded elsewhere. We burn more fuel and our track deteriorates much quicker at 40 mph than it does at 25 mph, so by running at 25 mph, we can stretch those capital dollars a little further, as well,” said Ratledge.

He also notes that regulated minimum standards are just that to CMQ, minimum standards, they aren’t CMQ standards and the railroad does not intend for the track to deteriorate to a

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CMQ Revitalization

CMQ’s Farnham Yard following an upgrade effort to remove the yard from excepted status.

condition that will require regulators to impose notices and orders.

“We’re operating a Class 2 railroad, we’ll fix and maintain areas and not to a standard that is borderline in compliance. If something gets close to getting out of standard, Ron and his team are going to put a temporary speed restriction on it and then correct the defect,” said Ratledge.

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Affecting cultural change

Investing in infrastructure was only one challenge faced by CMQ when it took ownership of the line. Establishing relationships in the communities the railroad operates within and rebuilding a safety culture among its work force was also part of the CMQ’s revitalization efforts.

As mentioned above, the leadership team’s past experience turning floun-

dering railroads around provides CMQ with a solid blue print to base a successful transition.

“It’s really about getting all members of the team involved. I know we have a lot of valuable thoughts and sincere ideas that can help us from the people that are out doing the work every day,” said Ratledge. “I started as a switchman in 1994 and I remember sitting on that locomotive and thinking, ‘if somebody would listen to me, I would do this and that to correct this problem.’ I know I’m not the only person in the industry that thinks like that.”

He continued by saying the first step in the process is simple, yet effective: Listen.

“I would be foolish to think, I could just show up and understand the history and the lay of the land. It’s listening to a lot of people and getting feedback from those folks,” said Ratledge.

Once feedback is received, the next step is tapping into CMQ’s collective knowledge base to form a team approach.

“It’s really the team collaborating

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CMQ Revitalization on what the best approach is to talk through these ideas. With whatever amount of capital that we allocate each year, it’s important to gain other people’s input on how to best deploy. We’re taking a rifle shot approach as opposed to a shotgun-type approach,” he said.

“Our owners and leaders deserve to know that every dollar was spent exactly where it needed to be.”

Regarding safety, Ratledge notes the approach is two-fold; part of the solution is making sure procedures are in place, but equally important is management’s accessibility.

One example of new safety procedures is the implementation of a job briefing book, which was developed by Marshall for the engineering department, but will also be rolled out to other departments.

The book is in English and French and provides a standardized and formal way for work to be tracked on a daily basis.

“Being out of the office, being visible is the other big thing that we all feel is important to building a good safety culture,” said Ratledge. “If we’re at a

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customer meeting, on the way back, we’ll go by and find a crew that is working to say hello and shake their hand. We know it won’t happen overnight, we know it will take a while to change the culture, but we have a team, thank goodness, that is very receptive to that approach and they are very appreciative of the time Ron Marshall and the other leaders are spending in the field.”

In addition to safety, community relations is another continual effort.

“We stop in and meet with the civic leaders and not just in Bangor, Maine, but in as many places along our rail line as possible,” said Ratledge. “[The communities] take notice of track machines, they can see progress along our corridor and through their communities that they haven’t seen in years, if ever. When you stop in and share some of the specifics with them, they are very appreciative. It’s one of those things that I’m reminded how important it is. I’ve learned that we can’t do too much of it.”

Ratledge recounts a recent outreach effort where top CMQ leadership load-

ed up in an RV for a three-day tour, stopping at a dozen different communities along the railroad’s right-of-way to meet with the various mayors, economic development departments, fire chiefs and people in the communities on CMQ’s railway.

“That was a civic outreach vision that John had from day one. It was appreciated and allowed community leaders to put faces with names, shake hands and exchange contact information with the decision makers,” he said.

For Ratledge, summarizing the infrastructure, safety and outreach endeavors of the railroad can be boiled down into one sentence: It’s getting back to the basics.

“A robust, annual capital program, getting back to the basics of the inspections and maintenance. It’s the rail geometry testing, it’s rail-flaw testing and it’s getting back to putting those best practices into implementation.

We’ll continue to do that here, not just on the track side, but on the rest of the operation side, as well,” he said.

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The GREX DumpTrain for curves in action on the rails.

Semi-Annual

by Jennifer Nunez, assistant editor

ballast update - Part 1

Ballast maintenance practices continue to evolve as suppliers update methods used.

B

allast maintenance is a crucial part of right-of-way upkeep, which is why railroads are committed to cleaning, undercutting and adding new ballast continually and why RT&S features it twice a year.

Balfour Beatty

Over the past year, Balfour Beatty Rail, a division of Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc., has enhanced its on-track inspection capabilities with the addition of a new line-scan trackbed imaging system.

“We’ve installed the systems on our fleet of Railroad Asset Scanning Cars (RASCs),” explained Lynn Houser, business development manager. “The outputs from the line-scan system offer railroads a range of information they can use for engineering and asset identification, as well as management applications. Examples include ballast surface condition and fouling, rail identification, tie inspection and other track appurtenances.”

Combined with its Ground Penetrating Radar systems, Balfour Beatty Rail provides railroads with a comprehensive 22 Railway Track & Structures

March 2015

assessment of the entire trackbed, from the top of the rail through to the subgrade, the company notes.

“The information provided allows railroads to improve the planning of ballast maintenance activities,” Houser said. “It helps them determine the root cause and extent of subgrade defects that result in costly slow orders and fines (inadequate ballast).”

Balfour Beatty Rail has developed its RASC inspection fleet with a range of multi-functional inspection systems. The RASC is designed to optimize time on track and reduce the need for numerous surveys in the gathering of critical asset and condition information.

“It also better positions us to provide downstream services, including ballast cleaning, undercutting, switch undercutting, ditching and tie and rail replacement,” noted Houser.

Brandt

Brandt Road Rail Corporation recently unveiled the RTB-130, Brandt’s hi-railed backhoe, which is mounted on a John Deere 710 base chassis and powered by a 130-horsepower engine www.rtands.com

ballast maintenance

and high-capacity hydraulics. The company says this ensures maximum power is delivered to the attachments, such as rotators, buckets, undercutters and tampers.

Brandt developed the RTB-130 hi-railed backhoe as it continued to watch a shift in the rail maintenance marketplace.

Railroads requiring machines for small maintenance projects want a platform that is stable, versatile, reliable and productive, the company says. The RTB-130 was designed to fit that requirement by allowing a multitude of attachments and minimizing the manpower it takes to complete routine tasks, such as ballast maintenance and tie change outs.

The future is changing; railroads are trying to accomplish more tasks with less equipment, less labor and less track time, Brandt says.

BTE

Ballast Tools Equipment says it believes the key to being more productive with ballast maintenance is with innovative time and cost-saving solutions.

“One of the main features of our BTE 312 series Hi-Rail Excavators is the ability to travel and undercut at the same time,” explained BTE engineer, Matt Weyand. “This results in more production in a short work window. A spot problem can be cleaned up and rebuilt by a single machine, including

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undercutting, refilling, grading and tamping, all while working on or off rail. The 312 has ample power to effectively undercut a spot problem in a hurry.”

The BTE 312 Excavator was developed during the past two years in response to customers requesting a smaller, more mobile excavator that still has the power and flexibility to do the work needed to maintain ballast (right–of-way), across the board, Weyand says.

Ballast conditions and composition are vastly different across the country and even in local areas from place to place,: wet/dry, compacted/loose, missing/fouled. Weyand notes the BTE 312 is a machine that is not only extremely mobile, but can handle everything from soft, loose ballast conditions, like those in the Pacific Northwest, to the sun-baked, hard ballast conditions seen in the South and the compacted and fouled ballast in the Midwest mud.

GREX

Georgetown Rail Equipment Company, known as GREX®, understands that railroads are always striving to improve the way they perform maintenance and are always seeking out new solutions. To deal with unique projects where traditional ballast delivery methods are insufficient, GREX offers the DumpTrain® and the latest GREX development, the DumpTrain for curves.

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March 2015 23

ballast maintenance “Whether the project calls for stockpiling ballast, repairing a washout or laying base material for adjacent track construction, the DumpTrain is the best tool for the job,” explained Greg Grissom, vice president engineering.

The first generation DumpTrain utilizes a single belt that runs the length of the train, carrying material from each car as it is unloaded to the main stacker for delivery. The stacker car is outfitted with a 35-foot boom, which can travel 180 degrees perpendicular to the track.

The only limiting factor for the original DumpTrain design is the inability to unload in significant curvature.

The second generation DumpTrain was designed to be more versatile and offer the capability to unload in curves.

To accomplish this, each car was designed with its own belt and drivemotor. When unloading, each car delivers material to the preceding car until the material arrives at the stacker. This new design also gives users the flexibility of creating custom sized trains that can be

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adapted to fit their projects.

GREX also reports other developments in ballast inspection with its BallastSaver®.

“Collecting system-wide ballast deficiency data has empowered railroads to most effectively prioritize ballast needs, allowing ballast programs to stretch further,” explained Grissom.

“BallastSaver, the recently-patented L I DA R - b a s e d i n s p e c t i o n s y s t e m developed by GREX, accurately assesses the existing roadbed ballast profile and overlays that data against the customer’s ‘ideal’ or standard profile. By correlating thousands of miles of BallastSaver data to track geometry data, GREX, through a partnership with the University of Delaware, has shown a clear and welldefined relationship between ballast deficiencies and track geometry defects.”

BallastSaver now provides 360-degree clearance information and has been integrated with the Aurora® tie inspection technology allowing for simultaneous tie and ballast assessment at speeds at faster than 30 mph.

Harsco Rail

“The Harsco Spreader Ditcher is a highlyversatile railroad maintenance machine used to plow heavy snow, spread ballast and cut trackside ditches,” said Steve Bolte, director of North American sales at Harsco.

“Railroads primarily use the Spreader Ditcher to reduce the time it takes to clear or re-profile their ballasted tracks.”

The machine is able to cut fouled ballast from the end of ties and plow clean ballast on the track. Carrying and distributing clean ballast, the machine helps move the ballast to produce the correct track roadbed section.

Recently, the company says the Spreader Ditcher has been instrumental in digging out from the major winter storms across the northern states. Rail lines have been deploying the machine to keep their tracks clear for freight and commuter lines.

The Spreader Ditcher was originally developed in the 1960s and underwent a complete redesign just two years ago.

“The Spreader Ditcher will be sure to catch your attention if you see it on the

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ballast maintenance track. It’s a sizably distinct machine that assists railroads with their ditching, draining and plowing maintenance requirements,” shared Bolte.

Herzog

Herzog Railroad Services, Inc. (HRSI), says it has an unwillingness to be satisfied with the status quo; the G.P.S. Ballast Train Fleet is under constant development.

“Our persistence is evident when entering the Ballast Train Simulator, which is used to simulate dumping conditions for circuit board and unloading software development,” said Tim Francis, vice president of marketing.

Every board and wire is tested and retested before being release into the field and installed into HRSI’s train fleet.

“HRSI finished 2014 with another strong push to continue the advancement of our GPS Ballast Train fleet,” explained Francis. “We not only finished replacing the train’s GPS antennas with our SMART/P.L.U.S. Inertial System, but tunnel dump testing was also completed.”

With HRSI’s new SMART/P.L.U.S. Inertial System, the company says it has cut down instances of GPS loss to almost nothing. The inertial system, used for pre-dump survey and while dumping the train, is said to reduce track and time needed for both tasks.

“The accuracy of the inertial system allows both the survey and the dump to continue with little or no GPS signal,”

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explained Francis. “Skips are virtually eliminated during the dump and we can now dump through tunnels where we have no GPS signal at all.”

In the past couple of years, HRSI says it has successfully dumped ballast through a tunnel more than two miles long. Based on pilot testing, HRSI is confident that its SMART/P.L.U.S. Inertial System will allow the company to dump through a tunnel of up to eight miles in length. The SMART Trains can dump up to 30 cars per mile on concrete skeletonized track. An entire 75 car train can be dumped in approximately 30 minutes.

Knox Kershaw

In Summer 2014, Knox Kershaw Inc. (KKI) released the KBR 860, a new ballast regulator to replace the older models KBR 850 and KBR 875. The 860 features better visibility, a new wing structure with thicker grader blades to provide extended wear and a clean roof design, which is not only safer from a maintenance standpoint, but also lowers the machine height to facilitate shipping. The KBR 860 also upgraded from a 240hp engine to a 260hp engine and features a higher ratio axle for better torque.

The Knox Kershaw KBR 925 ballast regulator was also upgraded to a 260hp engine, heavy-duty ballast wings and a bigger cab with better visibility and improved operator comfort.

KKI notes that LED lights now come standard on all Knox Kershaw machines and all machines now have a side-mounted A/C for safe and easy access.

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March 2015 25

ballast maintenance A BTE 312 Hi-Rail Excavator equipped with a BTE Undercutter, removes ballast near Blytheville, Ark.

KKI says that it maintains a stocked inventory of most replacement parts for quick shipment to the customer. The company also offers telephone support for the life of the machine.

As a supplemental service for machines no longer under warranty, KKI offers on-site operator training and repair for its machines, as well as other maintenance equipment.

Loram

“Railroads are realizing long-term sustainable benefits through increased budgets for ballast maintenance activities,” said John Simmons, marketing specialist at Loram Maintenance of Way, Inc. “As a result, Loram continues to invest heavily in research and development activities searching for and developing innovative ways to enhance productivity of its High Performance Shoulder Ballast Cleaners, Railvacs, Track Lifters, Track Undercutters and Badger Ditchers.”

Recently, Loram enhanced the machine automation system on their HP Shoulder Ballast Cleaners to increase productivity and improve consistency in the quality of product produced.

Additionally, Loram offers the Railvac, which is useful for ballast excavation in areas of tight clearances, around switches, on ballast bridge decks, for culvert cleanout, in tunnels and on transit properties. The Railvac is capable of applying 5,000 pounds of force and has a rotating nozzle to break up tough material. When equipped with HEPA filters, it is capable of completing HAZMAT remediation projects.

Loram says it sees an increase in utilizing ballast equipment as a part of system work gangs in major maintenance and rehab

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ballast maintenance

Herzog Railroad Services, Inc.’s G.P.S. SMART Train Ballast Car. projects. The company has found coordinating this equipment with work gangs and other track rehabilitation equipment is optimizing productivity of the equipment, work gangs and outcome of rehabilitation projects.

“With increasing rail traffic, the ballast degradation process can lead to a fouled ballast condition much quicker,” noted Simmons. “Since it is highly desirable to prevent the degradation from reaching a fouled ballast condition, maintenance on a more frequent schedule is required. However, increased train traffic also means less time for track maintenance. This equation means less time to do more. Loram is constantly looking for ways to be more productive with the time available for track maintenance.

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March 2015

Loram is investing in technology, equipment and services to get more work completed in less time. By addressing ballast maintenance on a more frequent preventive cycle allows our customers to keep more of their system maintained and less time spent on trouble spots.”

Miner

Miner Enterprises, Inc., says it is continuously improving the design and, recently improved the performance/life cycle, of the linear actuators and electrical systems used in its Miner Electric AggreGate®, a stand-alone electric aggregate system. The electric stand-alone AggreGate enables independent operation of the car

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ballast maintenance from anywhere within a ballast train, eliminating the need for grouping manual and automatic cars.

Miner AggreGate is available in pry bar manual, push button or remote control operations using pneumatic or electric power to operate the gates “Miner has been working on ways to simplify the application of the Aggregate Systems,” said Chris Gaydos, manager mechanical engineering. “We are making these changes to help car builders and car shops streamline the applications and reduce labor costs. They have been asking for a safe, durable, maintenance-free way to ballast that can be applied to new or existing cars and that is what the Miner AggreGate provide.”

During the past year, Miner has supplied twin cylinder, remote-control operated ballast systems for cars built in and exported to South America. In addition, Miner is currently providing AggreGates to two Class 1 railroads for new cars and car conversions.

Montana Hydraulics

Montana Hydraulics LLC has recently made some improvements to its Center Mounted Bi-Directional Ballast plow that extends expected time in operation before wear parts need to be replaced.

“The Montana Hydraulics Center Mounted Bi-Directional Ballast plow continues to gain popularity due to it’s versatility, safe operation, reduction in man power requirements and

Loram’s Railvac cleaning track of non-ballast material.

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ballast maintenance Plasser’s RM-2003 ballast cleaning machine.

NMC Railway Systems

heavy-duty construction,” explained Della Ehlke, co-owner.

“The need for our ballast car field maintenance and repair services continues to grow because of the increased amount of track construction and reconstruction. Montana Hydraulics’ 17 years of continuous work in ballast car field services provides railroads the knowledge and experience necessary for our field mechanics to be a valuable resource.”

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March 2015

This year, NMC Railway Systems will be rolling out the Cat® Hi-Rail 420 and 430 Backhoes to combat the need for an allin-one ballast maintenance machine. Equipped with an RT30 Indexator with tilt and rotate functions, the machine allows for added flexibility when coupled with a variety of attachments, including; a six-foot undercutter bar with bi-directional chain, two motor ballast tamper and a tie inserter with dual wood/ concrete pads.

NMC continues to expand its in-field support for all Cat maintenance-of-way machinery repair.

“The demand for on-site repair is increasing as track maintenance projects increase going into the spring,” explained Mark Anderson, sales manager. “Our in-house and field service teams are ready to provide service and/or training to ensure equipment is used properly and to its full potential.”

Anderson says decreasing track windows increase the need for a machine that can access remote track areas via hi-rail, but can also get off track and work, are in demand.

“Hi-rail machines allow operators to be more efficient with the track lines they’re covering and also have the ability to move off track lines if there is an oncoming train,” he noted.

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ballast maintenance The newest addition to the Knox Kershaw Inc. ballast regulator product line, the KBR 860.

Nordco

Nordco Inc. reports that its HST Tamper no longer requires any type of permit to be trailered on most highways. It has always been road legal height, length and weight, but with its recent redesign, it is now legal width, making it more convenient and less costly to the end users.

Nordco’s M7 Snow Fighter has a new center discharge snow blower. With the variable speed second stage, it throws

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snow farther in varying snow conditions. Additionally, a newlydesigned pivoting broom assembly makes it easier to clear switches without height adjustments.

“Customers have requested that we increase the seating capacity on the machines so that employees can be safely seated while traveling with equipment,” explained Bill Straub, vice president of engineering and product development. “We offer optional jump seats in the cabs of all of our new and

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ballast maintenance

NMC Railway Systems’ 430F Hi-Rail Backhoe, ready to work.

rebuilt machines.”

Nordco is developing the XL5-T and XL5-R. The XL5 team features a roadready tamper and regulator. Instead of trailering their surfacing equipment, customers can haul it. Both the XL5-T and XL5-R feature truck wheels and axles that allow users to hook it to any standard tractor for hauling between jobsites. The XL5s load directly from road to rail at any crossing. The XL5-T also features Nordco’s new PD Positive Displacement Vibrator that has been developed and tested for increased reliability, Straub notes.

Plasser American

“The key to good track health begins with a good clean ballast bed,” noted Plasser American Corp. “The ballast bed has a number of important functions as part of the system composed of rail, tie and ballast. To fulfill these functions, the ballast bed has to be clean. Therefore, contamination caused by day-to-day

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ballast maintenance operation must be cleaned regularly. A properly cleaned ballast bed will result in increased time between tamping maintenance cycles, increased life of track components, less interruptions of train traffic and an overall reduction in maintenance costs.”

The ballast bed is crucial to a safe and cost-efficient track, the company says. It enables uniform transmission of pressures from the rail to the substructure, provides a high resistance to longitudinal and lateral displacement and restores the track geometry following train loads due to its elasticity. Plasser explains that in order to obtain a ballast bed ideally suited for these tasks, several factors must be taken into account: the height and the cross-section of the ballast bed, the ballast quality and the consolidation of the ballast. Over the years, Plasser says, these factors are affected adversely due to fouling of the ballast resulting in reduced bearing strength, elasticity and rapid deterioration of track geometry.

“Even though it is possible to correct the track geometry using a tamping machine, this maintenance measure on its own is very uneconomical due to the rapid decrease in quality that will occur,” explained the company. “To perform cost-efficient maintenance of a high-quality and safe track, regular ballast bed cleaning is therefore, absolutely necessary. The correct method for ballast cleaning is crucial for the quality and sustainability of this process. The technologies developed by Plasser fulfill all key requirements: precise cut of the formation, sustainable cleaning quality, accurate re-placing of the clean ballast and exact positioning of the track.”

For ballast excavation, all Plasser ballast cleaning machines are equipped with a circulating, endless excavating chain that is guided on the formation using a straight cutter bar. This enables a straight cut to be achieved and prevents the sub-grade surface from being crowned or concave.

The entire excavating unit is guided automatically in longitudinal direction and elevation according to pre-selected values. Using this excavating depth control, a straight cut of the formation is achieved in respect of longitudinal direction and elevation.

The better the screening quality, the less frequently the ballast bed will have to be cleaned and tamped, Plasser says.

“In our vibrating screening units, three screen layers separate the re-usable ballast from the fine particles. Mesh size, vibration and angle setting of the screen layers are optimized to enable a maximum cleaning output,” noted Plasser.

Directly behind the excavating unit, the ballast is returned to the track using slewing conveyor belts. The working speed of the machine permits the ballast to flow directly underneath the ties.

Additionally, ballast is placed in the cribs and tamping zones.

RCE

Recently, Rail Construction Equipment Company (RCE) has added more undercutter bar sizes to enhance the use of the excavator undercutting process. RCE can now supply the 135G, 245G, 250G and 350G excavators with undercutter bars.

“By increasing these options, our customer base can perform undercutting with all our models of hi-rail or standard excavators,” explained Dennis Hanke, sales manager.

RCE is continuing to offer all of its track maintenance equipment either for sale, lease or rental g iving the customer the option of how they can outfit thier projects with RCE’s equipment. www.rtands.com

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NRC conference and NRC-REMSA exhibit

Marks another success in Florida

by Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor

The 2015 National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association Annual Conference in Florida is another recordbreaking success.

C

ontractors, railroaders and suppliers escaped the winter chill and gathered in Hollywood, Fla., for the 2015 National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association Annual Conference. For the eleventh consecutive year, the gathering hit an attendance record with more than 1,200 attendees. The January 7-10

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March 2015

2014 Platinum, Gold and Silver Safety Award Winners.

meeting provided informational presentations, excellent networking opportunities and an active exhibit hall where more than 135 companies displayed their products and services.

Speakers from North America’s Class 1 railroads, shortlines and transit systems detailed the upcoming year’s capital spending programs, as well as

outlined contracting opportunities available on their property.

“We were thrilled with the conference this year. It was the eleventh consecutive year for record attendance with north of 1,200 people, which is up close to 10 percent from the previous year,” said Chuck Baker, NRC president.

When asked what he credited the

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conference’s continued success to, Baker said, “I think at its core, it’s a real bread and butter conference. You have the major players, who give relevant details on capital spending. We’re not offering life coaching seminars, the speakers are giving timely, crucial information that’s relevant to lots of contractors and suppliers, you do that in a warm place, while the rest of the country is experiencing a polar vortex and it’s a pretty easy sell.”

Following the opening reception in the exhibit hall, the general session began with Randy Bowman, engineer, Track and Materials for Norfolk Southern, as well as chairman of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA).

Bowman pulled double duty at the conference presenting NS’ planned 2015 capital program and providing an update of AREMA’s activities.

Bob Bergen was the first speaker of the major transit agencies to address the conference. He outlined New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s fiveyear capital plan, discussed the continuing efforts to recover from Superstorm Sandy and reiterated the authority’s commitment to enhancing safety.

Next on the schedule was Jo Strang, vice president for regulatory affairs with

the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association and Jeff Moller, assistant vice president, Transportation Systems and Practices with the Association of American Railroads, who tackled the topic of federal rail safety initiatives and the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee process.

Bruce Marcheschi explained many of Metra’s projects scheduled for the upcoming year in the Chicago area including the UP North Line’s bridge replacement project, various interlocker renewal projects and Metra’s involvement with the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program.

After a light breakfast and networking time in the exhibit hall, attendees heard Canadian National’s Jim McLeod discuss the estimated $1.8 billion in basic capital renewal the railroad has planned for 2015.

The NRC Safety Committee offered a preview of the latest Safety DVDs, “Safety Around Replacing Grade Crossings Part 1 (preparation)” and “Safety Around Replacing Grade Crossings Part 2 (execution).” The NRC Safety Committee has produced 18 safety DVDs for railroad contractors that are free to NRC members.

2014 NRC/RT&S/Commercial Insurance Associates Safety Awards Platinum Winners - Score of 100 out of 100 points American Track Generations; Balfour Beatty Infrastructure; Herzog Contracting Corp.; Herzog Services, Inc.; Herzog Technologies; Holland LP; Joseph B. Fay; Kelly-HIll Company; L.K. Comstock National Transit; Lone Star Railroad Contractors; PNR RailWorks; Ragnar Benson; RailWorks Track Systems; Rhinehart Railroad Construction; Scott Bridge Company; Sharp and Fellows; Stacy & Witbeck; Trumbull; US Trackworks Gold Winners - Score of 80-99 points American Rail Marketing; Ames Construction; Armond Cassil Railroad Constructors; Capital Railroad Contracting; Clayton Railroad Construction; Coleman Industrial Construction; CR Construction Company; Crafton Railroad Company; Delta Railroad Construction; East Coast Railroad Services; FritzRumer-Cooke; Georgetown Rail Equipment Co.; GW Peoples Contracting; HAFCO Services; Herzog Railroad Services, Inc.; K.W. Reese; Moran Environmental; Queen City Railroad; R&R Contracting; Railroad Construction Co. of South Jersey; Railroad Construction Company; Railroad Constructuros; RailWorks Track Services; R.J. Corman Railroad Group; Tranco Industrial Silver Winners - Score of up to 79 points Colo Railroad Builders; J-Track LLC; Loram Maintenance of Way, Inc.; Railroad Controls Limited

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March 2015 39

NRC in florida OmniTRAX’s Ken Koff was the first of shortline and regional railroad speakers. He stated a common theme among speakers at the NRC Conference: The importance of safety. As far as the company’s capital spend in 2015, ties will be a focus and close to 18 percent of OmniTRAX’s budget will be spent on bridges.

Chambers, Conlon & Hartwell, LLC President Keith Hartwell provided a rail legislation update, followed by a presentation detailing the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s construction plan for 2015.

Day two of the conference included two Class 1 capital plan presentations from Union Pacific and BNSF, which between the two railroads will account for more than $10 billion in 2015 capex.

Presentations from Miami Dade Transit and Watco Transportation provided attendees with a well-rounded snap shot of where contracting opportunities lie in the industry in the next year.

Day two also saw the presentation of the NRC/RT&S/Commercial Insurance Associates 2014 Safety Awards. The

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Left to right: NRC President Chuck Baker, 2014 Field Employee of the Year, Mike Spalding and Ernesto Scarpitti, Delta Railroad Construction.

way in which the awards were given was revised this year to make the selection process more objective. According to NRC, there were multiple contestants with perfect scores and in order to reward this achievement, the NRC awarded the 19 perfect-scoring contractors with a Platinum Award. Gold and Silver award

winners were also recognized and all can be viewed on page 39.

The final day of the conference saw Class 1 presentations from Canadian Pacific and CSX, as well as from Genesee & Wyoming and Florida East Coast Railway describing plans for the various shortline railroads.

Tony Hatch provided an update to the Rail Renaissance and attendees also received an update on the All Aboard Florida project.

New to the conference this year was a congressional staff panel, which addressed transportation related legislation and priorities for the current session of Congress.

The third annual special awards recognized the 2014 Field Employee of the Year, which was awarded to Mike Spalding, track superintendent with Stacy and

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NRC in florida 2014 NRC special Awards 2014 Field Employee of the Year Award Mike Spalding, track superintendent; Stacy & Witbeck 2014 Large Railroad Construction Project of the Year Award Port of Los Angeles Berth 200 Rail Yard; Herzog Contracting Corp.

2014 Small Railroad Construction Project of the Year Award Crawfordsville Bridge Repair; Joseph B. Fay Company

Witbeck. Regarding Spalding’s selection, the NRC said, “Mike’s performance, commitment to the industry and character make him the type of leader the NRC is trying to recognize with this award.”

The 2014 Construction Project of the Year award was separated into two categories this year with one awarded being presented to a construction project with a budget more than $10 million and an award being presented to a project under $10 million.

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The Large Railroad Construction Project of the Year went to Herzog Contracting Corp. for its work at the Port of Los Angeles Berth 200 Rail Yard. Herzog Contracting Corp. managed the relocation of the existing Pier A Rail Yard to the Berth 200 site to accommodate the TraPac terminal expansion. Herzog Contracting developed a strong communication strategy with the Port of Los Angeles, which helped overcome unknown challenges and allowed the project to be

completed on time and within budget.

The Small Railroad Construction Project of the Year was awarded to the Joseph B. Fay Company for the Crawfordsville Bridge Repair. The project rehabilitated a bridge for CSX in an isolated area. Joseph B. Fay Company successfully dealt with site access issues, as well as river and weather challenges to complete the project within budget and with an admirable safety record.

Both the Large and Small Railroad Construction Project of the Year will be detailed in the May issue of Railway Track & Structures.

The next NRC event will be the annual NRC Railroad Construction and Maintenance Equipment Auction on Friday, April 17, 2015, in Lonoke, Ark., at 8 a.m. Blackmon Auctions will run the proceedings, as well as host the auction at is facility.

The next NRC Conference and NRC-REMSA Exhibition will be January 6-9, 2016, in San Diego, Calif., when the event returns to the Hotel Del Coronado.

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AREMA NEWS Professional Development Seminar Introduction to practical railway engineering April 13-15, 2015 Las Vegas, NV

Do you have limited exposure to the railway industry? Are you a railroader in a highly specialized position? If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, this is the seminar for you. Our experience has shown that typical participants benefiting the most from this course are those with limited exposure to the railway industry or railroaders with highly specialized positions not directly involved with design or maintenance. Seminar includes a field trip to the Union Pacific Arden Yard.

Message from the President

Staying up to date

Randy Bowman AREMA President 2014-2015

Please visit www.arema.org to register and to find out more information about this seminar or contact Desirée Knight at dknight@arema.org

Online Seminar Signal considerations in track design May 5, 2015 Noon EST (60 minutes one contact hour for PDH)

Presented by: B. Coy Horton, manager of signal design training and procedures, Union Pacific. This 60-minute online seminar will discuss the basic knowledge of railway signal systems and reinforce the importance of coordination between signal and track design. The online seminar is designed to provide track designers more information about signal considerations when developing track and civil design plans.

Please visit www.arema.org to register and to find out more information about this online seminar or contact Mandie Ennis at mennis@arema.org.

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AREMA’s mission is “the development and advancement of both technical and practical knowledge and recommended practices pertaining to the design, construction and maintenance of railway infrastructure.” As most of you are aware, AREMA’s technical publications are the result of many hours of hard work from our 31 technical committees and teams. The railway industry experts that make up these committees and teams, along with headquarters staff, are responsible for the development and marketing of these quality, professional and timely reference materials.

Is your library up to date with the latest AREMA technical publications?

They are excellent reference materials and a must have for every railway engineer. It’s important to keep these references up to date so that the users have the most current specifications and recommended practices to work with when designing and maintaining today’s railway infrastructure. We make these publications available.

AREMA’s Manual for Railway Engineering (MRE) 2015 edition is due to be released in April. The manual consists of more than 5,000 pages of railway engineering reference material, the recommended practices for the industry.

It contains principles, data, specifications, plans and economics pertaining to the engineering, design and construction of the fixed plant of railways (except signals and communications) and allied services and facilities. The material is developed by AREMA technical committees and is published as a guide to railways in establishing their individual policies and practices relative to the subjects, activities and facilities covered in the manual, with the aim of assisting them to engineer and construct a railway plant which will have inherent qualities of safe and economical operation, as well as low maintenance cost. Chapters are grouped into four general categories, each in a separate volume: Track, Structures, Infrastructure and Passenger and Systems Management. The MRE is available in a multi-volume printed set and in an electronic format on CD. Revision sets are also available. There are even downloadable, individual chapters.

Our Communications & Signals Manual (C&S) contains many revised, extended and reaffirmed parts in the 2015 edition of the manual. It is a manual of recommended practices written by AREMA technical committees in the interest of establishing uniformity, promoting safety or efficiency and economy.

The C&S Manual is available in a five-volume printed set or in electronic format on CD. There are also annual revision sets available so you don’t have to purchase the entire new set every year. Individual sections are also available in a downloadable format.

AREMA’s Portfolio of Track Work Plans, maintained by Committee 5 - Track, consists of plans and specifications that relate to the design, details, materials and workmanship for switches, frogs, turnouts and crossovers, crossings, rails and other special trackwork. This is a companion volume to the Manual for Railway Engineering and is also available in printed and electronic versions. If you don’t need the full set, revision updates are made available for every even numbered year.

The Practical Guide to Railway Engineering, developed by Committee 24 www.rtands.com

Negotiated airline discount information for AREMA Committee Meetings can be found online at http://www.arema.org/meetings/airlines.aspx.

2015 Upcoming Committee Meetings March 24-25 Committee 27 - Maintenance of Way Work Equipment

Lisle, IL Pueblo, CO

April 19-20 Committee 34 - Scales May 19

Committee 9 - Seismic Design for Railway Structures

Silver Spring, MD

April 1-2

Committee 30 - Ties

April 14

Committee 11 - Commuter & Intercity Rail Systems

Toronto, Canada

May 19-20 Committee 15 - Steel Structures

Cleveland, OH

April 14

Committee 17 - High Speed Rail Systems

Toronto, Canada

June 12-13 Committee 24 - Education & Training

Seattle, WA

- Education and Training, is an excellent reference book written by a group of more than 50 railroad professionals, representing more than 1,200 years of experience. It may be the most useful tool since the spike maul. Whether you’re new to the industry or a long-time contributor who simply wishes to learn more, this book offers in-depth coverage of railway fundamentals and serves as an excellent reference. It also comes in a CD version and is the source material for AREMA’s Introduction to Practical Railway Engineering Seminar.

The AREMA Bridge Inspection Handbook, developed by Committee 10 - Structures Maintenance and Construction, provides a comprehensive source of information and criteria for bridge inspections for engineers engaged in the assessment of railway bridges. This handbook is published as a guide to establishing policies and practices relative to bridge inspection. It covers such topics as confined spaces, site conditions, loads and forces, nomenclature, bridge decks, timber, concrete and steel bridges, movable bridges, tunnel and culvert inspections and emergency and post-earthquake inspections. Also included are many color photographed examples in several chapters, as well as a glossary in the back of the book.

In addition to the above mentioned publications, AREMA also offers past AREMA and Roadmasters proceedings, the International Heavy Haul Association Guidelines to Best Practices for Heavy Haul Operations books (Books 1 and 2) along with Design of Modern Steel Railway Bridges by Past President John Unsworth.

All these and more can be procured through the www.arema.org website or by contacting AREMA headquarters. Stay educated. Take advantage of these great resources available through your association.

Be safe and make a positive difference.

Call for Mentors As the years pass, it becomes more vital to introduce and educate the next generation about the railroad industry.

To aid in this cause, AREMA has developed a mentoring program to benefit the AREMA student members. We would like to extend an invitation to industry professionals to influence the next generation. As part of the mentoring program, you will be paired with a mentee that is an AREMA student member. The pairing will try to match student members with someone with experience in the areas of the railroad industry they are interested in. Please visit the AREMA website under Education & Training to become a mentor today.

Not an AREMA Member? Join today at www.arema.org www.rtands.com

Kansas City, MO

FYI…

Registration is now open for the AREMA 2015 Annual Conference in conjunction with Railway Interchange 2015, October 4-7, 2015 in Minneapolis, MN. Visit www.arema.org to register today. For more information on Railway Interchange 2015, please visit www.railwayinterchange.org.

Call for entries for the 2015 Dr. William W. Hay Award for Excellence. The selection process for the seventeenth W. W. Hay Award has begun. Entries must be submitted by May 29, 2015. Please visit www.arema.org for more information.

Interested in sponsorship for the AREMA 2015 Annual Conference held in conjunction with Railway Interchange 2015?

Contact Lindsay Hamilton at 301-459-3200 ext. 705, or lhamilton@arema.org.

Now available: 2015 Communications & Signals Manual of Recommended Practices.

Please visit www.arema.org or contact Beth Caruso at 301-459-3200, ext. 701, or bcaruso@arema.org to place an order.

The 2015 Manual for Railway Engineering will be available in April 2015.

AREMA’s Official Facebook Page Become a fan of the official AREMA Facebook Page and stay up-to-date on the most recent AREMA information.

The Official AREMA LinkedIn Group Join the official AREMA L i n k e d I n G r o u p b y v i s i t i n g w w w. linkedin.com and searching groups for “American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association.”

Put your career on the right track with AREMA’s Railway Careers Network.

Services are FREE and include confidential resume posting, job search and e-mail notification when jobs match your criteria.

Railway Track & Structures

March 2015 45

AREMA NEWS

Getting to know Mark Bergeon

Mark Bergeon Chair, Committee 13 - Environmental Railroad Program Leader Golder Associates Inc.

Each month, AREMA features one of our committee chairs. We are pleased to announce that the March featured chair is Mark Bergeon, chair of Committee 13 - Environmental.

AREMA: Why did you decide to choose a career in railway engineering?

Bergeon: I don’t remember making a conscious decision; it just seemed to happen through opportunities during my career.

I started in oil and gas, sited and built landfills and then the rail industry called.

AREMA: How did you get started?

Bergeon: I got star ted in the rail industr y through a $1,500-project in 1990. I received a call from Geoff Nokes at Wisconsin Central, Ltd., which led to my introduction to the rail industry. Working with all of the great people at WCL over the next 10 years sealed my fate; folks such as Bob Larsen, Jim Fisk, Curt Holman, Herman Cunningham, Terry Corson, Glenn Kerbs, Janet Gilbert, Randy Henke and Greg Guthrie, to name a few. They took the time to introduce me to almost every aspect of the rail industry and had the patience (well, most of the time) to answer my questions.

AREMA: How did you get involved in AREMA and your committee?

Bergeon: It seems like I have always been involved with the committee. Even before we were part of AREMA, I was involved through the Association of American Railroads and then with the “Railroad Environmental Group.”

AREMA: Outside of your job and the hard work you put into AREMA, what are your hobbies?

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Bergeon: Family time, reading, snowshoeing, mountain biking and refinishing furniture.

AREMA: Tell us about your family.

Bergeon: My wife, Toni, and I will celebrate our 40th anniversary this March. Toni works in the dean of students office at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay and is also a fabric artist.

We have two children and two grandchildren. Our daughter is a certified yoga instructor and mother of two. Our son is an environmental scientist and planner with Golder.

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

Bergeon: I keep a scull at our cottage in Northern Wisconsin. I rowed competitively in the past and enjoy getting out on the water whenever possible.

AREMA: What is your biggest achievement?

Bergeon: Separate from my family, I’d say building the team we have at Golder. We have a great group that I really enjoy working with.

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

Bergeon: I encourage all of the people who work with me to ask questions; to fuel their curiosity. Learn as much as you can about what you the people you work with and the people you work for do.

Figure out how you can add value to those around you and to the industry. Don’t hesitate to admit when you don’t know something, but then go and find the answer. Be flexible and willing to take on new opportunities. www.rtands.com

DR. WILLIAM W. HAY AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE 2015 CALL FOR ENTRIES

AREMA Publications 2015 Communications & Signals Manual of Recommended Practices

©

The Communications & Signals Manual is a manual of recommended practices written

by AREMA technical committees in the interest of establishing uniformity, NOW AVAILABLE promoting safety or efficiency and economy. The Communications & Signals Manual of Recommended Practices is an annual publication.

Downloadable Sections Available Online.

2014 Manual for Railway Engineering ©

The 2015 edition will be released in April

There have been numerous updates to more than 5,000 pages of the Manual for Railway Engineering.

The chapters are grouped into four general categories, each in a separate volume: • Track • Structures • Infrastructure & Passenger • Systems Management. The Manual is an annual publication, released every April. It is available in four-volume loose-leaf format, CD-ROM, revision set (loose-leaf only) and individual chapters (hard copy and downloadable formats).

Downloadable Chapters Available Online.

©

The Portfolio of Trackwork Plans consists of plans and specifications that relate to the design, details, materials and workmanship for switches, frogs, turnouts and crossovers, crossings, rails and other special trackwork. This is a companion volume to the Manual for Railway Engineering.

AREMA Bridge Inspection Handbook ©

The AREMA Bridge Inspection Handbook provides a comprehensive source of information and criteria for bridge inspections for engineers engaged in the assessment of railway bridges. This handbook is published as a guide to establishing policies and practices relative to bridge inspection. It covers such topics as confined spaces, site conditions, loads & forces, nomenclature, bridge decks, timber, concrete & steel bridges, movable bridges, tunnel and culvert inspections, and emergency & postearthquake inspections. Also included are many color photographed examples in several chapters, as well as a glossary in the back of the book.

Practical Guide to Railway Engineering ©

Reflections on a Half Century of Railway Engineering and Some Related Subjects ©

Railway Memoirs by William G. Byers, PE

To order any of the AREMA publications, please visit www.arema.org or contact Beth Caruso at +1.301.459.3200, ext. 701, or bcaruso@arema.org.

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2014 Portfolio of Trackwork Plans

This guide provides a comprehensive overview and understanding of the railway system. Whether you are new to the rail industry or a long-time contributor wanting to learn more, this bound book and CD-ROM offer in-depth coverage of railway fundamentals and serve as an excellent reference. (Also available in a CD-ROM version only.)

The selection process for the Seventeenth Dr. William W. Hay Award for Excellence has begun and this year’s chair, Michael W. Franke, a former student of Dr. Hay, has issued a call for entries.

The 2014 Hay Award went to Union Pacific Railroad for their Santa Teresa Terminal project.

The purpose of the award is to honor innovative railway engineering procedures, projects and products and the individual(s) who have created and successfully applied them to the railroad industry.

Criteria for winning the award are: • Innovation • Safety • Service Performance and Reliability Consideration is also given to the project’s objective, stated goals, costs and benefit achievement and the general advancement of the base of railway engineering knowledge.

Deadline for Entries: MAY 29, 2015 Please contact

Stacy Spaulding at sspaulding@arema.org or +1.301.459.3200 ,ext. 706, or visit www.arema.org for more information.

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AREMA NEWS

AREMA's students say "VIA Rail Montreal – il est le Meilleur dans L'exploitation Ferroviaire!"

The students and instructors of the Introduction to Practical Railway Engineering seminar along with VIA Rail personnel at VIA Rail’s Montreal Maintenance Centre.

Article and photos by John Green, Ph.D., P.E., chairman of Subcommittee 24-01

C

anada contains some of the world’s most breathtakingly beautiful scener y. From the verdant coastline of British Columbia to the rugged Rocky Mountains, across the vast fertile prairies of Saskatchewan, through the unspoiled forests of Quebec, to the Maritime provinces, Canada offers natural views to delight anyone. In addition to the vast open spaces of the countryside, Canada boasts charming, historic cities such as Montreal, Quebec City and Halifax, as well as bustling urban areas such as Vancouver, Toronto and Edmonton. Across the thousands of miles from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts, one entity keeps the people of all these regions and cities connected to each other – VIA Rail.

VIA Rail is an independent “crown corporation” (Canadian governmentowned entity) whose mission is to operate the national passenger rail service on behalf of the Canadian government. First established in 1977, VIA Rail runs approximately 500 trains each week, operating over more than 12,500 kilometers (7,700 miles) of track. VIA Rail provides intercity transpor tation for more than 450 communities and, in 2013, transported 48 Railway Track & Structures

March 2015

more than 3.9 million passengers.

In providing this service, VIA Rail collected revenues of CA$270.4 million (US$217 million), while tallying roughly 6,244,000 train kilometers (3,9000 train miles).

As expected, operating so many train trips over so many miles takes a toll on the vehicles of the VIA Rail fleet.

To keep the trains and passenger rail cars in good working order, VIA Rail operates five maintenance facilities across Canada, located in Halifax, To r o n t o , W i n n i p e g , Va n c o u v e r and Montreal, with the Montreal Maintenance Centre being the largest. On July 8, 2014, a group of 40 participants and instructors from AREMA’s Introduction to Practical Railway Engineering Seminar (IPRE) had the good fortune to tour VIA Rail’s Montreal Maintenance Centre.

The tour was part of the three-day IPRE seminar, which as is normally the practice, was held partly in a classroom and partly at the field trip site, where par ticipants have an oppor tunity to view concepts they learned in the classroom. For the participants, it was an excellent opportunity to experience all of the knowledge, coordination, cooperation and professionalism that

the management and staff of VIA Rail utilize every day, as the participants observed actual work being performed on the vehicles to service, maintain and perfor m major overhauls on locomotives and railcars.

On approximately 75 acres, the Montreal Maintenance Centre employees ser vice, maintain and overhaul passenger car s and locomotives that provide service to the VIA Rail routes in eastern Canada.

These shops operate 24 hours per day, 365 days per year to maintain 65 locomotives and 258 railcars in good working order. Additionally, the facility performs major overhauls of 10 locomotives and 40 railcars each year.

To accomplish all of this extensive work, 549 people are employed at the facility.

Three 320-meter long tracks with under-access bays allow technicians to inspect and service the undersides of equipment. Such tasks may include brake work and washing of the trains – activities that occur every 14 days.

Each track can accommodate up to 12 vehicles. As part of regular maintenance performed, wheel sets are changed out and renewed at the facility. This facility has 18 wheel change out locations, six per track, allowing for an entire wheel www.rtands.com

Top: IPRE instructor James Bertrand of Transport Canada is assisted by instructor Marcin Taraszkiewicz of CH2M Hill, Inc., as he explains to the students details of track components.

Students inspect a renewed rail truck.

set to be renewed in an hour.

Heavy maintenance operations, such as complete overhauls of locomotives and railcars, change out worn par ts including seats, vehicle and locomotive controls, electrical systems and a new coat of paint. Minimum disruptions in the maintenance activities, more than 25,000 spare parts are catalogued in inventory onsite. A cutting-edge inventory control system utilized at the facility helps it to act as the central parts warehouse distributing parts to all the other VIA Rail Maintenance facilities. Equally high-tech, an oil laboratory is part of the operations at this facility. Samples are taken from the locomotives undergoing maintenance to determine the health of engines. Analysis of what is found in the oil sample indicates how engine parts are wearing and provide indicators of potential engine problems that may be developing.

As the tour was drawing to a close, several participants stated that they wished the tour lasted longer. However, it was difficult to determine who enjoyed the visit more, the participants or instructors, as it is not often that one has the chance to visit a world class railway vehicle maintenance facility such as this one, especially as operations were taking place. While many of the instructors hold advanced engineering degrees and have decades of railway experience, all of the instructors in attendance – Dr. John Green, P.E.

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of AECOM, James Ber trand of Transport Canada, B. Coy Horton of Union Pacific, Marcin Taraszkiewicz, P.E. of CH2M Hill, Rocco Cacchiotti of Canadian National (retired) and Luanne Patterson of the Canadian National, agreed that the IPRE seminar field trip to the VIA Rail Montreal Maintenance Centre was highly enjoyable where everyone learned a lot.

Anothe r IPR E seminar will be presented in Las Vegas, Nev., in the spring of 2015, then again in

Vancouver, BC, Canada, in the summer of 2015. To register for these or other future IPRE seminars and to see the full schedule of AREMA educational seminars, please visit the AREMA website at www.arema.org.

Works cited

1 . E x p l o r e C a n a d a B y Tr a i n .

Informational Brochure published by VIA Rail Canada. (City unknown). 2014.

2. VIA Rail 2013 Annual Report.

Published by VIA Rail. 2014.

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CALENDAR MARCH 23-26. 2015 Joint Rail Conference. The Fairmont San Jose. San Jose, Calif. Contact: Stephen Crane.

E-mail: CraneS@asme.org. Website: http://www. asmeconferences.org/JRC2015/.

28-31. 2015 ASLRRA Connections. Hilton Orlando.

Orlando, Fla. Phone: 202-628-4500. Fax: 202-628-6430.

Website: www.aslrra.org.

31-APRIL 1. 20th Annual AAR Research Review.

Hotel Elegante Conference Center and Event Center.

Colorado Springs, Colo. Transportation Technology Center, Inc. Contact: Lori Bennett. Phone: 303-6173300. E-mail: annualreview@aar.com. Website: www. regonline.com/20thannual.

APRIL 28-29. Fundamentals of Traction Power Systems and Overhead Contact Systems RO26. University of Wisconsin-Madison. Hilton Garden Inn Chicago O’Hare Airport. Des Plaines, Ill. Contact: Dave Peterson. Phone: 800-462-0876. E-mail: peterson@ epd.engr.wisc.edu. Website: http://epdweb.engr.wisc. edu/Courses/Course.lasso?myCourseChoice=R026.

28-MAY 1. Track Safety Standards Part 213 Classes 1-5 Workshop. Council Bluffs, Iowa. Phone: 800-2889670. E-mail: studentservices@sb-reb.com. Website: www.railwayeducationalbureau.com/trkinspwrkshp.html.

MAY 6-7. Railway Age and Parsons Next-Gen Train Control Conference. Key Bridge Marriott. Arlington, Va. Phone: 212-620-7205. E-mail: conferences@sbpub.com Website: www.railwayage.com/nextgen.

6-8. Introduction to Railroad Engineering and Operations. Pyle Center. Univeristy of WisconsinMadison. Madison, Wis. Contact: Dave Peterson.

Phone: 800-462-0876. E-mail: peterson@epd.engr. wisc.edu. Website: http://epdweb.engr.wisc.edu/ Courses/Course.lasso?myCourseChoice=R183.

27-29. Timber and Steel Railroad Bridges. University of Tennessee Knoxville. Knoxville, Tenn. Contact: Diana Webb. Phone: 865-974-5255. Fax: 865-974-3889.

Website: http://ctr.utk.edu/ttap/.

JUNE 4. Railroad Day on Capitol Hill. Renaissance Washington. Washington, D.C. Contact: Kathy Cassidy E-mail: kcassidy@aslrra.org. Website: www.aslrra.org.

17-18. Railway Age Rail Insights Conference.

Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel. Chicago, Ill. Phone: 212-620-7205. E-mail: conferences@sbpub.com.

Website: www.railwayage.com/railinsights. www.rtands.com

Railway Track & Structures

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PRODUCTS Magnets

Moley Magnetics introduced its Moley Mag II 24V railroad attachment, a specialized magnet designed specifically to meet railroad requirements. Moley Mag II’s are 12/24-volt battery powered magnets that is made for an efficient and less expensive way to recover material.

The magnet taps the electric energy power supplied by the batteries of the excavator, loader, speed-swing or other equipment to which it’s attached. Applications include sweeping other track material, other track material distribution, yard clean up and loading and unloading. The magnet attachment has an optional pistol grip controller, 32-inch deep wound magnet, heavy-duty steel enclosure and does not need a generator. It delivers spikes and plates and is designed for simple and quick installation. Phone: (844) 662-4692.

Air compressor

Vanair Manufacturing, Inc., has introduced the updated Viper Gas rotary screw air compressor. First introduced in 1993, the new design delivers 60-80 cfm at 100-150 psi. It has enough power to operate a 90- lb. jackhammer, as well as a one and a half inch impact wrench. Its compact design is 15 percent smaller than its predecessor and fits behind the cab of the vehicle or mounted on the side-pack. Viper Gas provides the operator with the ability to turn off the truck while still being able to have access to powerful air.

This unit features a EFI certified Kohler engine. Phone: (800) 526-8817.

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www.rtands.com

Ad Index Company

Phone #

AREMA Marketing Department Auto Truck Group Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc. R. J. Corman Railroad Group Custom Truck and Equipment Danella Rental Systems, Inc. Delta Railroad Construction, Inc. Georgetown Rail Equipment Co. Harsco Rail Herzog Railroad Services, Inc. Holland Co. Hougen Manufacturing, Inc. Knox Kershaw, Inc. Koppers Inc. Landoll Corporation Loram Maintenance of Way, Inc. Montana Hydraulics LLC Neel Company, The NMC Railway Systems Nordco Inc. NRC Plasser American Corp.

Postle Industries Progress Rail Services

RAILCET Rails Company Rail Construction Equipment Co. Railway Educational Bureau, The RailWorks Corporation Schenck Process Sperry Rail Service Tensar North American Green V&H Inc., Trucks voestalpine Nortrak Inc. Willamette Valley Company

Fax#

e-mail address

Page #

301-459-3200

301-459-8077 marketing@arema.org

816-412-2131 816-412-2191 eschoenfeld@autotruck.com 888-250-5746 904-378-7298 info@bbri.com 800-611-7245 859-885-7804 www.rjcorman.com 816-241-4888 816-241-3710 bboehm@cte-equipment.com 610-828-6200 610-828-2260 pbarents@danella.com 440-994-2997 440-992-1311 info@deltarr.com 512-869-1542 ext.228 512-863-0405

karen@georgetownrail.com 803-822-7551 803-822-7521

mteeter@harsco.com 816-233-9002 816-233-7757 tfrancis@hrsi.com 708-672-2300 ext. 382 708-672-0119 gpodgorski@hollandco.com 866-245-3745 800-309-3299 info@trak-star.com 334-387-5669 ext.208 334-387-4554 knox@knoxkershaw.com 800-356-5952 608-221-0618 rrdiv@koppers.com 800-428-5655 888-293-6779 jim.ladner@landoll.com 763-478-6014

763-478-2221

sales@loram.com 406-449-3464 406-449-3465 dehIke@mthyd.com 703-913-7858 703-913-7859 jlewis@neelco.com 866-662-7799 402-891-7745 info@nmcrail.com 414-766-2180 414-766-2379 info@nordco.com

202-715-2920 202-318-0867 info@nrcma.org 757-543-3526 757-494-7186 plasseramerican@plausa.com

216-265-9000 rspeese@postle.com 800-476-8769 256-593-1249 info@progressrail.com

866-724-5238 217-522-6588 grif1020@yahoo.com

973-763-4320 973-763-2585 rails@railsco.com 866-472-4510 dennishanke@rcequip.com 630-355-7173

402-346-4300 bbrundige@sb-reb.com 402-346-1783

866-905-7245 952-469-1926 jrhansen@railworks.com 262-473-2441 262-473-4384 mktg@schenckprocess.com 203-791-4507 robert.dimatteo@sperryrail.com 404-214-5374 404-250-9185 cmgovern@tensarcorp.com 715-486-8800 714-387-0657

a.thoreson@vhtruck.com 307-778-8700 307-778-8777 gord.weatherly@voestalpine.com 541-484-9621 541-284-2096 03alishab@wilvaco.com

Cover 3, 2 35

23 41

38 21 39 29 31 9

33 34 26

Cover 4 6 24-25 5 7

32 36 10 27 16 30 40 8 37 51, 52 42 20 4 28 19 Cover 2 43

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 RT&S assumes no responsibility for the correctness.

Advertising Sales general sales OFFICE Jonathan Chalon Publisher (212) 620-7224 55 Broad St., 26th Fl. Fax: (212) 620-7224 New York, NY 10014 jchalon@sbpub.com CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, NC, PA, RI, SC, VT, VA, WV, Canada Quebec and East, Ontario Mark Connolly (212) 620-7260 55 Broad St., 26th Fl. Fax: (212) 633-1863 New York, NY 10014 mconnolly@sbpub.com AL, AR, IN, KY, LA, MI, MS, OH, OK, TN, TX Emily Guill (312) 683-5021 20 South Clark St. Fax: (312) 683-0131 Ste. 1910 Chicago, IL 60603 eguill@sbpub.com

www.rtands.com

AK, AZ, CA, CO, IA, ID, IL, KS, MN, MO, MT, NE, NM, ND, NV, OR, SD, UT, WA, WI, WY, Canada -足AB, BC, MB, SK Heather Disabato (312) 683-5026 20 South Clark St. Fax: (312) 683-0131 Ste. 1910 Chicago, IL 60603 hdisabato@sbpub.com

Louise Cooper International Sales Manager Suite K5 &K6 The Priory +44-1444-416917 Syresham Gardens Fax: +44-1444-458185 Haywards Heath, RH16 3LB United Kingdom lc@railjournal.co.uk

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

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

Julie Richardson International Sales Manager Suite K5 &K6 The Priory +44-1444-416368 Syresham Gardens Fax: +44-1444-458185 Haywards Heath, RH16 3LB United Kingdom jr@railjournal.co.uk

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

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

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

March 2015 53

Professional Directory

NEW & USED EQUIPMENT

Available for Lease 3600 cu ft Open Top Hopper Cars 100 ton Automated/Manual Ballast Cars 4480 cu ft Aluminum Rotary Open Top Gons Contact: Tom Monroe: 415-616-3472 Email: tmonroe@atel.com

Some things never change.

Quality, Service, and Dependability. Since 1910.

Rotary Dump

Grapple Truck

Hauls MarkIV

LEASE or BUY Hirail Gradall w/opt. Brush Cutter

Products and services

REESE WHAT CAN WE DO FOR YOU?

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Custom Build New or Used Chassies.

Also: Hirail Boom Dump Trucks Hirail Mechanics Trucks Hirail Section Trucks Hytracker for moving equipment Hudson Ballast Cars DMF & Harsco parts, service and installation

RAILROAD SERVICES

Est. 1910

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

• Track construction and maintenance • On-track ditching and rotary dump service • On-track tree trimming and brushcutting • Storm and flood cleanup and debris removal • Tie distribution, removal and disposal

K. W. Reese, Inc.

Box 298 • Mercersburg, PA 17236

(717) 328-5211 •

fax

(717) 328-9541 • www.kwreese.com

2013, 2014 NRC SAFETY AWARD GOLD MEDAL WINNER 54 Railway Track & Structures

March 2015

www.rtands.com

NEW & USED EQUIPMENT

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E-Mail: RelamCFE@aol.com Tel: 440-439-7088 Fax: 440-439-9399

EQUIPMENT FOR SHORT OR LONG TERM LEASE HARSCO AND NORDCO TAMPERS 6700S, SJ, SJ2, Mark IV Switch and Production Tampers 3300 and HST Chase Tampers 3000 Tampers w/Raise & Line or Chase Tampers 2400 Tampers w/Raise & Line TIE INSERTERS/EXTRACTORS Nordco TRIPPs 925 S/Ss, Standards, KTR-400s KNOX KERSHAW REGULATORS, KRIBBER/ADZERS, TIE CRANES, PLATE BROOMS, BRUSH CUTTERS, & SNOW FIGHTERS KBR-850-925-940 Ballast Regulators & Snow Fighters KBR-940 Dual Head Brush Cutters KTC-1200 Tie Cranes KKA-1050 Kribber/Adzers KPB-200 Plate Brooms NORDCO ANCHOR APPLICATORS, SPIKERS & GRABBERS Model F Anchor Machines and BAAMs Models CX and SS Spikers Model SP2R Dual 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 & RAIL HEATERS Pettibone Model 445E Speedswings w/Multiple Attachments 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 Rail Heaters - Single Sided, 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

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Railway Track & Structures RT&S2013revAd.indd 1

March 2015 55 2/12/13 2:57 PM

NEW & USED EQUIPMENT PARTS • SALES • SERVICE

We specialize in all types of Hirail Vehicles including Grapple Trucks, Roto Dumps, Mechanics Trucks and Pickups.

Call Rob Wiskerchen at 715-897-2619.

Toll Free: 888-405-0110 e-mail: rob@wisktrucks.com • www.wisktrucks.com

RAILWAY EQUIPMENT SERVICES, INC. www.railwayequipmentservices.net MOW Equipment – Lease & Sale Track Surfacing – Tamp & Reg Brushcutting – Dual side Kershaw Specialized Hauling – Low Boys with Rail 318-995-7006 or 318-469-7133 “A full service company with over 20 yrs exp!”

Get the inside scoop on and off the track

Ph: (913) 764-1315 Kansas City, KS www.colliscw.com

NEW Hi-Rail Ford F-350 Super Duty NEW Hi-Rail Freighliner 108SD Rotary Dump

RAIL BRIEF: The Weekly RT&S Email Newsletter

NEW Hi-Rail Western Star 4700SB with Rotobec Elite MT26

SUBSCRIBE AT: www.rtands.com/RailBrief

Purchase - Lease - Parts - Service

MARKETPLACE SALES Contact: Jeanine Acquart Ph: 212/620-7211 • Fax: 212/633-1165 Email: jacquart@sbpub.com 56 Railway Track & Structures

March 2015

ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED

www.rtands.com