Project Coverage

Vol. 119, No. 2

Print ISSN # 0033-9016, Digital ISSN # 2160-2514

EDITORIAL OFFICES

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Website www.rtands.com

DAVID C. LESTER

Editor-in-Chief dlester@sbpub.com

KYRA SENESE Managing Editor ksenese@sbpub.com

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MARY CONYERS

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HILLARY COLEMAN

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JO ANN BINZ Circulation Director

MICHELLE ZOLKOS Conference Director

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Project stories are among the best tools for learning about rail maintenance-of-way and keeping infrastructure in top shape. This magazine has covered projects of all kinds for many years, but we’re going to focus on them even more. At the recent annual convention of the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) in Boca Raton, Fla., I talked to several companies who would like to share their stories with a broader audience. I also spoke to people who said they enjoy reading about rail and rail-related construction and learning things they may be able to apply at their own companies.

We aim to have longer-form stories to give readers a detailed look at how a project was done, from conception to execution. A good story, in my view, should be built around the project plan. What is the goal and scope? What are the major milestones? What resources are involved? What are the timeline and budget?

Since some companies may not want to share this information, we would not have to identify the project client if a third party does it. Moreover, we’d like to feature projects from small firms to Class I railroads. Again, we realize that some projects could be proprietary, but we can offer flexibility in covering those involved.

While maintenance-of-way and infrastructure efforts would likely be the key focus, we’d like to cover information technology projects, PTC, and other signal/communication activities. These types of projects are just as critical to the operation of the railroad as any others, and since RT&S added Communication & Signals to its lineup, these would be a perfect fit. We’ve also added stations to our coverage, so stories related to those are welcome.

I’ll contact many companies to ask about interest in presenting a project story in the coming months. I aim to have several feature-length stories each year. And one important note: this editorial focus will not have any bearing on our top projects feature in the June issue. Top Project entries will be separate from and unrelated to any long-form stories at other times of the year. Now, that’s not to say that submitting a long-form project story disqualifies that project from entering the Top Project competition. And obviously, since we will run a limited number of these stories each year, having worked with us on a long-form story is not a requirement, nor does it provide an advantage for selection as a Top Project.

Please call or write me if you’d like to work with us on a project story, regardless of the size of your firm.

DAVID C. LESTER Editor-in-Chief