Itry keep an open mind when it comes to new technologies and tools that seem to arrive on our computer screens regularly but must say that I have reservations about ChatGPT and other AI writing tools that are and will become available in the future. While there are some glitches with ChatGPT, such as being too verbose and, according to what I’ve read, having di culty with conjunctions, I imagine those will be worked out over time, and the so ware will deliver pretty good writing.
I have not used ChatGPT. I have used Grammarly before, but just to check the proper use of something in my writing, and I don’t use it anymore. I accept the argument that these tools can be used to evaluate one’s writing and see if any common mistakes appear that need to be resolved. However, over time, if the same errors continue to show up in, say, Grammarly, one needs to study writing handbooks and textbooks to learn how to avoid whatever the error is. And, as the tools improve, I’m concerned that students and others may rely on them to do all their writing. is would be a tragedy.
Writing is a cra that is learned over time. Writing is an art form through which we can communicate insights and emotions through words in literature, poetry, and even nonction. Writing is used to convey facts, o er opinions, and to persuade. ese things, in my view, are best delivered from the human brain and heart –– not arti cial intelligence that is trained to think like the human brain.
Of course, regular readers of this magazine know that we report on, and are enthusiastic about, the arrival of arti cial intelligence to help solve business problems and evaluate the health of various technologies to enable humans to focus on what they do best ––planning, organizing, and strategic thinking. Yet when it comes to arti cial intelligence supplanting the need for humans to have to think deeply and study hard to develop the cra of writing, that’s another story.
Writers have di erent styles of writing where the keen observer can identify the writer of a book or story based solely on the way the words and thoughts are put
together. For example, one of the most creative and talented writers in railroading was David P. Morgan, the longtime editor of Trains magazine. In the November 1976 issue, Morgan writes about the notion that even though steam locomotive enthusiasts at that time had to rely primarily on words and photographs to celebrate their enthusiasm for the mostly bygone technology, there’s nothing like riding behind a Super Power steam locomotive to show what really excites them about these machines.
Nevertheless, an opportunity arose in August 1976 to ride behind one of the most powerful and impressive steam locomotives to operate in the United States, ful lling the dream of steam enthusiasts everywhere. e locomotive had a history of pulling passenger trains along the California coast between San Francisco and Los Angeles and was restored to pull the American Freedom Train on a nationwide tour during the Bicentennial. Southern Railway ran an excursion behind it. Below is how Morgan described it.
“But it remained until August 28-29, 1976, for that dream to be fully realized. For the rst time perhaps since New York Central’s Paul W. Kiefer pitted his S-1 4-8-4s against Electro-Motive E-7s in October 1946, modern steam was cast in a high-performance environment and was urged to do its best. On this 1976 occasion the test was conducted in the name of enjoyment, not for the gathering of scienti c knowledge. Nonetheless, a test it was when welded rail on an undulating pro le was unrolled ahead of the pilot of a 300-pound pressure, 80-inch drivered, 470,000-pound 4-8-4; 20 cars weighing approximately 1425 tons were hung on her drawbar; and the Chairman of the Board said in e ect to the engineer, ‘ e railroad is yours.’”
I imagine it will be quite a while, if ever, before AI can generate writing like that.
DAVID C. LESTER Editor-in-Chief
Replicating Real-Life Scenarios to Assess Track Service Interruption Detection Technologies
Ground-truth testing of events that can lead to service interruptions
Sean Woods, Senior Rail Research Engineer, ENSCO, Inc., Pueblo, CO
Dave Mauger, Director of Innovation-Mechanical, CSX
Transportation, Inc., Jacksonville, FL
Jeff Fries, System Architect, Alstom, Grain Valley, MO
Service interruption of a mainline track may occur due to various events, including treefall, rock falls, washouts, or derailed rail vehicles. ere is a need for technology to aid the railway in identifying these events and making appropriate responses to avoid safety risks and ensure minimal impact to operations. A challenge with detecting these events is that they can occur almost anywhere on a mainline. is requires the need for widely distributed detection of these types of events to ensure they are not missed.
is project included a consortium of organizations led by CSX. Alstom and Sensonic served as the technology providers and the TTC facilitated on-track testing at its facility. Two detection technologies were investigated: Distributed Acoustic Sensing and Track Circuit Detection.
Distributed Acoustic Sensing
Fiber Optic Sensing based Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) is a technology that relies on ber optic cable buried alongside the track. O en these ber optic cables are installed and already available for telecommunication purposes unrelated to DAS. However, these cables can also be utilized for detecting vibrations near or from the track. An optical interrogator is connected to one end of the ber optic cable, and laser light is rapidly pulsed down the ber. As the
light travels the length of the ber, minute imperfections in the strand re ect light back to the interrogator – a phenomenon known as Rayleigh backscatter. Each pulse of light captures a snapshot of imperfections in the ber. By rapidly pulsing light down the ber and comparing successive sets of re ections, the interrogator can measure distortions in the ber, indicating the strain and vibration the cable is experiencing. e result is a capability that can detect and measure vibrations occurring on or near the track along with their location and characteristics. is vibration-based sensing can be used to detect and monitor various events and changes along the rail network without specialized on-board or on-track equipment. Examples of applications of DAS include security monitoring, natural hazards monitoring, train tracking, and track condition monitoring. One optical interrogator can monitor as much as 60 miles of ber cable along the rail track alignment.
Track Circuit Detection
Traditionally, track circuits have been used to detect trains, broken rails and to communicate signal aspects. Track circuits apply an electrical signal between the rails and rely on passing rolling stock to shunt the circuit to prevent the transmitted signal from reaching the receiving end to indicate the signal block is occupied. However, in the absence of shunting, some current ows through the rails and into the ground. e amount of current ow is characteristic of a given signal block and varies with conditions such as ballast quality, soil moisture level and other aspects of the track structure. By precisely monitoring how much current makes it from one end of the block to the other, changes in the electrical coupling caused by track activity can be identi ed.
Both Fiber Optic DAS and track signal-based detection systems can detect various events occurring on or near the track. However, both methodologies need ground-truth testing to
Figure 1. Test setup to replicate a tree falling on track.
classify activity as either typical track activity that is not a service interruption risk, or events that are a high risk to service interruption. To improve the accuracy of event classi cation, signatures of speci c events must be collected in a controlled environment.
Ground Truth Testing at the TTC
To expand the available dataset used to develop classi cation algorithms, a series of controlled tests were conducted at the Transportation Technology Center (TTC) in Pueblo, CO. e tests were designed to replicate a variety of environmental and operational scenarios that could result in obstruction of the track. ese scenarios included simulations of rockfalls, trees falling, a washout of the track structure, and the derailment of a freight car. Whenever possible, the tests were conducted without any heavy equipment running to reduce the background noise included in the recorded data. Testing occurred on the High Tonnage Loop (HTL) which already had the ber optic and track circuit infrastructure installed.
e rockfall tests were designed to simulate three types of naturally occurring scenarios. First, a boulder was hoisted using a crane and then dropped directly onto the track centerline. is test replicates a rock dislodged from a trackside cli and falling into the rightof-way. e second rockfall test included a boulder rolling down an inclined dirt ramp before falling two feet onto the track. e data collected included a signature of the rock rolling along the ramp followed by the impact on the track, a more realistic simulation of this type of rockfall event. e third rockfall test simulated the gradual accumulation of aggregate typical of a landslide. To accomplish this, a loader bucket was lled with a mixture of various-sized cobblestones. e aggregate was raised to a height of approximately een feet above the track bed, and the bucket slowly lowered, allowing for a gradual and prolonged impact signature on the track.
e second type of obstruction test replicated a tree falling into the right-of-way as shown in Figure 1. Treefall events can occur during windstorms or heavy rains, and the potential impact on mainline operations can include risk to train crews, halts to tra c, or even derailments in the case of large trees. To create realistic test conditions, a dead standing tree was removed intact and relocated to the test site. e presence of various sizes of branches on the tree generated a dampened impact that is more typical of a natural treefall. e selected tree was hoisted into a vertical, standing orientation adjacent to the track before being pulled towards the track to
Figure 2. Final resting location of an intentionally derailed tank car.
Figure 3a. Overview of washout testing at the TTC.
initiate the test.
Another potential hazard tested was a derailment. e derailment type focused on during the testing was the scenario where a railcar has derailed a truck and is being dragged. To create a controlled derailment, a consist of one locomotive and ve tank cars was positioned at the test location. A hinged derail was installed behind the leading truck on the last car in the consist. e consist was then pulled forward, accelerating to approximately ve mph before the trailing truck impacted the derail. Both axles on the trailing truck were derailed, and the consist continued moving at ve mph for 220 feet. As the car was dragged, the impact of the wheels on the ties, as well as the wheels digging into the ballast, created an accurate signature of a derailment, as shown in Figure 2.
e last type of mainline obstruction event tested was a track washout. One characteristic of a naturally occurring washout is a large volume of water moving at relatively low speeds, not something that can be simulated using a re hose or other high-pressure water sources. To create a washout of the desired length, a section of test track was prepared
by installing a metal pipe to directly pump water into the ballast to replicate the water saturation e ect of a washout.
In preparation for the test, the test zone was wetted using a ne spray to simulate a typical rainstorm and resulting saturation and electrical grounding of the signal system. A er wetting the ballast for approximately ten minutes, a 2000 gallon-per-minute pump was used to direct water ow through the pipe and into the ballast pro le. A er quickly saturating the sub-ballast and lling voids within the ballast, the water ow began rising vertically through the tie cribs, carrying sediment eroded from the sub-ballast.
e water then owed down the ballast shoulder, resulting in surface erosion. is process continued for several minutes, with the water ow continuing to carry quantities of sub-ballast that were being eroded from within the track structure.
As the water ow gradually removed material from within the ballast pro le, the shoulder was weakened and unable to support the weight of the remaining ballast. At this point, the volume of ballast being removed by surface erosion increased, along
with a signi cant increase in the quantity of sub-ballast being conveyed by the water ow. At this point, the ballast shoulder was observed to be moving, with ballast owing downhill o the shoulder. Within approximately 20-seconds of the beginning of the shoulder movement, the shoulder collapsed, and all remaining ballast was removed. Progressive photos of this event are shown in Figures 3a and 3b. Following the conclusion of the test, inspection of the washedout section of track revealed that all ballast and sub-ballast underneath the ties had been removed along with a V-shaped crosssection of the ballast shoulder.
Next Steps
Although ber optic sensing and track signalbased systems have di ering capabilities, both can e ectively identify speci c on-track or near-right-of-way events. e data gathered from these tests will signi cantly enhance Sensonic’s and Alstom’s abilities to detect potential service disruptions. Leveraging TTC in this capacity is instrumental in advancing technology for increased railway safety and operational e ciency. Sensonic
and Alstom are committed to utilizing the insights gained from these tests to further re ne their detection capabilities. ese ndings and advancements will be presented on the rst day of the 2nd Annual TTC Conference & Tour, scheduled for October 22-23, 2024, in Pueblo, Colo. is conference serves as a valuable platform for TTC users to showcase their test results and engage with the wider railway community. For more details about the conference, registration, and agenda, please visit www. ttc-conference.com
THE RIGHT MOW TOOLS
JOE DALOISIO Chairman, National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC)
NRC Contractors and Suppliers Are Busy … and Doing Great Work
Whoever originated that old adage – “If you want something done, ask a busy person” – must have been thinking about railroaders. Railway contractors and suppliers aren’t taking it easy this summer. Business is strong so that means we all are working hard to advance projects during warm weather and more daylight hours.
Like our member companies, the NRC sta and Board have been hard at work too. eir dedicated e orts will continue through the fall and into January when we host the 2025 Annual NRC Conference and NRC-REMSA Exhibition at the J.W. Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort from January 5th through the 8th. Look for registration information and details about the hotel block in early August.
summer and fall at NRC member company facilities and project sites. ese events o er an invaluable way to give Members of Congress and sta members a rst-hand look at the work supported and performed in their districts. Please contact Mike McGonagle, the NRC’s vice president of government a airs and operations, to nd out more.
I KNOW YOU ARE BUSY, BUT DON’T BE TOO BUSY TO KEEP EACH OTHER SAFE.
In the meantime, here’s a quick roundup of what we’ve recently accomplished together and what’s to come in the months ahead.
Invest in Safety with the NRC Railroad Equipment Auction - Our 20th Annual Railroad Equipment Auction generated $1.2 million in sales and more than $70,000 to fund new safety training resources for our members. Over the years, these auctions have raised more than $1 million that the NRC has invested to help make our industry safer. at’s a tremendous milestone that re ects our commitment to work injury-free.
ank you to our sellers, buyers, sponsors, Blackmon Auctions for hosting and administering the auction, and especially to the members of our Auction Committee, who spent countless hours cataloging and coordinating the sale of equipment, parts, and tools.
Make Our Voices Heard with Elected O cials – NRC members were proud to join with more than 300 railroad industry professionals to advocate for the industry with Members of Congress and their sta members as part of Railroad Day on Capitol Hill on May 8th. Participants visited 270 congressional o ces to share freight rail priorities and to explain how freight rail is responsive, safe, and environmentally friendly. Again, this spring, the NRC held its own congressional y-in for meetings with members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
But you don’t have to travel to Washington, D.C. to share your railroad story. e NRC will be holding a series of grassroots events this
Build a Strong Work force – Members of our recently formed Veterans Committee participated in a job fair at Fort Cavazos, Texas, in early June. ey met with veterans looking for promising careers and pointed them toward NRC member companies looking for exceptional talent. It was a positive event that served as a springboard to more activities to integrate transitioning and post-military veterans into our industry.
Apply for an NRC Scholarship - is is a no-brainer for employees of NRC member companies. If you are a student or a parent or grandparent of a college-age student, take advantage of this opportunity to win a scholarship to a college or trade school. We created a separate scholarship for trade school students last year to address the need for more skilled workers by our members and other rail-related businesses. Over the last 10 years, the NRC has awarded more than $200,000 in scholarships to deserving students. ese scholarships make an enormous di erence in paying for higher education. Find out all the details and how to apply on the NRC website. Don’t delay. We’ll be accepting applications through August 30th.
Spotlight Exceptional Performance –
In August, we will be opening up applications for a series of NRC Awards, including Safe Contractor of the Year, Field Employee of the Year, Large and Small Projects of the Year, Innovation, and Hall of Fame. is is a tremendous way to earn recognition for your company and members of your team. Again, check the website in August for all the details.
I know you are busy, but don’t be too busy to keep each other safe.
“We aren’t just in this industry. We are this industry!”
SHINING A LIGHT
Photo
HIGHLIGHTING SOME OF THE HARDEST-WORKING WOMEN IN THE INDUSTRY
By Jennifer McLawhorn, Managing Editor
For the fourth straight year, Railway Track & Structures is proud to honor some of the brightest women in railroad engineering. With many careers spanning decades, these women have cultivated their talents, developed their skills, and worked tirelessly in their contributions to rail. From freight and passenger rail to suppliers and engineering firms, this list is built based solely on peer nominations, representing the hard-working honorees for RT&S ’ 2024 Women in Railroad Engineering.
JENNIFER DRAKE
VICE PRESIDENT OF ENGINEERING – CENTRAL REGION
RailPros
Jennifer (Jen) has a structural engineering background and is PE and SE licensed in multiple states, with a 20+ year career focused on bridge design. For the past 10 years, Jen has focused on Project Management of small to very large infrastructure projects. Her experience includes highway and rail bridge design and rehabilitation, from Phase I through construction support for typical to complex highway structures in addition to rail and pedestrian bridge structures. Over the last few years, she has focused on rail, serving as Project Manager for CREATE P2 RID/ SWS Flyover, a $250M+ yover rail bridge to connect to Metra lines to bypass freight interference on Chicago’s south side, various Amtrak facility projects, freight bridge projects, and currently several Texas DOT (TXDOT) Rail Division task orders focused on grade crossings. Jen has delivered all her projects on time and on budget, including a ten-year project for Illinois DOT (IDOT) spanning multiple task orders including load ratings, inspections, review of other consultant’s Contract Documents, and development of bridge rehabilitation Contract Documents. For the past several years, Jen held the role of Group Leader for Structures and Rail for Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota and was one of the top business developers in terms of sales. Since joining RailPros as the Vice President of Engineering for the Central Region nine months ago, Jen has opened an o ce in Chicago and hired several employees there. Passionate about mentorship, she’s mentored many Project Managers.
ANGELA MORGAN
SIGNAL ENGINEERING MANAGER
Progress Rail
Angie started her career in 2003 working in an entry-level position at Progress Rail. Soon after starting, her attention to detail, natural curiosity, and drive led her to take on a signal design position, where she thrived and moved quickly into writing application software for signaling systems. For well over a decade, she has overseen Progress Rail’s application software team. From a technical standpoint, Angie is one of the strongest signal engineers within the team. Her knowledge of signal logic is second to none. She is a tremendous asset to Progress Rail’s employees and has become the go-to person for many of its customers when they have questions. In the time Angie has led the software team, the team has written and tested over 2,000 unique pieces of application software for a multitude of freight and transit clients. Angie checked most of those programs and has repeatedly delivered software of the highest quality to its customers. She is instrumental in driving continuous improvement in the organization, not only with her team, but also within the signal design business. Angie is the model of a servant leader, who continually builds up those around her, serving as a mentor and advocate for other engineers at the company. Progress Rail is a better, stronger organization because of Angie’s hard work and dedication.
MUYINAT (FAYE) MAJEKODUNMI
DIRECTOR OF CATENARY ENGINEERING (ELECTRIC TRACTION)
Amtrak
Faye began her railroad career as an intern at Amtrak in 2012. After earning her graduate degree from the University of Maryland in 2014, she became a Structures Management Associate in Philadelphia, where she developed designs for bridge repairs and deck conversions. Transitioning to capital construction in 2015, Faye worked on various projects including ADA compliance, infrastructure upgrades, and capacity improvements such as Kingston Capacity Improvements, NJHSR, East Side Access, and NJT’s County Yard.
In 2018, Faye served as the Electric Traction - Assistant Division Engineer in New York, overseeing the maintenance and operation of Amtrak’s electric traction system from North Jersey to New Rochelle. She later joined Gannett Fleming as a Senior Catenary Engineer, providing design services for Amtrak, MTA, and NJT infrastructure projects from 2019 to 2023.
In the past year, Faye returned to Amtrak as Director of Catenary Design, leading the team in reviewing ET-related capital delivery design projects, initiating immediate repairs, and maintaining and updating electric traction standards. In addition to an honorable mention in RT&S’ 2022 10 Under 40, Faye’s other accomplishments include serving as an Electrical Utilization Committee Member on AREMA Committee 33, as a Philadelphia Board Member for Women’s Transportation Seminar, and as a College of Engineering Alumni Board Member at Temple University.
IN ADDITION TO AN HONORABLE MENTION IN RT&S’ 2022 10 UNDER 40, FAYE’S OTHER ACCOMPLISHMENTS INCLUDE SERVING AS AN ELECTRICAL UTILIZATION COMMITTEE MEMBER ON AREMA COMMITTEE 33, AS A PHILADELPHIA BOARD MEMBER FOR WOMEN’S TRANSPORTATION SEMINAR, AND AS A COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING ALUMNI BOARD MEMBER AT TEMPLE UNIVERSITY.
SOPHIA BITLER
PROJECT ENGINEER / ASSISTANT PROJECT MANAGER
Railroad Construction Company, Inc.
Sophia graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering and Master’s Degree in Construction Management in 2017. She has managed several design-build projects throughout her career; her project portfolio includes mostly transit projects for the MTA, LIRR, PANYNJ, and Amtrak. Sophia was part of the project management team for the Mid Su olk Yard project, which was a multi-award-winning design-build project, recognized by RT&S with a 2021 Top Project Award and NRC’s Large Construction Project of the Year in 2020 for exemplifying outstanding management and planning, zero recordable/lost time incidents and working without interruption in an active rail yard during the evolving COVID-19 Pandemic. Following the completion of the Mid Su olk Electric Yard, she transitioned to the MTA Construction and Development CH058B East Bound Re-Route Construction for the East Side Access Project, within Harold Interlocking, the largest railroad junction in New York City and the busiest in the United States. Once complete, the improvements will re-route track carrying Metro-North, LIRR and Amtrak trains, improving daily travels for thousands of commuters and providing congestion relief for trains traveling along the Northeast Corridor. Sophia supervised design development, managed labor and subcontractor activities on site, handled client relationships as well as commercial responsibilities.
KIRSTEN BOWEN, PE
NATIONAL DIRECTOR – RAIL & TRANSIT
Michael Baker International
Michael Baker International’s credo is “We Make a Di erence,” a sentiment that Kirsten employs both in and out of the o ce. She truly represents the “best of the best” and has made a huge impact in her profession, having managed major transportation projects. She has been a trailblazer for many women within Michael Baker and has long been instrumental in developing more women into successful railway engineers. She is very involved in professional organizations including Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) in which she co-founded the Northeast Ohio Chapter and was the 2016 WTS International Member of the Year; is a winner of the Michael Baker International Chairman’s Award, the rm’s highest honor, in 2018; is the current Chair of AREMA Committee 14: Yards and Terminals and serves on the Conference Operating Committee; and sits on the Foundation Board for the Case Alumni Association for engineering and sciences at Case Western Reserve University and was a recipient of Meritorious Service Award in 2023. Kirsten’s hard work and determination have been rewarded throughout her career. Kirsten currently holds the role of National Director, Freight Rail Services and is responsible for positioning the Practice for growth and leading a team of experts to deliver innovative solutions that modernize the country’s freight rail infrastructure. Since 2010, Kirsten has grown Michael Baker’s Freight Rail Practice signi cantly. Kirsten has made mentoring and encouraging younger engineers a point of signi cant emphasis in her career and is a model for many female rail engineers.
Signaling the Future
As the country makes historic investments in transit and rail, Angela Schwarz shares her systems and signals expertise with clients nationwide to help them deliver safer, more e cient and more reliable service.
Congratulations, Angela, on your well-deserved recognition in RT&S as a 2024 Woman in Railroad Engineering. #WeAreWSP #WithUsYouCan
Angela Schwarz Senior Vice President, Transit and Rail Systems
WSP USA
TITILAYO FATIGUN
PROJECT ENGINEER - PROJECTS & PUBLIC WORKS
CPKC
From the onset, Titilayo has consistently been an outstanding achiever. Chevron awarded her an academic scholarship that she maintained throughout her
undergraduate program. Furthermore, the Petroleum Technology Development Fund, Nigeria, awarded her a postgraduate scholarship to study in the United Kingdom in
2004. She began her career in Engineering Consulting in the United Kingdom as a graduate engineer. She quickly advanced to attain the chartered professional engineer designation with the Institute of Civil Engineering (ICE) in the UK in 2011. A er relocating to Canada over a decade ago, Titilayo obtained her professional engineering designation with Apega (P.Eng) and project management professional (PMP) status with the Project Management Institute (PMI). She continued working in Engineering Consulting, providing engineering and project management services to public and private sector clients.
Titilayo has a wealth of global experience from participating in diverse civil infrastructure projects including railways, tunnels, bridges, roadways, and airports in both Europe and North America. Some of the notable capital projects she was involved in include Crossrail (UK), High Speed 2 (UK), Greenline (Calgary, Canada), Commissioner Street Rail Expansion (BC, Canada), and Stephen Siding Extension Rail Project (BC, Canada). Titilayo began her railroading career at CPKC four years ago. As a project engineer, she manages civil and track capital projects to improve and optimize train operations. ese projects present challenges related to rugged terrain, archeological signi cance, and environmental constraints and require her to work with many interdisciplinary teams of internal and external stakeholders, yet she manages the projects with con dence and expertise.
In 2022, Titilayo was recognized as a nalist for the CPKC CEO Award for Excellence as a Project Manager for the Kamloops Auxiliary Track Project for a signi cant rail shipping customer. Her leadership and hard work have been consistently recognized with strong performance ratings and rewards. Titilayo is passionate about giving back and helping others. She understands the strategic role mentors have played throughout her career and, in turn, pays it forward by volunteering as a mentor with CRIEC (Calgary Region Immigrant Employment Council), providing insights to foreign-trained professionals seeking to integrate into the Canadian workforce. Her passion for fairness, equity, diversity, and inclusion led to her being invited to participate in the CPKC Diversity and Inclusion Council. She is thrilled to have been selected as an honoree in the RT&S 2024 Women in Railroad Engineering program and celebrates with the other recognized women.
Moorman (Bellevue) Rail Yard Bellevue, Ohio
CONGRATULATIONS KIRSTEN BOWEN!
We are thrilled to celebrate Kirsten Bowen, P.E., for her recognition by Railway Track & Structures as a leading figure among Women in Railroad Engineering. At the helm of Michael Baker’s national Freight Rail Practice, Kirsten leads a team of experts in delivering innovative solutions that serve our clients and modernize the country’s freight rail infrastructure.
Kirsten is a tireless promoter of cutting-edge technologies within the transportation industry and has been a trailblazer for many women within Michael Baker. She continues to develop, train, promote and empower female rail engineers and is a founding member of Michael Baker’s Women’s Executive Network dedicated to cultivating resilient women leaders at every stage of their career journey.
From our entire Michael Baker Wolf Pack, we thank Kirsten for her 20+ years of service and for Making a Difference for our colleagues, clients and communities, as well as the engineering industry.
LATANYA POWELL
BRIDGE & BUILDING FOREMAN
Metra
Latanya entered an apprenticeship in 2000 where she began as a union carpenter for 4 years. She reached journeyman status and has worked as a carpenter for 24 years. In 2014, Latanya joined Metra. For 8 years, she worked as a foreman for the passenger agency, and she was recently promoted to a Bridge & Building foreman. Within her position, she worked as a leader of a crew of all men and accomplished great structural feats for Metra. She has worked on bridges and stations that have facilitated a safer and faster commute for Metra passengers. Within her community, Latanya makes a positive impact and prides herself on her work with teenagers where she teaches carpentry and construction classes.
MARISSA PROCTER
DIRECTOR OF ROADWAY PLANNING
BNSF Railway
Marissa is a game-changer. She views the industry with fresh eyes and looks to make an impact in whatever role she is in and whatever team she is leading. She has been in the MOW industry for the past 13+ years and is currently the Director of Roadway Planning for BNSF Railway. During her tenure, she has had the opportunity to work all around the country in different capacities within the MOW umbrella. Her influence on safety has been tremendous, impactful, and recordbreaking. She has a unique ability to win others over and align them with her vision of a safe and efficient workplace.
Under her leadership, the SoCal territory worked over 1.6 million manhours injury free. This streak contributed to one of the most significant injury-free records for BNSF when the entire California Engineering Division went injury-free for a full calendar year in 2023, something no other BNSF Engineering Division had ever accomplished. Procter’s nominator stated, “We believe she will continue to make a significant impact for BNSF, the communities in which we operate, and on all teams she leads now and in the future.”
ANGELA SCHWARZ SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL TRANSIT & RAIL SYSTEMS WSP
Angela Schwarz is a senior vice president for transit and rail systems at WSP, one of the world’s leading engineering and professional services rms. Angela collaborates with WSP’s engineering professionals and clients across the globe to deliver key rail systems and signals projects that improve the safety, e ciency and reliability of transit and rail operations. She has more than 25 years of experience as a certi ed project management professional. She most recently served as the systems delivery package manager for the Purple Line Project on behalf of the Maryland Transit Administration, a $2 billion design-build 16-mile light rail line that will extend from Bethesda in Montgomery County to New Carrollton, north of Washington, D.C. Today, Angela serves as a technical advisor for Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s communication-based train control (CBTC) program for New York City Transit. e rst design-build delivery in the history of MTA’s CBTC rollout, the program includes designing, installing, and commissioning of the new train control system for multiple subway lines. She also served as systems manager for the New Jersey Transit Positive Train Control Project, where she was responsible for the oversight of the testing, maintainability, acceptance, and safety certi cation of the system and served as the senior engineering manager for the MARTA Track and Systems GEC.
Congratulations to Jennifer Drake, one of RT&S’s top Women in Railroad Engineering and our Vice President of Engineering, Central. Jennifer’s expertise and passion for the industry are on display every day, and her support for local women in rail has made a huge impact on the next generation of leaders. We’re hiring in Jennifer’s division – come join her team!
MAHJABEEN KHAN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Holland
With six years in the railroad industry, Mahjabeen currently leads a team of eight engineers to direct critical projects within Holland’s rail measurement systems and services division as the So ware Development Manager. ese projects are centered around the Argus and Aries track measurement so ware, helping railroads to ensure their operations are safe. Under her leadership, her team has released two signi cant so ware systems and their deployments, substantially improved Holland’s quality control and release protocols. A large part of this is working hand in hand with her team as well as customers to deliver what railroads are seeking for track measurement products and services.
Along with leading her team, she is an active member of the Employee Engagement Team at Holland to bring engagement across the entire organization as well as participating in community outreach. ese community outreach activities span from volunteering for the local elementary school reading program to helping gather toys and canned goods for Holland’s yearly holiday partnership with Alicia’s House. Mahjabeen is also an active member of the League of Railway Women which highlights women and their strong role and in uence within the rail industry and hopes to continue the legacy of women leading the way.
Congratulations Allison Russo
RT&S
Women in Rail Engineering csx.com
CSX proudly congratulates Allison Russo, Manager of Automatic Equipment Identification and Wayside Detectors, on receiving the RT&S Women in Rail Engineering recognition.
With 14 years of expertise in railroad technology systems, Allison has inspired many team members and driven industry advancements. She is committed to standardizing equipment, testing new technologies, ensuring proper monitoring is in place and consistently going above and beyond.
We are honored to have her on the ONE CSX team and eagerly anticipate her continued success in the rail industry. Congratulations, Allison!
MARIAN RULE, PE, PGMP
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT | PRINCIPAL TranSystems Corporation
Professional engineer, project and program manager, Marian Rule, Principal/ Sr. Vice President at TranSystems Corporation, has served as a consultant to the railroad industry since the early 1990s. A positive, diligent, and innovative leader, she has delivered horizontal and vertical infrastructure projects through planning, design, and construction to improve capacity, safety, and operational e ciency. She has provided a hands-on leadership approach to Class I railroad clients, Union Paci c and BNSF, and to intercity/commuter rail clients such as Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority, San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission, and Caltrain. For the FRA and FTA, Marian has served as Program Manager since 2010 and currently leads the federal oversight e ort of over 300 federal grants, funded with $18 billion in federal funding to deliver a $500 billion rail infrastructure portfolio of projects across the U.S. Starting in 2013, Marian led the federal oversight of California High-Speed Rail for FRA. For the FTA, Marian has led oversight of SANDAG’s Mid-Coast Corridor Transit Project and the Inglewood Transit Connector. Bringing enthusiasm, tenacity, and practicality to her e orts, her passion is to collaborate with clients, colleagues, stakeholders, and funding entities, capitalizing on this exciting period of time in the industry to enhance U.S. transportation infrastructure.
ALLISON RUSSO MANAGER OF AUTOMATIC EQUIPMENT
IDENTIFICATION AND WAYSIDE DETECTORS
CSX
Allison began her railroad career in 2010 as a Communications Technician in the CSX Network Operations Center, supporting eld operations in a 24/7 environment. A er a year and a half, she transitioned into a more specialized role, providing Automatic Equipment Identi cation (AEI) support. A few years later, a management position was created to support the eld and manage assets for AEI and Wayside Detectors (including remotely monitored crossings), which she has held since 2016. In this role, Allison built and developed a dedicated team responsible for the full life cycle management of these assets. ey continuously seek opportunities to improve performance, reliability, processes, safety, cost-e ciency, and training related to these assets. e day-to-day work involves close collaboration with internal groups—Communications and Signals, Mechanical, and Transportation teams—as well as suppliers and industry peers, all aimed at continuous improvement. eir network includes approximately 700 AEI readers, 1,000 wayside detectors, and 2,000 monitored crossings. Currently, she is serving as Vice Chair of the AAR’s AEI Committee and Chair of the AREMA C38-1 Subcommittee. In addition to her professional responsibilities, Allison volunteered multiple years with the CSX Santa Train Packing Party, preparing packages for distribution to their neighbors across Appalachia.
MAIRIM STANDING, R.A., LEED AP
ASSISTANT CHIEF OFFICER
New York City Transit Authority
Mairim has been a licensed architect since 2011 in New York, and she studied at NJIT and graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture in 1999 and Master of Science in Management in 2000. In 2010, Standing achieved LEED Certi cation. A er graduation, Standing began her professional career at the MTA NYCT. A er six years, she went into the private sector. O ces include Standing Architecture (high end custom NY Residential architecture) and Alliance Bernstein, In house Design and Construction team, building out private client o ces domestically. She is an active member of St. George’s Society of New York, a nonpro t organization that is a member-driven charity dedicated to enriching the quality of life through scholarship programs, bene ciary programs, and family support fund programs.
Standing’s other accomplishments include being featured as ABC7 Hero of the Week in 2023 for her work on the Customer Service Centers at Stillwell, Times square, Sutphin Blvd., and 168th St Stations. She also led a complete renovation of 300 Cadman Plaza for MTA Headquarters, Occupational Health and Safety and Human Resources, and TWU local union. She provides design and construction administration to all projects related to owned and leased facilities similar to 300 Cadman Plaza, which include the Cable Shop at 42k DF, Mobile Wash and Material new build at 40k SF, and the Rail Command Center Annex at 30k SF.
All of us at Railroad Construction Company, Inc. are so proud of you and we are grateful for your commitment and dedication to our co-worker owned company. We Build Our Future and we are honored to be building it with you!
We’re returning to Chicago with an expanded event!
Railway Age and RT&S are proud to recognize the growth in leadership roles for women in the railway industry. Our second annual Women in Rail Conference is now a two-day event, filled with instructive panels, an awards luncheon, and a local transit tour.
Join a diverse group of railroaders with a shared commitment to our industry’s future.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS:
•Furthering industry inclusivity and showing allyship
•Advancing your career—from asking for a raise to developing new skills
•Understanding the latest regulatory and legislative happenings
•New tech innovations and the latest applications
SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS
•How mentorship can change your journey
•Building a safety culture
•Railway Age’s Women in Rail / RT&S’ Women in Railroad Engineering awards luncheon
•Tour of Metra’s rebuild shop and training center
Karen J. Hedlund Vice Chair STB
Stephanie Noel VP HR & Chief Diversity Officer CSX
Michael
Michelle Bouchard Executive Dir. Caltrain
By Je Tuzik
Product Manager of Wheelset Monitoring Equipment and Data Analysis at Mermec.
NEW APPROACHES TO PART 2
DYNAMIC WHEEL FORCE MEASUREMENT
Enrico Betterle,
Part 1 of this article focused on past and present research into wheel condition and behavior monitoring via wayside-based continuous measurement systems. Using an overlapping combination of strain gauges and load cells, such systems can measure a wide range of dynamic wheel forces, and parameters like wheel circumference and out-of-roundness. Some of this data can also be gleaned through specialized analysis of strain gauge data without requiring additional hardware – a technique called the Composite Unit Method.
Other wayside measurement devices take a different approach to measuring parameters like wheel out-of-roundness and lateral stability/hunting propensity by way of equivalent conicity (EC). Mermec, for example, has developed several optical/laser-based continuous measurement devices capable of performing many of the same functions as the Train Performance Detection System (TPDS) that Yuqing Zeng, Principal Investigator at
MxV Rail, detailed in part 1. Calculating equivalent conicity requires a number of data points on various wheel and track parameters. These include: left and right wheel profile, back-to-back distance, wheel diameter and diameter difference, rail profile and track gage. “A single wheelset with a high EC value is unlikely to cause hunting, but multiple wheelsets [in a consist] with high values are a strong predictor of hunting,” Enrico Betterle, Product Manager of Wheelset Monitoring Equipment and Data Analysis at Mermec, said at the 2023 Wheel/Rail Interaction conference. This highlights the importance of capturing data on every wheel that passes through the wayside unit, and ensuring that there are no “dead zones” or gaps in the data.
Based on this information, Mermec developed a hunting prediction indicator (see figure 1) based on the percent of wheelsets with EC values exceeding a given threshold (based on operating speed and other operational parameters). “This predictive indicator has
been validated by one case study in 2022; additional studies are currently underway,” Betterle said.
Mermec has also applied its optical wayside system to monitoring wheels for early signs of outof-roundness. There are many ways to measure OOR wheels, including force detection/ WILD systems like those detailed by Zeng, contact-probe systems like underfloor wheel lathes, and machine vision tread-imaging systems. One drawback of force detection/WILD systems when it comes to OOR measurement is that if a defect occurs outside of the contact band of the wheel, the system can’t detect it, Betterle said.
An alternative method under development by Mermec employs an optical profile-based method to gather in-service OOR data. “This method is based on a statistical, cumulative buildup of full circumference data over the course of multiple passes through the inspection unit,” Betterle said. Each wheel that passes through the unit is measured at 4 random
Figure 1. A sample from Mermec’s equivalent-conicity-based hunting prediction model.
3. Graphs showing bearing adapter static loads and scale weight on the left, and bearing adapter WILD data compared to historical high-impact-wheel data.
Figure 2. A bearing adapter-based WILD test unit.
Figure
points around the circumference; after 15 passes, 70% of each wheel has been measured; after 20 passes, there is 80% coverage, and after 45 passes there is greater than 95% coverage. Because this is a statistical method, the final OOR value is the maximum value detected over a certain number of inspections. “The limitation of this approach is that the measurement unit must be installed somewhere that sees very frequent train passages,” Betterle said. The strength of the system, on the other hand, is that measurement covers the entire transversal tread profile, making it easier to locate defects occurring outside the contact patch. Betterle also cautioned that at this stage, this method should not be considered a substitution for established OOR detection practices, but rather an additional dataset that can be integrated with other wheel condition data.
A New WILD
In addition to the ongoing refinement of continuous measurement systems like those developed by MxV Rail and Mermec (and others), the railroad industry has sought development and validation of alternative WILD technologies in recent years. A June 2021 update to AAR S-6101: Detector Validation and Calibration Requirements specified onboard measurement of wheel impact loads using instrumented bearing adapters. This specification is based on AAR member experiences with carbody dynamics testing and based on the assumption that reaction at the bearing adapter should equal force at the wheel/rail
contact patch.
Figure 2 shows the layout of the instrumented bearing adapter, which features four parallel load cells. After adding half of the axle weight, the sum of the load cells represents the wheel load, Zeng said. Each instrumented adapter was connected to one high-impact wheel, and the test consist was made up of both loaded and unloaded cars.
Test results (see figure 3) showed
USING AN OVERLAPPING COMBINATION OF STRAIN GAUGES AND LOAD CELLS, SUCH SYSTEMS CAN MEASURE A WIDE RANGE OF DYNAMIC WHEEL FORCES, AND PARAMETERS LIKE WHEEL CIRCUMFERENCE AND OUT-OF-ROUNDNESS.
that axle static loads (adapter force in kips) matched scale weight within approximately 5%, but that onboard peak loads were well below the highimpact wheels’ historical WILD data. To determine the reason for this large discrepancy, a free boundary 4-degrees-of-freedom model was built; “Based on the model, you can obtain the transfer function from the force on the wheel/rail contact patch to the bearing adapter, and the measured value can be corrected based
on that function,” Zeng said. “But the transfer function is dependent on many vehicle characteristics, and this method provided inconsistent results,” he added.
This is an ongoing project, and MxV Rail continues to refine their bearing adapter measurement concept based on their experience with IWSs. “One step that could help set a baseline for measurement and validation of the instrumented bearing in the future is to engineer a specific high-impact wheel where specific characteristics could be benchmarked with IWS and wayside measurements,” Zeng said. This would help eliminate some of the variables that complicated initial testing. It’s also important to determine the extent to which bearing adapter force data corresponds to the likelihood of component damage and failure rates in the way WILD data does.
Wayside measurement systems have become increasingly sophisticated over the years. While the traditional WILD continues to be an invaluable tool, the development and implementation of continuous wheel/rail force measurement technology promises a tremendous amount of useful data on wheel condition and on wheel/ rail interaction. While such systems may never fully replace the reliable WILD, it seems likely that they will continue to expand their niche as they become more sophisticated and more economical.
Jeff Tuzik is Managing Editor of Interface Journal. https://interfacejournal.com is article is based on a presentation made at the WRI 2023 Heavy Haul conference. https://wheel-rail-seminars.com
C.
Railway Age
David C. Lester
Railway Track & Structures
Kevin Smith International Railway Journal
SIT AND LISTEN
Railway Age, Railway Track & Structures and International Railway Journal have teamed to offer our Rail Group On Air podcast series. The podcasts, available on Apple Music, Google Play and SoundCloud, tackle the latest issues and important projects in the rail industry. Listen to the railway leaders who make the news.
William
Vantuono
By Jennifer McLawhorn, Managing Editor
WAYSIDE ON THE
Monitoring from beside the track
Photo Credit: ENSCO Rail
The
In previous spotlights from RT&S , we focused heavily on maintenance machines, located both on and off the track, to take care of trackrelated issues as they occur. In terms of preventative maintenance, monitoring the health of rail does not always take place onboard the train itself. As a first for RT&S spotlights, we have showcased an array of wayside train health monitoring devices from four companies in the rail industry.
For ENSCO Rail , the WheelScan system by KLD Labs is an advanced in-track wheel profile measurement solution designed to continuously monitor the condition of passenger, freight, and locomotive wheels at track speed. This system automatically captures, measures, and stores wear profiles of all wheels passing the measurement site, flagging, and reporting worn wheels electronically to maintenance departments. This enables precise planned maintenance and budgeting for asset replacement.
The collected data can be integrated with KLD ORIAN rail profile data for comprehensive wheel-rail interface analysis. WheelScan is straightforward to install, requiring only the replacement of a single tie/sleeper without affecting track modulus. It is compatible with all railcar AEI tag systems, making it suitable for remote mainline installations.
The system supports various railway operations, including Heavy Haul Freight, High Speed, Passenger, Commuter, Heavy Rail (Metros), Light Rail, Streetcars, and Trams. Incorporating the latest video and laser technology, WheelScan provides immediate feedback on wheel wear conditions, capturing crosssectional wheel profiles and performing real-time dimensional measurements. Key measurements include wheel profile, flange height, flange width, flange angle, rim thickness, tread width, hollow tread, diameter, and back-to-back gauge.
WheelScan offers numerous benefits such identifying wheel sets exceeding wear standards, collecting data for wheel truing, maintaining a database of wheel measurements and vehicle history, and enabling wheel/rail interface analysis. WheelScan’s non-contact laser measurement principle ensures accurate, 24-hour operation in mainline, yard, or shop applications, eliminating manual measurement errors and providing a reliable solution for real-time wheel
WheelScan system automatically captures, measures, and stores wear profiles of all wheels passing the measurement site.
condition monitoring.
voestalpine Railway Systems’ zentrak ecosystem offers a full suite of modular diagnostic monitoring solutions for rolling stock, fixed asset infrastructure, and asset and maintenance management. This intelligent, conscious, living ecosystem aims to create and manage efficient, reliable, and highperforming railway track assets globally.
voestalpine Railway Systems’ Modular wayside diagnostic and monitoring hardware functions with intuitive software applications to facilitate real-time
analysis, asset diagnosis and management, aiding in maintenance planning and train control while providing valuable insights for long-term business improvements.
Its rolling stock diagnostic and monitoring solutions are based on a variety of measurement technologies: infrared, fiber optic, acoustic and optical sensors. These sensors are designed to withstand any environmental conditions and enable continuous monitoring. zentrak’s comprehensive wayside monitoring capabilities include Hot Box
The modular design offers simple, flexible, and cost-effective solutions. This means users can:
• Combine user-friendly application modules and functions with simplicity.
• Expand sensor functionality at existing locations offering flexibility to customize a monitoring system.
• Realize synergies with common
Photo Credit: Trilogical
RailBlazer allows real-time railcar location monitoring with exact track positioning.
components and interchangeable parts, making the whole system cost-effective.
RailWorks AIVR (Automated Intelligent Video Review) is a multi-awardwinning system that evaluates overall track health without the need for a track inspection vehicle. Used in a variety of rail environments, AIVR is equipped onto existing rail vehicles to perform continuous track inspection.
This onboard equipment can include forward facing cameras, thermal cameras, UV cameras, line-scanning
machine vision cameras, and a variety of sensors. These systems gather video, GPS, speed, direction, elevation, weather, and other parameters and combines them into a single user-friendly dashboard. In this dashboard, machine learning and AI are used to analyze the data in real time to provide reporting and alerts about potential issues. This enables users from many rail disciplines to monitor tracks remotely and safely.
The AIVR Platform hosts data collected by AIVR vehicle mounted devices and gives users access to a suite of digital tools which allow users to locate, measure, annotate, and analyze images and video while also carrying out planning and reporting activities. These photos, video, notes, and reports can easily be shared with a team or other stakeholders. This cloud-based up-todate data and video greatly reduces the need to be onsite and on the tracks.
In response to the burgeoning demand for rail freight transport, Trilogical has launched RailBlazer advanced railcar telematics that converts each railcar into a digital asset, equipping fleet owners, railroads, and shippers with instant insights into railcars location, condition, and health for enhanced operational and maintenance efficiency, increased safety, and improved supply chain transparency.
RailBlazer’s Connected Railcars System (CRS) powered by Trilogical’s proprietary Mesh Technology generates a lowenergy-consuming dynamic network connecting all cars on a train and the locomotive without setup hassles. Seamless synchronization forms a virtual network, providing real-time data on railcars positioning in the trainset and allowing instant safety alerts on critical failures and End-of-Train events with no cellular coverage dependency.
Additionally, RailBlazer allows realtime railcar location monitoring with exact track positioning based on smart GNSS technology with advanced proprietary filtering algorithms.
Utilizing a highly accurate location module that incorporates multiple GNSS constellations, and a data correction process, RailBlazer serves as a comprehensive solution for rail yard and depot management, successfully addressing challenges related to yard layout complexity, limited visibility, dynamic switching, and tight train formations allowing capacity optimization.
As an easily-mounted and maintenance-free solution featuring battery life of over 6 years, RailBlazer ensures operational excellence, increased service intervals, a reduction in safety disruptions, and enhanced shipper satisfaction.
AIVR is a multi-award winning system that evluates overall track health without the need for a vehicle.
Message From The President
RAY VERRELLE AREMA President 2023-2024
One of the more challenging duties associated with being the President of AREMA is producing a new topic each month for the “Message from the President” article in RT&S I mentioned to Beth that if I ran out of ideas for the monthly article, I would fall back on giving a shing report. Unfortunately, at the time of writing this article, I had only been shing over Memorial Day weekend. While I did manage to catch some summer ounder for the dinner table, the catch was not worthy of an entire article. ose trips that weekend did inspire me for an article though and the topic moved away from shing and focused on safety.
Holiday weekends at the Jersey Shore can get hectic. As crowds from the surrounding region converge on the beachfront communities, the roadways become gridlock, the beaches get packed, and the Intracoastal Waterway where I do a signi cant amount of shing starts to resemble the scene from Jaws when the shermen crowd the inlet in hopes of catching the shark. Boaters at all levels of experience and all levels of common sense hit the waterways on these weekends, and single- nger hand signals seem to be a common form of communication. Watching the boats going by loaded far beyond their reasonable capacity, people going against the grain of tra c in a narrow channel, complete disregard for “no wake” zones, or the jet skier trying to jump my wake a few feet from my boat are all good examples of a lack of safety awareness or complete disregard for safety. Seeing this chaos around me was my inspiration for this article.
As I mentioned in my January article, “Safety is of the rst importance in the discharge of duty” and is second nature when
it comes to railroading. Many railroads are in the peak of production season, and safety is at the forefront of every day’s activities. Many work groups will go hundreds to thousands of hours without a single injury. ey will do this while working around the hazards of moving trains, heavy equipment, physical labor, and harsh weather. ese safety achievements aren’t by luck, they come from a strong safety mindset, safety education, proper mitigations, and constant vigilance when working around the hazards of an active railroad. Most railroads spend a signi cant amount of time and money driving safety and keeping their employees free from injury. Most railroaders take that safety mindset home with them and instill it in their families.
My father, a career railroader, brought that safety mindset home with him. He was there with the typical advice a father would give his son as he is growing up but also took the time to focus on how to keep yourself safe. He would do safety checks when I was working on my ’78 Monte Carlo and point out the proper placement of jack stands, blocking tires, etc. He would then associate the hazards of what I was doing with stories from the railroad (you know all good railroaders have war stories) on how people didn’t follow the appropriate safety precautions and the end results. He taught me to ask myself “How can this get me hurt?” and gure out how to keep it from happening. is not only prepped me for my career in the railroad industry but also prepped me as a father. Keeping your family safe is one of the many duties of a father. Making sure the house was free from hazards, teaching them how to be careful and cautious were all things I could pass on from what my father had taught me. But the moment I
realized truly what my father had given me was when I taught my daughters how to drive. When I got into the passenger seat, the question came to mind immediately “How can this get me hurt?” e answers ashed before my eyes as if it were an out of body experience. en I thought “How can I keep this from happening?” at answer was easy: have my wife do it! Apparently, my father never taught me that a safety mitigation could potentially be more dangerous than the hazard. So o I went with my daughter fearing certain death, but to my surprise, she was a very good driver and had a good head on her shoulders when it came to obeying the rules of the road and practicing good defensive driving. Maybe I got past all the eye rolls I received when lecturing her on being safe, and it somehow sunk in. e moral of the story here is that, as a railroader, safety doesn’t stop when you unlace your boots at the end of the day. e in uence you have on your family and friends may be greater than you think. at in uence will a ect people in their daily lives and the choices they make. ey may think of you and grin when they consciously decide to put down that cell phone and focus on the road a er hearing your lecture in their head. If we all took that extra step to spread the safety message, maybe I wouldn’t be so neurotic on heavy boating weekends.
In closing, I hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far. I’ll leave you with a picture of this season’s catch to prove I’m telling the truth (as well as a ruler in the picture for all you engineers). If any of you boat in the Cape May/ Wildwood area and see a center console named “Dum Bass 2,” come by and say hello. Just don’t try and follow me to my secret shing spots. I get very protective of those….
FYI
Register before August 9 to save money for the AREMA 2024 Annual Conference & Expo in Louisville, KY, September 15-18. Save your seat for the best education, speakers, networking events, Expo, and more, all in one event at www.conference.arema.org.
Discover the ultimate guide for railway engineering professionals in the 2024 Manual for Railway Engineering. With over 6,100 pages of essential practices and detailed specifications, this comprehensive resource offers everything needed to design and build efficient, safe, and cost-effective railway systems. It is available in print or PDF formats for immediate use. Order online now at www.arema.org.
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2024 MEETINGS
JULY 31 - AUGUST 1
Committee 7 - Timber Structures Kansas City, MO
AUGUST 13-14
Committee 1 - Roadbed & Ballast Chicago, IL
SEPTEMBER 10-11
Committee 15 - Steel Structures Virtual Meeting
SEPTEMBER 14-15
Committee 05 - Track
Committee 24 - Education & Professional Development
Browse our most popular webinars, seminars, and Annual Conferences to earn your PDH credits on the go. Visit www.arema.org to start your On Demand education today.
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UPCOMING COMMITTEE MEETINGS
Committee 16 - Economics of Railway Engineering Operations
Committee 17 - High Speed Rail Systems
Committee 18 - Light Density & Short Line Railways
Committee 33 - Electric Energy Utilization
Committee 40 - Engineering
Safety & Training
Committee 41 - Track Maintenance
SEPTEMBER 16-17
Committee 35 - Information Technology
SEPTEMBER 17-19
Committee 04 - Rail
Join a technical committee
SEPTEMBER 18-19
Committee 38 - Information, Defect Detection & Energy Systems
Committee 39 - Positive Train Control
SEPTEMBER 19
Committee 27 - Maintenance of Way Work Equipment
OCTOBER 24-25
Committee 2 - Track Measurement and Assessment Systems San Francisco, CA
SEPTEMBER 15
Committee 17 - High Speed Rail Systems Louisville, KY
Joining a technical committee is the starting point for involvement in the Association and an opportunity for lifelong growth in the industry. AREMA has 30 technical committees covering a broad spectrum of railway engineering specialties. Build your network of contacts, sharpen your leadership skills, learn from other members, and maximize your membership investment. If you’re interested in joining a technical committee or sitting in on a meeting as a guest, please contact Alayne Bell at abell@arema.org.
For a complete list of all committee meetings, visit www.arema.org.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
AREMA is committed to your education and advancement in the railway industry by providing Professional Development Hours (PDH) through our Seminars. These Seminars serve your educational needs and offer an opportunity to network with peers in the industry. Attendees can gain valuable insights into railway engineering and maintenance, featuring cutting-edge technologies, best practices, and industry trends. Whether a seasoned professional or newcomer, participants will leave equipped with practical tools and strategies for success and a network of industry professionals to support their journey.
INTRODUCTION TO PRACTICAL RAILWAY ENGINEERING SEMINAR
Date: Saturday, September 14Sunday, September 15
L ocation: Louisville, KY - in conjunction with the AREMA 2024 Annual Conference & Expo PDH: 16
TRACK ALIGNMENT DESIGN, PART I SEMINAR
Date: Wednesday, September 18 - Friday, September 20 Track Alignment Design, Part I Seminar
L ocation: Louisville, KY - in conjunction with the AREMA 2024 Annual Conference & Expo
PDH: 16
TRACK ALIGNMENT DESIGN, PART II SEMINAR
Date: Wednesday, September 18 - Friday, September 20
L ocation: Louisville, KY - in conjunction with the AREMA 2024 Annual Conference & Expo PDH: 16
These courses comprise recommended practices and relevant accumulated knowledge from subject matter experts in the railroad industry. They are not intended as a regulatory qualification.
To register for these Seminars, please visit www.conference. arema.org.
Nominees for Election to the 2024–2025 AREMA Functional Group Board of Directors
Jerry W. Specht, EIT
Nominated For: Senior Vice President
Title: Director S&C Construction Organization/Company: CPKC
Joined AREMA or Predecessor
Organization: Joined AREMA in 1999
Mr. Specht joined BNSF Railway in 1999 as a Corporate Management Trainee. He worked in various supervisory positions until 2008 when he became Assistant Division Engineer, then Manager of Signal, then Director, Engineering from 2012 until 2021. He then moved to Senior Director, Product Management at Wabtec Corporation until 2023. He has over 20 years of experience working in the rail industry and is currently Director S&C Construction at CPKC.
He holds a BS Electrical Engineering degree from North Dakota State University and has an Engineer in Training License.
Mr. Specht is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), National Society of Professional Engineers, International Railway Signal Engineers, and has been an AREMA committee member
since 2007. He is currently an active member of Committees 36, 37, & 39. He has served on the AREMA Functional Group Board of Directors as Director – Communications, Signals & Information Technology, now currently Functional Group Vice President. He was also a past member of the AREMA Membership Committee, Nominating Committee, Publications Committee, and current Member of Education Review Committee.
Cassandra M. Gouger, PE
Nominated For: Vice President –Engineering Services (Three-Year Term/Re-elect)
Title: Sr. Director Design
Organization/Company: Union Pacific Railroad Joined AREMA or Predecessor
Organization: Joined AREMA in 2000
Ms. Gouger began her career with Parsons through a college co-op in 1989 and then as Engineer a er college. She held Engineer and Manager positions with TranSystems,
FTI Consulting and Felsburg Holt & Ullevig, until starting with Union Paci c Railroad in 2011 as a Manager, then Director, and now in her current position.
She holds an BS Civil Engineering degree from Purdue University. She has a Professional Engineer designation.
Ms. Gouger is a member of AREMA Committee 24, as well as a past Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary of the Committee. She has been very active on the Committee with Student Activities at the Annual Conference, development of the Track Alignment Design seminar, re-writing the Practical Guide to Railway Engineering publication, as well as the Introduction to Practical Railway Engineering seminar and many other Committee initiatives. She has served on the AREMA Functional Group Board of Directors as Director and Functional Group Vice President (one-year) – Engineering Services.
Jared Hopewell
Nominated For: Vice President – Communications, Signals & Information Technology (One-Year Term)
Joined AREMA or Predecessor Organization: Joined AREMA in 2012
Mr. Hopewell started his career in 2004 with L3 Electron Devices as an Engineer and moved to Norfolk Southern Corporation in 2005. He has held various positions in many di erent locations. His current position is AVP Communications and Signals.
He holds a BS degree in Electrical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University.
Mr. Hopewell has been a member of AREMA Committee 37 since 2014 and serves on the Publications Committee. He has served on the AREMA Functional Group Board of Directors as Director – Communications, Signals & Information Technology.
Mitchell Beard
Nominated For: Director –Communications, Signals & Information Technology (Three-Year Term)
Title: Assistant Director Signal Design
Organization/Company: BNSF Railway Joined AREMA or Predecessor Organization: Joined AREMA in 2017
Mr. Beard started with Kyle Railroad
as a summer laborer in 2006. He joined BNSF Railway in 2010 as Assistant Signal Supervisor and is now Assistant Director Signal Design.
He holds a BS in Physics from Fort Hays State University and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Kansas State University.
Mr. Beard is a member of AREMA Committees 36, 37, and 39 and served as Chair and Vice Chair of Committee 39.
Joseph Przybylowicz
Nominated For: Director –Maintenance-of-Way (Three-Year Term)
Title: Manager Work Equipment II
Organization/Company:
CSX Transportation
Joined AREMA or Predecessor
Organization: Joined AREMA in 2011
Mr. Przybylowicz was with the United States Navy from 1985 – 2007 with various grades and positions. He joined CSX Transportation in 2007 and is currently Manager Work Equipment II.
He has a BS in Technical Management from DeVry University and a two-year Degree in Commercial Air-Conditioning/ Heating and Refrigeration from Lincoln Technical Institution, as well as certi cations in management and technical engineering from United States Navy.
Mr. Przybylowicz is a member of AREMA Committee 27 and was previously the Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary. He is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and American Corporate Partners (ACP).
Krista L. Keene, EIT, MSE, MBA, PMP
Nominated For: Director –Passenger & Transit
(Three-Year Term/Re-elect)
Title: Director Real Estate –Utility Occupancies
Organization/Company Amtrak Joined AREMA or Predecessor
Organization: Joined AREMA in 2006
Ms. Keene began her career in 2001 as Railroad Coordinator for AECOM (formerly DMJM+HARRIS). She then went to Amtrak as Senior Estimator-System Production, then Project Manager at HNTB Corporation, before working at Michael Baker Corporation as Rail Development Manager. She was at HNTB Corporation as Senior Project Manager, now current position at Amtrak as Director Real Estate – Utility Occupancies.
She holds a BS Civil Engineering degree from the University of Pennsylvania and an MS Civil Engineering degree from Temple University. She completed an MBA from Rowan University in May 2021. She has a PMP and an EIT certi cation.
Ms. Keene is currently a member of AREMA Committees 1 and 17, as well as a past Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary of Committee 17. She was also a previous member of the AREMA Nominating Committee.
Jason C. Hale, PE
Nominated For : Director – Structures (Three-Year Term)
Title: Asst Director Bridge Inspection & Maintenance
Organization/Company: BNSF Railway Joined AREMA or Predecessor
Organization: Joined AREMA in 2008
Mr. Hale began his career in 2000 as Project Engineer at Geotechnical Services, Inc. His 17+ year career with BNSF Railway started in 2006. He has held various positions such as Assistant Supervisor Structures, Assistant Roadmaster, Manager Structures Design, Supervisor Structures, and now his current position as Asst. Director Bridge Inspection & Maintenance.
He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He has a Professional Engineer designation.
Mr. Hale is a member of AREMA Committee 8 and was previously the Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary. He is quali ed in FRA Track Safety Standards Part 213.
Christopher C. Moale, PE
Nominated For: Director – Track (Three-Year Term)
Title: Capital Construction Manager
Organization/Company: Amtrak
Joined AREMA or Predecessor
Organization: Joined AREMA in 2012
Mr. Moale began his career with CSX Transportation in 2010 as Roadmaster, Construction Engineer and Engineer Standards prior to moving to ESI as a Senior Consultant. He started with Amtrak in 2023 in his current position as Capital Construction Manager.
He holds both a BS and an M. Eng. in Civil Engineering from the University of Florida. He has a Professional Engineer designation.
Mr. Moale is a member of AREMA Committees 1 and 5 serving as a past Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary of Committee 1. He is a Licensed General Contractor and has OSHA 10, 30, and 510 certi cations.
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Train 1027 Has Dumped the Air
Trains Magazine, as We’ve Known It, Is Not Really With Us Anymore
By David C. Lester, Editor-in-Chief
After nearly 84 years and over 1,000 issues, the railroad magazine that dared to call itself The Magazine of Railroading, Trains has entered the receiving yard as a Kalmbach publication for reconfiguration into another train for the last time. So to speak. Trains has been generally considered to appeal to both the railroad enthusiast and the professional railroader. Want to see some wonderful photographs of passenger trains in the streamlined era? Trains has them for you. Want to read about the ins and outs of railroad rates? Just check the inaugural November 1940 issue for a story by the magazine’s founder, Albert C. Kalmbach. With some changes and reconfigurations over the decades, the Kalmbach name appeared on every issue until the current one at this writing, August 2024.
Except for a few email addresses, which I expect will change soon, the Kalmbach name has been replaced by a relatively new publishing company called Firecrown Media. The CEO of Firecrown, Craig Fuller, offers a special introduction on page 2 of the issue, but I’ll leave that for readers to evaluate for themselves. The only item I will quote from his message is that “we will invest significantly in print magazines, creating coffee-table worthy magazines with gorgeous photography and stories that engage audiences. Print magazines should be timeless and something that readers want to keep.”
My reason for addressing this topic is that professional railroaders (at least beyond the age of 30) and railroad enthusiasts who have never heard of or read Trains are few and far between. Plus, Trains is not a direct competitor with Railway Track & Structures or any Simmons-Boardman publication. In 1940, there were few magazines that attracted the attention of this mixed group. Industry magazines like Railway Age and Railway Track & Structures were around, but these catered almost exclusively to professional railroaders, and enthusiasts had relatively low interest in them. As the decades passed, several enthusiast magazines came on
the market, but most will agree that none captured their minds and hearts like Trains . One reason for this is that when most folks thought about Trains , they thought about Kalmbach. The company expanded its line of magazines and ventured in and out of book publishing. For many years, Kalmbach Books was the leading source for railroad volumes, and many the company produced remain classics today. Examples include Some Classic Trains , the subsequent volume More Classic Trains (both penned by Chicago architect and luxury passenger train enthusiast Arthur Dubin), and Diesels West! by Trains Editor-in-Chief David P. Morgan, about the Burlington Rail -
EVERYONE HAS THEIR OWN STORY ABOUT KALMBACH’S INFLUENCE ON THEIR RAILROAD INTEREST.
road’s introduction of diesel locomotives in the rugged terrain of the western United States. Recently, Kalmbach has reintroduced a book-publishing arm and has produced some high-quality titles, mostly in paperback.
In addition to being the most popular railroad oracle, the folks who worked to produce the magazine were a small group and even seemed like a family to the readers. If you met or knew someone on the team, you immediately obtained increased stature with your railroad friends. And a visit to the office, whether at 1027 N. Seventh Street in downtown Milwaukee or the newer headquarters at 21027 Crossroads Circle in Waukesha, Wis., was like a pilgrimage to the temple of the railroad gods.
The headquarters building number, as noted, was 1027. Over the years, that
number took on special significance. Locomotives with that number received special notice in the magazine. October 27 became informally known as “Kalmbach Day.” Indeed, the number was so meaningful to staff and readers that when the company moved from it’s downtown headquarters to a new building in Waukesha, it was able to snag the street number “21027.”
A team of about five people with various editorial and artwork responsibilities comprised the staff for most of the magazine’s life. Today’s team, which I understand will continue with the magazine and work remotely, retains that family feel to some extent.
Everyone has their own stories about Kalmbach’s influence on their railroad interest. A favorite story that you’ve read several times, a photograph that blew you away, or the excitement of receiving a high-quality book. My first experience like this was receiving a copy of Journey to Amtrak , published by Kalmbach in 1972. I had seen an ad for the book in the magazine, so filled out the order form (made a copy of it so I didn’t have to cut my magazine), wrote a check, addressed an envelope and dropped in the mail. The book arrived about two weeks later. No internet ordering or overnight delivery.
Like a lot of readers, I have a complete collection of the magazine going back to the first issue I purchased. For me, that issue is October 1973. While all issues are available online with a subscription, there’s something about having a collection of the print versions. Lots of railroading, lots of history, and lots of personalities.
The demise of Kalmbach Publishing Company is sad. It’s a name and organization that permeated the lives of hundreds of thousands of people over the years. Those who “grew up” with the company and its publications will retain fond memories for the rest of their lives. But, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Moreover, we wish Firecrown well in creating a new, and perhaps better, product which, supposedly, will retain the name “Trains.”
