RT&S November 2019

Yards and Terminals

Satisfying

A DEMAND Yard and terminal construction continues at a high rate in U.S.

Recovering from burns

November 2019 | www.rtands.com

Colorado River Bridge escapes major damage after fire

Around and over

Crews construct Myrtle Avenue Bridge with live train traffic below

Also:

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Wireless avalanche detection

February 2018 // Railway Track & Structures 1

HIGH CAPACITY I PRECISION I RELIABILITY

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

Plasser – helping to keep the railroads safe.

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

contents

November 2019

FEATURES

8

Accessible fire Fire crews were able to use an approach on the eastern portion of a Genesee & Wyoming railroad bridge to extinguish flames quickly.

12

8 NEWS

4

Streamlining Canadian National replaces an at-grade crossing

Crews handle rail for the Port of Savannah’s Mason Mega Rail project.

Story on p 12.

Credit: Georgia Ports Authority

Follow Us On Social Media Railway Track & Structures @RTSMag

DEPARTMENTS

6

TTCI Implementing technologydriven train inspection

30

AREMA News Message from the President, FYI, Getting to Know, and more

35

Products Mulching excavator, material handling loaders

40

Last Stop Coalition building

36 39 39

Classifieds Advertiser’s Index Sales Representatives

Getting it done Rail terminal projects require precise planning and execution.

18

A refresher Myrtle Avenue Bridge replacement project deals with building around existing span.

22

Jumping the fence New wireless technology can eliminate the need for wired slide fences for avalanche detection.

26

An inside look Track inspection is perhaps the most vital in the rail industry, providing owners with detailed data not seen on the surface.

Columns

3

Columns There is a perfectly good reason

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November 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 1

NE TGEN R A I L W AY A G E P R E S E N T S

FREIGHT RAIL

Beyond Track. Beyond Trains.

#NGFR20

WHERE IS THE GROWTH IN FREIGHT RAIL? DISCUSSIONS INCLUDE:

• Automatic freight train operation: How soon?

• PSR after one year: Is it working?

• Railroads, shippers, rate cases and the STB

Keynote Speaker JIM SQUIRES Norfolk Southern

MAR. 10, 2020

Union League Club of Chicago

HOTEL | VENUE Book at the Union League Club for $169/night.

Contact clubservices@ulcc.org to reserve.

EXHIBITS & SPONSORSHIPS AVAILABLE 212.620.7224 | Jchalon@sbpub.com

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On Track

There is a perfectly good reason

Vol. Vol. 115, 115, No. No. 11 6 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 Bill WILSON Wilson Editor-in-Chief wwilson@sbpub.com David KyraC. Senese Lester Managing Editor ksenese@sbpub.com dlester@sbpub.com Bob Tuzik Consulting Editor btuzik@sbpub.com CORPORATE OFFICES 88 Pine 55 Broad Street, St 23rd 26th Floor, Fl. New New York, York, N.Y. NY 10005 10004 Telephone (212) 620-7200 Fax (212) 633-1165 Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr. President and Chairman Jonathan Chalon Publisher Mary Conyers Production Director Nicole D’Antona Art Director Hillary Aleza Leinwand Coleman Graphic Designer Maureen Cooney Circulation Director Michelle Zolkos Conference Director Customer Service: 800-895-4389 Reprints: PARS International Corp.

253 West 35th Street 7th Floor New York, NY 10001 212-221-9595; fax 212-221-9195 curt.ciesinski@parsintl.com

W

hy do the perfectly good always have to be called out?

I mean, if they are indeed perfectly good, shouldn’t they always be top of mind?

You know the scenario, or one similar to it. You are struggling to get something done in the house with some second-rate gadget or prehistoric relic, when you finally think of the perfectly good. “Ugh! Why are we doing it this way when we have a perfectly good butter knife in the drawer?” I won’t go into what was being done before the enlightening option of a butter knife came up, but you get the point.

In the state of Ohio there are a number of dormant tracks, which means there are a number of at-grade crossings with crossing gates and lights just standing around with nothing to do. And let me add ... they are perfectly good crossing gates and lights.

Officials and residents would like to see the safety equipment with a renewed purpose. There are a lot of underprivileged at-grade crossings out there that have never experienced the sights and sounds of a fully functioning gate arm when a train comes rumbling through. They have nothing, but they do have that threat, the threat of a train vs. car or train vs. pedestrian strike that turns lives upside down.

The movement that is attempting to gain momentum in Ohio is one that involves moving crossing gates and lights that are standing guard alongside dormant tracks and placing them where there is train activity but nothing to hold traffic back.

The Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) says it can cost up to $300,000 to put lights and gates on a passive crossing. The ORDC and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio can work a contract to move gates and lights from a closed crossing, but cannot order railroad companies to recycle the equipment to another site. The Federal Railroad Administration prohibits the reuse of safety equipment on federally funded projects.

Ah, yes, the gruff and grumpy federal government, complete with the big, furry

mustache and crinkled brow saying it can’t be done. I am not singling out the FRA here.

The agency is like any other in Washington, D.C. “We have always done it this way, so give me a couple of decades after the new technology or new movement have taken over and I’ll consider a change.”

Let me throw a couple of scenarios into this argument. Crossing gates and lights, whether they are active or not, can always malfunction. Some sensor can go haywire, due to the weather or just age, sending the gates down and blocking traffic on a dormant track line for hours. If rigormortis has set in on the rails, those crossing gates and lights really have no business being there. They should be moved and placed where they can save lives. Dormant tracks also can be brought back to life, but what if a crossing gate suffers a sudden heart attack?

Standing motionless for years can always increase the risk of a wire cutting out. So now you are spending another $300,000 for a replacement because the crossing gate was not activated regularly.

Ohio is not alone. Many states are looking at the same dilemma. What is wrong with recycling anything, really? As long as you inspect the equipment and make sure it runs according to standards, doesn’t deactivating one dead crossing to prevent, well, deaths on an unprotected crossing make it all worth it? The FRA, and railroad companies, need to embrace this recycling movement, because you can’t recycle lives.

Recycled crossing gates and lights are not allowed on federally funded projects? They should be.

Am I making myself perfectly clear?

Bill Wilson Editor-in-Chief

Railway Track & Structures (Print ISSN 0033-9016, Digital ISSN 2160-2514), (USPS 860-560), (Canada Post Cust. #7204564; Agreement #40612608; IMEX P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2, Canada) is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publ. Corp, 88 Pine Street, 23rd Floor, New York, NY 10005. Printed in the U.S.A. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices.

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November 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 3

Streamlining

A grade

4 Railway Track & Structures // November 2019

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Streamlining

above

A Canadian National crew works on replacing an at-grade crossing in Elgin, Ill.

Photo Crediit: Bill Wilson

For the latest industry news, go to www.rtands.com.

If you would like to contribute a photo to the Streamlining section please send a high-res version to Bill Wilson at wwilson@sbpub.com.

Photos must be no more than a month old.

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November 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 5

TTCI r&D

Implementing Technology Driven Train Inspection TTCI initiative encompasses a range of sensing and detection technologies to monitor railcars

by Matthew Witte, Ph.D., scientist, Transportation Technology Center, Inc.

F

ederal regulations require visual inspections of U.S. trains to be performed by a human. The result is visual examination while a train is stopped in a rail yard. Trained inspectors may look at a component hundreds of times with no recorded history of the inspection. Only after failure and discovery does a component get bad-ordered.

Equipment health trending is not accomplished easily in this type of program and the process is highly dependent upon human judgment. There is an emerging alternative to visual inspection. Near realtime automated inspection of in-service railcars provides a way to digitally trend component health, reduce operator subjectivity, and increase the rate at which potentially failing components can be identified.

With the aim of eliminating railroad accidents and incidents from mechanical failure, railroads are installing and applying machine-vision inspection systems to automate inspection analysis.

Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) has been assisting suppliers and railroads in the development of inspection technologies through the Association of American Railroads’ Strategic Research Initiatives (SRI) program. One such initiative is known as “Technology Driven Train Inspection� or TDTI. TDTI encompasses a range of sensing and detection technologies to monitor railcar performance and condition. A few of the technologies use cameras and apply the principles of machine vision.

For example, Wheel Profile Detector (WPD) and brake shoe monitoring systems 6 Railway Track & Structures // November 2019

demonstrate that vision systems are effective for monitoring components that have a high level of regularity. But application of machine-vision technology to a broader class of components is a critical next step in advancing automated inspection, and it presents a whole new set of challenges.

Industry-wide implementation of TDTI requires the cooperation of railroads, car owners, technology vendors, and other stakeholders. Detectors are placed by individual railroads and data flows to the owning railroad. Given that rolling stock assets are shared through interchange service, the sharing of detector data is of benefit to multiple stakeholders. For detectors such as Wheel Impact Load Detector (WILD), the data exchange process is well defined and efficiently handled throughout the industry.

Machine vision presents a new set of challenges. For example, whether to share only high-level alerts or to uncover trends by sharing lower-level information is fundamental to system architecture. Recent efforts have been aimed at developing standards to define applicable automation levels, demonstrating a machine-vision detector proof of concept, and sharing of initial machinevision inspection-related alerts, all in the context of industry-wide deployment.

A few of the existing TDTI technologies use cameras and apply the principles of machine vision. For example, WPD and

brake shoe monitoring systems demonstrate that vision systems are effective for monitoring components that have a high level of regularity. But application of machine-vision technology to a broader class of components is a critical next step in advancing automated inspection. Most machine-vision systems identify defects and out-of-tolerance conditions by applying algorithms that identify features and compare them to a representative standard. Current observations from testing suggest that normal variations in railcar components can confound these image analysis algorithms.

Algorithm development for automated detection requires knowledge of what constitutes a defect. In the manufacturing environment, where machine-vision inspection is well established, the acceptable state of components can be clearly distinguished from the defective state because conditions are controlled, and component configurations are well defined. In the North American railroad environment, environmental factors are not controlled, and the hardware being inspected changes continually. Baseline acceptable condition is not constant.

Car-loading state, railcar type, manufacturer, configuration, and wear state all contribute to a general state of the car. In addition, failure modes and mechanisms can vary.

Component defects occur in various modes.

They can be abrupt failure, such as a broken

Figure 1: Camera placement study for draft gear retaining components.

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TTCI r&d

spring or slow, progressive wear and tear, such as wedge rise. These factors all influence the component evaluation algorithms.

In response to cataloguing component condition, TTCI developed a manual viewer interface to catalogue defect data. This database is for recording component condition.

The manual viewer provides a means for railroad experts to view images from the machine-vision system and store their inspection findings along with the related images. Here, the true variety of components and conditions are being captured and documented for the benefit of improving the automated inspection algorithms.

Before TDTI can be deployed to assess the fitness for service condition of critical components, its reliability must be established.

During a recent evaluation of a truck component inspection system in revenue service, several performance metrics were evaluated. First, uptime reliability—the amount of time that the system is on and functioning as required—was measured. On a weighted performance basis, the system operated with more than 94 percent reliability during the evaluation period notwithstanding controlled shutdowns. It is interesting to note that during a 45-minute malfunction during the test period, two full trains passed by without generating a record.

This emphasizes the importance of high reliability if full inspection is to be assured.

Along with mechanical reliability, the system’s detection capability was measured.

Overall detection reliability did not meet the strict requirements for full automation, but progress was made with algorithm development during the test. Accurate defect detection, with high confidence of finding specified defects and low occurrence of falsely identifying good components as defective, is the output that defines system performance. This algorithm output must be reliable if it is to be used as the basis for an alert or alarm that is broadcast to the operating railroad.

While reliability of imaging hardware is important to machine vision, quality of the image also is paramount to success.

Image quality metrics include lighting, focus, and resolution as well as content.

Content is the most subjective of these measures, and studies are under way to address this need. Content can describe what is visible in the image and must be defined by the inspection objective. For instance, in recent research on coupler retention hardware, the cotter pin that secures the retainer key was studied. rtands.com

Figure 2: Typical truck component inspection system result.

Figure 3: Condition is documented with manual image viewer.

Visibility of this component varies by car type. Overall, a view from slightly above the coupler center line and angled down, centered on the coupling, was found to provide the best overall view of the cotter pin. This view shows the entire cotter pin on most car types and captures the cross key on both the leading and trailing car at the coupling, providing the best overall view with the fewest number of cameras.

Of course, depending on the lens and resolution, other components are visible for

inspection from this view. Continuation of the camera placement study will continue to address optimal camera placement for maximizing critical components inspected with the fewest number of cameras.

As the industry moves toward full implementation of machine-vision inspection of rolling stock, the challenges must be continually addressed. Railroads seek support from interested members of the research, academic, and supply communities to contribute to inspection automation.

November 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 7

BRIDGE REPair REpair

Accessible

Photo Credit: Genesee & Wyoming

FIRE

8 Railway Track & Structures // November 2019

rtands.com

BRIDGE REPair

T

Fire crews were able to use an approach on the eastern portion of a Genesee & Wyoming railroad bridge to extinguish flames quickly

By Bill Wilson, Editor-in-Chief rtands.com

his time of year, no matter where you are in the U.S., the ground is never saturated. Not when you are talking about rail construction supplies like wooden ties and rail.

On the night of Sunday, Sept. 15, Bill Riehl, vice president of Structures for Genesee & Wyoming Railroad Services Inc., was surveying the damage following a fire that started near one of the concrete piers of a bridge that connected Arizona and California across the Colorado River. What Riehl saw was a relief— most of the damage was confined to wooden ties and rail on the east side of the span.

“Because of the efforts of the [Buckskin] fire department to get the fire out in a timely fashion the area over the timber portion of the bridge was still standing, so then it was just a matter of what was fire-damaged that we had to replace,” Riehl told RT&S. “Sometimes you roll up on some of these and it is just a smoking hole in the track and you know that you have lost everything.

“The fire was out on the timber portion of the bridge, and there were still some ties smoldering out on the steel span that the fire department could not get out to, so those were just left to burn. The rail was buckled from the heat, and there was a lot of char on the timber foundations.”

Riehl, however, did not have a handle on everything ... not just yet. The real challenge was finding if there was enough material out there to replace the damaged portion of the 1,622-ft-long bridge—made up of timber approaches, concrete piers, concrete segments as well as a steel through-truss portion—in a timely fashion. This time of year projects are wrapping up and there is not a whole lot of material on the ground ready in case of an emergency.

After placing calls out to available contractors the morning of Sept. 15, Genesee & Wyoming went with Christensen Bridge and Rail, LLC due to a number of factors: response time, manpower, equipment and, perhaps most important, the contractor’s material relationship with Union Pacific.

Union Pacific was able to pull from its store in Tucson, Ariz. Genesee & Wyoming’s vast network also came into play, as 40 percent of the needed material was available at Arizona Eastern Railroad located about 200 miles way in Phoenix, Ariz. Arizona Eastern Railroad is owned by G&W. All of the material that was needed for repairs was on-site four days after the fire.

“The real win was on the material because especially this late in the year, this late in the production season most material November 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 9

BRIDGE REpair

At press time the cause of the fire had not been determined.

on the ground is committed, so being able to find material was a real win,” said Riehl.

In rapid succession Genesee & Wyoming’s inspection team beat Riehl and others to the smoldering bridge.

Arriving in the mid-afternoon on Sept. 15, the team readied for an assessment to see

the severity level of the damage. The main concern was with the timber span on the east portion of the bridge where the fire burned. Section loss had to be determined and the amount of timber material had to be quantified.

The charring was about ½ in. thick in the pile foundations, which was not enough for

replacement. However, two stringers located on spans 9 and 10 suffered charring in excess of 1 in. and had to be replaced.

As for the steel through-truss portion of the bridge, remains of the legacy paint system on the bridge and about 100 years of weather accumulation were reduced to a “fresh, fine rust,” according to Riehl.

Areas of steel had scorch marks, but there were no signs of deformation or anything affecting the material’s structural integrity.

A pony bent, which is a small frame timber structure that matches the elevation of the approach stringers to the floor structure in the through-truss, was completely engulfed in flames, as was a cross member located next to the pony bent. A tree on the north side of the bridge caught on fire, creating scorch marks on the bottom chord of the first steel truss panel.

The timber approach on the first truss span on the eastern side of the bridge was demolished along with ties on the timber approach and the steel span. The timber span that had the two damaged stringers also were knocked down, and as soon as those

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10 Railway Track & Structures // November 2019

3/4/19 1:04 PM

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Bridge repair

stringers and span were replaced crews were able to install enough ties across the bridge to support the rail that had to be fixed.

With that phase complete, rail service was restored on Saturday, Sept. 21. The contractor then continued to install the rest of the ties, secondary members and bracing. A total of 78 ties were replaced on the timber approach and 154 ties were replaced on the first through-truss span. According to Riehl, 387 ft of rail was replaced. The entire project was complete on Oct. 2.

Genesee & Wyoming experiences about two or three rail bridge fires a year, but many are small and quickly extinguished with no significant damage.

However, over the last four or five years, Riehl said G&W has lost at least one bridge a year. The Buckskin fire team was able to take an effective approach on Sept. 14, taking advantage of easy access on the east side of the bridge.

Still under investigation At press time the cause of the fire had not been determined. The Federal Bureau of

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The main concern was with the timber span on the eastern portion of the bridge.

Investigation, Alcohol, Tabacco and Firearms and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (the site is adjacent to Indian lands) were all out trying to figure out what ignited the blaze.

Officials believe the fire started close to the first concrete pier on the east side, designated pier 11.

Adjacent on the pier was an electrical

connection for the navigational lights on the bridge. According to Riehl, there was a charring or soot stain on the concrete above the electrical box, but it was not known if there was an electrical short that started the fire. Investigators were looking for any signs of a campfire or accelerants around the foundations.

November 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 11

Yards and Terminals

GETTING IT

DONE 12 Railway Track & Structures // November 2019

Rail terminal projects require precise planning and execution

By David C. Lester, Managing Editor rtands.com

YARDs AND TERMINALS

P

Photo Credit: HDR, Inc.

roject plans. Scope. Milestones.

Budgets. Timelines. Show stoppers. These are just a few of the components and challenges of planning and executing a project of nearly any size. It’s incredible to look back on projects done in the 19th and early- to mid-20th centuries and wonder how they got done without today’s sophisticated planning and simulation tools. We’ll have to leave that to historians for now.

Without terminals, railroading would make little sense. Moreover, with the demand for freight and passenger transportation projected to grow markedly in the next 50 years, rail terminal projects will keep planners and builders busy. The remainder of this article will provide a thumbnail sketch of seven projects that are either planned, in progress or recently completed.

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Mason Mega Rail Savannah, Ga., specifically the port city’s Garden City Terminal, is the South Atlantic’s busiest intermodal terminal, and has a throughput of 38 trains full of export and import cargo every week. A major project, called Mason Mega Rail, has been in the planning and construction phases for several years. The first phase of the project will be complete this fall (2019), and project completion is expected in the fall of 2020.

The project focus is on expanding and joining the on-dock yards of both Norfolk Southern and CSX. The expansion and connection will enable the Port to double its rail capacity to 1 million container lifts per year. The Mason Mega Rail project will increase the number of working tracks from eight to 18. In order to do this, 97,000 ft of rail will be added to the yard, bringing the total track amount to 179,000 ft.

The project also includes the addition of a track to connect the Norfolk Southern and CSX yards so they can operate as one facility. The total operation will include 60 rubber-tired gantry yard cranes and eight rail-mounted gantry cranes that will each span nine tracks. Train lengths of over 10,000 ft will be possible, adding significant cost reduction and efficiency. A big benefit of the project is that both Norfolk Southern and CSX will provide faster, more direct service to what the Georgia Ports Authority calls the “Mid-American Arc.” This region goes from Memphis to St. Louis, Chicago, Columbus, and the Ohio Valley. Transit times for the intermodal trains coming out of Savannah will be overnight for Atlanta, 2 1/2 days to Memphis, and three days to

Chicago. When the project is complete in 2020, the Port of Savannah will boast the largest on-dock intermodal rail facility for a port authority in North America.

Port of New Orleans From November 2016 to February 2018, the Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) retained Strategic Rail Finance, a consultancy, to evaluate potential impacts of a proposed third-party operation of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad (NOPB), a Class 3 road that serves the Port and interchanges with six Class 1 railroads. The city of New Orleans initially wanted a third party to manage the railroad and generate revenue for the city. In 1907, the same year the railroad was established, a law passed which said the city could not take proceeds directly from the railroad, but a Louisiana law noted that the city could take proceeds from a lease of the railroad.

Strategic Rail Finance performed valuations of and developed an implementation plan for the Port’s acquisition of the railroad. Among the issues evaluated by SRF were what the implications would be if the railroad were no longer a public asset but became a private one, and how to integrate rail development with port development.

The NOPB handles about 160,000 cars annually, with about 130,000 being interchange or “overhead” traffic and about 30,000 for local traffic (i.e., dock tenants).

At the outset of their engagement, SRF seriously questioned the valuation of the railroad by a major accounting firm hired by the city. SRF felt the railroad was significantly overvalued. The firm began to realize that the amount of money the city wanted to generate from the railroad would fall well short of expectations without Port ownership of and integration with the NOPB railroad. This conclusion was supported when SRF found the initial valuation did not fully incorporate deferred maintenance; the railroad had depended a lot on Katrina funding for the past several years, and it overvalued the revenue that could be provided by ancillary services.

SRF also determined the initial evaluation had not fully considered the terms and nature of NOPB agreements with Class 1 railroads. These agreements had long terms, the rates could not be quickly changed, and could not be counted on for growth. And, all revenue from rail agreements came only from pure interchange (overhead) traffic over which NOPB had little control.

All parties eventually recognized that to November 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 13

Yards and Terminals

Aerial view of Pier B of the Port of Long Beach, Calif.

realize the maximum value to the economy, and local stakeholders, the Port needed to own the railroad. Ownership allows the Port to put together flexible solutions for the port customers and the community.

The Port manages the railroad as an integral part of the Port operation and has ended up on a better financial footing. The final agreement made winners out of everyone in the transaction.

Port of Long Beach The Port of Long Beach has selected HDR, an engineering consulting firm, to perform the final design as it moves ahead with its $870 million effort to streamline rail operations and reduce bottlenecks at the secondbusiest container port in the U.S. The Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility

Photo Credit: HDR, Inc.

Reconfiguration of Johnson Avenue Yard Gannett Fleming is a planning, design, and construction management and alternate delivery firm that was engaged to perform construction management and resident

engineering for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in Queens, N.Y. The project was a reconfiguration of Johnson Avenue Yard, near the Long Island Rail Road’s (LIRR) Jamaica Station, among the country’s busiest, and Long Island’s largest transit center.

The Johnson Avenue Yard reconfiguration project included implementing new closed-circuit television systems, new lighting, and a new public address system. An underground track support system was built for part of the yard lead track under the AirTrain building. Approximately 5,500 ft of track and 350 ft of the yard lead track were realigned and reprofiled. Four new track switches were installed, and the

eastern half of the yard was elevated, and a 1,230-linear-ft retaining wall was built.

Because of the location of the future platform, an existing utility duct bank and manhole system containing critical railroad power, signal, and communication cables also needed to be relocated.

The project presented significant challenges and obstacles from the start. This was especially the case when a system to support the lead track’s realignment and elevation was under construction, and also when critical railroad utilities had to be relocated. After surveying the area, the team drilled 77 micropiles through the existing lead track and tieback area without disrupting 130 structurally critical tiebacks. The drilling was a particular challenge because there was only 16 ft of headroom. The utilities conduit system also presented a challenge. While running the conduits via two duct banks was part of the original plan, the team decided to run all the duct banks in a single trench, allowing reuse of a portion of the existing duct bank system, and building it all in a single stage of work. The change in plan reduced the number of times the ducts crossed each other and under the track.

14 Railway Track & Structures // November 2019

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Yards and Terminals

construction management consultant. They assembled customized teams to provide design, permitting, and grant assistance services as needed throughout the 11-year implementation. HDR’s experience working with railway companies, efficiency in obtaining state and federal permits, and expertise in preparing benefit-cost analyses to support multiple TIGER grand applications helped shape the management and implementation approach to keep the program on schedule and minimize delays.

The WVFA program began construction in 2007 and evolved over the next 11 years in 21 discrete projects. The overall WVFA program of projects finished ahead of schedule in July 2018 and was $24 million under the original budget of $271 million.

New Orleans Public Belt Railroad locomotive completes early evening swiching moves.

Photo Credit: New Orleans Public Belt Railroad

project will expand the Port’s capability for loading shipping containers directly on rail cars instead of being loaded on trucks for short-haul trips. The expansion and reconfiguration of the existing Pier B railyard will create a staging area for loading freight trains nearly 2 miles long, eliminating thousands of local truck trips.

Port Executive Director Mario Cordero said, “This is visionary. The Port is taking the lead in rail. The delivery of containers to and from ships by train is the most sustainable and efficient way to move cargo in and out of the Port. Each train eliminates as many as 750 truck trips, speeding the flow of goods and cutting traffic on roadways.

Train is a big part of our green future.”

trench construction; utility and facility relocations; bulk unloading facility enhancements; and construction of the Gateway Avenue overpass.

HDR was selected to help plan, design, and deliver the program as the Port’s program/

PATCO Yard Rehabilitation HNTB is an employee-owned infrastructure solutions firm that has been engaged to design the rehabilitation of PATCO’s Lindenwold Yard. PATCO is a rapid transit system running between Camden County, N.J., to Philadelphia. The project is focused on upgrading signal, power, and

TRACK STARS OF RAIL SUPPLY

West Vancouver Freight Access Management Program In a concerted planning effort by the Port of Vancouver, its tenants, and public and private partners, the West Vancouver Freight Access Program, identified a significant expansion of the Port’s internal rail system to improve freight rail capacity and efficiency at the Port and throughout the region.

The largest capital improvement program in the Port’s history, WVFA outlined a multiyear plan comprised of 21 projects increasing the internal track miles from 17 to 54. The program’s goal was to improve on-site freight movement and grow its railcar capacity from 50,000 to 400,000 per year while at the same time reduce rail congestion on the BNSF mainline by removing an at-grade crossing.

Project elements included rail track expansion, relocation and improvements; rail rtands.com

November 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 15

Yards and Terminals

communications. Approximately 25,000 linear ft of track, 49 yard switches, and 750 ft of viaduct track will be upgraded. In addition, the project includes replacement of 2,200 linear ft of 2.4kV and 26.4kV cables along the south pole line adjacent to the Conrail tracks in Camden.

PATCO opened in 1969, and a Sunnyside yard expansion was done in 1978. All the components being replaced/repaired are part of either the original construction or the work in 1978. When finished, the track is not expected to need as much ongoing maintenance.

Sunnyside Yard Master Planning Process HNTB is one of 13 consulting firms engaged to participate in the master planning process around Sunnyside Yard, which is used by Amtrak, New Jersey Transit, and the Long Island Rail Road. HNTB was engaged to provide rail engineering expertise. Located in New York City, Sunnyside Yard was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1910 and has been in operation for over 100 years. The

Aerial view of Pier B of the Port of Long Beach, Calif.

yard provides storage space and maintenance facilities for Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor.

It’s one of the buisier yards in the country, and Amtrak owns the majority, with a large portion owned by the MTA. The Sunnyside Yard Master Planning process is to bring together different people and entities to develop a planning

framework and vision for the long-term project. The effort will require technical analysis by a team of consultants, in coordination with Amtrak and other railroads, along with community and city input. The project launched in the summer of 2018 and is anticipated to take approximately 18 months.

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Bridge Construction

A REFRESHER

Myrtle Avenue Bridge replacement project deals with building around existing span

L

ocated in Ridgewood, Queens, N.Y., the Myrtle Avenue Bridge, also known as the Fresh Pond Bridge replacement, is one of few such undertakings by the New York City Transit (NYCT) in its history.

The existing bridge superstructure consisted of three 52-ft span throughgirders and carried two tracks of the MTA Subway M Line over the New York and Atlantic Railway’s tracks and a rail maintenance yard.

It also carried a utility duct bank on 18 Railway Track & Structures // November 2019

the west exterior girder and a walkway.

The substructure of the existing bridge consisted of stone gravity abutments. The bearings were steel rocker bearings. This 100-year-old bridge sustained damage over the years especially from collisions with freight trains from below and needed to be replaced to provide reliable M Line service.

Working around Tracks below the existing bridge were to be open at all times. Limited interruptions were allowed below the bridge. That combined

with a gas main in front of the south abutment dictated the construction of the new abutments to be located behind the existing ones. This also required the protection of all the existing tracks below the bridge during the demolition of the existing bridge and the construction of the new bridge. Retaining the existing abutment walls limited the construction under the bridge.

It was necessary to adhere to the track clearance requirements and realignment of the tracks was not possible. This limited the available space for the middle rtands.com

Photo Credit: Jacobs

By Arjuna Ranasinghe, Mohamad Feteha, and Lauren Weber, Jacobs, Contributing Authors

Bridge Construction

The erection of new girders at the site of the Myrtle Avenue Bridge project.

through-girder and special measures had to be taken for the design of its knee braces.

Also, it was necessary to adhere to the existing track profile.

This, plus the increased span lengths due to new abutment locations, constrained the ability to increase the clearances over the tracks below.

To maintain and protect It was required to maintain and protect all the utilities attached to the existing bridge and near the bridge. The contractor was rtands.com

directed to obtain underground utility mark-outs for all public and private utilities prior to any excavations by contacting a “one-call” utility mark-out service. He also was directed to contact the communications, signals, and power departments of the NYCT Authority regarding utilities and duct banks.

The existing duct bank—consisting of but not limited to grease line, signal airline, AC lighting, etc.—running above the west exterior girder was protected and temporarily supported during construction.

This was accomplished by installing a steel beam spanning the bridge and seated on concrete pads which supported a timber box that kept the flexible ducts together and protected them. After the construction of the new bridge, the duct bank was placed in a stainless steel trough and re-attached to the top of the new west exterior girder.

The contractor carried out a vibration and displacement monitoring plan for the existing gas pipeline located in front of the south abutment and the bridge including the stone abutments.

November 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 19

Bridge Construction

Crews construct the superstructure of the Myrtle Avenue Bridge. The new bridge was designed for NYCT-specific division loading, track and superstructure dead loads.

entire bridge was designed with built-up girders and all bolted connections as no welding was allowed in order to alleviate any fatigue concerns.

The realignment of the tracks was not possible. This limited the available space for the middle through-girder and special measures had to be taken for the design of its knee braces as the existing structure’s

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Making it fit The new bridge was designed for NYCTspecific division (BMT) loading, track and superstructure dead loads, and maintenance walkway live load. All structural steel design was carried out with ASTM A709-Grade 50. The plate girders were not cambered as per AREMA Chapter 15. As per the bridge owner’s requirement, the

original knee braces were cut to accommodate the train envelope. Heavy steel angles were added to increase the moment of inertia of the knee braces.

All steel for the new bridge was painted as per NYCTA specifications. The finish color coat was Woodland Night.

The new stub abutments were built behind the existing stone gravity abutments. Most of the existing stone abutment stems and stone fascia walls were retained. This limited the construction under the bridge. It also allowed the construction of stub abutments behind them thus reducing the construction cost. Grade 60 epoxy-coated steel was used for the reinforcing bars.

Each stub abutment is founded on 10.75-in.-diam. micropiles. There are two rows of nine piles at each abutment. Total length of each micropile is 45 ft minimum and the design axial capacity is 25 tons.

Due to the potential of obstructions, the contractor was required to perform a pre-construction subsurface exploration through the embankment to confirm the proposed layout of micropile foundations

Bridge Construction

adjacent to existing abutments.

A mobile hydraulic crane with a power boom capable of accessing the construction site was used for the removal of the existing girders and the installation of the new girders.

Piles were installed only during limited track closures on the weekends to expedite construction and reduce bridge closure time. Tracks were open to traffic full time during week days. After the micropiles were driven, a No. 10, grade 75 rebar was lowered in at the center of the casing with plastic spacers and cement grout was poured in on a later date. No casing joints were allowed within the upper 10 ft of the micropiles. Specialized coring and cutting bits were available on-site in case obstructions, including the existing abutments, were encountered. One sacrificial load test was performed on the embankment.

Conclusions The following conclusions could be made on this project: • The installation of piles during limited

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track outages on weekends and opening the bridge fully on weekdays expedited construction, reduced bridge closure time, and enabled the NYCT to carry out its operations smoothly; he use of micropiles limited the vibra•T tion that could have adversely affected the gas main and the existing abutment walls if any other driven piles were used; he use of micropiles was cost effective; •T

• Even though the new bridge spans are longer it was possible to increase the new vertical clearance by 3 in.

References 1. AREMA Manual for Railway Engineering, 2015.

2. John F. Unsworth, “Design of Modern Steel Railway Bridges”, p. 202, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida (2010).

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November 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 21

technology trends Engineering

JUMPING

THE FENCE New wireless technology can eliminate the need for wired slide fences for avalanche detection

A

wired slide fence cannot stop itself from getting in the way.

Sure it can indicate if there was an avalanche or a landslide, but the maintenance required for such a system can always collapse a day’s work for the most well equipped Class 1 railroad companies.

“Slide fences require an awful lot of maintenance through the winter due to ice breaking through them, animals breaking them, or the cables break on their own accord,” Neil Roberts, product manager from L.B. Foster, told RT&S. “They cost the railroad an awful lot of money to maintain.”

That cost has some Class 1 railroad 22 Railway Track & Structures // November 2019

By Bill Wilson, Editor-in-Chief

companies looking at alternatives, one being a wireless avalanche detection system.

L.B. Foster is one manufacturer with some real-life testing behind its product, which is called Avalanche Total Track Monitoring.

The system uses a battery-powered RCM tilt and position sensors attached to posts, which are swept along during an avalanche.

When an avalanche occurs, G-force accelerometer sensors are triggered. The system is programmed to where posts have to go from being completely vertical to a 30° tilt within one second. If just one sensor is knocked over it will cause an alarm, but the system will not indicate there is an avalanche.

However, if two sensors are knocked over an avalanche has been detected and an alarm is sent to dispatchers. The Class 1 railroad can then investigate the scene and react if the track is not passable.

“The railroads have a lot of areas where they do not necessarily have strong communications and they also generally do not have power,” said Roberts. “So with this system we are building a bunch of different systems for them to use out in these remote areas.”

Test, 1-2 The United Kingdom has been using the rtands.com

AVALANCHE DETECTION SYSTEM

An essential detection system for snow and embankment risk Avalanches are a major threat to railroads, causing delays, disruption and damage.

L.B. Foster’s Avalanche Detection is a low-maintenance wireless system that can be deployed quickly in remote locations and send alerts to operators about events that can lead to snow and debris on the track. Proactive monitoring of these types of events increases safety, reduces costs through a reduction in service delays, eliminates false alarms and enhances reputation resulting from continuity of service.

For more information visit: www.lbfoster.com 1-630-320-1381

technology

wireless technology for the past five or six years for f lood detection and embankment monitoring. The thought was it could be useful in predicting and calling avalanche events.

Two test systems were put out initially, one was fixed to a slide fence and another was placed in a snowfield where there was a potential for an avalanche. The system that sat next to the slide fence suddenly went into alarm mode in the spring because the snow had melted and the poles had fallen over. The experiment simply consisted for pushing these sensors into the snow.

A relay box with four tags on one system and three tags on another were then set up. The tags were G-force accelerometers totally enclosed in a tube and would send a signal to a gateway every four minutes. If the gateway indicated that one of the tags had disappeared it would send a warning to the dispatcher.

Wind was an issue. The poles were moving in the snow and would create their own hole around the bottom of the post.

This was causing false alarms to the system, which was then programmed out. The tags

were then programmed to where the movement had to go from straight up vertical to a 30° tilt in one second. Failing batteries also came into play.

“

THE NEWS DESTINATION FOR THE RAIL INDUSTRY

The railroads have a lot of areas where they do not have strong communications. we are building a bunch of differents systems for use in remote areas.

However, every false alarm required maintenance crews to go out and investigate.

“When we came to do mkII it was, ‘Well, if we don’t have to send people into that area and we can remotely access to see what the

situation is on-site, to look at the tags and see their orientation, to see signal strength, to see whether the battery level is up and what the temperature is,’” said Roberts.

“We can now see all of that remotely so you don’t have to send people into a potentially dangerous environment.”

Currently the system can cover about 2,000 ft, possibly more, but adjustments are being made to improve the wireless system.

Tag orientation, signal strength, battery power and the current temperature are all displayed on a monitor. The mkII system consists of larger posts with a base and a shear pin in the back of it.

“The mkII has been installed for five, six months, maybe longer, and I do not think there have been any false alarms,” said Roberts. “We had two failures involving batteries, but these were down to dry joints on pre-manufactured pcbs. The system is now ready to go from a commercial point of view and from a product safety point of view as well.”

Along with rewriting the sensor algorithms so that wind vibration triggering was eliminated, a “shock factor” was added

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technology

which gives a velocity indication depending on the speed of impact. A “status check” also has been modified to delay a maintenance alarm in the event of any temporary radio loss or interference.

Predicting over a bigger area Future plans call for the creation of a repeater system to allow the scanning to spread out for miles instead of just 2,000 ft. The current system is capable of taking three or four gateways, each carrying about 20 tags. Working with a repeater system would allow for many more tags and a wider coverage area of miles rather than feet.

Each of the tags come with a temperature reading, so currently researchers are logging that data and creating trends. The goal is to be able to predict an avalanche or a landslide before they happen. So, for example, if there is a 5° rise in temperature in a 24- to 48-hour window that could be a potential risk and an alarm would be sent to dispatch.

“Currently we are in the area of being able to accurately predict these events because right now the slide fences that are out there are not accurate,” said Roberts.

Future plans call for the creation of a repeater system to allow scanning to spread out for miles.

Another example is when an area is experiencing heavy rainfall and the Class 1 railroad knows there could be some slopes under pressure. The system could be

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deployed rather quickly in the sensitive area and could then communicate if a mudslide did happen so the Class 1 railroad company could react accordingly.

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November 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 25

TRACK INSPECTION

T

rack inspections services and equipment are the eyes and ears of the industry, exactly where you want the eyes and ears to be— on the rail. This section reflects a market overview of what is offered in train inspections, including items that were introduced during this year’s Railway Interchange in Minneapolis.

Holland Holland’s fleet of TrackSTAR track testing vehicles is designed to satisfy the track geometry and rail profile measurement requirements of Class 1, regional, short line, transit and industrial properties in North America.

26 Railway Track & Structures // November 2019

The newest vehicle, the 650 Series, provides track geometry and rail profile measurement data along with track strength information from a patented lightweight load axle in a medium-duty package. The versatile testing vehicle has the flexibility necessary to get a comprehensive assessment of track condition to keep the track up and running safely and efficiently.

The TrackSTAR 650 series vehicle includes: • A medium-duty truck and chassis fully equipped with all gear necessary to perform on road and rail, as well as host measurement equipment; • A rear walk-in compartment;

• Exterior conspicuity lighting; • Interior and exterior LED lighting; and • Access panels for easy deployment and inspection of Load Axle and ARGUS system.

RailWorks RailWorks is a web-based track inspection and reporting portal that provides a full view of track inspection reports with instant automated budgets, prior repair work costs and dates, mapped GPS locations, pictures, preventive maintenance and inspection schedule management, documented track assets, and a single storage point for all reports.

RailWorks Insight provides reports on rtands.com

Photo Credit: National Railroad Safety Services Inc.

AN INSIDE LOOK

TRACK INSPECTION

Track inspection is perhaps the most vital in the rail industry, providing owners with detailed data not seen on the surface

By Bill Wilson, Editor-in-Chief

conditions/defects, preventive maintenance and inspection scheduling. The transportation manager is able to log in to see all of this information and make informed decisions about track maintenance.

RailWorks Insight provides actionable information about the location and severity of the defect in the office or out in the field.

With no need for paper or paper storage, condition overviews allow repair crews to fix small issues before they become major problems. Reports provide management with a comprehensive track system view to better plan and prioritize maintenance projects with budget estimates and they can view completed repairs. rtands.com

Harsco Rail Protran Technology is now offering track inspection services that provide stateof-the-art track condition data for railroad operators, builders and maintainers.

Track inspection services can be utilized for regulatory-, construction- or agencyspecific inspection requirements and can be combined with Protrans proprietary software to consolidate a wide range of data sets to assist maintainers in managing their dayto-day, capital and predictive track maintenance requirements.

Inspection services offered include rail profile measurement, track geometry, topof-rail condition video, automated switch inspection, corrugation detection and ultrasonic rail inspection.

Protran Technology serves Class 1 railroads, regional railroads, short line railroads, commuter and transit.

Protran Technology inspection tools are installed on multiple platforms (Hi-Rail trucks, trolleys, or MOW equipment), which allows for the tailoring of innovative technology specifically for a customers unique operating, maintenance and inspection needs.

In addition to track inspection services, Protran also is offering Protran’s Callisto geometry suite for customers to purchase their own affordable track geometry measurement solutions. The Geometry Suite includes Callisto Hy-Rail, Callisto ProTamp, and Callisto Absolute. These tools provide higher accuracy, reduced human interface and increased productivity (up to 50 percent) when performing track measurement and maintenance activities.

National Railroad Safety Services Inc. The National Railroad Safety Services has been providing railroad safety solutions for more than 20 years. NRSS offers training services, field safety services and other services in project management, track inspection, signal maintenance, construction inspection and safety audits.

The FRA 213 Track Safety Standards 40-hour initial course is a training course prepared and presented by former FRA track safety specialists.

It includes an in-depth PowerPoint presentation and exam. These same trainers also provide an eight-hour refresher course as well.

The FRA 213 Continuous Welded Rail (CWR) three-day initial course also is prepared and presented by former FRA

track safety specialists. This course includes specific CWR policy and procedural information provided by the railroad client. It includes an in-depth PowerPoint presentation and exam. These same trainers also provide an eight-hour refresher course as well.

NRSS provides trained and qualified track inspectors to regional railroads, short line railroads, and industries that have track. NRSS track inspectors mainly come from Class 1 railroads. They provide mentorship training to new track inspectors for railroads, assume the track inspection duties of a specific territory or subdivision, provide track inspection support for special projects such as capital improvements and at-grade crossing replacements, etc. NRSS track inspectors are fully equipped with the necessary tools and Hi-Rail vehicles and receive continuous training. NRSS safely and successfully provides these services to fill the gap for railroads that have limited resources.

Railpod The RailPod platform empowers railroads and transit operators to utilize best-inclass digital track inspection technology to capture precise track and infrastructure data, and to utilize a simple but powerful cloud-based analytics and reporting platform to turn their data into actionable insights for safer and more operationally efficient railroads.

RailPod’s digital railroad inspection vehicle is capable of capturing a comprehensive set of precision data and analytics that railroads and transit systems are utilizing to improve safety and to optimize the utilization of their rails.

RailPod empowers railroad and transit system track inspectors, MOW workers, chief engineers, and project engineering teams with a previously unavailable set of precise digital track and infrastructure data and insight, including the run-on-run data analysis needed to proactively maintain their track assets and infrastructure.

Utilizing a purpose-built railroad inspection vehicle with on-board computing processing and advanced inertia technology, data fusion algorithms, and advanced sensors, RailPod is uniquely capable of simultaneously collecting data for multiple different inspection solutions (e.g., track geometry, rail profiles, asset mapping, etc.), that enables the precise data-driven track November 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 27

Track Inspection

Harsco’s Protran Technology is now offering track inspection services that provide state-of-the-art condition data.

and surrounding infrastructure insights necessary to make prioritized and informed track repair, maintenance, and capital investment decisions.

During a single inspection run, RailPod

collects data for track geometry, rail wear, rail type/size, curve analysis, clearance assessments (with both standard plates and custom car geometries), asset mapping, 360° LiDAR scans for engineering-grade

work, GIS data mapping, and a variety of additional reporting solutions all of which is made available on a near real-time basis to customers via the RailPod 24/7 webbased software data portal.

Conducting multiple inspections with a single vehicle, during a single run, makes RailPod affordable.

Track time dedicated to inspection is minimized by eliminating the need for multiple single function inspections, and the challenges of correlating and trying to derive value from siloed data sets from different vendors is eliminated.

With RailPod, customers own the data, all inspection data, including historic data, which is critical for “rate of change” analysis, is available to be viewed and analyzed by customers on a near real-time basis within a single portal, with the added flexibility of being able to export data to existing operational or engineering software.

The RailPod single operator inspection vehicle is capable of testing 100+ rail miles/ day and can easily be put on/off the track at any road crossing in a matter of minutes (similar to any other hi-rail vehicle).

The Leader in Autonomous Inspection Reduce Risk. Increase Network Safety. Inspect More Track at Lower Cost.

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28 Railway Track & Structures // November 2019

rtands.com

SEND US YOUR BEST

FOR 2020, RT&S MAGAZINE will be honoring some of the best projects in the industry dealing with Class 1s, passenger/transit trains and short line railroad companies. Projects can be nominated in the following categories: » » » » »

Nominations due by December 13, 2019

New Construction (Rail) Maintenance (Rail) New Construction (Bridges) Maintenance (Bridges) Best Use of Technology on a Project

Winning projects will be featured in the May 2020 issue of RT&S and awards will be distributed during a live event held in Chicago.

http://bit.ly/rtstopprojects

Message From The President

Edward D. Sparks, II, P.E. AREMA President

A

2019-2020

ny enterprise that has been around for over a century has accumulated a great deal of tradition and practices as well as a distinct culture. Our industry, which is rapidly approaching its 200th year, is certainly no different.

The consolidation in the railroad industry over the years in all disciplines (railroad, contractor, supplier, manufacturer, researcher, etc.) inevitably leads to the combination of cultures. Many articles have been written about the challenges and difficulties combining the New York Central and Pennsylvania railroads into the Penn Central. But, there are countless other examples.

One of my first supervisors as a new, fulltime management employee was the late L. Earl Daniels. Earl started his career in the Signal Department of the Western Maryland (WM) Railroad in Hagerstown, Md., and then later moved to Cumberland, Md. He told me of the time he was transferred to Akron, Ohio, for the relatively new Chessie System Railroad.

When Earl showed up at the office for the first time, the men wanted to know if he was a yellow checker or a blue checker. Earl was not expecting that line of questioning as his welcome.

At that time, the Chessie System payroll department had not yet integrated all of its constituent roads. As such, if your check was yellow you hailed from the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O). If it was blue, you were from the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O).

Your traditions, culture and presumably loyalty were thought to stem from your railroad of origin.

30 Railway Track & Structures // November 2019

Akron was solidly in B&O country, so a blue check meant he was one of their own and a yellow one meant he was an outsider or rival and all that came with it. Earl answered, “neither, my check is green.”

That was not the expected response. Green checks were from the considerably smaller Western Maryland Railroad, which was a later addition to the C&O/B&O operation. Apparently, Earl was the first WM man to take a leadership role in Akron at the time.

Being from neither of the main rivals in a merger or consolidation gave Earl the neutral ground to rise above the culture differences and lead his team. Over time those rivalries faded. Some interesting pieces of the culture survived and are a part of the railroad to this day.

AREMA provides a great neutral ground, an opportunity to step out of your traditional means, methods, culture and biases.

It is a forum for meeting industry colleagues, competitors and even rivals. Exposure to practices that differ from the “way we’ve always done it” can be very enlightening.

You and your organization benefit from these fresh perspectives and ideas.

AREMA provides one of the only railroad industry forums in North America where people who are facing the same problems can get together, collaborate and learn from one another. There are some brilliant and creative people in this association, and I’ve found that if you show genuine interest, they’re ready, willing and able to pass along knowledge you would never get anywhere else.

For example, I attended an AREMA Committee 5—Track meeting several years ago and there was a spirited debate about the pros and cons of what I thought to be relatively new (or at least new to me) flange bearing frog technology. I had some very positive experiences in the prior couple of years installing Lift Frogs, also known as OWLS (One Way Low Speed) Frogs, in the main line for which I was responsible. Much to my surprise, Mr. Russ Hein of Progress Rail provided a copy of a U.S. Patent dated Oct. 20, 1885! What I thought was new was actually an idea Mr. John N. Sargent of Aurora, Ind., came up with a century and a quarter earlier. Russ stated that “there’s nothing new in railroading, you just might not know about it yet.”

Sometimes great ideas have been tried before but failed to catch on due to

inadequate technology or materials of the time. Whether that was the case here, I do not know. Nonetheless, what a great find.

From this experience, I certainly look at those frogs in a different light.

My predecessor, Mr. Jim Kessler, successfully highlighted four of the six functional groups in his columns over the previous year. Those four as well as the two remaining are populated with individuals ranging from brand new with eyes wide open to seasoned, grizzled experts in their field. The pages of this magazine as well as AREMA. org list the upcoming Committee meeting dates and locations. I strongly encourage you to reach out to the Committee leadership and request to attend a meeting of your choosing as a guest. I guarantee you will learn something from the experience and expand your culture.

Even if you cannot make it to a Committee meeting, there are seminars and webinars available to broaden your horizons as well. Last, but not least, remember that our AREMA 2020 Annual Conference & Expo is just 10 short months away in Dallas, Texas.

See you on the railroad.

Lift Frogs, or OWLS Frogs, received a U.S. Patent on Oct. 20 1885. rtands.com

FYI AREMA would like to wish you and your family a very happy and safe holiday season.

Papers are now being accepted for the AREMA 2020 Annual Conference & Expo to be held in Dallas, Texas, from Sept.

13-16, 2020. The deadline is Dec. 13, 2019.

Please visit www.arema.org for more information and to submit a paper online.

Re-released after six years, order the “new” Third Edition of the Practical Guide to Railway Engieering. This expanded edition of fers in-depth coverage of railway fundamentals and ser ves as an excellent reference combining and

consolidating the most useful information from a multitude of sources including: AREMA manuals; Railway Engineering by W.W. Hay; Railway Curves and Earthwork

by C. Frank Allen; regulatory and other agency sources. Order online now at www. arema.org or contact mbruins@arema.org for more details.

The AREMA Scholarship Program is now accepting applications for the 2020-2021 academic year. The AREMA Educational Foundation provides scholarships to engineering students who are specializing in the railway industry and supports other educational and training endeavors that help ensure the future of the profession.

Application deadline: Dec. 6, 2019.

Call for entries for the 2020 Dr. William W. Hay Award for Excellence. The selection process for the 18th W.W. Hay Award has

begun. Entries must be submitted by May 22, 2020. Please visit www.arema.org for more information.

Leverage the power of your trusted association’s Railway Careers Network to tap into a talent pool of job candidates with the training and education needed for long-term success. Visit www.arema. org/careers to post your job today. Use code RAILCAREER to receive a discount.

Demonstrate that you are a professional by joining AREMA membership today.

A R EM A m e m b e r s a re d e d i c a te d to improving their practical knowledge and are interested in exchanging information with your peers in order to advance the railroad engineering industry.

Not an AREMA Member?

Join today at www.arema.org

Upcoming Committee Meetings Dec. 19

FEB. 19-20

June 2020

Committee 33—Electric Energy Utilization Philadelphia, Pa.

Committee 7—Timber Structures Jacksonville, Fla.

Committee 10—Structures, Maintenance, & Construction New York, N.Y.

JAN. 23-24 Committee 8—Structures and Foundations New Orleans, La. JAN. 28 Committee 9—Seismic Design for Railway Stuctures Spring, Texas JAN. 28-29 Committee 10—Structures, Maintenance & Construction Alburquerque, N.M. FEB. 18-19

FEB. 21-22 Committee 24—Education and Training Jacksonville, Fla. march 18-19 Committee 38—Information, Defect Detection and Energy Systems Pittsburgh, Pa. april 23-24

Sept. 13 Committee 10—Structures, Maintenance, & Construction Dallas, Texas Sept. 19-20 Committee 15—Steel Structures Chicago, Ill.

Committee 11—Commuter and Intercity Rail Systems Los Angeles, Calif.

MAY 19-20 Committee 15—Steel Structures Pueblo, Colo.

Committee 15—Steel Structures Fort Worth, Texas If you’d like to learn more about the AREMA Technical Committees and would like to get involved, please contact Alayne Bell at abell@arema.org. For a complete list of all committee meetings, visit https://www.arema.org/events.aspx.

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

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November 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 31

New Honorary AREMA Member John Sharkey

John T. Sharkey, P.E. Vice President, Signal Systems CTC Inc.

A

REMA Honorary Members are individuals of acknowledged eminence in railway/transit engineering or management and of high ethical and professional standards, who have contributed substantially to the profession and the association.

It’s a privilege and honor and it is restricted to a select few. No more than one Honorary Member can be added each year. Individuals nominated for Honorary Member status must meet specific eligibility requirements and are evaluated by a selection committee.

AREMA and its predecessor organizations has 64 distinguished Honorary Members— now 65 as one more name was added to the list during the AREMA 2019 Annual Conference in conjunction with Railway Interchange—John T. Sharkey, P.E. As the result of a petition duly submitted and endorsed, the AREMA Board of Governors have voted to declare John T. Sharkey, P.E., an Honorary Member of AREMA in recognition of his contributions to the industry. John received more than the required number of endorsements, which is quite an honor.

John is vice president, Signal Systems for CTC Inc. and has over 46 years in management positions in the railroad industry as a railroader, supplier, and transportation consultant with increasing levels of responsibility throughout his career.

From 1998-2019, he has been the chair of 32 Railway Track & Structures // November 2019

AREMA Committee 36—Grade Crossing Warning Systems. He also is a member of various organizations.

He has an esteemed résumé. During John’s entire career, he has tirelessly supported the advancement of AREMA, its communication and signal predecessor, the AAR, and the railroad industry as a whole.

John also is well known for his mentoring and unselfish support to anyone in our industry, at any level, who sought out his insight and vast knowledge of the issues affecting us all. This fact was reaffirmed within the significant number of endorsement letters supporting John’s nomination for Honorary Member.

Congratulations to John. His impressive service to the industry is appreciated.

“

I found one clip board with 18 open slots, the illinois central RR. many companies asked about my draft lottery status, the IC did not.

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

Sharkey: My draft lottery number was 61! In 1972 I graduated from the University of Illinois and the job market was extremely tight. We had to line up at Engineering Hall at 2 a.m. Wednesdays to get a chance at 7:30 to sign up for interviews for the following week. One Tuesday afternoon I checked out who we could sign up for the following week and found one clip board from the last week with 18 open slots, the Illinois Central RR. Many companies asked about my draft lottery status, the IC did not.

AREMA: How did you get started?

Sharkey: In September ’72, the ICRR hired me as Junior Engineer-Signals. The next month I received the letter from the President of the United States and voluntarily joined the USNR Seabees. After six months active duty I returned and found

out that the office pool money said I would not return. From then on I was fortunate to be involved with every new signal product, every new system, and every major project for the length of my career.

A NEW Third Edition Re-released after six years, order the NEW Third Edition of the Practical Guide to Railway Engineering. This expanded edition offers in-depth coverage of railway fundamentals such as: development, track design, structures, high-speed rail, drainage, and much more. This guide serves as an excellent reference tool combining and consolidating the most useful information from a multiple of sources including updated photographs, diagrams and new chapters. Order online now at www.arema.org or contact mbruins@arema.org for more details.

Practical Guide to Railway Engineering Third Edition

Developed by Committee 24 – Education & Training

Call for papers: Submit now Ed u c a ti n g a n d i n f o r m i n g th e railway industry is a need that is shared by many voices. This may be your opportunity to enlighten your peers by presenting at the conference next year. The AREMA 2020 Annual Conference & Expo is a platform for you to present your knowledge and expertise in the railroad industry. Submit your abstract by Dec. 13 for your chance to participate in this prestigious event. For more information o n p a p e r to p i c s , s u b m i s s i o n g u i d e l i n e s a n d re q u i re m e nts , please visit www.arema.org.

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

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A key differentiator between the new loaders and traditional U.S. A-frame loaders lies in the basic construction. Hiab’s engineers deliberately chose the column design basis in order to broaden installation options and to enable a more flexible stabilizer system options. This contributes to the loaders’ stability and thereby enhances safety.

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November 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 35

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33,C3

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16

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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.

Italy, Italian-speaking Switzerland Dr. Fabio Potesta Media Point & Communications SRL Corte Lambruschini Corso Buenos Aires 8 V Piano, Genoa, Italy 16129 +39-10-570-4948 Fax: +39-10-553-0088 info@mediapointsrl.it Japan Katsuhiro Ishii Ace Media Service, Inc. 12-6 4-Chome, Nishiiko, Adachi-Ku Tokyo 121-0824 Japan +81-3-5691-3335 Fax: +81-3-5691-3336 amkatsu@dream.com CLASSIFIED, PROFESSIONAL & EMPLOYMENT Jennifer Izzo 800 Connecticut Avenue Norwalk, CT 06854 (203) 604-1744 Fax: (203) 857-0296 jizzo@mediapeople.com

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

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November 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 39

Last Stop

Coalition building Keeping passenger rail, and the nation’s economy, moving along the northeast corridor

By Amit Bose

R Amit Bose

“

in 2010, the Nec infrastructure master plan estimated that the Nec would need $52 billion over the next 20 years.

ecently, Hurricane Dorian’s destruction reminded us of the importance of sustained infrastructure investment and preparation. The storm fortunately left an often-overlooked national transportation asset unscathed: The busy rail corridor between Washington, D.C., and Boston— the Northeast Corridor (NEC)—which is at a greater risk of catastrophic failure than any time in its history.

Only seven years ago, Superstorm Sandy battered the Northeast, leaving lasting damage on communities, businesses and lives.

Sandy—just one storm—inflicted damage to the tune of nearly $37 billion in New Jersey and $19 billion in New York City.

It left nearly 11 million commuters without rail service—crippling local and regional economies with nationwide ripple effects.

Another Sandy, Dorian, or even just a single bridge or tunnel incident, could bring this economic engine to a grinding halt.

What can we do? It’s simple. Take action to ensure that the federal government invests in the NEC, brings several identified and shovel-ready projects into a “state of good repair,” and creates a lasting, sustainable funding source for its continued maintenance and improvement.

In 2016 HNTB and a diverse group of business stakeholders formed the Coalition for the Northeast Corridor (CNEC) to do just this. Since then, we have effectively advocated for increased federal investment in the NEC and continue to spread our message.

Why is the NEC so critical? The NEC supports 780,000 commuter and 40,000 intercity trips per day. Amtrak and the commuter railroads operating on the NEC transport a workforce that accounts for 30 percent of all U.S. jobs and $3 trillion annually for the nation’s economy.

Congress recognized the importance of the corridor when it included over $275 million in the 2017 and 2018 appropriations bills for a newly authorized Federal-State

40 Railway Track & Structures // November 2019

Partnership of Good Repair Program—a hard-fought win spearheaded by, among others, the CNEC. With bipartisan support, this was the first major-funded program for passenger rail infrastructure that was both authorized and appropriated

by Congress.

But much more work remains. In 2010, the Northeast Corridor Commission, established by Congress to develop funding formulas for the corridor, prepared a NEC Infrastructure Master Plan, which estimated that the NEC would need $52 billion over the next 20 years to reach a state of good repair and accommodate future expansions.

According to both the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, without major investment ($20-$50 billion over the next 20 years) the corridor’s rail infrastructure will be unfit and unsafe to support passenger demand.

Congressional efforts to deliver longterm, sustainable infrastructure investment, however, are slow at best.

The Northeast Corridor Commission has done great work to educate people on what needs to be done and to move many NEC projects forward. But without a cohesive message and continued advocacy that demonstrates to Congress the value of the NEC and the benefits of protecting it, a critically important economic engine is just one bad storm or accident away from shutting down.

I hope you will take a closer look at the challenges facing the NEC, the work CNEC is doing and consider finding ways to be involved. We need your voice.

Bose is associate vice president for HNTB Corporation and board chair for CNEC (coalitionfortheNEC.com). Contact him at abose@hntb.com. rtands.com

Attention Students - Apply Now for a Scholarship The AREMA Scholarship Program is now accepting applications for the 2020-2021 academic year.

The AREMA Educational Foundation provides scholarships to engineering students who are specializing in the railway industry and supports other educational and training endeavors that help ensure the future of the profession. For more information on if you qualify, the complete scholarship listing and the application process, please visit www.aremafoundation.org.

Application Deadline: December 6

If you want to educate and inform the railway industry, this may be your opportunity to enlighten your peers by presenting at the AREMA 2020 Annual Conference & Expo.

Let this be your platform to present your knowledge and expertise in the railroad industry. Submit your Abstract at www.arema.org by December 13 to participate in this prestigious event.

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