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July 2012 | www.rtands.com Rail Welding Special Trackwork AND ALSO AREMA News p.37 PLUS Fasteners take hold

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July 2012 | www.rtands.com

Rail Welding

Special TrackworkAnd AlSo

AREMA news p.37

plus

Fasteners take hold

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www.rtands.com Railway Track & Structures July 2012 1

July 2012

ContentsNews

5IndustryToday5SupplierNews

9People

Columns

3 OnTrack Reversing the formula

10NRCChairman’sColumn Safety under the summer sun

48FieldReportA different way of

doing things

Features

17 Theworldoftrackfasten-ingsystemsisgripping

While it’s one of the smallest compo-nents on a railroad, fasenting systems do much more than hold their own .

25 Suppliersanswerrailweldingchallenges

Advancements in the rail welding processes fuse quality and cost-effectiveness in one hot package.

33 Lookingtoenhancespecialtrackwork

Service life is an important factor when it comes to one of the railroad’s more expensive purchases.

17

RAILWAY TRACK AND STRUCTURES

Pandrol USA’s VICTOR fasten-ing system for wood ties, which utilizes an ‘e’ clip fastening system.

Storyonpage17.

Departments11TTCIR&D

37ARemANews

42Products

43Calendar

44AdvertisersIndex

44SalesRepresentatives

45ClassifiedAdvertising

46ProfessionalDirectory

25

FOLLOW US on Twitter

LIKE US on Facebook

33

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Vol. 108, No. 7Print ISSN # 0033-9016, Digital ISSN # 2160-2514

EDITORIAL OFFICES20 South Clark Street, Suite 2450

Chicago, Ill. 60603Telephone (312) 683-0130

Fax (312) 683-0131Website www.rtands.com

Mischa Wanek-Libman/Editor, [email protected]

Jennifer Nunez/Assistant Editor, [email protected]

CORPORATE OFFICES345 Hudson Street

New York, N.Y. 10014Telephone (212) 620-7200

Fax (212) 633-1165Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr./ President and Chairman

Jonathan Chalon/PublisherRobert P. DeMarco/Publisher Emeritus

George S. Sokulski/Associate Publisher EmeritusMary Conyers/Production Director

Maureen Cooney/Circulation DirectorJane Poterala/Conference Director

Railway Track & Structures (Print ISSN 0033-9016, Digital ISSN 2160-2514), (USPS 860-560), (Canada Post Cust. #7204654), (Bluechip Int’l, Po Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2, Agreement # 41094515) is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publ. Corp, 345 Hudson Street, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10014. Printed in the U.S.A. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and Additional mailing offices. Pricing, Qualified individual in the railroad employees may request a free subscription. Non-qualified subscriptions printed or digital version: 1 year Railroad Employees (US/Canada/Mexico) $16.00; all others $46.00; foreign $80.00; foreign, air mail $180.00. 2 years Railroad Employees US/Canada/Mexico $30.00; all others $85.00; foreign $140.00; foreign, air mail $340.00. BOTH Print & Digital Versions: 1 year Railroad Employees US/Canada/Mexico $24.00; all others $69.00; foreign $120.00; foreign, air mail $220.00. 2 years Railroad Employees US/Canada/Mexico $45.00; all others $128.00; foreign $209.00; foreign, air mail $409.00. Single Copies are $10.00 ea. Subscriptions must be paid for in U.S. funds only. COPYRIGHT © Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation 2012. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced without permission. For reprint information contact: PARS International Corp., 102 W 38th St., 6th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10018 Phone (212) 221-9595 Fax (212) 221-9195. For Subscriptions & address changes, Please call (800) 895-4389, (402) 346-4740, Fax (402) 346-3670, e-mail [email protected] or write to: Railway Track & Structures, Simmons-Boardman Publ. Corp, PO Box 10, Omaha, NE 68101-0010.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Railway Track & Structures, PO Box 10, Omaha, NE 68101-0010.

RAILWAY TRACK AND STRUCTURESOn Track

Reversing the formula

T he main purpose of this col-umn is to inform, comment and put a personal spin on a

greater industry topic, which, if I’m doing my job correctly, leaves the reader with a relatable and enter-taining account of rail engineering and construction. As there have been some questionable parallels made on this page over the years, I realize that mark isn’t always hit, but I continue to take aim.

This month, I would like to try something a little different. Rath-er than reaching out to the greater industry and bringing the focus in, I would like to flip the formula and discuss some ways we here at RT&S are reaching out to the industry.

The magazine has gone through a number of changes over the past few months. On the print side of things, the most obvious change is our redesign, which we inaugurated in March. Additionally, this month will kick off a series of stories from the field. “Field Report” can be found on the last page of the issue and is meant to be a summer series where we leave the comfort of our climate-controlled offices to report on those maintenance and improve-ment activities happening across North America’s rail network this time of year. Some of these reports are snap shots of what will devel-op into larger stories, while others may be smaller projects but the peo-ple and techniques being utilized deserve recognition. First up is a horizontal directional drilling proj-ect on BNSF, next month will high-light one of Norfolk Southern’s tie gangs and several more subjects are being developed.

We are a monthly print trade pub-lication first, but covering the people and events that shape our industry

is a daily effort. We have also intro-duced new and enhanced tools for the digital platform. Rail Brief, our weekly e-newsletter focused on the engineer-ing side of the rail industry debuted in April and, in mid-June, we launched an enhanced rtands.com.

If it’s been awhile since you visited www.rtands.com, I invite you to take a moment and view our new web-site. The new site better organizes our articles and breaking news into eight key criteria called channels. We find this approach to be more user-friendly and, most importantly, it’s also more interactive.

While we have been busy during the first half of the year and have several more developments sched-uled, all these changes are designed to augment our singular focus: keep-ing you informed of rail engineering news. We are the only publication in North America to report solely on rail infrastructure. However, just because we’re the only one, doesn’t mean we are allowed to slack off. We still aim to be the most informative and the most useful to our readers.

We spend a lot of time putting out informat ion and recognize that communication is a two-way street. We would appreciate any and all feedback on the new site, new design, new newsletters and new magazine sections. Please feel free to leave a comment, send out a tweet, send an e-mail or, for you tradition-alists out there, our editorial and publishing team is always available by phone.

Mischa Wanek-Libman, Editor

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AECOM Technology Corporation was named part of a consortium awarded a $555-million contract for a package of work on Australia’s Regional Rail Link in the state of Victoria; the company was also named lead design subconsultant to a joint venture contracted to design, build and finance a spur line and passenger station as part of Ontario’s Air Rail Link.

Boatright Companies is building a $55-million, 400,000-square-foot crosstie plant in Chilton County, Ala., on 100 acres in the Chilton County Industrial Park, giving the company the ability to more than double its current railroad tie production capacity.

California Santa Clara Valley Transportation awarded RGW Construction, Inc., a $45,040,277 contract for the Mission/Warren/Freight Railroad Relocation Program improvements.

GE Transportation will relocate its global headquarters from Erie, Pa., to Chicago, Ill., and plans to keep its GE Transportation global locomotive business and key manufacturing site in Erie.

Hatch Mott MacDonald

Three tunneling projects hit milestonesA trio of tunnel projects across Nor th Amer ica reached marked construc-tion acheivements in the past month. The first mile (1.6 kilometers) of twin tun-nels for the Toronto Transit Commission Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension (TYSSE) in Canada has been completed.

The new tunnels repre-sent one complete section of the twin tunnels that will connect the future Shep-pard West and Finch West Stations. Two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) named “Holey” and “Moley” bored the tunnels.

The TYSSE project is a 5.3-mile (8.6-kilometer) extension of the TTC’s Yonge-University-Spadina subway line from its present ter-minus at Downsview Station to the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre at Highway 7. It will have six new stations, including one at York University. The expansion of the subway will bring the line into York Region, the fastest-growing region in the Great-er Toronto Area during the past 10 years.

Crews working on the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s East Side Access project brought a 642-ton TBM to a halt underneath Sunnyside Yard in Queens, seven weeks ahead of schedule, completing the third of four tunnels the MTA is build-ing in Queens. The machine began building the tunnel on March 26, 2012.

Trains using this tunnel will be traveling eastbound from Grand Central Terminal toward Long Island. They will use it to merge onto the Long Island Rail Road main-line eastbound tracks that lead to Jamaica and Port Washington.

The machines used build the concrete tunnel walls as they progress, giving the tun-nels shape and strength at the same time that they excavate the ground from beneath the railroad tracks. In digging this eastbound tunnel, the machine installed 441 precast, segmented concrete rings and excavated 875,169 cubic feet of soil over nine weeks as it built the 2,200-foot-long, 22.5-foot diameter tunnel.

Moving to the West Coast, Sound Transit contractors connected the University Link light-rail tunnels with the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT) in Washington state. The TBM nicknamed “Brenda” recently completed its one-mile trip on the second tunnel between Capitol Hill and downtown.

The TBM arrival and removal of a headwall between the mining operations and the DSTT means there are now twin tunnels running 3.1 miles between downtown Seattle and the University of Washington. The contractor team, JCM U-Link Joint Venture, mined two tunnels about a mile long between the site of the future Capitol Hill Station and downtown Seattle. A separate contractor completed the twin tunnels between UW and Capitol Hill in early April.

The contractors will now focus on completing 21 cross passages between the twin tun-nels by early 2013.

Overall, the $1.9 billion project is about halfway complete and scheduled to open in 2016. Between now and then, contractors have to finish stations at UW and Capitol Hill, install communications and power systems and test the new line.

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INDUSTRY TODAY

On May 29, 2012, the TBM shown here completed mining the third East Side Access tunnel in Queens. This photo shows the machine being reassembled as crews prepared it for the tunnel mining operation.

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INDUSTRY TODAY

6 Railway Track & Structures July 2012 www.rtands.com

acquired Engineering Northwest Ltd., a professional consulting engineering firm located in Thunder Bay, ON, Canada.

Holland L.P. purchased L.B. Foster’s railway securement business.

Parsons was awarded a contract by Canadian Pacific for the structural monitoring and advanced condition assessment of its La Crosse Rail Bridge, which spans between La Crescent, Minn., and La Crosse, Wis.

Protran Technology was

Supplier NewS BNSF details $591 million capital program taking place across seven statesBNSF laid out details of its plan to spend an estimated $591 million across seven states. The planned capital investments are part of BNSF’s total 2012 capital commit-ment of $3.9 billion.

BNSF’s California network will see an esti-mated $120 million in improvements includ-ing installation of an automated gate system at its Hobart Intermodal Facility, perform sur-facing and undercutting work along 786 miles of track, replacement of 40 miles of rail and about 377,000 ties, as well as signal upgrades.

The railroad’s Minnesota property can expect a $100 million investment in projects that include upgrades to rail sidings and signals, surface and undercutting work on 1,817 miles of track, replacing 42 miles of rail and approximately 325,000 ties.

North Dakota will see improvements to the tune of $86 million including surfacing and undercutting along 1,232 miles of track, replacement of 67 miles of rail, installation of 122,000 ties and signal upgrades. BNSF

will also raise the track at Devils Lake that is threatened by rising water.

The railroad will spend an estimated $80 million in Colorado including the construction of a new maintenance-of-way facility, signal upgrades, replacing 50 miles of rail, installing 211,000 ties, signal upgrades and 325 miles of track surfacing and undercutting work.

An additional $80 million will be spent in Arizona including 377 miles of track sur-facing and undercutting work, replacing 26 miles of rail and about 233,000 ties, as well as signal upgrades.

The New Mexico track can expect to see $65 million to surface and undercut 560 miles of track, replace 22 miles of rail, perform sig-nal upgrades and install 142,000 ties.

Finally, BNSF plans to invest an esti-mated $60 million on projects in Wyoming including 1,115 miles of track surfacing and undercutting work, replacing 31 miles of rail and about 36,000 ties.

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awarded its first major contract from Brazil’s Belo Horizonte Metro for the “Protracker / PTC” track worker protection overlay system.

Racine Railroad Products acquired a 103,000 square foot multi-building property in Mount Pleasant, Wis., which will increase capacity and size of large ride-on equipment.

Railliance, Inc., a manufacturer’s rep agency specifically focused on rail (freight, transit and industrial) industries was launched.

The Illinois Department of Transporta-tion and Union Pacific are beginning the final phase of 2012 upgrades to Illi-nois’ signature high-speed route, Chica-go-St. Louis, for future high(er)-speed Amtrak trains.

The improvements for 110 mph ser-vice include the installation of new

premium rail with concrete ties and ballast; upgrades to bridges, culverts and dra inage ; s igna l and ways ide equipment instal lat ions and grade-crossing improvements.

Union Pacific’s track renewal train crews will improve infrastructure to enable Amtrak service to travel at speeds up to 110 mph, an increase from the current maximum of 79 mph. Illinois DOT and Amtrak are planning to pre-view high(er)-speed trains in September 2012 between Dwight and Pontiac. The Dwight to Pontiac segment will be the first part of the corridor to experience trains traveling at the higher speed.

This is the last scheduled year of large-scale construction leading to alter-nate transportation on the corridor. When work began with a ground-break-ing north of Alton, Ill., in 2010, it was among the first high-speed rail projects in the country to begin construction.

Supplier NewSChicago to St. louis high(er)-speed rail corridor enters final stage of construction

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The fourth round of the U.S. Depart-ment of Transportation’s ever-popular Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants will aid 47 transportation projects in 34 states and the District of Columbia. While the percentage of rail-specific projects declined, several key rail-relat-ed projects will benefit from the latest

round of federal funding. Transit projects received 16 percent

of the funding, high-speed and intercity passenger projects received 13 percent, while 12 percent will go to freight rail projects and an additional 12 percent will help build port projects, many of which have rail elements tied into them.

Rail-related identified as TIGER IV

recipients include:• The State of Illinois will receive a

$10.4 million grant, which will com-plete a $370 million funding package of 15 local projects in the CREATE pro-gram and include new track and signal systems that will ease freight, Amtrak and Metra congestion.

• Three station projects includ-ing $20 million for the Chicago Tran-sit Authority to proceed with the 95th Street Terminal Improvement Project; $15 million to restore the Sacramento Valley Station in California and $15 million to build Rochester, N.Y.’s Roch-ester Intermodal Transportation Center.

• $10.9 million will be used to expand rail infrastructure at the West Memphis Port in Arkansas by strength-ening current rail to allow for heavier cargo loads and extending the existing rail spur by approximately 13,500 feet to the base of the St. Francis Levee.

• $10 million will go to Washington state’s North Spokane Corridor project, which includes plans to relocate 7.5 miles of BNSF right-of-way.

• An $18 million grant will go toward the first phase of the Fort Lauderdale Wave Streetcar Project that will even-tually have streetcars running along a 2.7-mile corridor in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

• Vermont will use its $7.9 mil-lion grant to upgrade the New Eng-land Central Railroad in northern Ver-mont by rehabilitating 19 miles of track between St. Albans and the Canadian border in Alburgh with new rail, bal-last and ties and to make structural and deck repairs on six bridges.

• SEPTA’s Wayne Junction Substa-tion, which provides power for half of the regional rail system, will benefit from a $12.8 million grant.

• The Central Oregon & Pacific Rail-road will use a $7 million to finance repairs needed to reopen the Siskiyou rail route, linking Medford, Ore., and Weed, Calif.

USDOT is authorized to award $500 million in TIGER grants in 2012 and received 703 applications for TIGER IV grants asking for a total of $10.2 billion. The previous three rounds of the TIGER program pro-vided $2.6 billion to 172 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

INDUSTRY TODAYTiGer iV grants marked for freight and passenger rail projects

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AeCOM appointed Angela Iannuzziello, P. Eng., F.E.C., as vice president and leader of its Canadian transit practice within its Americas transportation business.

Gage McCotter, CFO at AuTO TruCk GrOup retired, effective June 1, 2012.

CANAdiAN pACiFiC e lec ted Paul Haggis to chairman of the company’s board of directors.

The CAliFOrNiA HiGH-Speed rAil AuTHOriTy Board of Directors hired Jeff Morales as its new chief executive officer.

GeNeSee & wyOMiNG iNC. named David Brown the successor to GWI’s current chief operating officer, James Benz.

Eugene Truett, vice president of investor re lat ions and credi t a t HArSCO COrpOrATiON, will retire, effective

early September.

Dr. Arnold Kerr, founder of the Institute for Railroad Engineering in Wilmington, Del., and author of Fundamentals of Railroad Track Engineering, passed away on May 27, at the age of 84.

The NOrTH CArOliNA depArTMeNT OF TrANS pOrTAT iON appo in ted Anthony Fuller as the new director of the Rail Division.

The OreGON iNTerNATiONAl pOrT OF COOS BAy Port Commiss ion selected David Koch as its new chief executive officer.

pArSONS BriNCkerHOFF named Greg Kelly chief operating officer; Clifford Eby succeeds Kelly as president of Parsons Brinckerhoff’s Americas Transportation operating company.

peOple

Skanska signed a $148- million contract with the Moynihan Station Development Corporation to complete the first phase of an expansion to New York City’s Penn Station, to create the new Moynihan Station; the company was also awarded a $66 million contract from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to design and construct a test track, commissioning facility, parking garage and other facilities near the existing Greenbelt Maintenance Yard in Prince George’s County, Md.

Supplier NewS

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NRC CHAIRMAN’S COLUMN

The National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association, Inc. 500 New Jersey Ave., N. W. Suite 400 Washington D. C. 20009

Tel: 202-715-2920Fax: [email protected]

We are in the midst of the summer work season, facing the hazards and problems we face each year at this time. With high temperatures, high humidity and dry ground conditions affecting our workers, we must take the extra time and precautions to address these issues with our employees. These conditions can lead to expensive property damage in the way of grass/brush fires, overheating equipment and even track buckling. Our most valuable asset, our employees, must be given the knowledge and training to protect themselves and learn the signs of overheating, not only for themselves, but for their fellow employees.

Contractors, Class 1s, regionals, shortlines and rail transit agencies are hiring new employees every day. Safety awareness has to be at a high level at every worksite and it needs to be even higher with our new employees. We all have extensive training programs, but there is no better teacher than experience and experience takes time, so make sure to pay special attention to the safety habits of your newest employees.

While we focus on getting our work done safely, on time and on budget out in the field every day, I’m also pleased to announce that the NRC is investing in the next generation of rail industry leaders. We have recently made contributions to two outstanding rail education programs: the Michigan State Railway Management Program and the Michigan Tech University Rail Transportation Program.

Michigan State University’s certificate course in railway management offers a comprehensive course designed to help railroad employees grow professionally and inc r ea se the i r management capabilities. For more information, visit: www.raileducation.com.

Michigan Technical University’s Rail Transportation Program serves the rail industry by offering an interdisciplinary program in railroad engineering and urban rail transit that provides opportunities for students and faculty to participate in the development and operation of rail transportation for the 21st century. For more information, visit: www.rail.mtu.edu.

Our NRC staff in D.C. is still working away on the surface transportation reauthorization legislation. This legislation is very important to essentially all of our customers: rail transit agencies, streetcar systems, intercity passenger rail operators, freights railroads from the largest Class 1 to the smallest shortline and even ports. The NRC has written a letter to the congressmen and senators working on this legislation in Conference Committee focusing on our priorities, which include:• Dedicated funding for the Section

130 Rail-Highway Grade Crossing Safety Program;

• Flexibility for State DOTs to invest in freight rail projects;

• Funding for the multimodal merit-based Projects of National & Regional Significance program;

• Provisions to expedite project deliv-ery and streamline environmental permitting processes;

• Expansion of the Transportation Infra-structure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program;

• Maintaining the current truck size and weight limits;

• Improving the Railroad Rehabili-tation & Improvement Financing (RRIF) loan program and

• Restoring parity between the pre-tax commuter benefits for parking and transit use.

If you’d like to also weigh in with your congressmen and senators directly (and I strongly encourage you to do so), you can do it very easily online at www.capwiz.com/nrcma.

Finally, save the date for the next NRC Conference, January 9-12, 2013, at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel in Miami, Fla. Registration information will be announced shortly in this column, via the NRC e-mail bulletin and online at www.nrcma.org/go/conference. I hope to see you there.

Work safe and keep those around you working safe.

by Terry Benton, NRC Chairman

Safety under the summer sun

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TTCI R&D

www.rtands.com Railway Track & Structures July 2012 11

In an effort to extend the life of railroad bridges and to develop recommended practices for life extension maintenance and cost-effective repair procedures, Transportation Technology Center, Inc.,

in Pueblo, Colo., is evaluating a vintage riveted steel span from 1912. Norfolk Southern donated

the span.Pr ior to instal lat ion at the Facil i ty for

Accelerated Service Testing (FAST), TTCI crews ins t r umented the br idge span in revenue service. Comparisons between the vintage r iveted span performance at FAST and in revenue service, as well as between the vintage span and the previous welded steel span, are made based on measurements to date. Comparisons are also made to values ca lculated based on theoret ica l models. Observations include:• The 315,000-pound heavy-ax le- load

environment to which the vintage riveted span is subjected at FAST is considerably more severe than the axle-load environment this span experienced in revenue service. The stresses and deflections in the vintage span at FAST are likewise almost twice as large as those measured in revenue service.

• Effective inspection, maintenance, repairs, and safety methods including ongoing stress and deflection measurements have successfully extended the service life of the vintage steel span at FAST.

• Measured stresses in the vintage riveted span are similar to the measured stresses in the previous welded span. However, due to a lower yield point in the steel in the vintage span, the stresses are 20 percent higher as a fract ion of steel strength, thereby reducing the maximum live-load capacity.

• Measured def lect ions in the v intage riveted span are somewhat less than those measured in the previous welded steel span; this reduction is expected given that

TTCI tests a vintage riveted span at FAST with expectations for a longer service life.

Performance evaluation of: A vintage riveted steel deck plate girder under heavy- axle-loads at FAST by Lucy Tunna, engineer, and Duane Otter,

principal investigator II, TTCI.

Figure 1 shows a 1912 vintage riveted span with ballasted deck near Lafayette,Ind.

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TTCI R&D

12 Railway Track & Structures July 2012 www.rtands.com

the vintage span is 15 percent deeper than the welded span. Deflections are well within American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association recommendations.1

• For both the vintage riveted span and the previous welded steel span, theoretical models predict

stresses about 10 percent higher than measured but deflections about 20 percent lower than measured.

• Conversion of the span from a ballasted deck in revenue service to an open deck at FAST resulted in an increase in live-load capacity of nearly 50 percent.2 The conversion also increased the importance of bracing members, as the floor pans provided considerable lateral stiffness and redundancy while the span was in revenue service on the NS.

The span was installed in the steel bridge at FAST in December 2009 for testing under 315,000-pound HAL traffic as part of the Association of American Railroads’ Strategc Research Initiatives Program. The 100-year-old span was originally constructed for the Wabash Railroad and was in service over Wildcat Creek in Lafayette, Ind.

The 55-foot-five-inch span is a typical example of a riveted steel deck plate girder span, similar to thousands of steel girder bridge spans still in revenue service today. It replaced a similar length welded steel span that was provided by Conrail when the steel bridge was originally constructed at FAST.

Prior to installation at FAST, the vintage riveted span carried very little HAL traffic when compared to HAL traffic at FAST. Approximately 75 percent of the traffic at FAST is heavier than any traffic measured on the vintage riveted span while it was monitored in revenue service for a brief period in 2009.2 Traffic in revenue service consisted primarily of mixed freight, automotive and road railer service. None of the revenue service traffic had axle loads exceeding those under the 315,000-pound cars at FAST. Figure 1 shows the span in service near Lafayette, Ind.

Strain gauges and displacement transducers were installed on the vintage riveted span while it was still in place in revenue service at Lafayette. This was done so that a full comparison could be made with the data collected at FAST. The original welded steel span at FAST, which was replaced, had similar instrumentation to provide data for comparison.

Mid-span vertical deflections were measured. Strain gauges were attached near mid-span at the top and at the bottom of both girders to determine peak stresses. Also, strain gauges were placed at various heights on the web of the span to determine the effects that the conversion from ballasted deck to open deck had on bending stress distribution.

Figure 2 displays the vintage riveted span installed at FAST and the location of the instrumentation.

Figure 2 top, shows the vintage riveted span at FAST. Figure 3 middle, shows a comparison of average peak live-load stresses for the vintage riveted span.

Figure 4 bottom, is a comparison of typical peak stresses of the vintage riveted span and the welded steel span at FAST.

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Figure 3 compares the average peak stresses in the vintage riveted span measured at FAST and in revenue service. As expected, because of the higher-axle-loads at FAST, the corresponding stress is higher. The typical peak live-load stresses experienced at FAST are about 80 to 90 percent greater than those in revenue service. Figure 4 shows the measured stress values are about seven to 15 percent less than the theoretical calculated stress values for both the vintage riveted span and the previous welded steel span. Similar results have been reported by Sweeney, et al.3 Possible contributing factors include partial fixity of the bridge bearings and distribution of wheel loads by the rails.

Information provided by NS and Conrail indicates that the yield strength of the steel in the vintage span is 30 ksi and in the welded span is 36 ksi. Due to the lower yield point in the steel in the vintage span, the stresses are 20 percent higher as a fraction of steel strength, thereby reducing the maximum live-load capacity.

Comparison of the mid-span live-load deflections at FAST to revenue ser v ice indicates the span had smaller deflections in revenue service than at FAST, as expected. This is due primarily to the heavier-axle-loads operated at FAST. It might also be due in part to additional span stiffness from the concrete floor pans supporting the ballasted deck. In revenue service, the span experienced many lighter weight and empty train cars. Figure 5 displays the typical measured peak deflection and calculated deflection for the vintage riveted span. The mid-span deflection of the vintage span at FAST is approximately 50 percent greater than the deflection of the span in revenue service.

Theoretical values were calculated for the vintage riveted span and the previous welded steel span at FAST. A theoretical value was not calculated for the span in revenue service (see Figure 6). The typical peak deflection measured for the vintage span at FAST is less than that for the previous welded steel span. This result is also predicted in the theoretical models. The primary reason for the lower deflections is that the vintage riveted span is 15 percent deeper than the previous welded span. Note that the theoretical deflection values are less than the measured values. There are

several possible contributing factors that might explain this. First, the theoretical deflection model considers only beam bending. It does not include shear deformations. Nor does the theoretical model at this point, consider displacements in the bearings, bearing pads or foundations.

When the v in tage span was in service on the NS, five strain gauges were attached to each girder near mid-span. These gauges were placed on the bottom angle, on the top angle and at various heights in between. Figure 7 shows the results from these strain gauges from the

Figure 5 top, is a comparison of mid-span live-load deflections for the vintage riveted span.

Figure 6 bottom, is a comparison of live-load deflections of the vintage riveted span and the welded steel span.

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TTCI R&D

14 Railway Track & Structures July 2012 www.rtands.com

bottom of the girder to the top. Note that the neutral axis (location of zero bending stress) is lower in the span at FAST than it was in revenue service. This is most likely due to composite action of the concrete floor pans while the span was in revenue service. With the concrete floor pans removed for service at FAST, the resulting neutral axis shifted lower. Because more of the steel is in compression without the floor pans, bracing becomes more important to provide stability to the span. The presence of the concrete floor pans in revenue service provided redundancy in the case of corroded or missing bracing.

The vintage span has carried more than 300 mgt of HAL traffic since installation at FAST. The span has performed acceptably, only requiring repairs to corroded bracing elements. Bracing repairs noted in an earlier RT&S article are still performing well.2

NS not only donated the vintage riveted span but also assisted with field testing. In particular, this work would not have been possible without the suppor t and assistance of James N. Carter, Jr., chief engineer, bridges and structures and Howard C. Swanson, assistant chief engineer, bridges.

References1. American Railway Engineer ing and Maintenance-of-Way Association. 2011. Manual for Railway Engineering. Chapter 15. Lanham, Md.2. Otter, D., Tunna, L. and Ninness, K. November 2011. “Preliminary test results from the vintage steel span at FAST.” Railway Track & Structures. pp. 17-19.3. Sweeney, A. R. P., Oommen, G. and Le. H. May 1996. “A Summary of Seven Years of Railway Bridge Testing on Canadian National Railway,” Bulletin No. 756, Proceedings Volume 97, American Railway Engineering Association. pp. 333-347.

Figure 7 presents stresses at mid-span of the vintage riveted span.

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Fascinating Fasteners For keeping track tight

Small in size, fasteners keep a tight grip on track.

keeping track in place is imporant to all railroads, whether it’s a Class 1, regional, shortline or transit line. The following pages highlight this year’s most advanced

fastening systems and an overall market outlook.

Amsted RPSFor Amsted RPS, business is up, which it attributes to steady volumes in its core rail anchor products, a broader portfolio of fasteners and complementary components, increased share in the direct fixation fastening marketing for transits and adoption of its long-life products like the MACRO Armor for concrete ties.

During the past three years, Amsted RPS (formerly Unit Rail) has acquired Advanced Track Products and AirBoss Railway Products.

“Through those acquisitions, we significantly expanded our product line and since those acquisitions, we have leveraged our broad design expertise to successfully develop and market another 32 products,” noted John Stout, director of sales at Amsted RPS. “We are the only North American rail supply firm with the experience and expertise in the design and manufacturing of fastening products for wood tie, concrete tie, direct fixation and embedded rail systems. We combine our design expertise with resources like our in-house test lab and rapid prototyping capabilities to quickly react to our customers’ needs and take a product from the drawing board to the field in times not

traditionally seen in the railroad industry.”The bulk of the company’s business is driven by its Class

1 customers, who need to expand capacity to serve forecasted increases in demand and achieve operational efficiency. The company now has long-term agreements in place to supply rail anchors to all seven Class 1 railroads and has sold more than 800 million rail anchors during its history. Now, with in-house clip manufacturing capabilities, Amsted RPS aims to deliver value to a broader range of customers and grow its sales of fasteners and components.

“Our passenger rail group has experienced double-digit growth over the past year, driven by penetration into the maintenance market for direct fixation, system expansions and our new partnership with edilon)(sedra for embedded block and embedded rail systems,” explained Stout.

Amsted RPS is supplying 130,000 of its SW-31 System Wide direct fixation fasteners to Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority in Washington, D.C., for replacement of existing fasteners to maintain a state of good repair and for Phase 1 of the system expansion to Dulles Airport. During the past year, the company has also participated in projects for Amtrak, Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority in Buffalo, N.Y., Long Island Rail Road, Chicago Transit Authority, Dallas Area Rapid Transit and NJ Transit.

“Our most robust direct f ixation fastener, the ATP

by Jennifer Nunez, assistant editor

A close look at L.B. Foster’s fastening system.

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fascinating fasteners

Loadmaster will be installed on the new Eagle P3 commuter rail project near Denver,” said Stout. “Amsted RPS is the only manufacturer of bonded resilient fasteners to be approved for use in heavy-

haul, high-speed and transit applications. The ATP Loadmaster was selected because of the product’s durable dual-stiffness design and its 25-year history of maintenance-free performance.”

For freight railroads, Amsted RPS offers its MACRO Armor product line of abrasion resistant products for concrete ties, which has evolved over the past year with installations on four Class 1 railroads.

“It is our goal to solve the issues of rail seat abrasion and insulator wear that have plagued concrete ties for several years,” explained Stout. “We have adapted the unique properties of MACRO Armor from its origin in military and aerospace applications to railroad use. This represents a major step forward in technology. We recently introduced a MACRO Armor Repair Plate to repair abraded concrete ties that acts as a form and allows epoxy to be pumped through the repair plate to fill the void. The product provides uniform

bearing and restores the tie to the original geometry, providing a permanently-bonded wear-resistant surface. Not only does our MACRO Armor Repair Plate repair abraded concrete ties, but because of the lightweight design and improved installation methodology, crews install our system 25 percent faster than previous methods, reducing maintenance costs and allowing more time to run trains.”

Amsted RPS has recently partnered with edilon)(sedra based in the Netherlands, which is known for its embedded block and embedded rail systems. With this partnership, Amsted is able to provide noise and vibration reducing products for both transit and heavy-haul to North America, using technology that has been in proven for decades.

L.B. FosterAccording to Hakan Eksi, general manager, Transit Products, L.B. Foster, the market of 2011 and early 2012 remains challenging, but with signs of optimism.

“We continue to operate via a series of

The new Amsted RPS test lab in Atchison, Kan.

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extensions to our nation’s transportation bill, SAFETEA-LU, instead of a new, robust, long-term transportation bill to fund U.S. transit projects. As a result, agencies are taking a wait-and-see attitude with regard to new projects,” said Eksi. “Transit agencies are also still struggling with their maintenance and capital budgets, due to the impact of the continuing weak U.S. economy. However, on the upside, mass transit ridership continues to increase, with first quarter trips made on various modes of heavy, commuter and light rail up by 5.5 percent, according to the American Public Transportation Association. Ridership trends have seemed to decouple from the traditional relationship with gasoline prices. Ridership has experienced year-over-year gains for each of the past eight quarters. As U.S. demographics change, mass transit is becoming more and more the preferred mode of transportation for the younger generation. So right now, we see some transit agencies begin to move ahead on projects that had been delayed in the past and that has allowed us to aggressively grow our transit products business.”

In particular, during the past year, L.B. Foster has participated in the Minnesota Centra l Cor r idor Project between Minneapolis and St. Paul, the Chicago Transit Authority’s Van Buren Loop project, continuing work on the Miami Dade Transit and Bay Area Rapid Transit in San Francisco and the Edmonton Transit Project. Looking ahead, the company cited

activities in New York City, the Portland TriMet Milwaukie Project, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority and the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Irving III Project.

On the product development side, L.B. Foster continues to work in a number of areas.

According to Eksi, “In the past year, we have developed a new restraining rail fastener for BART. This fastener was custom designed to meet BART’s current stiffness and anchoring requirements. We have also designed a new replacement fastener for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. And we maintain active programs to support a number of other product improvement initiatives. We continue to investigate opportunities to collaborate with our CXT Concrete Ties team in new product development.”

L.B. Foster is a supplier of fastening systems globally and has served customers in those markets for almost 40 years.

Lewis Bolt & Nut 2012 has been a good year for Lewis Bolt & Nut Company, as well, with sales comfort-ably ahead of the same time period in 2011. All of its product categories have seen simi-lar increases. To keep up with the increasing demand, Lewis Bolt is increasing capacity by adding additional space, totaling approxi-mately 50,000 square feet. The additions, to be completed in the fall of this year, will add more space for order staging and inventory, along with additional floor space for more manufacturing equipment.

“The bottom line is, we have to be able to continue to meet the needs of our customers,” explained Dave Barry, vice president of sales. “This new addition will certainly provide for that.”

Barr y says the rai lroad industr y continues to invest heavily in their respective infrastructure and the supply industry as a whole, including Lewis Bolt & Nut Company. In addition, numerous projects at both transit authorities, as well as in the freight sector, have strict Buy America clauses requiring that all fasteners used must be produced in the USA using only domestic, raw materials. This appears as though it will continue for the

foreseeable future, he notes, as more federal dollars are invested in the infrastructure here in the U.S. Another trend he has obseved for some time is customers requesting products made in the USA as opposed to overseas.

“There are many reasons for this, but number one has been and continues to be the inconsistent quality of imported fasteners.”

Pandrol“Pandrol USA is proud to announce that 2012 represents Pandrol’s 75th year of meeting the fastening requirements of railroads and transit systems worldwide,” stated Frank Brady, president of Pandrol USA. “Started in 1937, Pandrol has been providing resilient rail fastenings since its inception. Today, Pandrol supplies 411 railways in more than 100 countries and has manufactured more than 1.42 billion rail fastenings.”

The demand for high-performance elastic fastenings was strong in 2011, notes Brady, and the current year is turning out to be even stronger. He says that North American railroads continue to improve their track quality and increase their capacity to take advantage of the benefits provided by the lower fuel costs to move freight by rail.

“One trend in rail fastening systems that is really growing is pre-plating at the tie plant,” explained Brady. “This trend started to expand rapidly when Pandrol developed the fully-captive FASTCLIP system. By pre-plating, the railroads reduce track installation costs by reducing gang size and equipment requirements and reducing the need for keeping parts inventory. Pandrol has also developed captive systems that use Pandrol SAFELOK fastenings. The most recent of these developments is a cast tie plate, suitable for use with the Pandrol FASTCLIP system on wood ties.”

As part of the continuing new product development effort that is ongoing at Pandrol USA, the company is in the final stages of the development program for SAFELOK V. SAFELOK V, like SAFELOK III, is installed at the concrete tie plant with clip, pad and insulators in place. The components are all pre-installed at the tie plant, meaning there is a significant reduction in manpower required during rail installation and adjustment.

SAFELOK V features a clip with a new shape that has a single toe. The system

Top, shows the VICTOR tie plate with a FASTCLIP fastening from Pandrol.

Rail Forge GageLok screws being installed on a bridge.

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fascinating fasteners

will also include an enhanced shoulder with an increased bearing area. The ties designed for the new SAFELOK V system are currently in production and the system should be in track by the end of this year.

The Pandrol VICTOR plate system for wood ties has seen a rapid increase in market share, explains Brady.

“The Pandrol VICTOR system combines the durability of an AREMA tie plate with the benefits of resilient fastenings,” he noted. “The flat tie plate provides a bearing area 37 percent greater than existing tie plates for resilient fastenings. The use of Pandrol’s fastenings provides all of the advantages of resilient fastenings: holding power, prevention of rail rollover and reduced maintenance.

Testing, with 39-ton-axle-loads, has shown a five-fold decrease in gauge widening when using resilient fastenings on wood ties. The Pandrol VICTOR system is demonstrating its value on bridges and curves with significant annual tonnage.”

Pandrol is working on modifications to the SAFLOK I system. The modified SAFLOK I clip that will result from this continuing work is expected to be easier to install and remove and will have enhanced holding power characteristics.

Rail Forge LLC “2012 has been an outstanding year for Rail Forge and the GageLok product,” said Rail Forge CEO Keith Ishaug. “GageLok entered the North American market in 2010. We have seen a ten-fold increase in adoption rate for sales into this market year-on-year. Rail Forge has secured a 42,000-square-foot space in Morton Grove, Ill., for a factory, which will open this fall to produce GageLok screws for North American and Australian demand.”

Ishaug credits the growth in adoption rate to the fact that GageLok is a new product in the North American market that provides significant reductions in ongoing maintenance-of-way costs over the use of traditional spikes in wooden ties.

“This is due to the innovative design of the product, which provides strong, reliable fastening against the rail or in the lock position, with a self-tapping feature that eliminates the need to pre-

The W tension clamp system from Vossloh.

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fascinating fasteners

drill,” he explained.Rail Forge has been involved in track projects with Canadian

National, Canadian Pacific, CapMetro, Herzog, Ferromex and Ferrosur. Additional projects are booked for 2012 with Class 2 and 3 railroads and industrial contractors.

“Rail Forge sales growth is driven by railroad track engineers seeking a simple and affordable method to improve fastening performance to reduce MOW expenses and improve track uptime,” Ishaug stated. “These needs can be seen across all sectors, (Class 1, 2, 3, contractors, industrial customers) with the largest volumes coming from the largest (i.e. Class 1) players.”

2012 has seen the full introduction of the GageLok product line with rail fastening products from 5/8-inch to 7/8-inch diameters, suitable for rail fastening applications ranging from use in standard double-shouldered plates (replacing spikes) to use in roll plates and resilient fastening systems (replacing other large screws, which require pre-drilling).

VosslohBusiness in 2012 has also been good for Vossloh Fastening Systems. The company is currently working with many of the Class 1s in testing and the approval process and is very pleased with the feedback and results it is experiencing.

Vossloh expects to see a steady increase in business over the next several years. Vossloh is investing heavily into the North American

market to ensure its products meet all requirements for heavy-haul and transit applications.

“The variety of products offered allows us to ensure the customers are getting the solutions they require, not just a standard template product supposed to fit any application,” noted Ron Martin, vice president and general manager. “The requirements vary from road to road, let alone from heavy-haul to transit.”

The Class 1 market is Vossloh’s main driver right now. As the company gets closer to meeting the Buy America requirements, it has started to work with the transits to introduce some solutions already successful in similar applications in other parts of the world.

Vossloh Fastening Systems is constantly looking at the evolution of its products to ensure it meets its high standards for reliability, durability and low maintenance requirements.

“We listen intently to the feedback of our customers and experts in the field of engineering and testing,” explained Martin. “We are constantly pushing the limits in the lab of our own products to ensure we have minimized maintenance requirements, exceeded expectation of reliability, provided the lowest life-cycle costs and are easy to work with for those in the field.”

Vossloh Fastening Systems is presently taking steps to meet all the Buy America requirements.

“This is an important investment for us to show we are committed to the fastening market in the U.S. and we look forward to creating additional jobs,” said Martin.

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welders and have extra shifts/crews at most of our fixed plants to meet our customers’ needs.”

Turnkey weldingHolland L.P. has been working with Class 1 railroads to provide turnkey welding services for in-track welding projects.

“The turnkey service addresses the logistics and requirements for additional personnel on a temporary basis. This allows the railroad to better utilize their experienced personnel. Our depth of experience allows us to support our core competencies with people and equipment related to in-track welding,” said Richard Morris, director new business development, Welding Group.

A two-year development program between Holland L.P. and Edison Welding Institute culminated in June when Holland entered revenue service with its new Head Defect Repair welding equipment. The process removes a railhead defect by cutting a notch from the railhead and electric flash-butt welding a rail steel insert into the notch. Morris says the process has been through extensive testing; including sample welds in track at TTCI that have exceeded 250 mgt to date.

The Head Defect Repair welder (HDR) is a process that repairs defects such as transverse defects, detail fractures and small surface defects. The process allows the rail to be repaired without severing the rail or installing a

Track time is always an issue and railroads need welds that can be completed quickly without losing any quality. Whether it’s a turnkey service for better

personnel utilization, making sure employees are properly trained, reducing the soft areas of the heat-affected zone or automating the welding process, suppliers are focused on providing welding systems and services to meet the railroads’ needs.

Mobile fleetChemetron, a division of Progress Rail Services, has added a boom truck to its mobile welding fleet. The unit has a 20-foot reach, allowing turnouts to be constructed in the field with electric flash-butt welds. The unit has hi-rail, enabling travel between worksites on the highway or rail. It can also be used for many industrial rail welding applications.

“Our customers demand safety, quality and reliability in ever-shorter work windows. We have made a number of improvements at our fixed and mobile operations to meet customer expectations for quick train turns at our welding plants and no missed welds in the field. Our electric flash-butt weld quality and equipment reliability has been superior,” said Mark McLean, manager sales.

He added, “Chemetron continues to add capacity to meet the growing demand for electric flash-butt welding. We have added a number of trucks to our fleet of mobile

Quality, reliability and safety are issues

suppliers look to improve when it comes to the

subject of welding rail. by Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor

Rail welding bRings moRe Than flash

A welding truck from Holland L.P.

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Rail welding

replacement rail. “One advantage with this process

is the neutral rail temperature is not disturbed. Also, this process requires considerably less manpower than other flash-butt welding processes to complete. The HDR process provides electric flash-butt weld quality at a cost comparable to other methods currently available to the railroads,”

said Morris.Mor r i s po in t s out that the

railroad industry in general has been moving away from manufacturing specifications and moving toward performance specifications.

“We have been able to use welding technology from other industries to develop welding programs like Low Consumption Welding. This weld program is beneficial in repair welding applications. A Low Consumption Weld reduces the amount of labor required and improves productivity by minimizing the number of rail anchors that must be removed,” said Morris.

He also mentions that as the rail steels become more durable, it is necessary to continue to improve the joining process. One area Morris says has room for improvement is the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of a weld, which represents a disruption in the surface continuity of the rail and has been a focal point for

Lincoln Electric’s Ranger 305D diesel engine welder fits smaller utility trucks that are used by track equipment mechanics.

“We see the partnerships expanding to cover new areas in the engineering departments, with new improvements and design changes being considered as a priority.”

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Rail welding

weld improvement. He notes that Holland is working on methods to reduce the soft areas of the HAZ without significantly increasing weld hardness.

“Holland is committed to continually growing its business by developing products and services that provide a value to the railroad industry. Holland has put together a group specifically for developing new products and services. The group’s first project is the Head Defect Repair Welder. Future projects are looking at field repair of special trackwork, welding turnouts and long rail distribution systems,” said Morris.

Improved trainingLincoln Electric has added more emphasis on technical field support by expanding the current training done with the manganese frog welders to include the roadway equipment repairmen, who have smaller Lincoln Electric engine drive welding machines.

Brian Meade, manager railroad technical services-global accounts, said in the past, there was not a specific part of the training program that included equipment mechanics who had the company’s new welding equipment on their trucks and used it for repair welding from time to time but were not full-time welders.

“Unlike the manganese frog welding crews that weld on mostly the same castings daily, the repairmen can encounter various types of base metals that need weld repaired. Lincoln has expanded it’s training to include a better understanding of the equipment and how to control the welding output, plus methods to identify the different base metals and how to address welding on the parts. This will allow welders to repair equipment parts that will help reduce the need for purchasing new parts,” said Meade.

Meade also mentions that the training of the manganese frog welders is an ongoing process and points to two main reasons: first, the company’s Air Vantage 500 has received new design features over the past several years and the trucks with the new units are being distributed to new locations. Second, the company has new welders coming into the positions for the first time who need to be trained on welding equipment they have no prior experience using.

“We see the rail market as continually requiring technical support and growing into areas where training has not been a past focal point. Involving part-time welding with the full-time welding crews will provide immediate solutions to the railroads. As we go forward, we see the partnerships expanding to cover new areas in the engineering departments, with new improvements and design changes being considered as a priority,” said Meade.

Head alloyed welds“Orgo-Thermit, Inc.’s, patented Thermit® Head Alloyed Welding technology allows Thermite welding of the new high hardness, high strength rail steels, which have Brinnell Hardnesses in excess of 380. These special purpose welds use a unique micro-alloying process, producing excellent wear properties, on the running surface of the rail, while maintaining softer and more ductile properties in the metal at the base of the rail. Ten of these welds were installed in

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February of 2011 at TTCI’s FAST track, where they continue under heavy-axle-load testing. The company says that, to date, all of the welds installed have accumulated more than 234 mgt, with no service failures,” said Dave Randolph, president.

The company began its Technical Services Division in 2011 to focus on its shortline and transit operations. Randolph notes that s ince the introduction of the Technical Services Division, Orgo-Thermit’s customers have utilized its services for non-destructive testing for Ultrasonic and Brinell hardness, as well as the

company’s Slow Bend Testing and weld failure analysis services.

“We are seeing greater interest in our Safe Start Electronic Ignition System, which is non-hazardous and has no shipping restrictions. We are working on improving this safer method of initiating Thermit reactions via remote control,” said Randolph. “Our customers are very happy that all of our consumable materials continue to be Buy America compliant, with all production at our Manchester, N.J., facility.”

He continued, “Our outstanding growth in sales demonstrates that the

rail welding market is very strong. We remain positive about the future of Orgo-Thermit and the railroad market. Our on-going goal is continuing to work toward providing innovative solutions to our customers.”

Robot weldingPlasser American Corp. points to its many years of experience in the production and operation of rail bound, hi-rail and container flash-butt welding machines and mentions that new welding standards have resulted in an increase in welding requirements.

“Conventional weld heads used up to now are mostly based on a Russian patent and do not or only partly meet these new requirements,” said Plasser American Corp. “More str ingent requirements, combined with Plasser’s knowledge gained over many years resulted in the development of its own automatic welding robot.”

The company says a key feature of this new weld head is its working

“We see the rail market as continually requiring technical support and growing into areas where training has not been a past focal point.”

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parameters of 200mm stroke with 150 tons of force, which allow closure welds to be made without the use of additional rail pullers.

Welds made by Plasser’s APT 1500 R welding robot utilize a fully-automatic process. The welding head automatically aligns the height and running surface, as well as crowns the rail. The automatic centering device measures rail alignment via distance transducers located in the weld head. The measurements are saved for quality assurance reasons,” said Plasser.

Another spec ia l feature the company points to on the weld head is its utilization of alternating current with a medium frequency of 1,000Hz allowing the use of very small transformers in the weld head. The head runs on direct current, which Plasser says has a positive effect on the weld quality.

“The built-in welding shear places a load only in the direction of com-pression utilizing separate hydraulic cylinders. A non-contacting tempera-ture measuring system allows for the precise cooling of high alloy rails with

the help of a post heating process. The hydraulic system allows for very fast movements of the weld head, even for closure welds under full load (low consumption weld). The design of the clamping jaws eliminates the need to grind off company markings on the rail web, thus reducing preparation time,” said Plasser.

“With the automatic robot welding process, operator errors can be ruled out. The result is high reliability and documented welds of consistent high quality,” said Plasser.

Aluminothermic weld systemRailtech Boutet says over the past year, it has continued pushing its new ignition system, Startwel®.

According to the company, the Star twel Ignition System allows the welder to easily ignite the weld charge to initiate the pour process for the Railtech Aluminothermic Weld System, replacing the tradi¬tional “sparkler” igniter design.

“This new electric ignition system is safer than today’s traditional ignit-ers. In addition, Startwel is classified as non-hazardous for transport. There-fore, there are no shipping restrictions (can be shipped overnight if there was an emergency) and it provides more accurate and consistent tap time,” said Oliver Dolder, executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Railtech Boutet has also been promoting its new QP Hybrid molds for the past six months. These molds have a ceramic felt lining on the current mold design, which Dolder says virtually eliminates flashing along the web and base of the rail, resulting in a cleaner, better weld.

“The response from our customers on this product has been extremely pos-itive and a welcomed improvement for aluminothermic welding,” said Dolder.

In addition to promoting Startwel and the QP molds, Railtech Boutet continues its study on high-carbon and high-strength rail.

“[The company] is designing a weld kit that is closer to the metallurgical properties of these types of special rails, which will accommodate our cus-tomers, which are currently using these types of rails in mainline track and/or tangents and curves,” said Dolder.

Railtech Boutet’s QP Hybrid molds have a ceramic felt lining designed to produce a cleaner and better weld.

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The Special Trackwork updaTe

Diamonds, frogs, turnouts and other special trackwork make

difficult manuevers on the railroad possible.

a s speeds increase on the rails in North America and Mexico, suppliers for specialized trackwork materials and services are upping the ante on product offerings and

railroads are answering with increased investment in the areas of diamonds, frogs, turnouts, crossovers and switches.

Cleveland Track MaterialCleveland Track Material currently has special trackwork projects in various stages of completion for transits in Portland, Ore., Minneapolis, Minn., Chicago, Ill., Calgary, AB, Canada, Boston, Mass., Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Pa., and in Cleveland, Ohio. In addition, CTM has several trackwork projects for various New York City-based transits. The projects vary from existing maintenance items and upgrades, all the way up to major extensions and line renewals. The company notes that Class 1 trackwork orders have continued to keep business lively.

CTM has recently initiated several new product design improvements and new product developments that are currently in various stages and destined for testing and evaluation when completed. CTM is in the processing of upgrading its various facilities with about $5 million worth of new equipment coming on line to improve product flow and targeted to maintain the delivery requirements of customers.

Nortrak-DamyRailroads in Mexico are demanding more innovative specialty trackwork, notes Mexico-based company Nortrak-Damy.

“We are following what voestalpine Nortrak is doing in the U.S., said Alex Damy, director general and CEO. “We are in the process to introduce hytronics with the different Class 1 railroads in Mexico. Different switch machines are in the testing process. Railroads are demanding more and more BNSF/UP common standard materials. We have done tests with Class 1s on the jump

frog and WBM welded boltless manganese frog with a high level of benefits for special traffic applications.”

The company has noticed higher budgets during 2011 and 2012 in Mexico. Damy notes that Class 1s are investing in infrastructure projects in order to increase average speeds on their trains and expects a continuous high demand for 2013.

Nortrak-Damy is servicing major transit systems in Mexico City and Guadalajara. Development of transit systems within Mexico is still in the early stages.

“There are a few projects for passenger transit in some major cities since the mid-2000s but the economic and political environment hasn’t been appropriate,” he explained.

Mexican railroads are demanding more anti-vandalism products in order to avoid accidents due to materials missing on track, Damy says. Theft of track materials and goods has increased from year to year, affecting the operations of railroads. Expenses on security features and personnel are increasing to levels never seen before.

Progress Rail Services“At the request of the BNSF, Progress Rail Services has developed a switch to complement our Lift frog, which essentially makes the turnout invisible to mainline traffic,” noted the company. “It has been labeled the Vertical Switch and was built and tested at our Sherman, Texas, facility. It’s now installed at TTCI in Pueblo, Colo., for further equipment testing and will then be placed in service on BNSF later this summer.”

In addition, PRS has installed a new table top welder, allowing the company to weld manganese castings to steel rail. The frogs PRS has produced have been tested, installed in track and are performing very well, according to the company. Having this machine allows PRS to increase its product offering to the railroads and respond to their needs.

by Jennifer Nunez, assistant editor

A look at a Progress Rail switch in track.

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Forged compromise and milled transition rails are manufactured at its Danvers, Ill., facility. Transition rails are also produced at the PRS welding plant in Pueblo, Colo. Both compromise and transition rails are machined on programmed milling centers. An induction furnace is used to control heating the rail prior to forging. Compromise rails are flash-butt welded and tested to meet AREMA and customer specifications. Both compromise and transition rails are available in varying rail sizes and lengths per the customer requirements.

Turnout frogs and crossing diamonds continue to be the highest impact areas for special track components and require the most maintenance, notes PRS. Since it first introduced the Lift frog in March 2006, the company says it has made great strides in developing other new products to achieve this

goal. It has delivered four full-flange bearing crossing diamonds to a Class 1 railroad and as of this writing, PRS notes that three are installed and performing very well, with the forth scheduled to be installed soon.

Its Clamptite boltless adjustable rail brace has proven itself in new track construction with no reported switches coming apart during installation, says PRS.

“This is unheard of with any other boltless adjustable rail brace on the market today. The PRS Clamptite boltless brace is currently approved on BNSF, UP, CSX and CN,” noted the company.

Progress Rail Services UK Ltd., PRS’s trackwork group located in the United Kingdom, is currently supplying 780 hollow steel switch tie sets and 344 hollow steel frog tie sets, including operating bars for inclusion with Ansaldo M3 switch machines to Vale in Brazil.

voestalpine Nortrak Last year, voestalpine Nortrak Inc. introduced

Top, a WBM pannel from Nortrak-Damy. A Cleveland Track

Material double crossover.

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a family of Buy America-compliant turnouts for embedded street and tram application. The design incorporates a double flexive tongue switch and can be tuned to the specific operating requirements of individual transit operators. It offers the key performance characteristics of European designs, while utilizing 100 percent domestic materials. Most recently, tram systems in New Orleans and Tucson have adopted the design.

“We are expecting others to follow

suit,” noted Brian Abbott, executive vice president engineering.

“At the recent RSSI show in Cincinnati, Ohio, we were proud to unveil a new dual control Switch Drive AutomaterTM for the yard automation market,” he explained. “The new HY-100 Automater retains key features that have been the hallmark of the success of our original AutomaterTM: trailability, reliable hydraulic actuation and a solar power source. Operation in manual mode has been greatly improved, however. The original hand pump has been eliminated in favor of a user-friendly mechanical hand throw lever. To operating personnel, the new dual control HY-10 Automater will have the same look and feel as a conventional mainline dual control switch machine.”

Last year, voestalpine Nortrak says it had a very strong demand for trackwork

in both the freight and transit sectors. All indications are that demand will remain strong through the current year. The comapny sees the railways adjust their capital plans in response to changes in traffic commodity mix. Nevertheless, the company is anticipating overall levels of investment to remain steady.

Another key trend the company sees shaping the industry’s future is the rapid attrition of experienced personnel.

“Nortrak anticipates that this loss of practical know-how will drive an increased demand for turnkey solutions,” noted Abbott. “Rail operators will be looking for integrated product offerings comprising of support systems (ties and plates), trackwork, switch drive and monitoring systems. Product integration and factory pre-assembly promise to improve installation efficiency, enhance quality and expedite procurement and field logistics. Again, as a fully-integrated supplier, Nortrak has a unique capability of meeting this challenge.”

The HY-100: voestalpine Nortrak’s new dual control

switch drive.

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www.rtands.com Railway Track & Structures July 2012 37

Message from the President

AREMA NEWS

It was my pleasure to host the AREMA staff on May 10 at our Wilmington Control Center and Training facility where they had a chance to sit in the train engineer’s seat and operate one the many electric/diesel electric locomotives in our training simulators. From the control center overview for the Northeast Corridor operations to the System Operations Center for the entire country, they experienced the life most of us experience every day on the railroad. I truly appreciate their dedication and commitment to excellence as they serve all of us in the AREMA organization.

It is hard to believe that spring has come and passed us by and all of us are progressing full steam ahead with our production efforts to complete the record year in capital spending. Schedules have come and gone and the capital improvements are taking shape to keep each of our companies on target to meet the demands of our customers. This effort takes leadership at all levels from the system engineering staff, procurement, suppliers and the labor forces completing the work, which we all can be proud to be a part of in our industry.

I recently attended my son’s graduation for his master’s degree from NYU – Stern School of Business and the keynote speaker spoke to the 1,300+ graduates on leadership. My wife became annoyed with me when she thought I was texting during the ceremony, but soon realized I was taking notes from CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromomo’s speech. Her comments on remembering that leadership is not defined solely by the leader, but he/she needs a team of individuals to accomplish their goal, a great leader speaks in a plural voice when reporting the accomplishment. A great leader knows how to fail, admit it and take the steps to recover; keeping an eye on the goal. Finally, a great leader has a moral compass that is guided by three questions: what would my mother and father think; how would my family be affected and how are those who support me going to remember me? Just think of some of the men and women that we work with every day and how, for the most part, each of these points are carried out with success and great accomplishments in our industry. I shared later with my son and family that it was good to hear these words from a leader in the news industry in light of some heartbreaking news we hear each day when men and women that we look to for leadership in our country fall short. I wish I could have spoken to Maria after the ceremony and congratulated her on her accomplishments and being on target to this group of graduates as they are going forward in their careers. Considering leadership in our industry, we as an organization continue as leaders with the AREMA Educational Foundation.

This year, in September, we will award 34 scholarships totaling $62,000 to students attending 18 universities within North America. Congratulations to the students who are receiving the scholarships, but

On being a leader for the next generation

By Robert J. Verhelle

Robert J. VerhelleAREMA® President

2011-2012

Professional DevelopmentUpcoMing SeMinaRS

*new online SeMinaR* acceleRated Rail Station conStRUc-tion USing pRefaBRi-cated coMponentSJuly 31 at 2:00 PM EDT.Please see page 41 for more information.

Seminars being held in conjunction with the AREMA 2012 Annual Conference & Exposition in Chicago, IL, September 16-19, 2012:

intRodUction to pRactical Railway engineeRingSeptember 14-16

fRa 214: Roadway woRkeR on tRack Safety September 15

Rail BUlk teRMinal deSign September 15

enViRonMental peRMitting iSSUeS in RailRoad con-StRUction pRoJectS September 16

inteRModal deSign planning September 19-20

tRack alignMent deSign September 19-21

fRa 213: tRack Safety StandaRdS September 19-21

inteRModal deSign engineeRing September 20-21

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aReMa newS

38 Railway Track & Structures July 2012 www.rtands.com

pUt yoUR caReeR on the Right tRack with AREMA’s Railway Careers Network. Services are free and include confidential resume posting, job search and e-mail notification when jobs match your criteria. Visit careers.arema.org.

not an aReMa MeMBeR? Join today at www.aReMa.oRg

fyi…the 2012 Member-get-a-Member campaign is under way. Recruit new members today. The first, second and third place recruiters win prizes and are announced during the AREMA 2012 Annual Conference and Exposition in Chicago, IL, September 16-19, 2012. Deadline: July 31, 2012.

Sponsorship opportunities for the AREMA 2012 Annual Conference & Exposition are still available. Please contact Lisa Hall at +1.301. 459.3200, ext. 705, or [email protected] for a full listing of available opportunities.

aReMa 2012 exposition - 85% SOLD OUT. Booth sales are still available for the AREMA 2012 Exposition, but they’re going fast. Please contact Vickie Fisher at +1.301.459.3200, ext. 707, or [email protected] or visit www.arema.org for more information.

aReMa’s official facebook page Become a fan of the official AREMA Face-book Page and stay up-to-date on the most recent AREMA information.

the official aReMa linkedin group Join the official AREMA LinkedIn Group by visiting www.linkedin.com and searching groups for “American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association.”

Aug. 13-14 Committee 1 - Roadway & Ballast Salt Lake City, UTSept. 6-7 Committee 8 - Concrete Structures & Foundations Toronto, ON, CanadaSept. 15 Committee 27 - Maintenance of Way Work Equipment Chicago, ILSept. 15-16 Committee 24 - Education & Training Chicago, ILSept. 16 Committee 5 - Track Chicago, ILSept. 16 Committee 6 - Buildings & Support Facilities Chicago, ILSept. 16 Committee 10 - Structures, Maintenance & Construction Chicago, ILSept. 16 Committee 11 - Commuter & Intercity Rail Systems Chicago, ILSept. 16 Committee 12 - Rail Transit Chicago, ILSept. 16 Committee 14 - Yards & Terminals Chicago, ILSept. 16 Committee 16 - Economics of Railway Engineering & Operations Chicago, IL

Sept. 16 Committee 17 - High-Speed Rail Systems Chicago, ILSept. 16 Committee 33 - Electric Energy Utilization Chicago, ILSept. 16 Team 40 - Engineering Safety Steering Team Chicago, ILSept. 16 Team 41 - Track Maintenance Steering Team Chicago, ILSept. 18 Committee 18 - Light Density & Short Line Railways Chicago, ILSept. 19-20 Committee 38 - Information, Defect Detection & Energy Systems Chicago, ILSept. 20 Committee 39 - Positive Train Control Chicago, ILOct. 2-3 Committee 15 - Steel Structures New London, CTOct. 2-4 Committee 39 - Positive Train Control Ft. Worth, TXOct. 10-11 Committee 4 - Rail Danbury, CTOct. 15-17 Committee 37 - Signal Systems Germantown, WI

2012 Upcoming committee Meetings

more importantly, congratulations and a hearty “thank you” to those that contributed to the educational fund. We as an organization, continue to surpass the previous years, giving our support to the next generation of rail and transportation professionals. I hope to meet each of the 34 students in Chicago at the conference and trust that all of you will encourage them as they continue their education in pursuit of a rail industry career. Many of our former scholarship recipients and now industry employees will be attending the 7th Annual Meet the Next Generation Event held on the afternoon of Monday, September 17, in conjunction with our annual AREMA Conference and Exposition in Chicago. I trust as an AREMA member you will attend the event and encourage this next generation of railway leadership, as they share what they have experienced and hope to experience as a railway professional. The event provides time for questions and feedback from current railway professionals on how the industry has shaped their career and a networking reception. It is not too late to contact the AREMA headquarters and request a table for recruiting during the event. Our industry is expanding the physical infrastructure to meet the demands of our customers and it is equally important to hire and train new leadership as we move forward. Thank you all for your generous giving in support of the AREMA Educational Foundation.

President Verhelle with the AREMA staff at the Amtrak Control Center and Training Facility in Wilmington, Del., on May 10, 2012.

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www.rtands.com Railway Track & Structures July 2012 39

Each month, AREMA features one of our committee chair-men. We are pleased to announce that the July featured chair-man is Gregory T. Grissom, chair of Committee 30 - Ties.aReMa: Why did you decide to choose a career in rail-way engineering? gRiSSoM: As a civil engineering student in my junior year at the University of Delaware, I met Dr. Arnold Kerr, who had three decades of rail industry research and was teach-ing my analysis of structures course. Dr. Kerr had several ongoing rail research projects and I began doing rail research under his guidance as an undergraduate. I continued this research within the graduate program and developed a master’s thesis on lateral track buckling, which we later co-authored and published in the International Journal of Mechanical Sciences. I was also invited to participate in lec-tures held within the Institute for Railroad Engineering that Dr. Kerr founded, which gave me a glimpse of the engineer-ing and maintenance issues facing the industry. This was more than enough to set my career direction. aReMa: How did you get started? gRiSSoM: Thus far in my career, I have had a wide range of experience ranging from design to maintenance planning and technology applications. I started my career at Zeta-Tech, in Cherry Hill, N.J., working on various maintenance planning software applications and field studies. This includ-ed rail and tie life forecasting models and a five-year GRMS-based tie replacement study funded under the FRA/BAA program and co-sponsored by CSX and the Railway Tie Association. I then held various positions with HNTB Cor-poration in Philadelphia, Pa., Sioux Falls, S.D., and Omaha, Neb. In these roles, I designed and managed many projects with several different railroads. All of which have given me a diverse rail background that I draw from in my current role at Georgetown Rail Equipment Company.

Behind every career, there are individuals who have taken the time to invest in and transfer knowledge to continue to advance the industry. In my case, Chris Aadnesen, Randy Henke and Phil Brake have taught me valuable lessons along the way.aReMa: How did you get involved in AREMA and your committee?gRiSSoM: I joined AREMA and Committee 30 in 2001, while working on several projects related to crosstie failure, replacement and tie life. The committee was and continues to be one of the best forums for discussion on the latest developments and approaches to improve crosstie and fastener performance. aReMa: Outside of your job and the hard work you put into AREMA, what are your hobbies? gRiSSoM: I have many hobbies and spend a lot of time engaging in activities with my kids, such as soccer and swim-ming. I enjoy all sports and have taken much grief over the years for being a Philadelphia Eagles fan. I am also locally recognized for making a really good margarita.aReMa: Tell us about your family.gRiSSoM: I have been married to my wife, Allison, for eight years and we have three children; Aiden (5), Kaitlyn

(3) and Mason (8 months). I also include our German short-haired pointer, Toby, as part of the family. We have an energetic household and I wouldn’t have it any other way.aReMa: If you could share one interesting fact about your-self with the readers of RT&S, what would it be? gRiSSoM: All three of our children were born in different states: New Jersey, South Dakota and Nebraska. The indus-try is full of these stories and it is a testament to the commit-ment and sacrifice railroad families make every day. aReMa: What is your biggest achievement? gRiSSoM: My biggest life accomplishment, by which I am rewarded every day, is my family. Professionally, I have worked on some really great projects and would be omitting some great people without mentioning the former DM&E/PRB project team in Sioux Falls, N.D. I consider being able to serve AREMA and chairing Committee 30 an honor and great achievement.aReMa: What advice would you give to someone who is trying to pursue a career in the railway industry?gRiSSoM: There is an infinite amount of opportunity in the railway industry. The influx of proven technologies to the industry will continue to improve inspection, maintenance, material delivery and construction. There are many opportu-nities for individuals to champion initiatives to reduce track time for these activities and maximize operating capacity. I would strongly encourage hard working, innovative individu-als to pursue a career in the industry.

Getting to know Gregory T. Grissom

gRegoRy t. gRiSSoMChair, Committee 30 - TiesVice President Engineering, Georgetown Rail Equipment Company

American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association

10003 Derekwood Lane, Suite 210, Lanham, MD 20706-4362

Phone: +1.301.459.3200 / Fax: +1.301.459.8077

www.arema.org

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40 Railway Track & Structures July 2012 www.rtands.com

2012 Manual for Railway Engineering© NEW CHAPTER 10 - Structures, Maintenance and Construction. There have been numerous updates to more than 5,000 pages of the Manual for Railway Engineering. The chapters are grouped into four general categories, each in a separate volume: • Track • Structures • Infrastructure & Passenger • Systems Management. The Manual is an annual publication, released every April. The Manual’s available in four-volume loose-leaf format, CD-ROM, revision set (loose-leaf only) and individual chapters (loose-leaf format only).

AREMA Bridge Inspection Handbook©

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

2012 Communications & Signals Manual of Recommended Practices© The Communications & Signals Manual is a manual of recommended practices written by AREMA technical committees in the interest of establishing uniformity, promoting safety or efficiency and economy. The Communications & Signals Manual of Recommended Practices is an annual publication released every October.

Practical Guide to Railway Engineering©

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

Portfolio of Trackwork Plans©

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

aReMa Publications

To order any of the AREMA publications,

please log on to www.arema.org or contact

Beth Caruso at +1.301.459.3200, ext. 701, or

[email protected].

annoUnceMent of aReMa BoaRd of goVeRnoRS 2012 election

The Governance Nominating Committee, chaired by Past President, John F. Unsworth, has completed its task and the following nominee has been officially elected.

David W. Ferryman will assume his board of gover-nor’s position at the AREMA Annual Conference & Exposi-tion in Chicago, IL., September 16 - 19, 2012.

Elected as: Governor (2012 – 2015) Name: David W. Ferryman, PE Title: Vice President, System Engineering Organization/Company: Canadian National Railway Company

Ferryman is the vice president, system engineering for CN. He started his railroad career in 1989 as an engineering intern and from 1993 – 1995 he was a project manager at Burlington Northern. In 1995 – 1997 he was a roadmaster with BNSF. From 1997 – 1999 he worked at the Illinois Central Railroad as assistant superintendent engineering. In 1999, he start-ed working at CN and held various positions, such as divi-sion engineer – Gulf Division, general manager – Michigan Division, chief engineer – Southern Region and in 2005, he was promoted to his cur-rent position of vice president – system engineering.

He is a member of the Railway Tie and North American Chief Engineers Associations.

He is a professional engi-neer and holds a B.S. degree in civil engineering from Colorado State University. He expects to receive his MBA at Kellogg School of Manage-ment at Northwestern Uni-versity in 2012.

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Multipurpose machine Supertrak introduced the Huddig 1260B Triple Purpose Machine. It’s articulated center pivot, combined with hydrostatic operation, is said to make the transition from on and off track a breeze. The Huddig 1260B TPM has the capacity to power a wide range of hydraulic attachments and is suitable for fastening work, ballast filling, brushcutting, remote control work, rail replacement, all-season rail cleaning, tie replacement, as well as working on projects at height. Phone: 919-935-2595.

Pretreated crosstieGross & Janes Co. released Tuff-TieTM. The crosstie is treated with borate using a non-pressurized process prior to drying and shipping for creosote treatment. This two-step process eliminates the cost of pressurized application of borate at the time of creosote application, while offsetting the amount of oil-based creosote needed for tie protection; resulting in a lower-cost tie with environmental benefits including less creosote utilization and more environmentally-friendly alternatives for disposal of spent ties. Phone: 636-343-8484.

42 Railway Track & Structures July 2012 www.rtands.com

PRODUCTS

Page 45: RT&S 0712

AUGUST7-9. RTA Tie Grading Seminar. Denver Renaissance. Denver, Colo. Phone: 770-460-5553. Fax: 770-460-5573. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.rta.org.

SEPTEMBER5-6. Railway Bridge Engineering. University of Wisconsin-Madison. Madison, Wis. Contact: Dave Peterson. Phone: 608-262-2813. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: http://epdweb.engr.wisc.edu/WEBN391.

8-11. ASLRRA Central Pacific Region Meeting. The Depot Renaissance. Minneapolis, Minn. Phone: 202-628-4500. Website: www.aslrra.org.

16-19. AREMA Annual Conference & Exposition. Hilton Chicago. Chicago, Ill. Contact: Vickie Fisher. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.arema.org.

18-21. InnoTrans 2012. Messe Berlin Convention Center. Berlin, Germany. Phone: 732-933-1118. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.innotrans.com.

30-OcT. 3. APTA Annual Meeting. Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Washington State Convention and Trade Center.Seattle, Wash. Contact: Anitha Atkins. Phone: 202-496-4839. E-mail: [email protected].

OcTOBER10-11. Railway Age Passenger Trains on Freight Railroads. Washington Marriott. Washington, D.C. Contact: Jane Poterala. Phone: 212-620-7209. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.railwayage.com.

13-16. ASLRRA Eastern Region Meeting. Hilton Scranton and Radisson Lackawanna Station. Scranton, Pa. Phone: 202-628-4500. Website: www.aslrra.org.

16-17. 2012 Railroad Environmental Conference. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Urbana, Ill. Phone: 217-244-7158. Website: http://ict.uiuc.edu/railroad/RREC/overview.php.

23-25. Railway Tie Association 94th Annual Symposium and Technical Conference. Tampa Marriott Waterside and Marina. Tampa, Fla. Contact: Debbie Corallo. Phone: 770-460-5553. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.rta.org.

NOVEMBER11-13. ASLRRA Southern Region Meeting. Renaissance Ross Bridge Resort. Birmingham, Ala. Phone: 202-628-4500. Website: www.aslrra.org.

JANUARY 20139-12. 2013 NRC Annual Conference & Exposition. Loews Miami Beach Hotel. Miami Beach, Fla. Phone: 202-715-2919. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.nrcma.org.

13-17. Transportation Research Board 92nd Annual Meeting. Marriott Wardman Park, Omni Shoreham and Washington Hilton. Washington, D.C. Phone: 202-334-3504. Website: www.trb.org/AnnualMeeting2013/AnnualMeeting2013.aspx.

CALENDAR

www.rtands.com Railway Track & Structures July 2012 43

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44 Railway Track & Structures July 2012 www.rtands.com

Ad IndexCompany Phone# Fax# e-mailaddress Page#

Amsted RPS 312-922-4516 312-922-4597 [email protected] 21

AREMA Marketing Department 301-459-3200 301-459-8077 [email protected] Cover 3

Birmingham Rail & Locomotive Co. 205-424-7245 205-424-7436 [email protected] 22

Danella Rental Systems, Inc. 610-828-6200 610-828-2260 [email protected] 6

GENSCO America, Inc. 416-465-7521 416-465-4489 [email protected] 32

Holland L.P. 708-672-2300 ext. 382 708-672-0119 [email protected] Cover 4, 28

Hougen Manufacturing, Inc. 866-245-3745 800-309-3299 [email protected] 30

L.B. Foster Co. 412-928-3506 412-928-3512 [email protected] 16

L.B. Foster Co - Friction Management 412-928-3506 412-928-3512 [email protected] 4

Lewis Bolt & Nut Co. 800-328-3480 952-449-9607 [email protected] 24

New York Air Brake 607-257-7000 607-257-2389 [email protected] Cover 2

Pandroll USA, LP 1-800-221-CLIP 856-467-2994 23

Plasser American Corp. 757-543-3526 757-494-7186 [email protected] 27

PortaCo, Inc. 218-236-0223 218-233-5281 [email protected] 6

Progress Rail Services, Corp - (ETS) Rail Welding 810-714-4626 810-714-4680 [email protected] 26

Progress Rail Services, Corp - (ETS) Track Work 810-714-4626 810-714-4680 [email protected] 34

Progress Rail Services Corp. 800-476-8769 256-593-1249 [email protected] 18

RAILCET 866-724-5238 217-522-6588 [email protected] 7

Railtech Boutet, Inc. 419-592-5050 419-599-3630 [email protected] 29

RailWorks Corporation 866-905-7245 952-469-1926 [email protected] 8

Railway Educational Bureau, The 402-346-4300 402-346-1783 [email protected] 2, 14, 43

Sealeze 804-275-1675 ext.235 [email protected] 22

Siemens Mobility and Logistics [email protected] 9

Sperry Rail Service 203-791-4500 203-791-4512 [email protected] 31

Supertrak 941-505-7800 941-505-2308 [email protected] 42

Unitrac Railroad Materials, Inc. 412-298-0915 865-693-9162 [email protected] 36

voestalpine Nortrak Inc. 307-778-8700 307-778-8777 [email protected] 35

Vossloh 00-49-239-252-273 00-49-239-252-274 [email protected] 19

Reader Referral ServiceThissectionhasbeencreatedsolelyfortheconvenienceofourreaderstofacilitateimmediatecontact

withtheRAILWAYTRACK&STRUCTURESadvertisersinthisissue.

TheAdvertisersIndexisaneditorialfeaturemaintainedfortheconvenienceofreaders.ItisnotpartoftheadvertisercontractandRTSassumesnoresponsibilityforthecorrectness.

Advertising SalesgEnERALSALESOFFICEJonathan ChalonPublisher (212)620-7224345HudsonSt.Fax:(212)620-7224newYork,[email protected]

AL,AR,In,KY,LA,MI,MS,OH,OK,Tn,TXEmily Kalmus (312)683-502120SouthClarkStreetFax:(312)683-0131Ste.2450Chicago,[email protected]

CT,DE,DC,FL,gA,ME,MD,MA,nH,nJ,nY,nC,PA,RI,SC,VT,VA,WV,Canada-QuebecandEast,OntarioMark Connolly (212)620-7260345HudsonSt.Fax:(212)633-1863newYork,[email protected]

AK,AZ,CA,CO,IA,ID,IL,KS,Mn,MO,MT,nE,nM,nD,nV,OR,SD,UT,WA,WI,WY,Canada-AB,BC,MB,SKHeather Disabato (312)683-502620SouthClarkStreetFax:(312)683-0131Ste.2450Chicago,[email protected]

Responsibleforadvertisementsalesinallpartsoftheworld,exceptItaly,Italian-speakingSwitzerland,Japan,andnorthAmerica.SeethecontactsDonna EdwardsSuiteK5&K6ThePriory +44-1444-416368SyreshamgardensFax:+44-1444-458185HaywardsHeath,[email protected]

Australia,CzechRepublic,HongKong,India,Korea,MiddleEast,netherlands,newZealand,Russia,Scandinavia,SouthAfrica,SouthAmerica,Spain,WorldwideRecruitmentSteven BarnesSuiteK5&K6ThePriory+44-1444-416368SyreshamgardensFax:+44-1444-458185HaywardsHeath,[email protected]

Italy&Italian-speakingSwitzerlandDr. Fabio PotestaMediaPoint&CommunicationsSRLCorteLambruschiniCorsoBuenosAires8+39-10-570-4948VPiano,Int9Fax:+39-10-553-008816129genoa,[email protected]

JapanKatsuhiro IshiiAceMediaService,Inc.12-64-Chome,+81-3-5691-3335nishiiko,Adachi-KuFax:+81-3-5691-3336Tokyo121-0824,[email protected]

Classified,Professional&EmploymentCraig Wilson (212)620-7211345HudsonSt.Fax:(212)633-1325newYork,[email protected]

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Professional Directory

WEED & BRUSH SPRAYING Specialized fleet of computer operated sprayers

Tree Trimming/Brush Cutting Line Clearance-Hazardous Trees-Whole tree chipping

POLE LINE REMOVAL A variety of on/off track removal equipment

Road Crossing Site Safety Maintenance Re-cut & Herbicide Programs

800.822.9246www.merciers.comMERcIER’S

ProDucts anD servicesneW & useD eQuiPMent

Contact: Diane Stackhouse

Phone: 845-565-7210 ext.11

[email protected] (or)

[email protected]

FOR SHIPPERS:

Current services include distribution, cross-

dock, and side-track leasing

Storage: four roofed areas with a total of

32,000SF, plus 10,000SF enclosed.

Cross-dock: CSXT serv ice for all car types,

286,000 pounds. Up to 20 car spots. Trackmobile

switching.

Distribution: Flat-bed serv ices within a 300-mile

radius by affiliate Ray’s Transportation, Inc.

Side-track leasing: Up to 20 car spots.

Located 60 miles north of New York City.

FOR RAILROADS:

Current services include distribution, tie-

plating, & recycling

Removal, reuse, and disposal of track materials.

New track materials warehoused, repackaged,

palletized, and delivered.

Pre-plating of ties, and lease of proprietary tie-

plating machine.

Location info on Shipcsx.com

CSX-served at Ray’s Transportation, 55 W indsor

Highway (Rt.32), New W indsor, NY.

mailing address: 42 Argenio Drive, New W indsor, NY 12553

FOR SHIPPERS:Current services include distribution, crossdock, and side-track leasingStorage: four roofed areas with a total of 32,000SF, plus 10,000SF enclosed.Cross-dock: CSXT service for all car types, 286,000 pounds. Up to 20 car spots. Trackmobile switching.Distribution: Flat-bed services within a 300-mile radius by affiliate Ray’s Transportation, Inc.Side-tracking leasing: Up to 20 car spots.Located 60 miles north of New York City.

FOR RAILROADS:Current services include distribution, tieplating, & recyclingRemoval, reuse, and disposal of track materials.New Track materials warehoused, repackaged, palletized, and delivered.Pre-plating of ties, and lease of proprietary tieplating machine.Location info on Shipcsx.comCSX-served at Ray’s Transportation, 55 Windsor Highway (RT.32), New Windsor, NY.

Contact: Diane StackhousePhone: 845-565-7210 ext.11

[email protected]

www.rtands.com Railway Track & Structures July 2012 45

ATTENTION RAILROAD CONTRACTORSAND ENGINEERS

Wanted to buy: locomotive (running or not), tank cars, for parts. Also car bodies (flatcars) for 150-ton and 300-ton railroad crane. Mowing and cleaning the right of way. Chemical spraying on railroad abandoned property. Want to buy a railroad siding in the Western USA and one in the Eastern USA. Also want to obtain railroad property with rail, road service, truck and barge terminal. Also for unloading trains, barg-es, cut up locomotive, railroad rolling stocks and loading truck for heavy loads. Selling of railroad parts and buyer of salvage surplus material. Rebuilding parts for resale. Contact Jerry Stanton, ECO Consulting Group, USA Kentock Group Ltd, 215-758-1698 or 267-997-8133 phone, fax 215-864-9665, email [email protected].

QUADRILL®

Rail Scrap RetrieverOTM RetrieverTie Plugger CarriersPlate PickerPersonnel CarriersPowered CartTie Marking MachineBulk Material LoaderHeavy Duty Material CartsWheel & Axle AssembliesHitch Pins/Tow BarsRailroad SignsCrossbucks/Switch Targets

Phone: (330) 479-2004 Fax: (330) 479-20064313 Southway Street, S.W.Canton, Ohio 44706Web Site: www.sperlingrailway.comE-mail: [email protected]

BROWN RAIL • ROAD EQUIPMENT, INC. (yard) (office) 5530 Dial Dr.,Granite City, IL 62040 4 Amersham Court, Glen Carbon, IL 62034

Phone: 618-288-6698 • Fax: 618-288-6877e-mail: [email protected] web site: www.brownrr.com

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46 Railway Track & Structures July 2012 www.rtands.com

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5 kershaw tie cranes ...................................................lease/sale4 fairmont spikers ........................................................lease/sale Caboose Office .................................................................... sale1 burro model 40 w/magnet ........................................lease/sale3 kershaw 26 side entry regulators .............................lease/sale2 kershaw scarifers ....................................................lease/saleBox Car Office .............................................................lease/sale1 teleweld 32 burner rail htr self propelled with vibrator1 tr 10 tie inserter/remover wide cab .................................... sale1 2002 sterling Rotary dump truck with hy-rails & grapple ........................................................................lease/sale2 1995 ford rotary dump trucks with hy-rails & grapple 1995 white Volvo grapple truck w/hyrails & apprentice 120cgrapple ........................................................................lease/sale1 2001 freightliner 4 dr crew truck w/crane & hyrails2 pettibone 441 B speedswings with tote hook

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www.rtands.com Railway Track & Structures July 2012 47

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Field RepoRt

The enormous price tag associated with Positive Train Control captures a lot of the headlines in this industry. For the railroads that are mandated to implement the technology, more practical matters capture their focus, such as what conduits need to be installed and in what location in order to be ready by the 2015 deadline.

Fo r B N S F, p l a c i n g t h e c & s infrastructure needed along its property in the western suburbs of Chicago came with it’s own set of challenges. The area is heavily populated and located along a busy freight and passenger corridor. If the railroad was to drill or trench, there was a multitude of public and private utilities it needed to avoid hitting, including those that powered two major airports, hospitals, laboratories and private homes in the area.

The railroad originally tried an open trench approach to the project, which got the job done. However, the use of an open trench can be, as one railroad representative put it, a mess. Realizing a trenchless method may fit the project’s

circumstances better, the railroad turned to horizontal directional drilling (HDD). HDD does not have the restoration cost associated with trenching techniques with only a small entry and exit pit needing restoration when a job concludes. Companies that employ HDD are also said to receive less customer complaints, an added bonus for BNSF because much of the work was within site of commuter rail stations.

BNSF does perform its own drilling, but the railroad understood the finesse required for this project and turned to HURK Underground Technologies Inc., which has many years of experience with trenchless technologies.

Ray Sullivan, business development manager with HURK, said the key to a project like this is to get as much information as possible. Before any dirt could be disturbed, the Joint Utility Locating Information for Excavators (JULIE), Illinois’ one-call system, was contacted in order to find out where utilities were located. For utility verification, HURK par tnered with Dearbor n Companies, a subsurface imaging and mapping firm that performed a survey using ground penetrating radar to find the elevation of the utilities.

With all the manpower, preparation and coordination required for a job of this nature, one incredibly skilled person is responsible for the actual drilling. The drill operator’s job is made all the more critical when taking into account the volume of utilities involved.

For Rory Larson, signal supervisor for BNSF, the use of HDD has enhanced the productivity of the job. Larson notes that any utility hit during a drill is a bad deal, which is why he called HURK. He calls the job done thus far “fantastic,” so much so that he keeps adding projects along the way.

Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor

A different way of doing things

A BNSF train moves past HURK’s horizontal directional drill just outside of Fairview Station in Downers Grove, Ill.

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