RTS December 2021 by Railway Track & Structures

2021 WILDFIRES

AFTER GLOW RAILROAD COMPANIES THRIVE AND REBUILD QUICKLY AFTER WILDFIRES BLANKET THE SOUTHWEST

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February 2018 // Railway Track & Structures 1

voestalpine Railway Systems Nortrak

CONTENTS

December 2021

10 COLUMNS

3 32

DEPARTMENTS

On Track Something’s impossible Last Stop Preparing for the long haul

On the Cover A BNSF bridge continues to smoke during the Dixie Fire in California. Photo courtesy of BNSF. For story, see p 10.

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Streamlining Merchants Bridge construction

TTCI R&D Ultrasonic Impact Treatment of thermite rail welds

AREMA Message from the President, Roanoke jobsite, and more

30 31 31

Classifieds Advertiser Index Sales Representatives

FEATURES

The smoke that chokes Railroad crews out West spent the summer battling blazes and replacing infrastructure

Lubrication keeps rails in top shape Friction management is a continuous process for railroad MoW

Max protection Safety market relies on technology to protect workers and equipment

December 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 1

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ON TRACK

Something’s impossible VOL. Vol. 117, 115,No. NO.126 Print ISSN # 0033-9016, Digital ISSN # 2160-2514 EDITORIAL OFFICES 20 South 3680Clark Heathmoor Street, Drive Suite 1910 Chicago, Elgin, ILIll. 60124 60603 Telephone Telephone (312) 630-336-1148 683-0130 Website Fax (312) www.rtands.com 683-0131 Website www.rtands.com BILL WILSON Editor-in-Chief BILL WILSON wwilson@sbpub.com Editor-in-Chief wwilson@sbpub.com DAVID C. LESTER Managing KYRA SENESE Editor dlester@sbpub.com Managing Editor ksenese@sbpub.com CORPORATE OFFICES 88BOB PineTUZIK Street New Consulting York, N.Y.Editor 10005 Telephone btuzik@sbpub.com (212) 620-7200 Fax (212) 633-1165 CORPORATE OFFICES ARTHUR 55 Broad J. MCGINNIS, St 26th Fl. JR. President New York, and N.Y. Chairman 10004 Telephone (212) 620-7200 JONATHAN CHALON Fax (212) 633-1165 Publisher ARTHUR J. MCGINNIS, JR. MARY and CONYERS President Chairman Production Director JONATHAN CHALON NICOLE D’ANTONA Publisher Art Director MARY CONYERS HILLARY COLEMAN Production Director Graphic Designer NICOLE D’ANTONA MAUREEN COONEY Art Director Circulation Director ALEZA LEINWAND MICHELLE ZOLKOS Graphic Designer Conference Director MAUREEN COONEY CUSTOMER SERVICE: 800-895-4389 Circulation Director Reprints: PARS International Corp. 253 West 35th Street 7th Floor MICHELLE ZOLKOS Conference New York, NY Director 10001 212-221-9595; fax 212-221-9195 CUSTOMER SERVICE: 800-895-4389 curt.ciesinski@parsintl.com Reprints: PARS International Corp. 253 West 35th Street 7th Floor New York, NY 10001 212-221-9595; fax 212-221-9195 curt.ciesinski@parsintl.com

timeline should not give a pair of scissors the attention. When we were considered rookie cutters in grade school and something needed to be cut out, the lines, whether straight or curvy, always had breaks in them so we knew exactly where to steer the scissors. Sometimes the curves were too sharp for the safety pair to navigate, but one way or another the broken line got us to where we needed to go. Looking at the yearly history of the San Diego-to-El Centro, Mexico, railroad route, I don’t know if it is better to cut right through it and end it all or to connect the endings to try and make sense of it all. First off, the road, which has been called “The Impossible Line”, is broken into four segments: Main Line, La Mesa Branch, Coronado Branch, and the Desert Line. Then there are the incidents that come through like craters. On Sept. 10, 1976, Hurricane Kathleen ate up bridges and major sections of the Desert Line. In January 1980 washouts caused by desert storms drowned sections of rail. On June 18, fire destroyed two bridges on the Desert Line. In the early 2000s two tunnels needed to be repaired and bridges were rebuilt, including the Goat Canyon Trestle. On Christmas Day in 2009 fire burned another tunnel. In February 2017 boulders pounced on a tunnel leading to collapse. With all the damage one does not need to know why the 146-mile cut is called the The Impossible Line, but fires, boulders, and washouts did not play a leading role in the title. The geometry, mainly in Mexico, was sometimes extreme and complicated, leading engineers to name it. Explosives needed to be used for a large number of tunnels, and it’s been said that a day’s progress was measured in inches. The Carriso Gorge portion of the track alone required 13 trestles and 17 tunnels over 11 miles.

The last timeline crater might have been blown out in the Summer of 2020, when the Baja California Railroad stopped making lease payments to the San Diego Metropolitan Transit Systems for the Desert Line, and in November the MTS was contemplating it’s next move with the line. It’s hard to keep your eyes locked in while looking over the many ownership changes and line births and deaths over the last century on The Impossible Line, but officials seem to still be determined to get the line going again so product could be transported between Tijuana, Mexico, and spots in the U.S. Perhaps the most bountiful time in the rail line’s history came during the transportation boom of World War II. Bad events have outnumber the good 20:1, and many spots on the line are still in need of major repair. Letting a line rot only rusts the image of the railroad industry. It would take a severe twist of my arm for me to whistle in another one of those “rails to trails” projects, but I am thinking in this special case, on a line that has art-gallery picture views, maybe recreation is better than re-creation. President Biden recently signed the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, but that money has been marked for projects that simply hold more promise, like the Hudson Tunnel Project. Private investment has taken a crack at The Impossible Line only to watch money and profits fall through many cracks. Everything has been thrown at this line, even the kitchen sink (in fact, I’m thinking as many as two) and nothing has shined. You can only put so much tape and glue on a pile of scissor-cut scraps. There is simply nowhere left to go.

BILL WILSON Editor-in-Chief

Railway Track & Structures (Print ISSN 0033-9016, Digital ISSN 2160-2514), (USPS 860-560), (Canada Post Cust. #7204564; Agreement #40612608; IMEX P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2, Canada) is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publ. Corp, 88 Pine Street, 23rd Floor, New York, NY 10005. Printed in the U.S.A. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Pricing: Qualified individual and railroad employees may request a free subscription. Printed and/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. Single Copies are $10.00 ea. Subscriptions must be paid for in U.S. funds only. COPYRIGHT © Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation 2021. 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. F o r s u b s c r i p t i o n s a n d a d d r e s s c h a n g e s, P l e a s e c a l l +1 (4 02 ) 3 4 6 - 474 0, F a x +1 ( 8 47 ) 2 9 1 - 4 8 1 6 , e -m a i l r ta n d s @ o m e d a .c o m o r w r i te to: Railway Track & Structures, Simmons-Boardman Publ. Corp, PO Box 239, Lincolnshire IL 60069-0239 USA. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Railway Track & Structures, PO Box 239, Lincolnshire IL 60069-0239 USA.

December 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 3

STREAMLINING

LEANING IN A worker installs a steel piece on the Merchants Bridge in St. Louis, Mo., in early November. Work on the structure will continue into the winter, and a second section of the deck is expected to be installed in early 2022.

4 Railway Track & Structures // December 2021

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STREAMLINING

FOR THE LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS, GO TO WWW.RTANDS.COM. Photo Crediit: Bill Wilson

If you would like to contribute a photo to the Streamlining section please send a high-res version to Bill Wilson at wwilson@sbpub.com. Photos must be no more than a month old.

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December 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 5

TTCI R&D

Ultrasonic Impact Treatment of thermite rail welds Enhancing performance and integrity of rail welds Kerry Jones, Principal Investigator, TTCI Daniel Gutscher, Manager, Coupling Systems & Truck Castings Committee, TTCI Gary Fry, Ph.D., P.E.* Megan Brice* Maryam Tavakoli, TTCI Summer Intern

s part of the Strategic Research Initiatives (SRI) program funded by the Association of American Railroads (AAR), TTCI has been investigating methods to enhance the performance and integrity of rail welds. One of the techniques being investigated is Ultrasonic Impact Treatment (UIT) technology. Figure 1 shows a thermite rail weld specimen that failed after it was subjected to fatigue loading in a laboratory. The inset macrograph in Figure 1 exposes an imperfection that was present near the web-to-base fillet. The imperfection was located in the fusion zone of the weld immediately adjacent to the edge of the collar of the thermite weld. As seen in Figure 1, a fatigue defect originated at and grew around this imperfection and then propagated as a thumbnail crack until the defect reached an unstable size, triggering the failure of the weldment. This mode of failure, often observed in revenue service, was common to other specimens in the fatigue testing program. By some estimates, 90% of thermite rail weld failures in revenue service are caused by fatigue cracks that form in the lower web and base region of the weldment.1 Fatigue demand in the rail base There are two important features often associated with thermite weld failures to note. First, the location of the fracture origin is often localized at the edge of the weld collar near the web-to-base fillet. Second, the final fast fracture is the result of the unstable growth of a fatigue crack that has initiated and has begun propagating. 6 Railway Track & Structures // December 2021

Figure 1. Photograph of a thermite rail weld fatigue specimen.

The initial fatigue crack and the edge of the weld collar are linked from a stress analysis point of view. The fatigue crack results from accumulated cycles of applied stress range in the rail base, and the edge of the weld collar is a geometric stress riser. Figure 2 shows a rendering of a three-dimensional (3-D), nonlinear model of a thermite rail weld under a rolling wheel. In the rail base, the stresses are roughly uniaxial, and the stress range is the arithmetic difference between the maximum applied stress, which can be tensile directly beneath a wheel, and the minimum applied stress, which can be compressive between the axle and truck centers. Figure 3 shows a plot of the

computed stress history in the rail base at the edge of a thermite weld collar. Under 36-kip wheel loads, the maximum applied stress is roughly 12 ksi and the minimum applied stress is roughly –4 ksi, yielding an applied stress range of 16 ksi. Ultrasonic Impact Treatment of welds Empirically, it is often observed that the number of stress cycles needed to initiate a fatigue crack in steel correlates exponentially with the magnitude of the applied stress range—roughly to the power of three for many structural alloys. In such a case, if the stress range at a critical location in a steel component can be halved, the expected

Figure 2. Rendering of a 3-D, nonlinear computational model of a thermite rail weld under a rolling wheel.

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TTCI R&D

Figure 3. Plot of applied axial stress in the rail base at the edge of a thermite weld collar—results from a 3-D, nonlinear computational model. Each wheel passage causes a full stress-range cycle.

fatigue life will increase by a factor of eight. This fact has motivated several developments aimed at changing the post-manufacture stress state of steel components to a more favorable disposition in terms of fatigue resistance. Various techniques, including peening and autofrettage, used for mechanically upsetting steel components to induce favorable compressive residual stresses have been used successfully for decades. With these techniques, a loading that plastically deforms the steel locally within a surrounding elastic region is introduced. Using this method, the elastic region “pushes back” against the plastically deformed region, creating compressive residual stresses in the plastic zone and tensile residual stresses in the neighboring elastic region. The objective is the creation of a lens of compressive residual stresses within a local area that would otherwise be prone to fatigue damage because of geometric stress risers or locked-in tensile residual stresses from manufacturing. The last two decades have witnessed the improvement and widespread deployment of ultrasonic impulse drivers to actuate small, hard steel pins as a means of peening local, fatigue-sensitive zones of structural welds.2-4 The technique is referred to as UIT. The fatigue localization associated with thermite rail welds presents as a strong candidate application method for UIT. Laboratory fatigue tests of rail welds and unwelded rail Figure 4 shows a schematic drawing and a photograph of a “four-point” bending fixture and a rail configuration used in a fatigue testing program aimed at investigating the effectiveness of UIT on thermite rail welds. The rail was 136RE cut to a 4 ft length. rtands.com

The base of each specimen was supported on roller bearings spaced 39 in. apart. A pulsating load, i.e., zero to maximum, was applied to the head of the rail through two roller bearings spaced 6 in. apart. In this manner, the rail was subjected to a bending moment that generated tensile stresses in the base. This was done to simulate the major features of the loading cycle experienced by a rail under a rolling load from passing train wheels (Figure 3). Figure 5 shows a plot of the results from 26 tests: eight thermite welds (orange), eight electric flash butt welds (blue), five UIT thermite welds (red), and five unwelded rails (black). As is customary for the presentation of fatigue data, the axes of the plot are drawn to a log-log scale. The horizontal axis represents the number of cycles to failure for each specimen. The vertical axis represents the magnitude of the total load applied to each specimen. For each specimen group, a meantrend line is indicated as well as an envelope

around the mean trend line. The envelopes are computed assuming normal distributions, and they indicate an estimated 90% probability that an envelope will contain the mean trend line for its associated group. There is clear separation among these four groups of weld specimens. As expected, the unwelded rail performs the best. Of note is the UIT thermite weld group. It is ranked second among the four, fitting into the space between the unwelded rail and the electric flash butt welds. This is a marked improvement in the mean-trend behavior over the standard thermite welds. The variability of the UIT thermite welds, however, was nearly identical to that of the standard thermite welds. It is worth emphasizing that these tests were meant to exercise the rail base, as this is a predominant failure mode observed with thermite rail welds.1 These tests were not relevant to the fatigue behavior of the rail head that exhibits surficial rolling contact

Figure 4. Schematic drawing of rail fatigue test configuration and photograph of specimen during testing.

December 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 7

TTCI R&D

damage, as well as subsurface shelling, transverse defects, detail fractures, etc.

Figure 5. Fatigue test data from laboratory tests of full-scale specimens of unwelded rail and rail welds.

8 Railway Track & Structures // December 2021

Tests of UIT thermite welds at FAST Given the encouraging results from the laboratory tests, the UIT process has been applied to more than 100 welds at TTCI’s Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST): 70% as new weld installations and 30% as existing welds with pre-existing accumulated heavy axle load tonnage. Figure 6 shows the UIT process utilized at FAST. Most thermite weld failures happen in the fillet region of the base and given the difficulty with using the tool to access the bottom of the rail with sufficient precision, 48% of the UIT thermite welds at FAST do not include treating the bottom of the rail as a test of efficacy. To date, the UIT thermite welds at FAST have accumulated an average of 190 million gross tons (MGT). Among the 100 treated welds, 27 have been removed: 22 as part of overall rail maintenance activities, two because of shells under the running surface, two because of vertical web failures, and one base failure. Among the five failed treated welds, none of the failures initiated in the

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TTCI R&D

treated zones. As part of the treatment effort at FAST, TTCI has been working with a vendor to develop UIT equipment and procedures specific to the railroad environment and for treating thermite rail welds. This work has led to hardening a portable UIT equipment package and to the geometric and mechanical improvement of a hand-held tool to work around rail welds. References 1. Lawrence F.V., E.T., Ross, C.P.L. Barkan. (2004). “Reliability of Improved Thermite Welds,” IDEA Program Final Report, project HSR-41, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council. 2. Prask, H. Henry, T. Gnaupel-Herold, J. W. Fisher, and X. Cheng. (2001). “Residual Stress Modification by Means of Ultrasonic Impact Treatment.” Proceedings of Society for Experimental Mechanics. Portland, Ore. pp. 551-4. 3. Sougata Roy, J. W. Fisher, and B. T. Yen. (2001). “Fatigue Resistance of Welded Details Enhanced by

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Figure 6. Photograph of the manual UIT process at FAST.

Ultrasonic Impact Treatment (UIT).” Presented at The Eleventh International Offshore and Polar Engineering (ISOPE) Conference. Stanvenger, Norway. 4. Haagensen, P. J., E. S. Statnikov, and L. Lopez-Martinez. (1998). “Introductory

Fatigue Test on Welded Joints in High Strength Steel and Aluminum Improved by Various Methods Including Ultrasonic Impact Treatment (UIT).” International Institute of Welding, Paris, France. IIW Doc. XIII-1748-98.

December 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 9

2021 WILDFIRES

fter the Fourth of July, the devouring was as strong as ever ... and it had double backed. Encouraged by a shift in wind, the blaze that was trespassing on the San Carlos Reservation in Bylas, Ariz., was returning to Arizona Eastern Railway’s (AZER) Gila River Bridge with a revamped appetite. The sight popped the positive vibe generated by a crew that spent weeks battling the blaze and thought the triumph was already part of history. In fact, 98% of the wildfire was contained, but ushering in the Southwest’s monsoon season right after July 4 was a change in the wind pattern, and no one could match the quickness of the reflex. The 670-ft structure with eight deck plate girders and seven total approach spans was doomed.

10 Railway Track & Structures // December 2021

“We thought we had [the fire] whipped around the Fourth of July,” AZER General Manager Kevin Jones told RT&S. AZER is part of Genesee & Wyoming. Jones and Ben Habig, director of bridges and structures for Genesee & Wyoming’s Western Region railroads, were the first to survey the damage after the wildfire left the bridge in total ruins. “We had it contained and thought it was out at that point. We let our guard down ... I think everybody did. “The fire was so intense, so quick moving that even our preventive measures failed and the bridge burned in relative quick order to where there was no chance of fighting it.” Crews were fresh off of saving the span from another wildfire a few weeks earlier, and made sure brush was cut up to 100 ft

on each side of the structure. Flames and sparks, however, can take to the air, and that wind reversing itself just gave the fire more momentum. Fire fighting units that provided aid leading up to the Fourth of July could no longer look back due to other hot spots that included a ranch and homes. An attempt to organize a water tank counter attack wilted. All Jones could do was stay in close contact with the fire fighters to know when the time was right to assess the damage. When Jones and Habig first arrived at the ruins, the timber trestle was still smoldering. “As we approached it was smoldering ties here and there, and looking at the surrounding area it set the scene,” Jones described. “It looked like a smoldering rtands.com

Photo Credit: Genesse & Wyoming

THE SMOKE THAT CHOKES

2021 WILDFIRES

Railroad crews out West spent the summer battling blazes and replacing infrastructure By Bill Wilson, Editor-in-Chief

battle zone. There was nothing left. “Your heart sinks when you see a structure like that completely gone. The rails were basically hanging down from the approaches. They were draped across, drooping down from the structure.” Jones actually had experience in wild land fire fighting, and knew keeping tight communication with fire fighters and other officials would be key during the entire experience. Since it was the start of monsoon season, keeping tabs of the weather was critical. Another strong shift in wind or a lightning strike could send the fire back, placing more assets in harm’s way. Building it back Once on the blackened bridge it was rtands.com

determined that the original timber piles below ground were structurally sound and crews would have to build steel-frame foundations at the base. Caps and sills for the frames also were constructed out of steel pile. However, the solution to replacing all of the structural ties was not just handed to them. There were about 175 available, and a contractor had more leftover from another project. However, those ties were 15 in. deep and the Gila River Bridge required ties that were 12 in. deep. A local sawmill was able to cut the ties to fit, and after exhausting its timber company contact list AZER found another 110 ties. “In the times we are in right now the supply chain is a big thing everyone is struggling with,” said Jones. “So with this happening and other wildfires in the region affecting other railroads it put a strain on an already strained supply chain.” But before work could begin, AZER had to get clearance from the tribe that was on the reservation. Equipment access to the bridge was created by re-establishing some historic dirt roads on the land, and a total of four working crews were set up. One crew handled the heavy equipment at the bridge, which consisted of headwall construction, setting spans and bents, and repairing any damage to the sight caused by almost nightly monsoons and f loods. Another crew was set up to work on welding and fabrication at a nearby laydown area that was established. A third crew was in charge of building tie panels for placement on the bridge, and an internal Maintenance-of-Way gang worked on building approach panels and handling logistics to keep the operation running smoothly. After AZER’s internal design team turned around a quick initial plan to be used for construction, the building sequence went as follows: • Following mobilization, the welders set to work on fabricating the bents and spans, the heavy equipment crew began work on the headwalls, and the tie panel crew began building panels; • The bents went in first. All frames were constructed of 14 x 89 H-pile and were placed on timber cutoffs; • After the bents were set, crews worked on building the headwalls. AZER ordered several eco-blocks from a local supplier to build a base on where some historic girders could be placed. Workers utilized scrap rail and eco

blocks for dead-man anchors, and mixed a generous amount of cement into the backfill to try and get some increased stability out of it; • Following that was the placement of the spans. The welders were able to fabricate 90% of the spans at the lay down area. Stringers and diaphragms also were fabricated out of 14 x 89 H-pile. Stiffeners were cut off-site at a fabricating shop and delivered. Shims were welded over the existing steel pony bents that were tied into the existing deck plate girder spans, since the 14 x 89 stringers were shorter than the previous timber stringers; • Finally, tie panels were placed across the bridge and rail spiked and anchored. Hook bolts were placed and a train traveled over the span. Following the first train, sway brace installation, tower brace installation, anchor bolt installation, welding out any tacks, armoring of the embankments behind the headwalls, and hook bolting to standard was completed under normal traffic. During construction it was critical to track the storms of the monsoon season. On a daily basis spotters watched any storm that would develop over the mountains and head toward the work site. Lightning strikes were tracked and flash flood warnings had to be adhered to. That meant moving all of the heavy equipment to higher ground to let the heavy rainfall do its damage. When the weather event was over, everything was returned to the site. “We came back the next morning to see what the area looked like,” remarked Jones. “Sometimes it looked like a completely different landscape based on the high waters that flushed through there over the course of the night. “That was frustrating. We would make progress and have to stop. Safety is a top priority so it’s an easy decision to pull everyone back and return the next day and pick up the pieces.” As mentioned earlier, communication was one piece that had to remain constant, even when cellular towers were non-existent. Men were stationed near the location just in case measures had to be taken if there was a break in communication. When that happened physical contact needed to be established if there was a warning or the crews needed to evacuate. In order to get cellphones to work one had December 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 11

2021 WILDFIRES

A shift in wind proved to be devastating for the Gila River Bridge.

supplies, talking to a vendor ... you just had to carve out that time to find cellphone service close by and get a piece of signal to make those calls and emails.” Considering a change With extreme weather events increasing in number over the last few years, AZER has been forced to take a hard look at its bridge inventory to see if fire-resistant spans need to be constructed. Jones said the perception is starting to change and concrete and steel bridges are moving up the preferred list. “With the amount of wildfires in that area, specifically where we have heavy vegetation, it makes sense to take that into consideration.”

to go to higher ground in an attempt to establish a connection. “In some ways good face-to-face

communication is better because your needs come across more clearer,” Jones explained. “Whether it would be ordering

Battling Dixie The Dixie Fire, California’s second-largest wildfire in history, had a life of its own, one that did not know night from day or forests from farms, recklessly destroying everything in its path. It kept BNSF crews on their toes for much of the summer.

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2021 WILDFIRES

The Dixie Fire in California kept BNSF crews on their toes for much of the summer.

helicopters. “We plan and prepare annually for wildfires as part of our Fire Action Plan,

and that’s why we have a very coordinated response, solid plans to manage and assets deployed to mitigate,” said Brandon

Photo Credit: BNSF

“This fire is very much alive. It’s burned across the Gateway Subdivision at several locations, caused a tunnel to collapse and destroyed two of our bridges,” said BNSF General Director Line Maintenance Danniel MacDonald at the time of the wildfire. MacDonald helped lead BNSF’s effort to minimize impact and restore operations since the fire was reported in mid-July. BNSF trains ran north and southbound between Seattle and Los Angeles through the affected area. Since the Dixie Fire, named for the road where it started, began burning, BNSF teams worked side by side with outside agencies to control what can be controlled—and get out of the way when the situation can’t be controlled. To coordinate the response, a command center was established early, with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in charge. Some 5,000 personnel, including members of the National Guard, were working the fire, both on the ground with fire engines, water tenders and bull dozers, and from the air with

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December 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 13

2021 WILDFIRES

To fight the Dixie Fire, water and fire retardant were sprayed, especially on bridges.

Archambeau, the general manager of BNSF’s Northwest Division based out of Vancouver, Wash. “The key is communication and keeping everyone on the same page.” Engineering teams inspected the track and structures, including dozens of bridges, several tunnels plus slide fences and trackside signals. The work was complicated by the altitudes, canyons, ridges and temperatures ranging from 40 to 100°. To give a bird’s eye view, BNSF’s drone team captured video to help with the assessment. Smoke was a constant and impaired visibility; BNSF’s Industrial Hygiene team provided respirators, which are required for BNSF personnel working in the elements. There also was the threat of large embers and ash falling. Giant trees felled by flames could crash, often across the tracks. In the greatest at-risk areas, fire bladders—durable bags that can be filled with 10,000 gal of water—and sprinkler systems were deployed. Water and fire retardant also were being sprayed, especially on

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2021 WILDFIRES

Train crews operated fire trains equipped with tank cars and pump systems to address fires directly.

Listen to a podcast on the Gila River Bridge wildfire. Go to www.rtands.com and click on Podcasts.

Photo Credit: BNSF

bridges, to wet the crossties and structures to reduce the chance of them catching fire. Meanwhile, train crews operated fire trains equipped with modified tank cars with pump systems to address fires directly from the tracks. BNSF’s HazMat and Engineering teams were on board the two trains, manning the pumps. Elsewhere, tank cars were strategically staged and acted as fire hydrants; generators also were placed near telecommunications systems in anticipation of power outages. Tunnel No. 4 and two bridges on the line were damaged during the fire. The tunnel, located just north of Keddie, Calif., collapsed and had to be restored. The 470-ft-long tube lining had sections of timber, concrete, and steel, and the collapsed area was timber lined. Restoration efforts included replacing the roof and walls. Bridge 199.66 (120 ft long) and Bridge 198.5 (510 ft long) also suffered damage. The timber decks were lost on both and were replaced. —Portions of the Dixie Fire story were contributed by BNSF.

rtands.com

December 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 15

FRICTION MANAGEMENT

Loram Technologies solar-powered trackside lubrication equipment.

LUBRICATION KEEPS RAILS IN TOP SHAPE

Friction management is a continuous process for railroad MoW

16 Railway Track & Structures // December 2021

all railroads are committing to Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) goals, and they are aggressive out to 2030 ... this type of technology will become a necessity if they are to meet their long-term GHG emissions reduction goals. Christian Pieper with Robolube tells RT&S that, “We see the need for track lubrication more than ever, with everrising steel prices for replacing rail to the need for fuel savings on track and the overall safety of trains on the rail. Track lubrication is continuing to play a vital role in systems across North America.” Loram Technologies told us that, “We see growth potential in all our market

segments, be it Class 1, regional, short line, and industrial railroads, as well as transit properties.” The following company profiles give us more insight into how the market for lubrication products and services is evolving. L.B. Foster Company L.B. Foster focuses on helping freight and transit customers maximize the return on their friction management program investments by continually improving its equipment, consumables, and remote monitoring services to ensure programs are working at peak efficiency, uptime, and reliability. rtands.com

Photo Credit: Loram Technologies

ail lubrication is one of those daily Maintenance-of-Way tasks without which a railroad could have serious trouble. Whether it’s top-of-rail or gauge face lubrication, a lot of science and technology goes into preparing products and services for the market. And, speaking of the market, RT&S reached out to several vendors for their comments on the outlook for 2022. For example, Mike Mitrovich of MPL Innovations told RT&S that, “PSR still has the purse strings pretty tight for vendors viewed as discretionary. Hopefully, the pendulum begins to swing the other direction in 2022.” He added that, “Given

By David C. Lester, Managing Editor

FRICTION MANAGEMENT

Photo Credit: Robolube

On the equipment side, the company has fully commercialized its Protector X (PX) trackside friction management system after having soft-launched it last year. The fully commercialized system includes the same 100% utilization, firstin-first-out product compartment, and further product improvements based on customer feedback. “So far, reception to the PX system has been great, and we find the industry’s adoption of this platform humbling,” said Joel VanderMarel, P.E., Global FM Product Manager, Trackside Solutions. “We have listened to customer feedback on what was initially softlaunched and have implemented some nice refinements to the system design.” L.B. Foster’s next-generation Remote Performance Monitoring (RPM2) platform that launched last year continues to evolve, including the introduction of auto-locating of trackside assets with new GPS capabilities built into the control system. “We’re introducing new features every month, refining the user interface, and continuing to drive towards providing clear, actionable insight that customers can use to optimize friction management programs,” said VanderMarel. On the transit side, L.B. Foster concludes field trials for its new top-ofrail (TOR) product: Keltrack Transit EX. This premium, all-season TOR friction modifier provides extended carry-down capabilities, improved film durability, and a lower freezing point while maintaining fundamental performance properties of the industry-standard Keltrack Trackside Transit product.

tractive effort is not compromised. This lubricant is fed into the wheel using a constant force spring, so lubricant is applied to the wheels and conditioning the rail whenever the locomotive moves. The characteristics of the MPL NatureBlend stick lubrication and Topstick systems are low cost, reliability, 2% to 3% fuel savings, over 35% wheel wear reduction, rail wear reduction, and bio-degradability. The top-of-rail product uses the same bracket for attachment to the locomotive truck frame as the wheel f lange lubricators, thus reducing installation costs and providing easy and quick stick lubrication replacement. By reducing the coefficient of friction at the gauge face, MPL has demonstrated an incremental increase in velocity in revenue field tests. It is a multi-faceted technology that reduces GHG emissions through saving fuel and provides enhanced safety through reduced derailments and noise reduction and increased network f luidity through fewer train stalls and train breaks. Robolube Robolube Industries has been pushing forward with the production of its R2K lubricator. COVID-19 slowed efforts to get the wayside technology to customers’

systems, but now Robolube, Inc., is gaining traction with installs and overall production. With R2K’s new technology in the field installed on a busy circuit, they are seeing results that conform to what the technology intends to accomplish in the harsh environments of the field. The R2K keeps evolving to accommodate customers’ needs and requests. This evolution includes electric units offering two separate track assemblies to grease both rails to other spin-off projects tackling friction needs the industry hasn’t addressed until now. Look for new innovative application methods from R2K to address other track structures in 2022. Roblube’s hi-rail lubricators are going as strong as ever. With the addition of a new design wayside transfer/fill system, they are addressing the needs of hi-rail wayside lubrication filling. A hydraulic tool system or free-standing with a selfcontained motor can run this system. The company is evolving its hi-rail lubricator with new technology that will improve ease of application and be more operatorfriendly in 2022. Loram Technologies Adverse wheel and rail interaction poses one of the biggest threats to the life and performance of your rail and rolling

Robolube R2K trackside lubricator.

MPL Innovations MPL Innovations has developed solid stick lubricants for both the gauge face and topof-rail. For two decades, the gauge face technology has served customers, and the top-of-rail product is ready for testing at a candidate railroad after extensive testing at TTCI. The gauge face interlocking solid stick material uses MPL’s patented NatureBlend formulation of biodegradable and renewable plastics as binders and vegetable oil to help provide lubrication, in addition to various extreme pressure additives. The top-of-rail Topstick material uses a different combination of lubricants to incrementally modify the coefficient of friction compared to the gauge face lubricant. COF on the top of the rail should be no lower than 0.35 so that the locomotive’s rtands.com

December 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 17

FRICTION MANAGEMENT

L.B. Foster’s Protector X trackside friction management system.

The Railway Educational Bureau The Art and Science of Rail Grinding

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The Railway Educational Bureau 1809 Capitol Ave., Omaha NE, 68102 www.RailwayEducationalBureau.com 18 Railway Track & Structures // December 2021

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assets. Loram Technologies provides wheel and rail interaction expertise, offering both gauge face and top-of-rail consumables in biodegradable, synthetic, and water-based versions. Loram Technologies engineers its gauge face lubricant products for specific challenges, including a wide range of working temperatures, load-carrying capability, and environmental responsibility. These products include: EcoCurve Heavy Haul Grease, EcoCurve Trackside, and RailKing HL. EcoCurve Heavy Haul is readily biodegradable, carries the European Ecolabel, and is suitable to use near bodies of water. EcoCurve Trackside also is readily biodegradable and has found wide acceptance in the transit market worldwide. Rail King HL is inherently biodegradable and has high-load carrying additives, best suited for heavy-haul applications. The company’s top-of-rail friction modifiers for wayside applications help reduce noise, extend rail and wheel life, and contribute to fuel savings. Tor-XTend is a clean synthetic friction modifier with

FRICTION MANAGEMENT

a low evaporation rate, uses less material per application versus competitive products, and carries over 6 miles in most applications. Tor-H 2OX has the benefits of both water-based and synthetic-based modifiers and is a non-cavitating material with a carry distance of 4 to 6 miles. Loram Technologies’ 25-gal, solar, or AC-powered trackside tank is the newest application system it has added to the f leet. Easy to maintain and install, it is the solution for low traffic areas like switching yards and industrial spurs and can also handle lower tonnage Class 1 mainlines and transit systems. Loram’s after-sale contract maintenance service continues to grow. Some clients need varying levels of support, from initial installation to turnkey equipment, consumable delivery, and ongoing routine maintenance. Loram Technologies has been and will continue to be on the leading edge of advancements in reliable wayside application equipment, gauge face, and top-ofrail consumables.

Robolube lubrication equipment.

Whether you’re looking at starting a Friction Management Program or optimizing an existing one, you can count on L.B. Foster to provide you with the expertise, equipment, consumables, service, and monitoring support to achieve your goals.

» » » »

Photo Credit: Robolube

Industry leading technology including the non cavitating PROTECTOR®X trackside unit

Extensive portfolio of rail curve greases & TOR products

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Reduce annual program cost Maximize program financial benefits Reduce required onsite track access Validate your program performance

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December 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 19 QtrPage_TFMAd.indd 1

11/23/2021 11:35:42 AM

SAFETY

MAX

PROTECTION

Safety market relies on technology to protect workers and equipment

oppers, a major supplier of railroad crossties in North America for Class 1 and short-line railroads, had a safety issue where the local rail depot was pushing railcars into their south gate unannounced to the rail yard workers. They had workers in the yard performing forklift operations, loading and unloading rail cars, and completing switching operations. When these cars would come through unannounced, it would result in quite a few near misses. Miller Ingenuity set up a yard protection system to only detect movement coming into the facility. The ZoneGuard train detection modules (TDMs) are installed at the yard lead before the rail yard entrance. These TDMs are responsible for detecting the rail traffic in either

20 Railway Track & Structures // December 2021

direction and determining whether the system should send an alert to the rail workers. The alerts are sent to each rail employee’s personal wearable device and also sounds on the train alert modules mounted throughout the rail yard. Miller Ingenuity’s roadway worker protection system uses multiple diverse and redundant sensor technologies to protect freight and transit workers in active work zones. This secondary warning system helps create a more robust safety plan for the railroad by eliminating the human error factor that is the root cause for most, if not all, near-miss incidents and tragic accidents. ZoneGuard’s accuracy and reliability has helped customers eliminate the

chance of false alerts that, when occurring frequently, can give a false sense of security or wrongfully establish complacency among work crews. The system is f lexible and can be configured to each customer’s unique operating environment. Customers can choose from the ZoneGuard fixed system which provides 24/7 train tracking capabilities and the ZoneGuard portable kit which is lightweight and easy to transport and setup at each jobsite. The patent-pending ZoneGuard yard protection system uses train detection technology and the setup from a fixed system to warn workers within a rail yard of any incoming track vehicles or cars being pushed into the facility. Train detectors determine if track vehicles rtands.com

Photo Credit: Miller Ingenuity

By Bill Wilson, Editor-in-Chief

ON DEMAND EDUCATION On Demand Education is available via our Virtual Conferences or Webinars and provides topic-based content that allows you to get your PDHs by learning from experts online without leaving your office.

Get your PDHs on your own time, at your own pace. For more information on AREMA’s educational offerings, visit www.arema.org.

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SAFETY

the supply chain. “It’s not only the cost increases, but the availability as well,” Orgo Thermit said. “The volatility is tough to predict, and you can quickly find yourself on the wrong side of the cost equation. “You can build inventory in some cases, but you could end up being stuck with it at a higher cost.”

L.B. Foster’s Rockfall Monitoring uses a LiDAR optical fence.

been a slow recovery from last year but overall it is performing well. With the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill now signed by President Biden, the hope is that 2022 will be an even stronger year for safety products. The biggest challenge currently is

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The Railway Educational Bureau 1809 Capitol Ave., Omaha NE, 68102 www.RailwayEducationalBureau.com 22 Railway Track & Structures // December 2021

Workplace Safety

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Federal Regulations

This reprint includes the FRA's Railroad Workplace Safety Standards addressing roadway workers and their work environments. These laws cover such things as: personal protective equipment, fall protection, and scaffolding for bridgeworkers; and training issues. Also includes safety standards for on-track roadway vehicles. Updated May 3, 2021.

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Photo Credit: L.B. Foster

are entering or exiting the facility and workers will receive alerts from their wearable devices and the Train Alert Modules mounted throughout the yard. As for the how the safety market is performing, Orgo Thermit said there has

Orgo-Thermit, Inc. Orgo-Thermit, Inc., has offered and sold its TrackSafe Barrier to several customers throughout North America to provide a physical barrier to protect railroad personnel. The unique design allows quick and easy installation and removal as it is attached to the rail using a magnet. It does not interfere with signaling or shunt. Orgo-Thermit has recently expanded sales of the TrackSafe Barrier to include a product uniquely designed to protect railway workers from the hazards of working near tracks with energized third rails. The TrackSafe Barrier for third rail has

SAFETY

similar properties to the standard product with the exception of the means in which the stanchion is removed from the rail. Infrastructure with third rail prohibits the use of the traditional barrier, and as a result a modified stanchion has been designed which can be detached from the magnet to avoid coming into contact with the adjacent third rail. L.B. Foster Company Rockfall and landslides can pose major problems to infrastructure, especially to railways in mountainous regions. Materials blocking the lines and debris making its way onto the track affects the safety of the line and impacts the integrity of the track. Insight Rockfall Monitoring by L.B. Foster is an accurate end-to-end solution that alerts railroad operators to actual events in real time. The system uses a LiDAR optical fence that solves the challenge of safeguarding against rock debris on the line. Conventional slide fences use wires across the top of the track that break when a rock falls

through them. With the Rockfall Monitoring system, if a rock of sufficient size posing a threat to a train is detected on the track, LiDAR technology remotely alerts controllers about the size and location of the obstruction without an engineer ever needing to visit the site and re-string a wire detector. This system also features sophisticated data management software, which captures, stores, analyzes, and provides detailed intelligence on event regularity and severity. This allows system operators to build a detailed event profile and identify actions to prevent disruption, reducing costs and protecting reputation. DMF Whether you’re picking up ties from the captain’s chair of your material handler or maintaining the catenary on your light-rail system from the raised platform on the back of your truck, it is vital to have a dependable rail gear system that provides safe and smooth operation. The DMF RW-2300HS is a

front-mounted hydrostatic creep drive system designed to operate independently of the vehicle transmission. With a 33,000-lb GAWR, the front hydrostatic system can be mounted forward of the front tandems and, in special applications, behind the cab. Full wireless control operates the Neotec motorized front axle without having to integrate into the vehicle. The system will operate up to 7 mph in creep mode and disengage for up to 25 mph freewheel mode using the vehicle propulsion. Additionally, the system allows the user to operate the vehicle equipment without having to disengage the PTO to advance the truck down the track, saving time and money. Since the RW-2300HS is independent of the transmission, the vehicle can be moved off track if any issues arise unlike some current split shaft systems. The full system includes the Neotec axle, DMF integration package, and the DMF RW-1630 or RW-1650 rear axle assembly with auto mechanical locks.

Driving velocity in the rail industry. TRACK MAINTENANCE

RAIL CAR MOVING

RAIL INSPECTION

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December 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 23

Message From The President

MICHAEL P. FREEMAN AREMA President 2021-22

he first part of December is always one of my favorite times of the year. The morning air is cool and crisp, the leaves have changed, and most have fallen, college and pro football are in full swing, Major League Baseball has crowned a new World Champion (Congratulations to the Atlanta Braves!), the National Hockey League is fully into its season, as is the National Basketball Association. Thanksgiving has come and gone and if you are like me, you are recovering from eating too much food without the proper offset of exercise. I love sports, and during this time of year there is always a sporting event on television. Football and turkey, it just gets no better than this. As we move forward through the next several articles, I will focus on AREMA’s six Functional Groups and their respective committees that make up the structure of AREMA. The Functional Groups are: Engineering Services, Track, Structures, Maintenance-of-Way, Passenger & Transit, and Communications, Signals & Information Technology (formerly Communications & Signals). In my acceptance speech to become president of AREMA for the 2021-2022 term, I spoke about change and that change was one of the things in life that is a given. As we focus on change, no Functional Group has experienced more change recently than the newly named Communications, Signals & Information Technology (CS&IT) Functional Group. In fact, the name of the Communications & Signals Functional Group rtands.com

was changed to ref lect the addition of a brand new Committee 35 - Information Technology. This month’s focus will highlight the CS&IT Functional Group, which is led by Functional Group Vice President Jerry Specht. Jerry serves as Director of Product Management for Wabtec and is assisted by two very capable Functional Group Directors, Jay McAndrews from Union Pacific and Kevin Cravens from Norfolk Southern Corporation. There are six AREMA Committees within the CS&IT Functional Group. Committee 34 - Scales is led by Chair Damon Smith from CSX Transportation and focuses on scales. The design of weighing systems and the maintenance of those systems are the primary items of interest for this committee. Evaluation of new scale technology and how

“

THE CS&IT FUNCTIONAL GROUP IS A BUSY AND EXTREMELY RELEVANT AND ACTIVE COLLECTION OF COMMITTEES. that technology is used is a key task within the purview of Committee 34. Committee 35 - Information Technology, with Mike Weber from Modern Railway Systems as chair, is a new committee to AREMA, having been created in mid-2021. This committee will focus on all items IT and how new technology meshes with current technology involved in operating a safe and reliable railroad. Committee 36 - Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Warning Systems is chaired by Shawn Hall from BNSF Railway. At-grade rail crossing technology is an area of constant focus for the rail industry and this committee plays a big

part in moving new or improved technologies from concept to reality. Grade crossing safety has come a long way, but more work is needed and Committee 36 is positioned to help push those needed improvements to reality. Committee 37 - Signal Systems is headed by William Wiedmann of Burns Engineering, Inc. This committee has a strong focus on ensuring current material is up to date but also making sure support material for existing systems is kept up to date and is relevant. Furthermore, as signal systems evolve, this committee is tasked with keeping these manual parts to current practices. Committee 38 - Information, Defect Detection & Energy Systems: John Danyluk from MeteorComm LLC is the chair and heads this group’s efforts of ensuring there is well-founded information to aid in establishing systems for defect detection. The advances in this area from an industry standpoint are nothing short of remarkable. The industry has moved forward at a rapid pace in the area of defect detection, which has improved the rail industry’s performance and greatly reduced the number of incidents. Committee 39 - Positive Train Control under the direction of Chair Mitch Beard from BNSF Railway has been very active over the past several years in developing support materials for new technologies associated with mandated PTC. With several initial milestones accomplished for the implementation of PTC, this committee will continue to refine existing system information and work to keep up with changes in the systems available for use. As one can easily see, the CS&IT Functional Group is a busy and extremely relevant and active collection of committees. If you or someone you know is interested in helping develop information in any of the committees within the CS&IT Functional Group, I would encourage you to pursue the many available opportunities by contacting the staff at AREMA. From a single idea to full-f ledged technologies, the CS&IT Functional Group wants and needs your valuable contribution. Until next month, be well and be safe. December 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 25

FYI

AREMA would like to wish you and your family a very happy and safe holiday season. Ca l l For Pa pe rs: Pa p e r s a re b ein g accepted for the AREMA 2022 Annual Conference & Expo to be held in Denver, Colo., Aug. 28-31, 2022. The deadline is Dec. 10, 2021. Please visit www.arema. org for more information and to submit an abstract online. Do you want to generate leads, promote your company, and reach a target audience? Sign up for sponsorship at the AREMA 2022 Communications & Signals Symposium to be held May 15-17 in Kansas City, Mo. Please visit www.arema.org or contact lmcnicholas@arema.org for more information on sponsorship investment opportunities.

Did you miss the AREMA 2021 Virtual Conference? The platform is available on demand for you to learn while on the go and earn your PDH (subject to state’s approval). Purchase now at www.arema.org. Don’t miss out on the conversation happening in AREMA’s Member Forum. The Member Forum connects you with other members allowing you to send messages, start conversations, and more. See what everyone is talking about today: https:// community.arema.org/home. If you’re looking for a new podcast to binge, listen to AREMA’s Platform Chats. It features guests from every aspect of the railway industry. Come “roll with AREMA” on your favorite streaming platform. The AREMA Practical Guide to Railway E n g i n e e ri n g a n d B rid g e I n s p e c tio n Handbook are available as e-publications.

Get convenient access to th ese publications in a downloadable PDF format and take advantage of immediate access you can take with you anywhere. To see the complete list of AREMA e-publications, to purchase, or to learn more, please contact publications@arema.org or visit www. arema.org. Leverage the power of your trusted association’s Railway Careers Network to tap into a talent pool of job candidates with the training and education needed for long-term success. Visit www.arema.org/ careers to post your job today.

NOT AN AREMA MEMBER? JOIN TODAY AT WWW.AREMA.ORG CONNECT WITH AREMA ON SOCIAL MEDIA:

UPCOMING COMMITTEE MEETINGS 2022 MEETINGS JAN. 5

JAN. 13

JAN. 20-21

FEB. 2

Committee 6 - Rail Facilities, Utilities, and Buildings Virtual Meeting

Committee 24 - Education & Training Virtual Meeting

Committee 8 - Concrete Structures & Foundations San Diego, Calif.

Committee 6 - Buildings & Support Facilities Virtual Meeting

FEB. 8-9

FEB. 10

Committee 15 - Steel Structures Fort Worth, Texas

Committee 1 - Roadway & Ballast Atlanta, Ga.

Committee 9 - Seismic Design for Railway Structures Irvine, Texas

Committee 24 - Education & Training Virtual Meeting

FEB. 14-18

FEB. 23-24

MARCH 2

MARCH TBD

Committee 18 - Light Density & Short Line Railways Virtual Meeting

Committee 7 - Timber Structures Memphis, Tenn.

Committee 6 - Buildings & Support Facilities Virtual Meeting

Committee 36 - HighwayRail Grade Crossing Warning Systems Virtual and in-person.

MARCH 7

MARCH 7-11

MARCH 9-10

MARCH 17

Committee 35 Information Technology Pittsburgh, Pa.

Committee 38Information, Defect Detection & Energy Systems Pittsburgh, Pa.

Committee 39 - Positive Train Control TBD

Committee 4 - Rail Pueblo, Colo.

Join a technical committee Joining a technical committee is the starting point for involvement in the association and an opportunity for lifelong growth in the industry. AREMA has 30 technical committees covering a broad spectrum of railway engineering specialties, including our new Committee 35 - Information Technology. Build your network of contacts, sharpen your leadership skills, learn from other members and maximize your membership investment. If you’re interested in joining a technical committee or sitting in on a meeting as a guest, please contact Alayne Bell at abell@arema.org. For a complete list of all committee meetings, visit www.arema.org.

26 Railway Track & Structures // December 2021

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Committee 6 visits the Manitou and Pikes Peak Railway As part of its first in-person activity in two years, Committee 6 - Rail Facilities, Utilities, and Buildings inspected the station and shop facilities of the Broadmoor Manitou and Pike’s Peak Railway (MPPR) in October. The railway completed its three-year, $100 million reconstruction in May 2021 and resumed operations to the summit of Pike’s Peak, the highest railroad line in North America, reaching 14,115 ft above sea level. The project included new accessible station facilities, an expanded workshop, 9 miles of totally new track structure, and three modern Swiss-built train sets. Addressing the need for health awareness, the meeting offered a virtual attendance option for those that could not attend in person. At the meeting, Part 15 on Inspection of Railway Buildings and Part 16 on Diesel Locomotive Fueling Facilities were reviewed prior to balloting in early 2022. In 2021, the committee balloted three Manual parts; Part 1 on General Design Criteria for Buildings, Part 6 on Locomotive Sanding Facilities, and Part 8 on Design Criteria for Rail Passenger Stations. The committee’s AREMA Manual

contributions are assembled as design criteria and checklists for various types of facilities. The committee has refined this approach over the past two decades as railroads reduced in-house design in favor of hiring consultants for specific projects. This format enables railway officers and project managers to effectively solicit input from the end users in order to create functional and cost-effective installations. It is important that a railroad project manager understand the functional issues and be aware of the lessons learned from similar projects. Committee 6 can serve as a resource when preparing scopes of work and contract documents for engaging consultants and can provide a means to share best practices and historical knowledge. The committee also voted to expand its name to Rail Facilities, Utilities, and Buildings, reflecting the scope of the Manual parts for which it is responsible. Committee 6 welcomes railroad employees and consultants that design or manage railroad facilities and buildings as new members. The biannual meetings feature field trips to recently completed or updated facilities in both the freight and passenger sectors of our industry.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS NOTICE TO ALL MEMBERS OF AREMA The 2021-2022 Nominating Committee, under the Chairmanship of Immediate Past President Victor R. Babin, hereby solicits suggestions and recommendations of candidates to serve on the AREMA Functional Group Board of Directors in the following positions: All must be members of AREMA in good standing. • (1) Senior Vice President—one-year term Must be a current or past member of the AREMA Board of Directors, and must be employed by a railway or transit company. • (3) Functional Group Vice Presidents— three-year terms (Communications, Signals & Information Technology, Passenger & Transit, Track) Must be current or past member of the AREMA Board of Directors. • (3) Functional Groups will have a vacancy to be filled in the Functional Group Director positions—threeyear terms (Engineering Services, Maintenance-of-Way, Structures). Nominating recommendations should be submitted via mailed letter or email and should include all documentation to substantiate the recommendation. This must be signed by the member making the recommendation. Deadline for receipt of recommendations is Jan. 31, 2022. The Nominating Committee will consider all recommendations. Submission of a recommendation should not be construed as affirmative committee action on that recommendation.

Photo credit: Spencer Wren

Please mail or email to: Victor R. Babin Nominating Committee Chair AREMA 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 130 Lanham, MD 20706 USA info@arema.org

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December 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 27

Learning it the old way By Jacob Harrell and Dylan Weddell, AREMA Student Chapter at Virginia Tech

n track maintenance, when we think of the “old way of doing it” it conjures up a variety of thoughts. Images of gangs of men picking up ties and rails by hand; driving spikes into green wood and calling it a day; the working camp moving along the railroad as it was built. For many, those days disappeared with the turn of the century, and advanced machinery rendered far easier solutions to achieve the choice track structure desired. Nowadays, the manual days of track construction seem to be almost a tall tale to the average engineering student, but this remains the de facto process on small railroads scattered across the country. In the fall of 2019, members of AREMA at Virginia Tech made a trip to Roanoke, Va., to volunteer on a Maintenance-ofWay project for the Roanoke Chapter of 28 Railway Track & Structures // December 2021

the National Railway Historical Society. In the process, these members got a crash course in traditional track construction. The Roanoke Chapter was about to install a new switch into their restoration yard to increase storage capacity and connect a new shop. They had recently been donated all the parts for a 100-lb No. 8 turnout. Several members of the student chapter took this opportunity to get up close and get hands-on experience with installing this new turnout. This project took place over the duration of a weekend to accommodate the schedules of students plus most of the Roanoke Chapter volunteers, who have day jobs to attend to Monday through Friday. On a Saturday at 9 a.m. the AREMA Chapter volunteers were at the Roanoke Chapter grounds in Roanoke. The old

section of track had been removed already, and a fresh pile of ballast lay beside where the switch would go. First, a transit was taken out to mark the level to place ballast, with one person standing with a Philadelphia rod in the middle of what is a 1½-ft-deep trench. The desired ballast level was surveyed, and a backhoe and Bobcat went to work on filling to this level. While this may not be the “old way,” the assistance of these machines was greatly appreciated. Once the ballast was leveled and compacted, the process of laying out switch timbers began. Roanoke Chapter used a mix of relay and new timbers to complete this turnout. One at a time, two volunteers with tie tongs picked up and placed the switch timbers in their desired location, spacing them on 2-ft centers. Lunchtime rolled around as the last rtands.com

All photos courtesy of Lewis Foster, Roanoke Chapter NRHS.

Switch ties for a No. 8 left-hand turnout are placed and made ready for rail installation.

Normal route through the turnout is in place and work has begun on the diverging route.

Turnout is completed with all hardware installed; next step is to ballast and level the turnout.

switch timbers were carried into place. The next steps would present a different challenge than the morning. This switch was being installed differently than when it was taken up. Originally, it was a right-hand turnout, but we had to flip it and install it as a left-hand turnout. With all the timbers installed, the first piece of hardware for the turnout that was placed was the frog. Using a turnout diagram from Wabtec for measurements, we started by placing the frog in the right location on the timbers. rtands.com

With light fading from the setting sun, we finished up by placing the right stock rail and called it a day. The next weekend some of us returned to help finish up the turnout. Other volunteers had been working while the students were back in classes and had laid out more rail and had the points installed. That Saturday, the frog and rails were spiked down. While modern machines can make spiking a very efficient process, we made do with spike mauls and one

air hammer. People traded off positions between the spike mauls and the air hammer, providing a learning experience for all the volunteers. It is rare that college students get the hands-on experience of doing things the traditional way, as we are surrounded by machines and technology that hide the struggles of the past. Being able to participate in the installation of this switch was a great and enjoyable learning experience for students at Virginia Tech. December 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 29

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

December 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 31

LAST STOP

Preparing for the long haul Changing variables bring bridge resiliency into the discussion By Christian Brown, P.E.

Christian Brown

“

BRIDGES ARE CRITICAL TO THE LIFELINE OF OUR NATION’S ECONOMY, SO ENSURING A BRIDGE HAS MINIMAL IMPACT FROM WEATHER OR DISASTER EVENTS IS PARAMOUNT.

32 Railway Track & Structures // December 2021

s evidenced by the age of many of the country’s more than 120,000 rail bridges, there is no doubt that they have been indisputably resilient. The rail industry has been mindful over the years to design, construct, and maintain bridges that can stand the test of time. Nevertheless, a host of changing variables and stressors are challenging the existing paradigm and threatening the future reliability of those structures. While it’s true that car loading rail loads are far greater than they were 100 years ago, there is another equally formidable challenge to bridge design—changing environmental forces, in particular inland flooding and rain intensity changes along with an increasing frequency of storms and potential for wildfire events. Few would dispute that the reliable movement of goods by freight rail is critical to the U.S. economy, a fact highlighted by recent supply chain issues. As such, there’s a pressing need for rail owners to understand their vulnerabilities, systematically assess their assets, and develop sustainable solutions that address circumstances that could impact that reliability. Proactive planning is key. An exhaustive nationwide assessment of rail bridges and the evaluation of their vulnerabilities can significantly help owners stay ahead of the curve. While it’s an immutable fact that rail lines must contend with vast distances between their bridges, investing in an asset management platform can help railroads move forward both efficiently and effectively. Bridge conditions and load ratings have traditionally been the data set used by railroad owners when establishing their capital programming needs as well as making railroad operation adjustments. The approach to bridge management will need to continue to adjust to the evolving list of external factors than can influence the safe load-carrying capacity of bridges and rail operation reliability. Comprehensively assessing rail systems and identifying areas of vulnerability create opportunities to prioritize those key areas to facilitate smart investments that promote improved resiliency and reliability. Collaborating

with engineers and inspectors, owners can develop a greater understanding of their inventory by drilling down into individual structural assessments, finding out what makes it vulnerable, assessing whether conditions are expected to worsen, then working to prioritize any necessary improvements. That goes way beyond a visual assessment, of course. A complete system assessment requires an evaluation of the entire bridge, both superstructure and substructure (below the water line), along with detailed inspections, load-carrying capacity calculations, and various other analyses to understand the overall integrity of each structure. Predicting and preparing for future environmental conditions—storm patterns, water elevations, stream flows, etc.—is an admittedly difficult thing to do, but it can be estimated with some reliability through the early involvement of environmental planners, structural engineers, geotechnical engineers, hydraulic engineers, and, of course, bridge designers. A collaborative, cross-functional engineering team can help assess risks and ensure bridges across the country are prepared for all contingencies, i.e., disasters, changing environmental conditions, population shifts, etc. Additionally, they can work with government agencies and transportation leaders to think through the design and construction of bridges with resiliency in mind. In the process, they’re not merely helping an owner prioritize a particular vulnerability, but evaluating the various approaches to remediating the problem. That’s then followed by the development and implementation of a plan to address those priorities. Well-established standards, holistic thinking, and industry best practices can undoubtedly help strengthen bridges to better withstand catastrophic events. Bridges are critical to the lifeline of our nation’s economy, so ensuring that a bridge has minimal impact from weather or disaster events is paramount. Brown is a project director and vice president in HNTB’s Kansas City, Mo., office, serving as the firm’s rail and moveable bridge practice lead. rtands.com

Mark Your Calendars REGISTRATION OPENS IN JANUARY May 15-17, 2022

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August 28-31, 2022 Denver, Colorado Colorado Convention Center www.conference.arema.org