It Takes A Village

This is the seventh issue of Railway Track & Structures produced since I became editor in November 2022. For most of these issues, I enjoyed the support of former Managing Editor, Kyra Senese, who returned to RT&S part-time to help, mainly focusing on daily news and a few print articles. For all these issues, I’ve enjoyed the support of everyone whose name appears on the masthead to the immediate le . In addition, regular and periodic contributors have supplied excellent material important to those involved in building and maintaining railroad infrastructure. e phrase “it takes a village” certainly applies to the magazine business.

During these past few months, the Railway Age team, particularly Editor-in-Chief Bill Vantuono, has provided tremendous support and guidance to the edgling editor of RT&S While I’ve been writing about railroads for a long time, assuming the editorship of and responsibility for a monthly magazine is a di erent animal. I’ve enjoyed Bill’s unwavering support, advice, and counsel these past few months. Also, I would be remiss in failing to mention the tremendous help Railway Age’s Executive Editor Marybeth Luczak and Senior Editor Carolina Worrell provided.

ey’ve come to my aid many times when the press of business le little time for writing news stories and posted many timely and insightful reports. Railway Age and editor Vantuono are fortunate to have such capable professionals on the team.

Michelle Kolkos is the company’s Conference Director who keeps us all on our toes regarding virtual conferences and podcasts. I didn’t realize how many nuances were involved in these productions until I had a couple under my belt. Our production department, led by Mary Conyers, joined by Art Director Nicole D’Antona and Graphic Designer Hillary Coleman, is intimately involved in the production of each issue, and their design skills are phenomenal. Erica Hayes, Leia Sills, Carol Franklin, Peter Fine, and Jo Ann Binz serve in various capacities to keep things on track. Our publisher, Jon Chalon, is a publishing expert, and I’m very grateful to him for the opportunity to edit this great magazine. Moreover, our Chairman and President, Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr., oversees a strong publishing group reporting on railroads since the 1800s.

I’m pleased to announce that RT&S has a new Managing Editor – Jennifer McLawhorn. At this writing, Jennifer has been with us for almost a month, and she’s spent time enduring my brie ngs and hitting the books to learn about the railroad industry. Jennifer holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Old Dominion University and makes her home in the Norfolk area. During graduate school and as an academic, she focused on interdisciplinary research in lm studies and feminist theory. While she is new to railroading, Norfolk Southern’s main line is within a stone’s throw from her house, so that she can combine eld observation with her learning. When asked about her study of the rail industry, Jennifer responds, “this is interesting,” and o en explains why she nds a particular aspect of the industry fascinating. Jennifer is a quick study and has already learned much about our industry. Yet, no one knows better than she does that there is a tremendous amount yet to learn, and she looks forward to maintaining the study she’s doing and meeting people in the industry. I’m pleased to report that her rst work for the magazine appears in this issue, our Vendor/Product spotlight on grade crossing surfaces. Please join me in welcoming Jennifer to the industry and our team.

A retired railroad CEO recently told several of us that “this is an interesting time to cover the railroad industry,” and he is correct. Over the past decade, this grand industry has faced tremendous challenges and celebrated many victories, particularly in the area of technology. e next decade promises to be even more exciting.

So, please stay with us for the ride!

DAVID C. LESTER Editor-in-Chief