Railroad News

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) late last week issued a final rule allowing railroads to use ultrasonic inspection technology, augmented with GPS technology, to conduct continuous rail testing.

The updated regulations are expected to improve safety by making it easier for railroads to test rail more frequently, and to identify and repair internal rail flaws before conditions degrade, FRA officials said in a press release.

NRE is moving ahead with a plan to consolidate several production lines. Over the next several months, the company will consolidate rail operations from plants in Dixmoor and Silvis, Illinois, and Milwaukee at production facilities in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, and Paducah, Kentucky. In addition, operations now performed at a Hagerstown, Maryland, plant will be moved to a new facility adjacent to the Paducah shops. Featuring new and updated CNC machines, the new plant primarily will build and remanufacture diesel power assemblies. NRC provides new and remanufactured locomotives, maintenance services, and locomotive parts and components.

Koppers Inc. plans to spend $23 million on improvements to its North Little Rock, Arkansas, facility over the next two years. The wood-tie supplier plans to complete some construction work and purchase equipment to upgrade and modernize processes at the plant, which treats more than 1.5 million wood ties annually. Koppers also plans to hire more workers at the facility. The company produces various treated wood products, wood treatment chemicals and carbon compounds.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) is seeking public input on an update to its four-year Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) and revised public involvement procedures.

Comments will be received at two virtual public information meetings to be held Sept. 23 on the 2021-2024 draft STIP, a nearly $3.9 billion program that lists all federally funded transportation improvements planned for the next four years. Divided by federal funding category and region, the capital and operational improvements involve rail, bus, road and bicycle facilities.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) earlier this week marked the completion of platform-level lighting upgrades at 48 underground stations.

Expected to take three years to complete, the project was finished a year early, helping the authority realize energy cost savings sooner, WMATA officials said in a press release.

BNSF Railway Co. has moved to the next stage of its Sandpoint Junction Connector Project, which includes the construction of a second rail bridge over Idaho's Lake Pend Oreille adjacent to an existing rail bridge, the Class I announced this week in a company newsletter.

The project moved into the next phase since the work trestle at the north end has been completed. Engineering teams now are focused primarily on permanent pile construction for the new bridge, a three-quarter-mile long span next to the existing bridge. Additional pile installations will take place this month, as well.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that a CSX ballast regulator operator's attempt to repair a machine without powering it off and without using lockout/tagout procedures is the probable cause of a March 2018 accident that led to the worker's death.

The operator was fatally injured on March 12, 2018, while working on a main track near Wartrace, Tennessee, in the CSX Chattanooga Subdivision. According to the NTSB report, a CSX equipment manager was traveling in the area when he saw the ballast regulator operator climb into the cab. Shortly after, the manager heard a radio transmission from the operator reporting a problem with a proximity switch on the regulator. 

Union Pacific Corp. has hired Clarissa Beyah as chief communications officer.

She will be responsible for the railroad's corporate communications strategy, overseeing executive and employee communications, media relations, digital and social media, and serving as communication adviser to the Class I's chairman and senior leadership, UP officials said in a press release.

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) recently named the 2020 winners of it annual President’s Safety Awards.

The 2020 awards recognize member railroads that achieved the lowest accident frequency rate based on 2019 Federal Railroad Administration data. Categorized based on the number of injury-free manhours worked, the winners will be honored during the ASLRRA’s virtual Connections convention to be held Oct. 5-9.

CN has awarded a contract to National Steel Car Ltd. of Hamilton, Ontario, to build 1,150 new generation, high-capacity grain hopper cars.

The contract brings to CA$1 billion the amount the Class I plans to invest in Ontario by the end of 2022, CN officials said yesterday in a press release.

Ashley Wieland, 33
President
National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association (NRC)

Nominator’s quote: “Since rejoining the association in the summer of 2019, Ashley has infused the organization with renewed energy, passion and focus.” — Matt Ginsberg, TGA Association Management Solutions LLC

The Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) in California on Aug. 30 will expand its light-rail schedule to restore service to pre-pandemic levels. 

The service recovery plan calls for increasing service on the Blue and Gold light-rail lines. 

Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s (DART) board earlier this week awarded MacKenzie Laboratories Inc. a contract to replace the automated message system on Trinity Railway Express' (TRE) commuter-rail fleet. 

The existing automated system that provides announcements to riders has been in service for more than 20 years. Replacement is necessary due to costly repairs, and parts and components that have become obsolete, DART officials said in a press release. 

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) yesterday launched new digital ads as part of a #SaveTransit campaign that highlights the agency's financial crisis stemming from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

MTA officials have said the agency has an "urgent need" for $12 billion in federal funding. Created in-house by MTA employees, the new ads will be distributed across social media. They include video content and in-system messaging on digital screens, and ads on buses throughout the system, MTA officials said in a press release.

BNSF Railway Co. recently unveiled the first of 10 locomotives with special paint schemes marking the railroad's 25th anniversary.

The General Electric ES44AC No. 5828 now displays a "25th Anniversary" label on the nose and side, as well as predecessor railroads that are part of BNSF's history: Burlington Northern; Santa Fe Railway; Great Northern; Northern Pacific; Spokane, Portland & Seattle; Colorado & Southern; and the Frisco, BNSF officials said in the Class I's Inside Track newsletter.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) yesterday announced it will allocate a total of $400 million for four transit infrastructure projects in Arizona, Indiana, Missouri and New Jersey. 

The projects are advancing towards readiness to receive a Full Funding Grant Agreement under the FTA’s Capital Investment Grants (CIG) Program. The projects must meet additional requirements before a grant can be awarded.

CN yesterday announced it has hired Dominique Malenfant to serve as executive vice president and chief information and technology officer, effective Sept. 1.

Malenfant will lead the development and deployment of advanced technologies and digitalization to improve inspection reliability, provide data analytics, generate automation, and drive capacity and safety, CN officials said in a press release.

U.S. freight railroads' combined intermodal volume rose 5 percent to 285,086 containers and trailers during the week ending Aug. 22 compared with the same period a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data. 

Intermodal volume increased for the third straight week in the United States. But carload volume continued to fall — U.S. railroads logged 229,828 carloads, down 12 percent year over year. 

Brandon Whitaker, 37
Senior manager, telecom field operations
Union Pacific Railroad

Nominator’s quote: “By combining a highly technical engineering background with expertise in field operations and customer service, Brandon has been able to effectively leverage his passion for efficiency and improvement into measurable contributions and sustainable impact for the railroad.” — Beth Whited, Union Pacific

In March, Mechanical Rubber acquired Durox, a Wabtec Corp. company based in Strongsville, Ohio. The company is now Mechanical Rubber Ohio. Mechanical Rubber will continue to service all Wabtec worldwide divisions in the rail and transit markets, and continue to manufacture seals and gaskets for its existing customers, company officials said in a press release.

Motive Power Resources Inc. (MPR) has shipped the first EMD SW1200 locomotive of a four locomotive order for Steel Dynamics Inc.’s new facility in Sinton, Texas. The facility is scheduled to begin production in early 2021. The locomotives being supplied will be equipped with all new electrical wiring and control systems incorporating the latest TMV microprocessor technology, and feature newly rebuilt mechanicals, MPR officials said in a press release.