Railway Track & Structures - January 2009 - (Page 3)

ON TRACK Vol. 105, No. 1 USPS # 860-560 ISSN # 00339016 EDITORIAL OFFICES 20 South Clark Street, Suite 2450 Chicago, Ill. 60603 Telephone (312) 683-0130 Fax (312) 683-0131 Website www.rtands.com Prognostications George S. Sokulski/Associate Publisher Tom Judge/Editor, tjudge@sbpubchicago.com Mischa Wanek-Libman/Managing Editor, mischa@sbpub-chicago.com Wanda Welty/Copy Editor Susan Taylor/Editorial Assistant A CORPORATE OFFICES 345 Hudson Street New York, N.Y. 10014 Telephone (212) 620-7200 Fax (212) 633-1165 Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr./ President and Chairman Robert P. DeMarco/Publisher Mary Conyers-Brown/Production Director Barbara DiGirolamo/Production Manager Maureen Cooney/Circulation Director Jane Poterala/Conference Director Robert G. Lewis/Director of Special Projects For reprint information, contact: PARS International Corp. 212-221-9595; Fax 212-221-9195 RT&S, Railway Track and Structures is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp., 345 Hudson Street, New York, N.Y. 10014. ISSN: 0033-8916. Canada Post Cust.#7204564; Agreement #41094515. Bleuchip Int'l, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Periodical Class postage paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices. Subscription price to railroad employees only in U.S. possessions, Canada and Mexico, Print or Digital version: $16 one year; $30 two years (all others $39.50 one year; $73 two years). All other countries, $68 one year ($168 for air mail); $120 two years ($320 for air mail). Both Print and Digital versions: $24 one year; $45 two years (all others $60 one year; $110 two years). All other countries, $102 one year ($202 for air mail); $180 two years ($380 for air mail). Single copies $8.50. Track Buyer’s Guide $21. All rates are payable in advance. The publisher reserves the right to increase subscription rates without notice. Call toll-free 1-800-895-4389 (or 402-346-4740) Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Central Time to place an order. Copyright 2009. Customer Service: Address all correspondence to: Subscription Department, RT&S, P.O. Box 10, Omaha, NE 68101-0010. Changes of address should reach us three weeks in advance of the next issue date. Send old address with new, enclosing, if possible, your address label. The Post Office will not forward copies unless you provide extra postage. Duplicate copies cannot be sent. POSTMASTER: Send change of address forms to RT&S, Railway Track and Structures, P.O. Box 10, Omaha, NE 68101-0010. s the old year winds down and real news comes creeping at a much slower pace, journalists such as yours truly turn to standard yearend fare to fill up our assigned space. As 2008 creaks along to its final demise, I’d say it sure has brought momentous changes to our industry, our nation and our world. I’m not going to list all the dramatic changes occurring in the past year since you’ve lived through them just as I have. I’d rather look forward. So, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, I’d like to bring my bad-order crystal ball back from the shop and take a look at 2009. When CN learns Barrington, Ill., has to use various tricks to stretch its road salt supply to get through this winter, the railroad quickly ships some Canadian salt to the poor, distressed souls in northwest Illinois. The community leaders are so grateful that they issue a press release saying the foreign barbarian railroad, which is planning to lay waste the town and carry off the children on the EJ&E, may be just a little less heinous than they previously thought. As part of the program to bring jobs to America, the new federal administration will build a huge courthouse in Madison County, Ill., the venue of choice for FELA lawyers, regardless of where an injury might have occurred. This will attract so many lawyers that East St. Louis will gentrify as the lawyers settle in to enjoy their earnings. Both California and Vietnam announced programs in 2008 to put high-speed passenger rail in place. I predict that Vietnam, which is considered more conservative both politically and socially than the Golden State, will have its system up and running years before the Great State of California finishes its environmental report. The political clout of the rural states will force billions of dollars in infrastructure spending to go to shortlines. Once those lines are all up to standards to handle high-speed passenger trains, they will use the leftover money to make hostile takeover efforts against one another, then the Class 1s. Look for BNSF-a division of Watco or Norfolk Southern-a division of RailAmerica. Remember, you heard it here first. Coal will continue as a bright spot. Every Washington politician and bureaucrat who has been bad this past year will receive a lump of coal. That should keep those unit trains rolling like never before. Out-of-work mortgage securities brokers will find jobs in the transportation industry. They will bundle virtual ties, fantasy rail, unreal rocks and false fasteners into packages, call them new track and sell them in the securities markets. To all my readers, thanks so much for sharing a few minutes with me each month. I wish every one of you a happy and healthy 2009. Tom Judge, Editor A SIMMONS-BOARDMAN RAIL GROUP PUBLICATION www.rtands.com Railway Track & Structures January 2009 3 http://www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Railway Track & Structures - January 2009

Railway Track & Structures - January 2009 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Railroads Continue to Budget Major Capital Projects Battling Brush and other Vegetation Steel Mills Increasing Metallurgical Quality of Rail Steels Products and Literature People Calendar Advertisers Index Sales Representatives Website Directory Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - January 2009

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