Railway Track & Structures - February 2009 - (Page 15)

Proskovec: I am happy to say that I have a darling wife, Linda, who has been willing to have me for almost 39 years. During that time we have had three lovely children: Aaron, Adam and Amy. As a common story goes, Aaron and Adam came within several years of each other. At that point and time, Linda and I thought we were done having a family. Surprise, seven years later we had Amy. At that time, ultra-sound was not common, so we weren’t sure if our surprise would be another son or (Linda’s hope) a daughter. Amy made our family complete. During the past several years, our two sons have done a great job of giving Linda and me two great daughters-in-law: Tami and Kayla. Now, I have four “most important” ladies in my life: my wife, my daughter and my daughters-in-law. On a last family note, I’d have to say we do not have any grandchildren to date. We are, however, anxiously awaiting them. To keep us appeased, Tami and Aaron have given us our first grand-dog, Buddy. AREMA: If you could share one interesting fact about yourself with the readers of RT&S, what would it be? Proskovec: I enjoy being involved with our church. I have found it to be very rewarding to assist our priests as an acolyte at services over 15 plus years. AREMA: What is your biggest achievement? Proskovec: I come from the farm and, not only farmed with my dad as I grew up, but also worked for an earthmoving com- pany that our family owned. As a spin-off from that, I feel my biggest achievement was getting a college degree in civil engineering, which allowed me to become a geotechnical engineer, eventually the head of the geotechnical engineering practice at HWS Consulting Group Inc., and finally a coordinator of railroad projects for HWS. During this almost 40 years, I have had the privilege of working on numerous geotechnical projects associated with railroads, all of them adding up to more than 1,500 miles of siding, crossover and main line track projects and other associated railroad involvements for Class 1 railroads. One railroad project I have had the opportunity to work on is 900 miles in length. I’ve enjoyed the people, challenges and projects I’ve had the good fortune to work with and look forward to working on in the future. It’s great to be able to work on something you enjoy and call it your career. AREMA: What advice would you give to someone who is trying to pursue a career in the railway industry? Proskovec: I believe that those interested in pursuing a career in the railway industry should take the opportunity to participate in two and possibly three programs to educate themselves on the railroad industry and, in particular, those areas of the business in which they believe they may have the most interest. Railroad work is fast paced and exciting. The people you will become involved with in this career are hard working and dedicated to serving the public and private industry. If you’re up to this challenge, I believe you’ll enjoy a railway career. Ask John Question: The new Bridge Inspection Handbook published by AREMA, under the Timber Bridge section, mentions the use of an inspection bar. What is an inspection bar and what does it look like? Answer: An inspection bar is a very useful tool and should be included in the arsenal of equipment that a bridge inspector must have available when inspecting timber bridges, and can also be used during the inspection of other types of timber structures such as box culverts, loading docks and wharfs. The bridge inspector usually makes his own inspection bar, but some railroads had standard designs and drawings for these bars. The timber inspection bar is usually about 3 ft., 6 ins. long x 5/8 in. diameter, made of high carbon steel in a hexagon or octagon shape. A round weight (7 – 12 oz) similar to a ball from a ball bearing (I’ve even seen trailer hitches used) is welded to one end of the bar forming a knob with the other end ground/sharpened to a dull tempered point with a 3 in. taper. The knob end of the bar is used for sounding timber members by dropping the knob end of bar on top of the timber being inspected, or slapping the knob end of the inspection bar against the bottom, side, or end of the timber to hear a sound indicating whether it may be hollow or solid. The pointed end of the bar may be used to poke at the ends of ties, stringers, or pile when they are known to have soft spots or defects. NOTE: When using the pointed end of the bar, you must be careful not to injure or disfigure the fiber of timber. The timber inspection bar is an essential tool for an experienced bridge inspector and is made to these dimensions for easy storage and access in your hi-rail vehicle and always comes in handy when going up and down embankments or serving as a good defense against snakes. If you have any questions, please submit them to jhorney@htnb.com. Railway Track & Structures February 2009 15 2009 Upcoming Committee Meetings February 20-22 March 4-5 March 16-18 March 18-19 March 18-20 March 26-27 March 30-31 March 30-31 April 19 April 29-30 April 30-May 1 May 13-14 May 14-15 Committee 24 - Education & Training Committee 30 - Ties Committee 36 - Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Warning Systems Committee 27 - Maintenance of Way Work Equipment Committee 37 - Signal Systems Committee 28 - Clearances Committee 11 - Commuter and Intercity Rail Committee 17 - High Speed Rail Systems Committee 14 - Yards and Terminals Committee 4 - Rail Committee 8 - Concrete Structures & Foundations Committee 18 - Light Density & Short Line Railways Committee 5 - Track Jacksonville, FL Pueblo, CO Cocoa Beach, FL Montgomery, AL Cocoa Beach, FL Pensacola, FL Newark, NJ Newark, NJ Fort Worth, TX Chicago, IL Paducah, KY East St. Louis, IL Minneapolis, MN www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com

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Railway Track and Structures - February 2009 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Railroads Stepping Up Use of Technology to Locate Rail Flaws Rail Lubrication Realizing Great Potential M/W Challenges: Track Settlement at Bridge Approaches Supplier Profiles Products and Literature People Calendar Advertisers Index Sales Representatives Website Directory Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - February 2009

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