Railway Track & Structures - February 2009 - (Page 6)

I N D U S T R Y T O D AY Mid-Jordan LRT service will join with UTA’s Sandy/Salt Lake TRAX Line at the existing Fashion Place West station, providing a direct connection to the Salt Lake City central business district, the University of Utah and other Wasatch destinations. The federal government is giving $18 million more than originally planned toward the construction of the West Corridor of the FasTracks project, a 12.1-mile light rail line from downtown Denver to Golden, Colo. The Regional Transportation District had asked for $290.55 million to help build the line, which has risen from an original estimated cost of $511.8 million to $707.6 million as construction costs increased over the past few years. Acting FTA Administrator Little said FTA is giving RTD $308.68 million -- $18 million more than the mass transit agency had requested. Scott Reed, spokesman for RTD, said the extra money is intended to cover “unanticipated market increases” in construction costs since voters approved the FasTracks project in 2004. Correction In the RailWorks Corp. listing in the RT&S Track Buyer’s Guide 2009, James Hansen, vice resident business development-track, replaces Chris Durden as contact person. Phone: 952-469-0750. Email: jrhansen@railworks.com. Kean Smith’s title is vice president business development-transit. Letter to the Editor Re: Statement made in Railway Track & Structures, January 2009 issue, page 34. In this article, Dr. Hylton, stated: “We believe that there are situations occurring in track in which rail surface fails by a fatigue mechanism resulting in field grinding by our customers. The grinding process reduces the life of the rail and results in increased life-cycle costs for our customers.” I have worked as chief metallurgist for two Class 1 railroads, continued this type of work as a forensic consultant for the railroad industry for 15 years, and have closely followed the developing science of rail grinding. Dr. Hylton’s statement in this issue of RT&S is the first indication by anyone that would suggest rail grinding, by itself, could increase lifecycle costs for railroads. I would suggest most railroads now believe surface fatigue cracking is a critical factor in the life of rail in heavy-haul tangent track service. Simultaneously, they also believe that if they did not lightly grind their rails’ head surfaces on a regular basis, the progression of the fatigue cracks, initiated by contact overload stresses at the wheel-rail interface, would drastically foreshorten their rails’ service lives by catastrophic sudden failure. Perhaps Dr. Hylton is privy to the results of some new and probably undisclosed technical research that would support his claim that, “The grinding process reduces the life of the rail and results in increased lifecycle costs for our customers.” Any contribution to the growing art and science of rail grinding will be appreciated by the railroad industry. James R. Hornaday, Jr. Consultant 6 Railway Track & Structures February 2009 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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