Railway Track & Structures - April 2008 - (Page 56)

CHICAGO PERSPECTIVE Rites of spring D id anybody else get as sick and tired of this past winter as I did? It seemed like every few days would bring more inches of snow, not to mention the belownormal temperatures that had me really bundled up every single time I went out. To me, the sure signs of spring are not the return of the robins, melting of the snow or the first buds on the cherry trees. To me, it’s not really spring until I see the first m/w crews out on the track. I believe these crews are the real harbingers of spring, the heralds of the season of renewal on track everywhere. The only good thing to be said for winter railroading, especially on the engineering side, is that it builds character. Clearing snow, undoing damage from ice and snow, cleaning up and restoring service after a winter storm or simply trying to keep warm working outdoors are all well-known joys of winter for the m/w folks. It’s a vital part of the job, but probably the least glamorous part. Now warm weather is finally returning and the big track and rail gangs are forming up and moving out onto the tracks of railroads large nd small. Big renewal projects, new construction, capacity expansion work and more have come into their time. In the spring, I enjoy the appearance of the first leaves on the trees, but I also enjoy seeing the sparks from welding rail or from the stones of the grinding trains. I like to watch the rolling ballast trains unloading their cargo from the hopper cars. I know many folks who, like me, stop to watch as other machines dress and tamp the things into place and to see the first trains roll over newly-ballasted track. The big, multi-operation machines out on the track have an element of magic equal to anything Harry Potter can do as they take up the old and put in the new. Strings of rail and stacks of crossties sprout alongside the right-of-way as if they were planted in the fall and are now blossoming. As a supplier’s representative, I enjoyed going out to the track to watch the equipment my company manufactured in use or the products being installed. It’s one thing to see them in the factory, but another altogether to see them doing what they were designed to do on the railroad. How many of you enjoy watching a wellcoordinated m/w gang at work? You can see them getting on the track without a wasted minute to take advantage of today’s short work windows, then can watch them move off the track and get back on after a train clears the work zone. I’m sure than some of you also like to watch a good team at work, whether in sports or on the job, and there are many good teams out there carrying out m/w projects during the season. The mechanized gangs add their own elements to the unfolding drama. Simply lifting, moving and placing the myriad elements that make up track is a tricky chore to handle safely and efficiently, but when the gang is well trained and working as a unit, it looks like they’re carrying out the task with a minimum of effort There’s a tremendous amount of trained coordination in our industry. It starts with m/w, which is the basis, the foundation for everything that follows, literally from the ground up. If it ended there, it would be impressive, but with no purpose. But, of course, it doesn’t. You’ve got to move those trains over the road, and it takes the combined efforts of diesel mechanics and electricians, operating personnel, dispatchers, yardmasters, switchmen, signalmen and many more to get and keep a train moving, and that’s what our industry is all about. But it all starts with building and maintaining the fundamental elements of the track, which is what the railroaders and suppliers who read RT&S do every single day. Yes, it’s spring, when a railroader’s fancy turns to the engineering plans he or she has been thinking about all winter. George S. Sokulski Associate Publisher 56 Railway Track & Structures April 2008 www.rands.com http://www.rands.com

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Railway Track & Structures - April 2008 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Railroads Seeking More Advanced Systems to Handle Materials SKOL Bounces Back From Summer Flood Landmark Railroad Bridges Need Inspection, Too Products and Literature People Calendar Sales Representatives Advertisers Index Website Directory Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - April 2008

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