Railway Track & Structures - July 2008 - (Page 29)

Supplier report maintenance cycles on key components signiﬁcantly extended. Nortrak’s premium welded frogs, the welded boltless manganese and welded spring manganese, eliminate the bolted joints typical of conventional RBM and spring frogs. The result is reduced dynamic loading, reduced maintenance and greatly improved product life. Class 1 roads have seen accumulated tonnages of 500 mgt on WBM frogs with very little maintenance. “VAE Nortrak has also been a pioneer in the development of ﬂange-bearing crossings. Sufﬁcient ﬁeld experience has now been accumulated with these products to validate their tremendous maintenance and life-cycle advantages relative to conventional tread-bearing ‘diamond’ crossing designs,” said Abbott. “In a related development, Nortrak’s ‘jump frog’ will soon be coming to market. The ‘jump frog’ comprises a two-part assembly that preserves a continuous gap-free running rail on the through route. Wheels on the diverging route are transitioned over the through rail in ﬂange-bearing mode. It will virtually eliminate the need for frog maintenance and should prove an attractive alternative to conventional RBM or spring frogs in applications with small amounts of low-speed diverging trafﬁc.” In the past year, VAE Nortrak began the full-scale production of premium concrete turnout ties in Cheyenne, Wyo. The concrete tie platform offers signiﬁcant advantages in terms of gauge restraint, as well as component longevity and reliability. “VAE Nortrak is thrilled with the investment we made to design and build a state-of-the-art concrete turnout tie plant adjacent to trackwork operations,” said Dave Millard, Nortrak’s general managerconcrete ties. “VAE Nortrak is the only company in North America, and one of the few in the world, that is producing the complete concrete turnout, both trackwork and ties. This provides advantages in design, fabrication, quality, shipping and lead times. We are excited about the advantages this provides for our customers and believe it will enable us to grow this market.” Millard notes rising commodity prices, in addition to the railways’ shortage of skilled maintenance personnel and an increasing demand for capacity, will shift demand towards longer-lasting premium products. www.rtands.com “The on-going focus for Nortrak will be to incorporate designs and materials in its trackwork products that minimize maintenance requirements and maximize plant availability,” said Millard. Ken Ouelette, Nortrak’s division manager-switch control, notes, “Another important trend Nortrak sees in the industry is the move toward localized control of turnouts in ‘dark territory’ to enhance safety and operating efﬁciency. Nortrak offers its ‘Automater’ to address the need for a simple, cost-effective drive system for these applications. The ‘Automater’ is a hydraulic actuator married to a conventional ‘Racor’ 22 switch stand. It provides a robust solution that can be easily adapted to push-button or radio-based control systems.” Finally, Abbott reports that VAE Nortrak is extremely proud of its new relationship with DAMY, Mexico’s premier trackwork manufacturer. NortrakDAMY will be actively working on the introduction of improved trackwork products to the Mexican market. “The Mexican railroads are taking im- Frogs manufactured by Nortrak-DAMY with Pandrol clips for Ferromex. portant steps to improve infrastructure in response to the growth in north-south trafﬁc and Nortrak-DAMY is ideally positioned to serve the industry,” said Abbott. Railway Track & Structures July 2008 29 http://www.rtands.com

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Railway Track & Structures - July 2008 On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Products and Literature People Calendar Sales Representatives Website Directory Advertisers Index Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective Extending Service Life for Costly Special Trackwork Rail Welding Gets Act Together Premium Fasteners, Rail Steels Help Meet Strain of Heavy Haul

Railway Track & Structures - July 2008

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