Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - (Page 24)

Choosing the best m/w machinery possible. If you cannot make it maintenance-free, then use more robust parts that will not fail as often. And, lastly, if the first two are not possible then design the machine so the parts are accessible, easy to change without requiring a lot of other parts to be moved out of the way or putting mechanics in awkward positions doing repairs. Reduced maintenance or reduced time to maintain, robustness or toughness of the machine, and operator and mechanic ergonomics are very important. The tire manufacturing industry is a good example. The tire manufacturing industry has designed tires that have different mileage factors, built on science. We need similar testing and development on the equipment side.” For Montana Rail Link, the answer is, “Cost.” Drake of NS said: “The single most important feature is reliability or dependability. This is due to the small maintenance windows available and the critical role that a single machine plays in our program maintenance gangs.” “Beyond safety, our most important goal is speed of getting quality work done in order to reduce track time,” said UP’s Domski. “Any machine or series of machines that will increase the efficiency and productivity on track is the most important feature to Union Pacific. So we want a combination of features to yield us the desired results.” Appealing new features In today’s market, what new features or improvements in m/w machinery have the most appeal to you? “We appreciate the utility offered by multi-role, combination machinery types and attachments that improve return on investment and improve the utility of the equipment,” noted Amtrak’s Falkenstein. Upward of BNSF said: “Programmable logic controllers have improved the operation and maintenance characteristics of several mid-size machines. Some manufacturers are offering ‘smart’ systems that require significantly less wiring and wiring connections that ultimately reduce down time. These systems include on-board diagnostics and troubleshooting, as well as contain some production-reporting capability. Operator ergonomics and comfort continue to improve, which ultimately improves productivity. There have also been advancements in tie-finding technology that allow the equipment to operate faster with greater accuracy. There have also been advancements in the utilization of on-board GPS technology on some of the equipment.” “Automated equipment processes, i.e, tie finders, adzer-depth-measurecontrol, etc., to allow machine and 3. operator interface to maximize quality and productivity,” Graham of CPR said. “We need to reduce the operator-tomachine material-handling interface.” “A couple of things have come to the surface in the past year that CSXT will be making a part of future spec requirements,” Robey said. “The requirements are in the area of safety: Emergency egress from the machine should something happen to the operator. Alerter/speed indicator/radar warning systems that look for objects in/on the tracks and warn the operator.” MRL’s Keller points to reliability and product support. Drake said: “Two areas of product development that have the most interest to NS are (1) the need for the development of tie plate holding/handling systems. The largest remaining laborsaving opportunity in the timbering gangs has to do with the capture and replacement of tie plates. This is a universal challenge for all railroads. And (2) the application of technology and automation of systems. This could be in tie-finding technology or the potential to reduce the number of machine operators or in improving productivity through automated machine cycles, thus eliminating the laborintensive activities.” “Greater reliable automation in both operation and maintenance (self-diagnostic systems) are of desire to us,” 24 Railway Track & Structures August 2008 www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com

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Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Wish List: What Chief Engineers Really Want in M/W Machinery Keeping Ballast in Shape Amtrak Turns to Sophisticated System to Manage NEC Assets Supplier Profiles Products and Literature People Calendar Sales Representatives Website Directory Advertisers Index Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - August 2008

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