Railway Track & Structures - November 2007 - (Page 15)

NRCChairman’s Column Strong line-up of speakers, seminars, fun filling out NRC Conference Jon M. McGrath Chairman The National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association, Inc. 500 New Jersey Ave., N. W. Suite 400 Washington D. C. 20009 Tel: 202-715-2920 Fax: 202-318-0867 www.nrcma.org info@nrcma.org The 2008 NRC Conference is right around the corner, but there is still time for you and your company to be included. This is the best place for you to get the jump on the New Year, as the NRC Conference has proven to be a venue where railroads roll out their annual capital plans for the coming year. The NRC Conference will be held at The Westin Mission Hills Resort & Spa in Palm Springs, Calif., from the opening exhibits at 4 p.m. on Thursday, January 3, through the closing golf tournament on Sunday afternoon, January 6. This year will feature our traditional speaker line-up of high-level railroad engineers. The six biggest North American Class 1s (NS, CSXT, UP, BNSF, CN, CPR) and many of the biggest shortline and regional railroads (OmniTRAX, FEC, Watco, RailAmerica) will be on the agenda. In addition, signal contracting and transit spending on rail contractors will be addressed. As always, the speakers will give a detailed overview of their spending plans for 2008 and provide insight on their planned relationships with contractors and suppliers. There will also be a special presentation on railroad disaster recovery. Policy and political speakers will inwww.rtands.com clude Art Guzzetti of the American Public Transportation Association on the ongoing rail transit boom, Husein Cumber of the U.S. Department of Transportation on surface transportation reauthorization opportunities for railroads, and Keith Hartwell of D.C.-based government affairs firm Chambers, Conlon & Hartwell with a timely rail legislation update. Tony Hatch, an independent rail industry analyst, will also speak to the conference on the current financial view of railroads, suppliers and contractors and the rail private equity market. There are three main seminars at the NRC Conference this year, to help you spend your limited time there even more efficiently: 1) Track Guy Consultants TrackWork Project Management Seminar for Railroad Contractors a. When: Monday, January 7 – 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. b. Instructor: John Zuspan, President, Track Guy Consultants c. Cost: Free with Paid Registration to NRC Conference d. Registration: Go to http://www. nrcma.org/ps.nrcconference.cfm?ID=2139 e. Contact: John Zuspan, Track Guy Consultants, zuspan@trackguy.com, office 724-873-7333 2) Roadway Worker Protection (49 CFR Part 214) CSXT-based Train-theTrainer Seminar a. When: Friday, January 4 – 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. b. Instructors: Roadway Worker Training (RWT) c. Cost: $300 for NRC Conference attendees d. Registration: Go to http://www. nrcma.org/ps.nrcconference.cfm?ID=2138 e. Contact: Sue Dunshee, Roadway Worker Training, general@rrtrainers.com, 904-296–8088. 3) AREMA Introduction to Practical Railway Engineering (IPRE) Seminar a. When: Sunday, January 6 (1-5 p.m.); Monday, January 7 (8 a.m.-5 p.m.); and Tuesday, January 8 (Jan. 8 is half-day field trip to active rail yard, 8 a.m.-12 p.m.) b. Instructors: TBD by AREMA c. Cost: $525 for AREMA or NRC members d. Registration: Go to http://www. nrcma.org/ps.nrcconference.cfm?ID=2140 e. Contact: Desiree Knight, AREMA, dknight@arema.org, 301-459-3200, x703 In addition, the NRC will be rolling out two new railroad safety DVDs at the conference: Safety on Freight and Industrial Track and Safety With Railway Maintenance Equipment. Copies of the DVD are available complimentary with membership in the NRC or to NRC contractor customers. Safety in the workplace is everyone’s responsibility, and NRC contractors take that responsibility extremely seriously. Before I finish, it should be noted that, even with this very full schedule, we do expect that you will be able to squeeze in a few moments of fun at the NRC Conference, catching up with old friends, clients and customers. There are two golf courses on the property, and about another 30 in the Coachella Valley surrounding the resort. And the spa at the Westin Mission Hills is almost as well known as the golf – it’s in a dedicated 14,000-square-foot building. Note that the Spouse Program at the conference will include a complimentary treatment at the Spa and discounts at the Spa will be available to all attendees. On behalf of the entire staff and Board of Directors of the NRC, please consider this your personal invitation to attend the 2008 NRC Conference. To sign up, go to the NRC Website at www.nrcma.org, call the NRC office at 202-715-2920, email Chuck Baker at cbaker@nrcma.org, or use the registration form printed in this magazine. Come on out to Palm Springs for the NRC Conference and bring your staff, too. Until next month, be safe. November 2007 15 Railway Track & Structures http://www.nrcma.org http://www.nrcma.org/ps.nrcconference.cfm?ID=2140 http://www.nrcma.org/ps.nrcconference.cfm?ID=2140 http://www.nrcma.org http://www.nrcma.org http://www.nrcma.org/ps.nrcconference.cfm?ID=2139 http://www.nrcma.org/ps.nrcconference.cfm?ID=2139 http://www.nrcma.org/ps.nrcconference.cfm?ID=2138 http://www.nrcma.org/ps.nrcconference.cfm?ID=2138 http://www.nrcma.org http://www.rtands.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Railway Track & Structures - November 2007

Railway Track & Structures - November 2007 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Seattle Retrofits Downtown Transit Tunnel Switch Stand, Switch Machines Planning M/W with Modern, High-Tech Tools Products & Literature People Calendar Advertisers Index Sales Representatives Website Directory Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - November 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.