Railway Track & Structures - November 2008 - (Page 3)

ON TRACK Vol. 104, No. 11 USPS # 860-560 ISSN # 00339016 EDITORIAL OFFICES 20 South Clark Street, Suite 2450 Chicago, Ill. 60603 Telephone (312) 683-0130 Fax (312) 683-0131 Website www.rtands.com Top of the hill George S. Sokulski/Associate Publisher Tom Judge/Editor, tjudge@sbpubchicago.com Mischa Wanek-Libman/Managing Editor, mischa@sbpub-chicago.com Wanda Welty/Copy Editor Susan Taylor/Editorial Assistant T CORPORATE OFFICES 345 Hudson Street New York, N.Y. 10014 Telephone (212) 620-7200 Fax (212) 633-1165 Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr./ President and Chairman Robert P. DeMarco/Publisher Mary Conyers-Brown/Production Director Barbara DiGirolamo/Production Manager Maureen Cooney/Circulation Director Jane Poterala/Conference Director Robert G. Lewis/Director of Special Projects For reprint information, contact: PARS International Corp. 212-221-9595; Fax 212-221-9195 RT&S, Railway Track and Structures is published monthly by Summons-Boardman Publishing Corp., 345 Hudson Street, New York, N.Y. 10014. ISSN: 0033-8916. Canada Post Cust.#7204564; Agreement #41094515. Bleuchip Int'l, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Periodical Class postage paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices. Subscription price to railroad employees only in U.S. possessions, Canada and Mexico, Print or Digital version: $16 one year; $30 two years (all others $39.50 one year; $73 two years). All other countries, $68 one year ($168 for air mail); $120 two years ($320 for air mail). Both Print and Digital versions: $24 one year; $45 two years (all others $60 one year; $110 two years). All other countries, $102 one year ($202 for air mail); $180 two years ($380 for air mail). Single copies $8.50. Track Buyer’s Guide $21. All rates are payable in advance. The publisher reserves the right to increase subscription rates without notice. Call toll-free 1-800-895-4389 (or 402-346-4740) Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Central Time to place an order. Copyright 2008. Customer Service: Address all correspondence to: Subscription Department, RT&S, P.O. Box 10, Omaha, NE 68101-0010. Changes of address should reach us three weeks in advance of the next issue date. Send old address with new, enclosing, if possible, your address label. The Post Office will not forward copies unless you provide extra postage. Duplicate copies cannot be sent. POSTMASTER: Send change of address forms to RT&S, Railway Track and Structures, P.O. Box 10, Omaha, NE 68101-0010. his month I celebrate my 65th birthday, a landmark of dubious distinction. You can look at it as the dignity of gray hair and solid accomplishments or one huge milestone on the road to oblivion. In my long-ago youth, I learned the hard way during a tour as a Marine in Southeast Asia that every day is a jewel to be cherished, every morning that you wake up is a gift beyond price. Many of my young contemporaries enjoyed all too few of those precious gifts, and I think of that every time I visit the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., and read those tens of thousands of names inscribed on that dour block of black stone. I get lots of reminders of the passing years. Nieces and nephews spring to adulthood and send their own children off to college and out into the world. On a minor note, I just closed my Ticket-by-Mail account, which I’ve had for more than 30 years with C&NW and UP for my daily commute to and from Ravenswood. In my home state of Illinois, when you turn 65, you no longer have to pay for mass transit. I’m getting lots of mail from insurance companies inviting me to sign up for their Medicare supplemental policies. If I live another 65 years, I may even have time to figure out what they mean and what I should really do. Milestones such as this one are really times we are reminded to take stock of our situation. Where the heck am I and where the heck am I going? Sitting here in my editor’s chair, I’m pretty happy with my location. My affection for and interest in the railroad industry goes back a long, long way. Since my father and his father both worked for railroads, you might say railroading is part of my DNA. I really enjoy what I’m doing and I hope to continue doing it for a while. The railroad industry itself has been around a long time, so I sometimes feel like a youngster in railroading even though I’m now officially a senior citizen. But I know this industry is going to be going strong long after I pull the pin, even after I get classified in St. Peter’s hump yard for whatever my final destination may be. And even though it’s old in some ways, this industry is still shaking off the dust and rust of heavy regulation and roaring down the track to an incredible future. New technologies will make railroads safer and more efficient. New people will turn this industry upside down in the next decade or so. A railroader from the 1980s will hardly be able to recognize the railroad of the 2020s. That’s why I want to stick around for a bit. I’ve seen lots of changes since my first day on a railroad property, but, as the old cliche goes, I ain’t seen nothin’ yet. When I saw all those shiny new railroaders at AREMA’s Meet the Next Generation in September, I envied them not for their youth, but for what they will see if they stick to the railroad industry. Railroads are on the rise, and they are the people who make it happen in the decades ahead. I say the industry and this old rail are at the top of the hill, not over it. Tom Judge, Editor A SIMMONS-BOARDMAN RAIL GROUP PUBLICATION www.rtands.com Railway Track & Structures November 2008 3 http://www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Railway Track & Structures - November 2008

Railway Track and Structures Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D TrainingVvital in Shaping Future of Railroad Industry Switch Stands, Switch Machines Automation Offers Improvements in M/W Planning AREMA 2008 Conference Report Products and Literature People Calendar Advertisers Index Sales Representatives Website Directory Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - November 2008

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