Railway Track & Structures - November 2008 - (Page 44)

CHICAGO PERSPECTIVE Shakin’ in Salt Lake hen the Mormons led by Brigham Young came into the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, they knew that was the place for them. In September, descendents of those people and others handed out generous doses of Utah hospitality to visiting railroad engineering folks and the suppliers who serve them at the 2008 AREMA Annual Conference and REMSA’s World Rail Expo 2008. The setting is great, with Salt Lake City surrounded by beautiful mountains. The Salt Palace Convention Center served as the main gathering place for the many AREMA sessions and provided the exhibit hall for WRE 2008, the premier m/w exhibit in North America. I have plenty of good things to say to both AREMA and REMSA and their staffs for the outstanding jobs each organization did in putting together the conference and the exhibit, respectively. I leave it to my editors to attend most of the technical presentations. The ones I did attend, including the chief signal officers panel that I had the privilege of moderating, were great, really informative and well-presented. My editors, Tom and Mischa, told me that that was their impression of the technical sessions they attended, as well. I spent virtually all my time in the exhibit hall visiting clients and holding court at our booth. I’ve been attending railroad exhibits as a publisher or a supplier for several decades now and this has to rank as one of the best. Everything seemed to come together, the location, the hotels, the facilities, the exhibit hall, the attendance and so on. I talked with many people out on the exhibit floor. On the supply side, I heard nothing but positive comments. Some folks thought the attendance could have been better, but they all said they were seeing the people they wanted to see. Sure there were a few gripes, but, all things considered, it was a huge success. W That brings up the only negative point I have. I noticed, and others pointed out to me, that there could have been more railroaders on all levels. I’m happy to see the number who did attend, but I’d really like to see more railroad name badges out on the exhibit floor. Not long ago, REMSA unveiled Passport to Knowledge. As you may know, this is a program under which REMSA picks up the registration fee for railroaders attending their first AREMA conference. With all the new blood coming into the Engineering side of railroading, the conferences and exhibits are a terrific way to familiarize the newcomers with best practices and the latest in equipment and services. Unfortunately, many railroads are not taking advantage of the program. REMSA was willing to pay for many more registration fees than it did this year. I know companies still have to pick up travel, lodging and food expenses, but the knowledge to be gained is an outstanding return on that investment. I urge railroads large and small to send as many people as possible to next year’s AREMA conference in Chicago. Railroads must do their parts to support these conferences and exhibits. Let’s see what 2011 will bring. On the positive side, one of the finest moments during this year’s gathering took place at the conference’s opening session. There the announcement was made that the Union Pacific was endowing a scholarship through the AREMA Educational Foundation in honor of Bill Wimmer, who is retiring from UP this year. I thought Bill looked very surprised, and very pleased at the honor. I think this was a really classy thing for UP to do in honoring one of the really classy gentlemen of our industry. If you were there, I’m sure you already know what a great conference and exhibit AREMA and REMSA staged in Salt Lake City. If you weren’t, I strongly suggest you make plans now to be present the next time these two outstanding organizations stage such gatherings. George S. Sokulski Associate Publisher 44 Railway Track & Structures November 2008 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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