Railway Track & Structures 12/07

AREMA C&S cians and maintainers and expand that by offering more in the program that would appeal to those in the world of IT as it relates to train control and operations technology. We’re trying to attract these people with a program that includes presentations on PTC, for example. We hope to have a very robust selection of papers covering a variety of topics. “The top railroad chief engineers asked that the C&S conference be combined with the rest of maintenance-ofway,” Bowden pointed out. “There are several benefits to doing this. Getting our railroad personnel together gets people talking between crafts to resolve issues such as longer-lasting insulated joints, fastener and pad issues that affect track circuits, tie treatments that affect track circuits, rail running that affects switch adjustment, switch layouts, contracting projects, etc. These are items that affect all of the industry, not just one craft. Getting the first-line supervisors, engineering personnel, industry leaders and manufacturers together brings ideas together to better address multi-craft issues. “A combined conference with the industry suppliers is one of the best ways to share ideas,” he said. “In the future, the possible addition of mechanical people to this mix could help issues related to train-defect-detector stops, car equipment clearances that affect track and signal and wheel maintenance that affects impacts to rail and high ‘g’ loads to signal equipment. To get reliability, maintainability and cost control to the next level, we need to get out of our specialty silos and share intra-industry ideas.” The Call for Papers on subjects of interest to the railway engineering community to be considered for publication and/or presentation at the AREMA 2008 Annual Conference was sent out late in September. On the AREMA Website is an online submittal form to submit an abstract of the paper and a biographical sketch via the Meetings/Seminars, Presenters section. These are due December 14, 2007. The abstract should be a concise synopsis of the paper and should be able to serve effectively as a screening mechanism for reviewers. Authors will be notified by the end of March and papers are due by June 13. “So if you have been working on an exciting project or idea of interest, here is an excellent opportunity to get it in front of more than just the C&S group,” Bowden said. Recruiting electronic train control people “There are a number of people attending AREMA Committee 37 meetings who have been working on electronic train control projects,” he said. “With Committee 37 working on communication-based signaling manual parts, there has been an increased interest in what is going into these manual parts and the vision behind them. It will be exciting to see how participation continues to develop.” The four AREMA C&S committees are working on C&S Manual Part revisions, reaffirmations and developing new manual parts. As examples, additions were made to the scales manual, guidelines are being developed for when pedestrian treatments have been recommended by the road authority, communication-based signaling manual parts are out for vote by Committee 37 and wayside detector data formats are being developed. “This is just one item from each committee out of the many items that the committees are addressing,” he noted. Bowden continued: “As an organization, AREMA would like to attract people in other railroad specialties, especially in train control. AREMA does a good job in maintaining and providing information on state-of-the-art C&S technology. In that area, we’re the standard-bearer for the North American rail industry. As North American railroads start to make a dedicated move into the electronic train control world, there will be whole new sets of standards, interface issues and interoperability issues in which AREMA is becoming more involved. We, as railroaders, have gotten past the issue of if we’re going to be putting these systems in. The question for C&S now is how will systems interoperate between properties. “AREMA C&S is always seeking to recruit new members,” Bowden said. “People seeking more information on membership should start at the AREMA Website, www.arema.org, which features downloadable forms and instructions and an online tool to help people sign up. Prospective members can look into the organization’s history, structure, breakdown of committees, types of publications, and more, all on the public part of the site. “I suggest those interested look closely at the committees to find out what the committees are focused on,” he said. “Committee meetings, seminars and conferences are a great way to learn and get involved. After looking over the Website, any of the officers will be happy to answer any questions. Contact information is on the AREMA Website.” 36 Railway Track & Structures December 2007 www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Railway Track & Structures 12/07

Railway Track & Structures - December 2007 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Hand-Held Tools Provide the Power to Get Big Jobs Done AREMA C&S Update Striving to Solve the Riddle of Wheel Climb RTA Stages Warm Gathering in Sunny Florida in October Products and Literature People Calendar Website Directory Advertisers Index Sales Representatives Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

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