Railway Track & Structures - December 2008 - (Page 35)

AREMA C&S addition, the committee is dealing with analysis of FRA activation failures and the need for recommended practices, as well as developing recommended practices on railroad pedestrian-only crossing signals, including secondtrain-coming signage and developing a universal signal asset bar coding format. The committee is also working on development of ITS Standards. “Committee 37-Signal Systems continues to work on its main focus: the newly-created Section 23 Manual Parts Communication Based Signaling,” he said. “Committee 38-Information, Defect Detection & Energy Systems continues to develop concepts, provide information and recommended practices for installation, operation and maintenance of equipment and systems for defect detection, automated train operation, yard and terminal control and other special applications. extremely well attended by both the railroads and the supply side of the industry. There were presentations at both the opening and closing sessions from each of the functional groups. Each of the functional groups were on separate tracks for their presentations on Tuesday. “As usual, the biggest highlight of the C&S session was the Industry Leaders Panel Discussion,” he said. “There was much discussion concerning PTC. We owe a big thank you to all the C&S leaders who participated and a special thanks to George Sokulski of Simmons-Boardman Publishing for moderating the discussion. “Another highlight was the presentation on Positive Train Control by Bill Petit of Petit Consulting,” Choat noted. “PTC will continue to be a hot topic in the days, months and years to come. “Other highlights were the opening session comments from Cliff Eby of the FRA concerning the Metrolink collision in California and, again, the subsequent legislation by Congress, “ he noted. “The Chicago CREATE updates from Bill Thompson of AAR should also be mentioned as this project impacts all Class 1 railroads. The video comments from Norfolk Southern Chairman, President and CEO Wick Moorman were well received at the annual luncheon.” Choat continued: “Membership in AREMA always sets the standard for professional organizations. While many other professional organizations’ memberships erode, AREMA continues to grow or at least hold its own. We continue to drive for new members (Member-Get-A-Member Campaign) from both the railroad and the supply side. Another group that we have targeted are the college engineering students who have an interest in railroads. “It is very simple to join AREMA,” Choat said. “You can always join the organization by simply going to www.arema.org and click on Membership to get all the information then click on the Membership form to apply for membership. Benefits of AREMA membership “If you are in the railroad industry with an emphasis on structural, mechanical, civil or electrical engineering, AREMA is the flagship professional organization and it is a must to be a member,” Choat stated. “Participation at the committee level can give a level of satisfaction that no other organization can offer. Your participation is equivalent to setting forward-looking recommended practices for an entire industry. If that doesn’t get your blood pumping, I don’t know what will. “Committee work is the central nervous system for the AREMA organization,” he said. “We need to continue adding new members who are willing to commit their time and efforts to creating new manual parts and recommended practices. We continue to need quality individuals to do training seminars and to author and present quality presentations at the annual meetings. All those challenges are ‘for the good of the industry’ and it is very satisfying both personally and professionally to make contributions to this industry.” Updating the manual “The 2009 C&S Manual of Recommended Practices is now available for purchase,” Choat said. “This updated manual is a must for anyone working in the C&S side of the industry. You can order your manual through the association’s Website, www.arema.org. The cost for AREMA members is $525 for the five-volume hard copy set. A CD set is also available, as well as individual manual sections.” How was the recent conference with C&S people meeting with the track side of AREMA? “The combined conference in Salt Lake City this past September went well,” Choat pointed out. “It was www.rtands.com Railway Track & Structures December 2008 35 http://www.arema.org http://www.arema.org http://www.rtands.com

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

Railway Track & Structures - December 2008 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Hand-Held Tools Continue Big Role in Railroad Engineering AREMA C&S Moving Ahead Optimizing Winter Speed Restrictions RTA 2008 Conference Makes Splash in Savannah, Ga. Products and Literature People Calendar Sales Representatives Advertisers Index Website Directory Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - December 2008

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.