Railway Track & Structures - December 2008 - (Page 6)

I N D U S T R Y T O D AY digital tunnel radio system, the first of its kind at BNSF. The work involved installation of a “leaky” coaxial (coax) cable 12 feet above the rail on the tunnel wall along with the supporting infrastructure. Instead of using an antenna, the coax “leaks” a radio signal that can be picked up by the trains and workers in the tunnel, enabling communications with dispatchers. This is the first time BNSF installed this solution on its network. The work window was five days long, and crews actually finished two days ahead of the anticipated work windows. There were two eight-hour windows on the weekend and three four-hour windows on the first three weekdays. As it turned out, the crew was able to release the last two days after the first four-hour window. Extensive project planning started in June with a target completion date of Oct. 23. Operations employees on the Northwest Division, particularly the roadmaster, played an important role, as did medical and industrial hygiene personnel. Employees from a wide range of other departments also pitched in to make the project successful. Twenty-three employees from a variety of locations were brought in to help. Employees from Los Angeles; Stockton, Calif.; Vancouver, Wash.; Seattle; Tacoma, Wash.; Spokane, Wash.; and Gillette, Wyo., were brought in to help with the project. No trains were delayed during the work activity. As BNSF’s planning process continued, and as talks were held with local parties affected by the tunnel project, the city of Seattle’s emergency services came forward with a desire to put a separate infrastructure in place for emergency use. Unfortunately, the city couldn’t get the funding in place before the BNSF project was ready for implementation. As a show of support for the people of Seattle, BNSF supported the improvement in emergency services by lending additional material and manpower. Additional cable brackets and appropriate enclosures were installed with BNSF’s communications system. That means the city of Seattle will only have to run cable and add other finishing touches when the funding is in place. STB issues assessment on NS, Pan Am proposal The Surface Transportation Board’s Section of Environmental Analysis has issued an Environmental Assessment for public review and comment concerning the proposal by the Norfolk Southern, Pan Am Railways, Inc. (a non-carrier holding company), and two of Pan Am’s railroad subsidiaries, the Boston and Maine Corporation and the Springfield Terminal Railway Company, to acquire and to jointly control and own, Pan Am Southern LLC, a new railroad to be formed. The EA identifies and analyzes the potential environmental impacts (both beneficial and adverse) that could occur as a result of the transaction. The EA also sets forth preliminary recommended mitigation measures, should the Board approve the proposal. At the conclusion of the comment period, 6 Railway Track & Structures December 2008 www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com

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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

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