Proceedings of the Annual Convention
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1 BOARD OF DIRECTION 1994-1995 President M. W. Franke, Vice President and Chief Engineer, Atchison Topeka &. Santa Fe Railway, 700 E. Golf Rd., Schaumburg, IL 60173-5860 Vice Presidents B. G. WiLLBRANT, Chief Engineer, Consolidated Rail Corp., 2001 Market St., P.O. Box 41410B, Philadelphia, PA 19101-1410 J. R. Beran, Chief Engineer Maintenance of Way, Union Pacific Railroad, 1416 Dodge St., Room 1000, Omaha, NE 68179 Past President W. E. Glavin, Vice President—Strategic Design, Burlington Northern Railroad, 2800 Continental Plaza 777 Main St., Ft. Worth, TX 76102 Directors R. W. Richardson, Chief Engineer, Canadian National Railways, CN Headquarters Bldg., 935 de La Gauchetiere West, Montreal, Quebec H3C 3N4 Canada C. DAvALOS M., Director of Works and Reconstruction, National Railways of Mexico, Ave. Jesus Garcia No. 140, 8vo Piso, Ala "C," Col. Buenavista 06358, Mexico D.F. C. L. Hardy, Asst. Chief Engineer, Public & Passenger Projects, CSX Transportation, 500 Water St., Jacksonville, FL 32202 D. C. Kelly, Vice President and Chief Engineer, Illinois Central Railroad, 455 N. Cityfront Plaza Dr., Chicago, IL 6061 S. J. McLaughlin, Vice President-Engineering, Union Pacific Railroad, 1416 Dodge St., Room 1000, Omaha, NE 68179 W. S. Stokely, Vice President Engineering, Florida East Coast Railway, P.O. Box 1048, St. Augustine, FL 32085-1048 J. W. Palmer, SEPTA, 1515 Market Street, Suite 600, Philadelphia, PA 19101 R. E. Snyder, Assistant Chief Engineer-Maintenance Operation, Chicago & North Western, 165 N. Canal Street, Chicago, IL 60606 D. E. Staplin, Asst. Chief Engineer, Research, Planning & Development, Amtrak, 30th & Market St., 3rd Floor S., Philadelphia, PA 19104 J. W. Farmer, Chief Engineer Program Maintenance, Norfolk Southern, 99 Spring St. S.W., Atlanta, GA 30303 T. C. McMuRRAY, System Chief Engineer, Burlington Northern, 2800 Continental Plaza, 777 Main St., Fort Worth, TX 76102 E. J. Revvojcki, Vice President Engineering Services & Chief Engineer, Canadian Pacific Rail, Windsor Stn., Rm. 401, P.O. Box 6042, Stn. A, Montreal, PQ H3C 3E4 TREASURER W. B. Dwinnell, m. Chief Line Maintenance Officer, SEPTA—Rail Division, 1515 Market St., Suite 600, Philadelphia, PA 19103-1906. HEADQUARTERS STAFF 50 F St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001 Louis T. Cerny—Executive Director Anne B. Hazell—Director of Engineering Wendy S. Tayman—Director-Administration American Railway Engineering Association BULLETIN No, 749 JANUARY 1995 Proceedings Volume 96 CONTENTS Cover Story 1 Committee 1994 Annual Reports Roadway and Ballast (1) 4 Track Measuring Systems (2) 5 Rail (4) 6 Track (5) 8 Buildings and Support Facilities (6) 10 Timber Structures (7) 10 Concrete Structures and Foundations (8) 11 Seismic Design for Railway Structures (9) 12 Engineering Records and Property Accounting (11) 12 Rail Transit (12) 13 Yards and Terminals (14) 13 Steel Structures (15) 14 Economics of Railway Engineering Operation (16) 15 High Speed Rail (17) 15 Light Density and Short Line Railways (18) 15 Engineering Education (24) 16 Maintenance of Way Work Equipment (27) 16 Clearances (28) 17 Ties (30) 18 Scales (34) 19 Proposed Manual and Portfolio Changes 20 (Chapters 1 , 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 17, 19, 28, and 33.) Front Cover: Goderick Elevator, Goderich, Ontario. Rear Cover: Train #408 along the Bras d'Or Lakes, Cape Breton Island. Cover and cover story photographs by Greg McDonnell. Published by the American Railway Engineering Association 50 F St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20001 Position Available Position Executive Director Location Washington, DC or Chicago, IL Duties Administration of the Association and management of a limited office staff. Requirements Applicants must hold a BS degree in Engineering and preferably have railroad M/W experience. Salary Minimum of $75,000, plus benefits, with consideration for experience and qualifications. Respondents to advise their date of availability and their location preference. Interested parties send resume to: Mr. W. B. Dwinnell, Placement Committee AREA PO Box 58746 Philadelphia, PA 19102-8746 Published by the Amercian Railway Engineering Association, January, March, May, October and December 50 F St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001 Second class postage at Washington, D.C. and at additional mailing offices Subscription $79 per annum Copyright © 1995 AMERICAN RAILWAY ENGINEERING ASSOCIATION (ISSN 0003-0694) All rights reserved POSTMASTER: Send address changes to American Railway Engineering Association Bulletin, 50 F Su-eet, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in an information or data retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise-without the prior written permission of the publisher. OFFICERS 1994-1995 (Current January 1, 1995) M. W. Franke President Vice President and Chief Engineer Maintenance Atchison Topetca & Santa Fe i. G. WiLLBRANT DIRECTORS 1994-1995 J. W. Palmer Figure 1. Train #407 on Hopewell Subdivision. THE CAPE BRETON & CENTRAL NOVA SCOTIA RAILWAY—A NEW CANADIAN SHORTLINE Marli Westerfield* The Cape Breton & Nova Scotia Railway (CBNS) is owned and operated by RAILTEX, a publicly traded US firm headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, that presently owns and operates 23 federal railroads in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. These lines range in length from only 25 miles to 525 miles, covering all five time zones, 15 states, 2 provinces in Canada and 1 state in Mexico. RAILTEX was started as a car leasing firm in 1977 and has grown to operate 2700 route miles and 223,000 revenue car loads in 1993. Purchased from Canadian National, the CBNS is among the strongest and most profitable on RAILTEX' s roster. The CBNS began operations October 1, 1993, and runs from a connection with Canadian National at Truro to Sydney, Nova Scotia - a distance of approximately 250 miles. The road also connects with the Cape Breton Development Corporation's DEVCO Railway in Sydney, and ferries owned by Marine Atlantic in North Sydney. Marine Atlantic connects Newfoundland with the mainland, moving containers lifted off flat cars at their terminal in North Sydney, Nova Scotia. The line is shown in the map (following page). CBNS has a mix of traffic consisting of coal, paper, steel, new and rebuilt rail cars, lumber and pulp wood, and intermodal Traffic to Newfoundland. The CBNS will handle in excess of 26,000 revenue loads in 1994 with 13 locomotives. The line maintains its Headquarters at Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia, located at the approximate center of the railway. About one half of the CBNS lies within Cape Breton Island and its only link to the mainland is a causeway that is half a mile long and up to 200 feet deep, crossing the Strait of Canso. Prior to 1955, all traffic, rail and highway ahke, was obliged to ferry across the Strait. *General Manager, CBNS 5 Figure 2. Train #407 Crossing the causeway between Cape Breton Island and the mainland. The line employs 50 full-time and 5 part-time people. Canadian National had a staff of 11 on the line and an undetermined number of staff connected with the operation in their regional offices in Moncoton, New Brunswick. Most of the employees hired by CBNS had worked for CN prior to startup. Operating without a union contract allows CBNS great flexibility in personal assignment and cross training. Though it is a provincially regulated railways, the technical requirements are virtually identical to Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Rail. The same level of expertise is needed to test and maintain facilities and run 100 car trains as is found on the Class I Railroads. The main difference is that some of these skills may only be required once or twice a month. The flexibility that is inherent (essential) in the system permits efficient deployment of personnel throughout the year when are where they are needed. It also allows supervisors to run engines and switch cars, an operation that is very handy when a shipper requests a special switch. ;OTIA RAILWAT 2032 LORD BYRON s^pnm J MMr^3q>^^-^-.'^ 5 Figure 3. Train #407 arriving at Truro, Nova Scotia. Although each General Manager reports to one of three Regional General Managers (the regions are drawn more along the origins of the railways than their geographic location), all are allowed tremendous autonomy. They are encouraged to run their respective properties, as President Bruce Flohr is fond of saying, "It is as if it was their name on the bank note that was used to purchase the railroad." CBNS has been successful in drumming up new business. Canadian National got out of the business of hauling saw and pulp logs years ago, but CBNS saw this as a natural source of traffic and is now handling up to 150 cars a month from six different locations. The next big push will be in intermodal traffic to the North Sydney/Industrial Cape Breton area with the cooperation of Marine Atlantic and Canadian National. Indeed, as traditional traffic bases erode, many short line and regional carriers may have no choice but to aggressively pursue intermodal business if they are to have any control over their own destinies in the overall transportation network. With the inevitable rationalization of Canada's rail network, sales of branch and secondary lines to short line operators will most likely accelerate. The proposed amalgamation of CN and CPR in eastern Canada will make several main lines available, which will have several large shippers that require rail service. Sale of such lines to short line operators preserves the revenue stream for the selling carrier, and improves its rate of return on assets while avoiding much of the negative political fallout brought about by abandonment. For those who are willing to take fresh and objective view of rail operations, feeder railways will provide an exciting and challenging place to work as Canada realigns its transportation system.