Engineers share views on 2015 trends

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
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For North American railroad engineering departments, safety is the top feature required in a piece of equipment, while dealing with tight work windows is a shared issue across both freight and passenger operations.

  {besps}August15_wishlist{/besps} {besps_c}0|1wishlist.jpg| Canadian Pacific’s Engineering Services work program in North Dakota.{/besps_c} {besps_c}0|2wishlist.jpg| Welders at work on BNSF. Safety and improved ergonomics were features of equipment that were repeated in survey responses.{/besps_c} {besps_c}0|3wishlist.jpg| A Norfolk Southern tie gang performing work along tracks near Selma, N.C.{/besps_c}

 For North American railroad engineering departments, safety is the top feature required in a piece of equipment, while dealing with tight work windows is a shared issue across both freight and passenger operations.

compiled by Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor

The business of maintaining a railroad is a tough task given the demands of the environment. Railroad engineering departments need reliable, versatile equipment that can increase their productivity and, most importantly, keep their crews safe.

RT&S surveyed the Engineering Departments from North America’s Class 1 railroads. Their answers show what those departments need and expect out of their machinery and what they would like to see in future equipment incarnations. RT&S thanks those railroads who participated in this survey.

1. Equipment features
Railway Track & Structures: Regarding m/w equipment, what are key elements you require? For example, is it safety, reliability, speed of operation, ease of getting on and off track, ease of maintenance, cost, productivity or something else?
Amtrak: Flexibility to work in tight windows and good clearances.
Canadian National: Safety is always our number one priority. Reliability and productivity are essential; we encourage vendors to improve ergonomics to ease fatigue of operation.
Canadian Pacific: Safety is always of prime importance. Reliability and ease of operation are important because these affect production greatly.
Kansas City Southern: Safety and reliability are two main considerations when in the market for maintenance-of-way machinery. Safety and ergonomics for the operator and maintenance technician is a primary concern. Reliability, speed of operation and productivity work hand-in-hand. If machine downtime is minimal, this complements speed and production.
Norfolk Southern: We are looking for safe equipment that enables us to be more productive. Ease of getting on and off track also would support improved productivity.

2. Most important
RT&S: What is the most important single feature, after safety, for you and your railroad? Why?
Amtrak: Versatility – handling a variety of jobs.
CN: After safety, the single most important feature is productivity, in order to maximize our work blocks. When work blocks are issued, the equipment needs to be reliable and able to produce.
CP: After procuring equipment, it only becomes of use when we add an operator who understands the function and maintenance aspect of that particular model. Having a machine that is both operator friendly and easy to learn is vital.
KCS: The most important feature after safety is operator proficiency. If the machine is designed around maximum operator visibility, ergonomic controls and seating and ease of daily maintenance procedures; production will be maximized and operating cost for the unit will be minimized.
NS: With increasing demand on our infrastructure, we have to find ways to accomplish our work with less track time. Automation plays an important part in our ability to be more productive.

3. New features
RT&S: In today’s market, what new features in m/w machinery have the most appeal to you?
Amtrak: Machinery that can get more work done in less time.
CN: We look for machinery incorporating the latest technology, with the best ergonomics. We are always looking for updated technology that can improve the safety and production of our equipment.
CP: [Programmable logic controllers] have been the most beneficial advance in the past few years. This has increased our uptime and reliability metrics.
KCS: The use of programmable logic controllers has greatly minimized downtime by assisting the technician with troubleshooting procedures.
NS: We are looking for machinery with increased automation to improve the utilization of our workforce and with the capability to clear up quickly to allow us to enhance productivity.

4. Ideal machine
RT&S: If you could write the specs for an ideal m/w machine, what features would you include?
Amtrak: Cross-functional machine that does several tasks at the same time.
CN: Ease of maintenance and operation is important and something that we always strive to improve in our specs each year. The specs would also include, outstanding ergonomics in the cab, great visibility, well-defined safety components, plenty of horsepower and the latest in technological advances in controlling functions of the machine. Any component that will improve the production of the machine is also considered in the specifications.
CP: Common cab layout on all machines; on-board diagnostics; hydraulic systems, which minimize the number of hoses; anti-collision hardware.
KCS: Standardization of equipment, such as engines and major components, from vendor to vendor is very important. In terms of tie or steel gang equipment, a machine that combines tasks or minimizes manual material handling is of the upmost importance.
NS: The ideal machine would eliminate manual labor (and the associated potential for worker exposures) and feature good mobility between worksites and clearing points. It also must have robust components that require little maintenance and self-diagnose for problem resolution.

5. Beneficial machines
RT&S: Looking at recent purchases, what big-ticket piece of equipment has offered the most benefit to your railroad? What about among lower-priced equipment?
CN: The newer model tampers, rail pick up and rail unloading machines have up-to-date safety and productivity features, which have helped to benefit our railroad. As far as the lower priced pieces of equipment, we are utilizing backhoes with additional attachments such as hi-rail gear and tie inserters, to add to the functionality of the equipment. This equipment installed with the newest technology has allowed us to increase safety and production.
CP: Drone production tampers have increased our tamping capability.
Hydraulic drills with interchangeable carbide bits have really been a huge benefit in the field, resulting in lower drilling time.
KCS: Surfacing equipment offers the most benefit to our railroad. Spike pullers are the most dependable and cost-efficient among the lower priced equipment.
NS: If you look at over-all benefits, our dual rail gang and all the unique equipment associated with it, offers the most benefit to our railroad. The flash-butt welding trucks, focusing on joint elimination, offer a great benefit. Our new bridge tie installation equipment has been a very good investment as it has automated a process while also reducing the overall track time required to accomplish the work.

6. Solutions oriented
RT&S: What m/w issue do you spend the most time trying to solve: track time, productivity, etc.? What kind of machine or features would you like to see from suppliers to help alleviate the problem?
Amtrak: Coordinating crews to match up with work due to crew shortages.
CN: Work block availability is an issue. Based on the fact that track time is a premium, we look for high production/ reliable machinery to be as productive as possible to make the most of the work block. We continue to work with our suppliers in order to support improvements in the reliability of their parts and overall equipment.
CP: Distribution and handling of tie plates. The supply of plates in gondola cars requires multiple handling. The development of a machine which can distribute and pick up plates where required within the production environment would reduce OTM handling.
KCS: With minimal track time, equipment must be dependable and ready when the opportunity arises. Multi-task machines would greatly improve productivity.
NS: The increased demands on our infrastructure, which is a good thing for our business, continue to make track time the biggest issue in maintenance-of-way.

7. Railroad/supplier interface
RT&S: When you meet with suppliers, what are you telling them about your m/w machinery needs? Do you find suppliers responsive to your requests?
CN: We continually strive for more reliable and productive equipment. Ergonomics must be improved and there must be improvements in service and parts delivery. The suppliers that we work with are, for the most part, responsive to our concerns.
CP: Training of operators and seat stability is a problem in the industry. We have a constant need to train good people to run the equipment. Suppliers are starting to develop on-line tools to aid in training, but it needs more focus.
KCS: Most suppliers are willing to listen to equipment issues, study problems and make corrections.
NS: Suppliers are very responsive to our needs and work with us to solve problems. But we continue to look for the generational leaps in productivity, such as automated machinery to distribute and install tie plates and easily make flash-butt welds in turnouts where clearances are tight with little or no rail consumption.

8. Trending in 2015
RT&S: Checking trends, would you say today’s equipment is getting safer, more reliable, more productive, or other qualities? On the negative side, what trends are out there, such as too costly, too complicated, etc.?
Amtrak: Positive: More reliable; Negative: Cost of equipment; a lot of equipment being built is too big for us to use.
CN: The equipment is much safer to operate today than in past years. Reliability has to continue to improve. When a new product is purchased, we expect it to be reliable.
The cost to maintain a piece of machinery has risen dramatically over the past several years. The equipment reliability needs to increase to help alleviate some of the maintenance costs.
CP: We need reliable equipment, which is easy to operate. Track time is very valuable and when we are on-track everything needs to function as intended. Manufacturers are doing a good job in developing more reliable equipment.
The introduction of Tier 4 engines and the need to regenerate is the most disturbing problem on the horizon. This could have a dramatic effect on reliability and production in the upcoming years.
KCS: Maintenance-of-way equipment manufacturers today continue to strive for safer and more reliable machines, benefitting productivity, as well as the operator and technician. Productivity generally leads to a more complicated machine that requires additional training of the operator and technician.
NS: Today’s equipment is definitely safer and more productive. But, we also recognize the need for trained and experienced machine operators who will stay with the equipment for extended periods of time rather than hopping from job-to-job and machine-to-machine.

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