Annual AAR Review puts focus on efficiency
Some of the world’s top experts in railroad technology came
to Pueblo, Colo., this week to hear about the latest research from what many
acknowledge is the industry’s top laboratory, the Chieftain reports.
It’s the 15th annual Association of American Railroads
Research Review, which has been drawing engineers, technicians and corporate
leaders here for years. Most of the research is done in Pueblo at the AAR’s
Transportation Technology Center Inc., the 52-acre site northeast of the city’s
airport.
Roy Allen, TTCI president, said that this year’s attendance,
435 by Tuesday afternoon’s count, was the largest ever.
Last year, he said attendance was down but things seem to
have turned around, due in part to more government money being spent on rail
research. "Of course that hasn’t been in freight but there is some benefit," he
said.
The primary theme of each year’s event, he said, has been
"improving safety and efficiency." From early Tuesday morning until breaking
for dinner just before 5 p.m., there was a steady stream of reports covering
the primary areas of investigation at the center. Today, many of those
attending will visit the center itself for tours and a first-hand view of the
research they’ve been hearing about.
Talks Tuesday covered results from the ongoing
heavy-axle-load program designed to help haulers of coal and other commodities
reduce wear on rails and wheels, new ways of monitoring track conditions to
prevent derailments and methods to extend the life of rail and rail cars and
thereby lower costs.
Allen said one of the highlights was a discussion of
automatic inspections of rail cars.
The center has patented some of its own devices that can
spot problems on cars as they move past and methods are constantly improving,
he said.
"Through very, very clever software, we can look for
cracks," Allen said. Besides wheels, the cars’ undercarriages can be checked,
along with safety devices like ladders and hand brakes.
The devices can check moving trains, traveling past at 40
mph or more so trains don’t have to be stopped for inspections and, he added,
people don’t have to do it. "The vision is to have most inspections of rail
cars done automatically, instead of having people walk through 20-degree
weather." Crews that had been inspecting can spend their time repairing things
the automatic systems discover, "turning finders into fixers," Allen said.
In addition to the AAR members in the United States, Canada
and Mexico, representatives from firms and government agencies in Germany,
Austria, China, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom were in
attendance.
Some of the world’s top experts in railroad technology came
to Pueblo, Colo., this week to hear about the latest research from what many
acknowledge is the industry’s top laboratory, the Chieftain reports.
It’s the 15th annual Association of American Railroads
Research Review, which has been drawing engineers, technicians and corporate
leaders here for years. Most of the research is done in Pueblo at the AAR’s
Transportation Technology Center Inc., the 52-acre site northeast of the city’s
airport.
Roy Allen, TTCI president, said that this year’s attendance,
435 by Tuesday afternoon’s count, was the largest ever.
Last year, he said attendance was down but things seem to
have turned around, due in part to more government money being spent on rail
research. "Of course that hasn’t been in freight but there is some benefit," he
said.
The primary theme of each year’s event, he said, has been
"improving safety and efficiency." From early Tuesday morning until breaking
for dinner just before 5 p.m., there was a steady stream of reports covering
the primary areas of investigation at the center. Today, many of those
attending will visit the center itself for tours and a first-hand view of the
research they’ve been hearing about.
Talks Tuesday covered results from the ongoing
heavy-axle-load program designed to help haulers of coal and other commodities
reduce wear on rails and wheels, new ways of monitoring track conditions to
prevent derailments and methods to extend the life of rail and rail cars and
thereby lower costs.
Allen said one of the highlights was a discussion of
automatic inspections of rail cars.
The center has patented some of its own devices that can
spot problems on cars as they move past and methods are constantly improving,
he said.
"Through very, very clever software, we can look for
cracks," Allen said. Besides wheels, the cars’ undercarriages can be checked,
along with safety devices like ladders and hand brakes.
The devices can check moving trains, traveling past at 40
mph or more so trains don’t have to be stopped for inspections and, he added,
people don’t have to do it. "The vision is to have most inspections of rail
cars done automatically, instead of having people walk through 20-degree
weather." Crews that had been inspecting can spend their time repairing things
the automatic systems discover, "turning finders into fixers," Allen said.
In addition to the AAR members in the United States, Canada
and Mexico, representatives from firms and government agencies in Germany,
Austria, China, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom were in
attendance.