Crossties

JUL-AUG 2015

Crossties is published for users and producers of treated wood crossties.

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roducts P agle Metal E Janes Co. Gross & Hurdle Machine Works K oppers Inc. R TA WEBSITE BECOME A MEMBER CONTACT MiTe Industr Industr MiTe %41556+'5ŖJULY/AUGUST 2015 8 MARKET OUTLOOK Demand & Installs What Does It All Mean? In an upcoming issue of Crossties, readers will learn that Class 1 railroads installed a little more than 1 million ties less in 2014 than in 2013. So, not only did purchases see a decline in 2014, actual installations of wood ties did also (Note: Alternative tie installations increased in 2014 modestly). Can all of that be blamed on short supply, or are other factors involved? Installations are certainly affected by VXSSO\EXWRWKHUIDFWRUVFDQSOD\VLJQL¿FDQW roles as well. Some of these factors are capi- tal reallocation to projects such as Positive Train Control expenditures and availability of maintenance and construction windows. To explain the latter, take as a hypothetical example that if a railroad deploys its avail- able maintenance and construction forces in the Northern part of the country more exclu- sively, where the work season is shorter, it could affect overall installations. While it might not be possible to com- pletely rationalize all the factors for all railroads without detailed investigation, the fact is that lack of supply must play at least part of the role in reduced installations. This is especially true if one reviews RTA statistics for dramatic reductions in invento- ries that started in 2013, and considering that c ompeting tie product installations actually improved in 2014. If this is the case, RTA members can most likely expect a little more of the same by the end of 2015. While wood tie supply has improved in the Eastern United States, out West the story KDVEHHQDQRWKHU\HDURILQFUHGLEO\GLI¿FXOW log supply due to continued heavy rains for PXFKRIWKH¿UVWSDUWRIWKH\HDU0DQ\WLH suppliers believe that the situation will EHJLQWRLPSURYHVLJQL¿FDQWO\ZLWKDQ improvement in the weather, but building air-dry inventories to healthy levels will take many more months. More on this in Crossties issues to come, but the photo here does give one an idea of what Western SURGXFHUVKDYHKDGWKHLU¿OORIIRUPRVWRI 2015. Will constrained supply affect 2015 installs as well? We'll know more in early 2016, but it is hard to imagine a scenario where it wouldn't. Q 4HISPHOTOOFALOGTRUCKLOCATEDMILES .ORTHOF#AMDEN!RKSOMEWHERENEARTHE /UACHITA2IVERINEARLY*ULYSHOULDANSWER ANYQUESTIONSABOUTHOWWETITSBEEN The University of Delaware's Professional Engineering Outreach short course on Railroad Engineer- ing, developed in collaboration with the Railway Tie Association, is now available. These special online railroad and transit training modules have been produced so that students can absorb information at their own pace. Students are able to earn PDHs for completion of each module. Busy professionals can log onto the course website any time of day or night during the course period to view the six archived course presentations. Students can interact with other course participants and the course presenter will be available to answer questions via e-mail. The Modules 7KH¿UVWPRGXOHLVDQLQWURGXFWRU\FRXUVH Course topics are broken into two parts. Part one addresses types of railway operations, LQFOXGLQJSDVVHQJHUDQGPL[HGUDLOZD\WHU- PLQRORJ\DQG$$5YV8,&UDLOURDGV3DUW; two addresses the key elements of the rail V\VWHPUDLOURDGRSHUDWLRQVORFRPRWLYHV locomotive/train braking and supplemental V\VWHPVUDLOZD\FDUVDQGFRDFKHVIUHLJKW FDUVVSHFLDOL]HGSDVVHQJHUFDUV\VWHPVDQG VXEV\VWHPVDQGWUDFNUDLODQGWXUQRXW The second module addresses the function of railroad crossties. Course topics include DQRYHUYLHZRIUDLOURDGWUDFNVWUXFWXUHWKH UROHRIWKHFURVVWLHWKHIXQFWLRQVRIWKH FURVVWLHWKHUHODWLRQVKLSVEHWZHHQWLHDQG EDOODVWNH\SHUIRUPDQFHUHTXLUHPHQWVIRU WKHFURVVWLHWLPEHUFRQFUHWHVWHHODQG plastic/composite crossties and their failure UDWHDQGGLIIHUHQFHVLQPDLQWHQDQFHUHTXLUH- ments and strategies. The third module addresses engineering and design issues with the crosstie. Course topics cover the engineering function of the crosstie and strengths and weaknesses and design of wood, concrete, steel and plastic/ composite ties. The fourth module addresses degradation and failure modes for wood ties. Course topics will cover failure modes for timber tie WUDFNOLIHRIWLPEHUFURVVWLHVDVDIXQFWLRQRI NH\WUDFNDQGWUDI¿FSDUDPHWHUVFXUYDWXUH WRQQDJHFOLPDWHHWFIRUHVWSURGXFWVIDLO- XUHGLVWULEXWLRQFXUYHGHWHUPLQDWLRQRIWKH UDWHRIIDLOXUHRIWLPEHUWLHVDQGWKHSUHGLF- tion of tie replacement requirements. 7KH¿IWKPRGXOHDGGUHVVHVWKHUDLOURDG load environment and the engineering of crossties. Course topics cover railroad load HQYLURQPHQWORDGLQJRIWKHWUDFNVWUXFWXUH LQJHQHUDOORDGLQJRIWKHFURVVWLHYHUWLFDO ORDGVORDGWUDQVIHUIURPUDLOWRWLHORDG WUDQVIHUIURPWLHWREDOODVWODWHUDOORDGV ODWHUDOIRUFHVRQFXUYHVORQJLWXGLQDOPH- FKDQLFDOORDGORQJLWXGLQDOWKHUPDOORDGV PDJQLWXGHRIWKHORDGVRQWUDFNPDJQLWXGH RIORDGVRQWKHFURVVWLHDQGWKHHIIHFWVRI these loads on the crosstie. Q The Presenter Dr. Allan Zarembski joined the University of Delaware faculty several years ago as research professor and director of the new Railroad Engineering and Safety Program. An internationally recognized authority in WKH¿HOGVRIWUDFNDQGYHKLFOHWUDFNV\VWHPV analysis, railway component failure analysis, track strength and maintenance planning, Dr. Zarembski founded and served as president of ZETA-TECH Associates Inc., a technical consulting and applied technology company in 1984, now an independent business unit of Harsco Rail. He is also author or co- DXWKRURIPRUHWKDQWHFKQLFDOSDSHUV 120 technical articles and two books. For more information on accessing the modules and the special pricing for RTA members, contact RTA at ties@rta.org. RTA, University Of Delaware Announce Online Railroad Engineering Short Courses By Jim Gauntt T D t f a d E P A i t ti

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