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12
FIELD TRIP
On Day 3, we visited the Norfolk Southern Birmingham Regional Intermodal Facility in McCalla, Ala. With a footprint of 250 acres, the facility has more
than 6,000 feet of track for working intermodal and 1,400 feet for working automotive traffic.
The facility averages between eight and 12
trains per day in and out of the facility, with
trains doing pickup, setoff or both. Four storage
tracks provide 1,400 feet for empty cars or cars
waiting to be unloaded.
According to Norfolk Southern's Alabama
Division Engineer Dustin Lange, phase 1 of
construction has been completed. Two pad
tracks provide 7,400 feet for unloading/loading
of trains.
The facility has a lift capacity for 100,000 units
per year. In 2012, there were 12,050 lifts. Last
year, that number increased to 33,948 lifts, this
lift is one of only two electric lifts in the country.
With hundreds of ties undergoing testing, it takes most of the day to learn
about both Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the test. The RTA-AWPRP project is
a joint venture with producer members, Class 1 railroads and Mississippi
State University. All of the reports on the project to date can be found at
www.rta.org .
Here at the Dorman Lake test site, Dr. Mike Barnes, Warren S. Thomp-
son Professor of Wood Science and Technology, shares info on the test
ties with some of the group.
DAY 3
Norfolk Southern's Birmingham Regional Intermodal Facility