by Jeff Tuzik As Wheel Rail Seminars prepares to host it’s 30th annual Wheel/Rail Interaction Conference in Kansas City, it’s worthwhile to look back on how the “narrow” field of wheel/rail interaction has broadened and matured over the decades. The field of wheel/rail interaction is highly targeted; focusing on the …
by Bob Tuzik This article was originally published in Mass Transit (February 2022). SkyTrain, Vancouver’s iconic rail transit system, is a system in motion. Since the opening of the original Expo Line, named and timed to coincide with Expo 86, SkyTrain, which moves more than 115 million commuters per year pre-covid, …
by Bob Tuzik This article was originally published in Mass Transit (June 2023). Challenges abound in the design, construction, maintenance, and operation of light rail lines in urban areas. Chief among them is controlling track- and vehicle-born noise, an important part of maintaining the support of an agency’s various stakeholders, …
by Jeff Tuzik Rail grinding continues to evolve. Though still a standard part of the track maintenance and optimization toolkit, grinding programs look very different than they did when grinding programs first became commonplace in the 1980s. Preventive grinding, for example, has gone from niche to mainstream; it’s the target …
by Jeff Tuzik Steel-on-steel friction is tricky. Frictional forces mediate every interaction between the wheel and rail. Too much friction, and the system wears too quickly; issues like noise, truck-steering, and wheel-climb become more prominent. Too little friction, and traction and braking are negatively affected. Friction Management (FM) is the …
by Jeff Tuzik Maintenance is a balancing act. Time is limited, budgets are limited, resources are limited. These limited resources and the pressure to make the most out of tight maintenance windows often drives an ethos that places a premium on the speed and performance of maintenance actions, personnel, and …
by Jeff Tuzik The Great Dismal Swamp. An ominous name. And in June of 2019, it was the site of a Norfolk Southern derailment. At NS, all derailments are investigated to determine the cause(s) and to provide data that could help prevent future incidents. Brad Kerchof, formerly Director of Research …
by Jeff Tuzik Corina Moore is an agent of change. A champion of embracing change, too. Her transformative tenure as Ontario Northland’s Chief Operating Officer (2010 – 2014) and President and CEO (2014 – 2022) saw the railway emerge from divestment, deep financial woes, and an uncertain future to a …
by Jeff Tuzik Rail grinding is a well-established maintenance practice with multiple preventive and corrective applications. Rail milling is a more recent (introduced roughly 25 years ago) addition to the rail maintenance toolkit but although it’s use in North America has been limited thus far, it is widely used in …
by Jeff Tuzik One of the surest and most common signs that something is amiss at the wheel/rail interface is accelerated wear of the wheels, rail, or both. Occasionally the solution to the problem is straight-forward and site-specific. But more often, abnormal wear appears as a symptom of fundamental, systemic …
by Jeff Tuzik Derailments happen. The minor ones cause damage and disruption; the big ones make the news. While there are derailments attributed to a single vehicle or track cause, often, the cause is the result of a combination of vehicle- and track-related contributing factors, underscoring that vehicle/track interaction is a …
by Jeff Tuzik As Wheel Rail Seminars prepares to host it’s 30th annual Wheel/Rail Interaction Conference in Kansas City, it’s worthwhile to …
by Bob Tuzik This article was originally published in Mass Transit (February 2022). SkyTrain, Vancouver’s iconic rail transit system, is a system in …
by Bob Tuzik This article was originally published in Mass Transit (June 2023). Challenges abound in the design, construction, maintenance, and operation …
by Jeff Tuzik Rail grinding continues to evolve. Though still a standard part of the track maintenance and optimization toolkit, grinding programs …
by Jeff Tuzik Steel-on-steel friction is tricky. Frictional forces mediate every interaction between the wheel and rail. Too much friction, and the …
by Jeff Tuzik Maintenance is a balancing act. Time is limited, budgets are limited, resources are limited. These limited resources and the …
by Jeff Tuzik The Great Dismal Swamp. An ominous name. And in June of 2019, it was the site of a Norfolk …
by Jeff Tuzik Corina Moore is an agent of change. A champion of embracing change, too. Her transformative tenure as Ontario Northland’s …