Mike Roney Receives the 2025 Worth Award
by Jeff Tuzik
Wheel Rail Seminars named Mike Roney, Principal of Iron Mustache Consulting, and retired General Manager, Track and Structures and Chief Engineer with Canadian Pacific, the recipient of the 2025 Worth Award. The award, presented at the annual Wheel/Rail Interaction Heavy Haul conference, is named for Art Worth, the former Manager of Standards and Senior Manager of Advanced Technology at Canadian National. The Worth Award is given to someone who has made a lasting impact on operations, practices, and/or safety in the railway industry over their career, and has shared their experience and knowledge with the industry.
Mike Roney has done that, and more. In addition to his 32-year career with Canadian Pacific, he has worked with the National Research Council of Canada and BHP’s Melbourne Research Labs. He has served as the Chairman of the International Heavy Haul Association (IHHA), Chairman of CPCS Transcom Limited, and as President of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association. In 2019 he was inducted into the IHHA’s Hall of Fame for “lifetime achievement in the advancement of railway technology, operations and engineering.”
Beyond these accolades, Roney is perhaps best known in the railroad community as one of the earliest pioneers and champions of then-unorthodox, but now-standard practices like preventive rail grinding, and large-scale lubrication and friction management or “total friction management” regimes.
“I first met Mike early in our careers,” said Gordon Bachinksy, Founder of Wheel-Rail-Seminars, “but even then, I looked to him as a mentor and innovator.”
Innovation is a theme that comes up frequently when colleagues talk about Roney’s work. His collaborative relationship with (former Worth Award recipient) Joe Kalousek fundamentally changed the way CP, and later other railroads, approached rail grinding, said John Coleman, former General Manager, Surface Transportation, and Vice President Engineering at the National Research Council Canada. While corrective, or reactive, grinding was fairly common at the time, the concept of regular, cyclical grinding aimed at maintaining optimal profiles and limiting the buildup of RCF, corrugation, and other defects, was in the realm of theory. Roney understood the theory and grasped the practical benefits of putting it into practice, and just as importantly, was able to make a strong business case for it, Coleman said; “he was always inordinately receptive to ideas from the NRC and he made sure those ideas got in front of [CP] leadership.”
This blending of theory, practice and financial justification also applies to Roney’s work at CP with his development and implementation “total friction management.” The impetus for this project was to determine the effectiveness, and thus the economic benefit, of implementing full-coverage friction management (gage-face lubrication to begin with, and later top-of-rail friction management, as well) over a large scale to determine the full system-wide (rather than departmental/siloed) benefits. Due to the historically siloed nature of railroad departments and budgets, this was no easy task.
“In those days, railway budgeting practices placed a lot of the risk of a technological innovation [like this] on the individual manager who championed it, but Mike never shied away from it,” Coleman said.
“Other railroads were dabbling in friction management at the time,” said Gary Wolf, President of Wolf Railway Consulting (and another former Worth Award recipient), “but Mike was a true pioneer. And he set a very high bar with the work he did at CP.” Wolf added that part of Roney’s success at executing these kinds of ambitious projects is his willingness to say what needs to be said, even the hard truths, and to back it up with data.
For many in the industry, this high bar has yet to be cleared. “The standards and practices that [Mike] put in place at CP are still the gold standard today,” said John Furlong, Director of Track Systems at CPKC. Furlong also highlighted Roney’s support for continuous testing (versus stop-and-verify); his support convinced CP to launch the first continuous testing trial in North America—a move that led CN and other railroads to follow suit shortly thereafter. “You have to be open-minded and courageous to try new things,” Furlong said, “and that describes Mike.”
Brent Laing, former Vice President of Engineering at CP and CN added that while at CP, Roney led the codification of standards for track maintenance, bridges and geotechnical work that directly improved the safety and reliability of the network.
Nigel Peters, former Chief Engineer Structures and Engineering Standards at CN noted that he and Roney collaborated to develop joint CP/CN Canadian rail standards. This collaboration continued after Roney’s and Peters’ retirement, as they continued to developed standards, general engineering instructions, and recommended methods, for a number of railways including VIA Rail, Hudson Bay Railway, and Australia’s Rio Tinto, Peters said.
Beyond his work for CP and as a consultant, Roney is also widely recognized for his participation in many railroad associations and professional organizations such as the IHHA, AREMA, and others. He has also encouraged others to get involved in, and take full advantage of such organizations. “Mike inspired me to get involved with AREMA where I served as chair of Committee Four, and with the Rail Integrity Task Force; these are some of the best things I’ve done in my career,” said CPKC’s John Furlong, “I think it goes to show how passionate and committed to the industry he’s been.”
The IHHA doesn’t induct members into its hall of fame lightly, said IHHA CEO Scott Lovelace. “Since its inception, we’ve only inducted 16 people, and Mike was one of the first.” Lovelace added that he found over many years of working with Roney through the IHHA a rare colleague who is “accomplished, passionate, and a pleasure to work with.”
Accepting his award, Roney, who has also been a frequent contributor to the annual Wheel/Rail Interaction conferences, took the opportunity to share a few maxims that he said have helped guide his career: “Be passionate. Make connections. Always measure things. And always follow the pursuit of knowledge,” he said.
“Mike has been so willing to share his knowledge and expertise with us,” said WRS Founder Gordon Bachinsky. “We are pleased to honor him with the Worth Award.”
Jeff Tuzik is Managing Editor of Interface Journal