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The Journal of Wheel/Rail Interaction
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Heavy Haul

Instrumented diamond with UTPs

Under-Tie Pads: Resilient Materials Make an Impact

September 2, 2023 | Filed under: Heavy Haul, Wheel/Rail Interaction

by Jeff Tuzik Areas of track that are subject to high impacts and dynamic loadings, such as turnouts, diamond crossings and other special trackwork, bridges and bridge approaches, high-degree curves, and highway/rail grade crossings are challenging to manage. Maintenance requires attention, resources, and significant ongoing investment. With more than 30,000 …

Quantifying The Value of Maintenance for Asset Management and Capital Planning

March 30, 2023 | Filed under: Big Data, Heavy Haul, Maintenance

By Jeff Tuzik On freight railroads, rail is generally the largest single asset, capital expenditure, and one of the primary costs. From a maintenance perspective, rail is subject to wear and defect development, both of which can be actively managed in a number of ways. From an accounting perspective, rail …

Joe Kalousec (left) and Gordon Bachinsky (right)

Steel Hardness and Wear at the Wheel/Rail Interface: Perception vs Reality

February 6, 2023 | Filed under: Heavy Haul, Rail Maintenance, Wheel/Rail Interaction

By Jeff Tuzik Railroads around the world have many standards for wheel and rail hardness, with varied combinations of interacting harder and softer materials. And while it is intuitively apparent that harder materials should wear less, last longer and generally provide a net benefit to a system, the details and …

Using Derailment Findings to Identify Derailment Risks

November 15, 2022 | Filed under: Heavy Haul, Measurement Systems

Presenters at the 2022 Wheel/Rail Interaction conference looked at heat and track configuration issues as they relate to derailment potential in heavy-grade, high-tonnage territory. They also looked at the role of Operating parameters in derailment potential, and at the findings from 20 years of investigations into derailments. By Bob Tuzik …

Running Longer Trains More Productively and Less Destructively

March 12, 2020 | Filed under: Heavy Haul, Vehicle/Track

by David C. Lester Dave Peltz is literally a rocket scientist. Although he is now Chief of Global Technology for GE Transportation’s (now Wabtec’s) Intelligent Control Systems Division in Melbourne, Fla., he spent time with the U.S. Air Force as a satellite communications systems engineer for the Mill Star satellite …

Moving to Performance-Based Automated Track Inspection: The Benefits and Hurdles Ahead

March 1, 2020 | Filed under: Heavy Haul, Measurement Systems

By David C. Lester The mileage of individual Class 1 railroad networks presents a challenge to inspectors and engineers to inspect frequently enough to keep the track in good shape and minimize the frequency of track-related derailments. Traditional inspections done by railbound geometry cars and flexible hi-rail trucks, with the …

Modelling Success and Predicting Failure at the Wheel/Rail Interface

January 18, 2017 | Filed under: Heavy Haul, Rail Grinding, Rail Maintenance, Track Geometry, Vehicle/Track, Wheel/Rail Interaction

WRI 2016, Heavy Haul Part 2 See Part 1 By Jeff Tuzik   The worst time to explore the complexities of contact mechanics, lubrication, metallurgies, carbody behavior or other aspects of wheel/rail interaction is at a derailment site. But it’s often the most instructive. As George Fowler, Senior Investigator at …

WRI 2015 — Heavy Haul Part 2: A Proactive Approach to Asset Management

December 5, 2015 | Filed under: Friction Management, Heavy Haul, Maintenance, Measurement Systems, Vehicle/Track, Wheel/Rail Interaction, Wheel/Rail Profile

By Jeff Tuzik (See Part 1) The benefits of taking a proactive approach to wheel/rail interface management are well known. Year after year at Wheel Rail Interaction conferences, speakers have extolled the benefits of moving away from costly reactive maintenance strategies. The “firefighting” method of moving from one critical exception to …

WRI 2015 — Heavy Haul Part 1: Interface Management From Micro to Macro

September 1, 2015 | Filed under: Big Data, Friction Management, Heavy Haul, Rail Cant, Rail Grinding, Wheel/Rail Interaction

 By Jeff Tuzik (Continue to Part 2) Proper management of the wheel/rail interface is a daunting process. It involves elements of design and planning, automated and manned inspection, corrective and preventive maintenance and data management, to name only a few. Managing the systemic health of a railroad means understanding processes that range from the …

Automated Inspection and the Power of Data: A Panel Discussion from WRI 2014

January 27, 2015 | Filed under: Heavy Haul, Measurement Systems

by Jeff Tuzik It wasn’t so long ago that measurement technology referred to calipers, gauges, or other tools. And it wasn’t so long ago that the data railroads collected on their properties was measured in pages instead of gigabytes. Now, the data flows constantly. Automated measurement technologies, both vehicle- and …

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