WRI school is cool for railroaders

While school graduation ceremonies have been going on throughout the country, the attendees at the 21^st annual Wheel-Rail Interaction conference have been hard at work in the classroom learning about the principles and of wheel-rail interaction, and strategies for managing it to ensure long life for wheels and rails. Christopher Ono, a young engineer with ATS Consulting who is new to the railroad industry, said “I’m having flashbacks of being in college!,” after completing Tuesday morning sessions.

Tuesday’s work began with a two-part discussion of the fundamentals of wheel-rail interaction presented by Kevin Oldknow, a university professor and a consultant with L.B. Foster Co. He focused on the side-to-side, or lateral, motion of freight cars grinding sideways into rails. He also talked about concepts that affect curved track, such as speed, the couplers, and other forces within a moving train that must be managed carefully to reduce wear and damage to the top of rail and gage face. The gage face is the inside of a rail, the outside is known as the field side.

Gary Wolf, a rail expert and longtime industry consultant, built on Oldknow’s presentation by sharing information on the basics of track geometry, including how to measuring rail gage, or the width between rails in tracks; how to minimize damage to switch frogs; and how to measure and manage track curvature.  Kevin Conn, a research engineer at Norfolk Southern, discussed rail lubrication, which involves introducing the appropriate amount of grease to the top of rail and gage face to minimize wear, along with methods of lubrication delivery that include wayside equipment, hi-rail vehicles, and locomotive and car-mounted systems.

The balance of today’s sessions included presentations on rail grinding, vehicle truck and suspension systems, simulation modeling for vehicle/track interaction problems, and the role of machine vision in monitoring vehicle and track condition.

This is my first time attending WRI, and after two days, I am very impressed with all aspects of the event. No stodgy classroom environment or “reading” of papers here.

Look for more updates from Steve Sweeney and me throughout this week as we write about more details from Wheel Rail Interaction 2015. Up for Wednesday: Heavy Hauls, Day 1.