Trains.com

5 reasons why WRI is right for you

Posted by Steve Sweeney
on Thursday, April 17, 2014

Trains is sponsoring the 20th annual Wheel Rail Interaction conference. As official media partner for this event, we want to start our coverage by offering five really good reasons for attending:

1.)  Wheels and rails are important.

Train wheels interact with rails every day. It’s only in the past 20 or 25 years, though, that engineers and railroaders have begun to understand that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to these staples of railroading. In some ways, even bigger advances, from high speed rail corridors to 315,000-lbs. freight cars depend on railroads knowing wheels and rails better than they ever have. In an industry where marginal improvements are measured in lives and millions of dollars, the attention WRI places on wheels and rails is long overdue.

2.)  Meet people who know.

In rail journalism, as it is for the rest of the industry (and life), meeting people who are knowledgeable, helpful, and willing to share is the fastest way to learn. At Wheel Rail Interaction, the helpful individuals also include world-renowned experts in fields ranging from rail neutral temperature and subsurface micro-cracks to wheel creep and rail cant. Non-experts who attend to learn themselves are often top managers and directors in railroad mechanical, engineering, and maintenance-of-way departments, yet even they are go-to professionals in their own fields.

It’s little surprise that individuals quoted in Trains’ “Technology” columns are often WRI attendees, even when they discuss topics unrelated to rails and wheels.

3.)  Winter has been too long.

Yes, it has. And this year’s Wheel Rail Interaction conference will be held from May 5 to 8 in Henderson, Nev. With fewer than three weeks to go, sunny skies and desert breezes in suburban Las Vegas will be a welcome change to the freezing cold and snow too many of us just had this week. Combined with good air fares and hotel rates, it is possible to fly in for a day or two during an otherwise hectic week. If you stay longer, you can join me on a tour of Hoover Dam.

4.)   It’s not too big, yet.
Big industry conferences often host thousands of people. Then there is WRI, which hosted about 220 people in Chicago in 2013. Conference attendees can expect to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner with new railroaders and old friends, yet still have time for meaningful conversations with people who know (see No. 2 above).

5.)  WRI is exclusive.
No other conference in the world offers the courses, seminars, contacts, and information on wheels and rails that attendees have access to at Wheel Rail Interaction. Need proof? One whole day is devoted to Transit systems’ wheel and rail issues, with seven presentations on managing wheel noise, using RFID technology for managing track and locating problems, rail milling, and the latest in automated track inspection systems.

Interested in joining us in May? Good. Look forward to seeing you there!

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