Day 1 of WRI 2014, rail transit: remember to talk (to each other)

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - An old saying goes, "Every time you point a finger, three more are pointing right back at you."

So it goes that before blaming other railroad departments, an agency, or a contractor, engineers at the Wheel-Rail Interaction conference were reminded to check first for more basic human issues.

The reminder came from railroaders' case studies of operating passenger and transit systems in the United Kingdom and in California. In the stories told about the cases, there was a common lack of communication between the humans operating or designing the railroad leading to other, bigger problems -- derailments, broken rails, and angry passengers.

Case 1: In the U.K., one passenger service ordered cars that came with a wheel gauge 3 millimeters wider than the track gauge, resulting in wheel shavings spread throughout the system. Another passenger service had such bad vibrations caused by poor wheel-rail interaction that trains were regularly dubbed "cappuccino expresses," because a cup of coffee left on a table in the train would be frothy within 30 minutes of departing the station.

Case 2: In California 20 years ago, presenters say, a new transit system was designed by two divisions of one consulting company. The track and structures followed then nationally accepted guidelines for light-rail and streetcars, while the vehicles' trucks and wheelsets were built to commuter or heavy-rail standards. The result was a colossal mismatch that burned through wheelsets in 20,000 route miles instead of a more acceptable 400,000.

For the maintenance failings, missed expectations, and "finger-pointing" cultures described, the overall solution was unambiguous, "Talk to each other, and solve problems."

Gordon Bachinsky, founder of Wheel-Rail Interaction and related Wheel-Rail Seminars put it succinctly, "It's clear to me after 20 years, we don't have a lack of technology. We have to have good relationships" to share the technology, Bachinsky said.

What's next on Day 2? Fundamentals of wheel-rail interaction; wheel creep, and rolling contact fatigue.