Never too early to plan for snow: while everyone else welcomes Spring and plans Summer vacations, railroads look toward next Winter and begin planning their course of action

Railway Track and Structures, April, 2004 by Mischa Wanek

Spring is here and Summer is around the corner, but there is no time to put the subject of snow fighting on the mind's back burner. Railroads and suppliers realize this and couple the reprieve of the warmer months with the past Winter's experiences as valuable planning tools.

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"Ice can be a railroad's worst enemy," said Shannon Noble, product manager at Midwest Industrial Supply, Inc. "Most of us have experiences with a snow or ice storm, but for railroads operating in severe Winter conditions, maintenance and operational calamities happen that increase labor and operating costs dramatically."

Here is a look at what products are available to help railroads fight Winter's wrath.

A M Signal

A M Signal Systems Ltd. manufactures a number of products for snow fighting, including equipment to protect switches, hot box detectors, dragging equipment detectors and derail mechanisms. In addition, the company produces a line of specialized ductwork for snow-protection applications.

A M Signal has developed three new products for the industry. First, the company is rolling out its new switch protection product, code name "Chinook," to provide a new level of switch-clearing performance with economy. The company has enhanced its tie duct system to provide optimal airflow to protect a switch. A M Signal will also be expanding the rollout of a specialized transit switch heater geared to subway-system switches.

"We are constantly being asked to innovate our products to improve performance, while reducing cost. This is an industry theme," said Charley Best, vice president of A M Signal. "Equipment and technical standards must be constantly monitored to ensure that we design and manufacture products that are industry leading."

Fastrax[TM] Industries

Fastrax[TM] Industries, Inc., approaches rail heating as a system to provide a reliable, efficient and safe rail-heating package. The Fastrax system uses a flat heater element and spring clamp with patented designs for rail and crib heating. The flat element provides ultimate heat transfer efficiency and the flat heater with spring clamp applied allows more than 10 times the heat transfer than conventional round "tubular"-style elements, resulting in lower operating cost.

The company points out its XTC-style spring clamp prevents seizing and extends heater life by allowing its heating element to remain in contact with the rail while expanding and contracting with temperature changes.

"Our railroad customers continue to be great partners. We have a common goal to have a system that will keep the switches open whenever the trains are running," said David Reichle, president of Fastrax. "We are currently providing system enhancements that are offered for extreme conditions when unflawed performance is mandatory."

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The company continues to develop new methods to apply its products using customer guidelines. These changes include a heater rail anchorstyle spring clamp that does not require any drilling of the rail and the present "jack bolt" mounting system for its crib heaters.

Forrest Paint

Forrest Paint Co. manufactures the FireSnake[TM] rail heater system. This system was developed at the request of a roadmaster from a Class 1 railroad who was looking for a replacement for the "diesel-soaked rope" method of repairing pull-aparts in cold weather. FireSnake is designed to repair pull-aparts with a clean-burning gelled alcohol enclosed in plastic sleeves.

Forrest Paint has spent the past two years improving the product to burn longer at hotter temperatures. The company notes the product's advantages include improved worker safety and the elimination of contaminated railbeds.

"Workers have reported that they like working with FireSnake and feel safer than using diesel-soaked rope, which seems to get all over their gloves, clothes and skin, particularly when pouring diesel fuel on the burning ropes," said Russ Long, sales representative at Forrest Paint.

Hovey

Hovey Industries Ltd. manufactures a line of switch-clearing devices, including Horizontal Air Curtains and a line of Hellfire switch heaters. The Hellfire units are propane or natural-gas fired, with a direct-drive electric motor, impeller and a complete air-distribution system to ensure the hot air gets to where it is needed. These heaters can be started manually at the site, remotely by the dispatcher or automatically by an Energy Management System using a contact closure triggered by ambient conditions.

"The major advantage to this type of snow-clearing device is that it melts all of the snow in and around the switch and evaporates the resulting water," said Michael Wilcox, director of sales and marketing at Hovey.

Hovey's main product line is snow-clearing devices and it is continually striving to improve the reliability and efficiency of its products, while reducing cost and minimizing the time required to perform routine maintenance.

"We are currently going through an R & D project to further redesign our heaters and HACs in order to reduce the physical size and costs, while maintaining the critical factors of performance, reliability, reduced fuel consumption and high efficiency. This has resulted in our newest switch heater, which was specifically designed for yard applications and shorter switch points," said Wilcox.