Celebrating change - Supplyside - Brief Article

Railway Age, Nov, 2001 by Thomas D. Simpson

American Heritage magazine tells us in its October 2001 edition that on Oct. 7, 1826, America's first railroad, the three-mile horse drawn Quincy Tramway, began hauling granite from a quarry to the construction site of the Bunker Hill Monument. 2001 marks the 125th anniversary of Railway Age. And RPI President Bob Matthews has announced his retirement, effective April 1, 2002, having spent 38 years in Chicago and Washington with RPI, the past 20 as president. I've been privileged to be his vice president for the past 14.

It seems that the stars or switches are aligned as we celebrate the beginning of our industry, the founding of the oldest railroad trade journal, and the retirement of a leader in the railway supply industry. Since the P in RPI stands for progress, we don't often look back at history. Permit me to do just that here.

Under Bob Matthews, RPI has shaped the railway supply industry legislative agenda for the better part of three decades. From the formation of Amtrak, through the debates that created the Three R and Four R Acts, the formation of Conrail, the Staggers Act, and arguments over locks and dams and coal slurry pipelines, Matthews has been the steady hand that has led suppliers. More recently, he has led the effort on truck sizes and weights, ICC termination, high speed rail, rail safety, and other legislative and regulatory issues so important to our nation's freight and passenger railroads.

For those of us who were introduced to this industry in the 1950s and 1960s by reading Railway Age, it hardly seems possible that today's railroads evolved from those days that today seem as ancient as the Quincy Tramway. Although the AAR Fact Book tells us there are over 5,000 locomotives manufactured before 1975 still operating, that same book tells us 20,000 locomotives move almost three times the freight their 1960s counterparts did on 172,000 fewer miles of track using 600,000 fewer employees and 600,000 fewer freight cars. Towers and semaphores, the sentinels that oversaw safe operations, have virtually disappeared, replaced by centralized dispatch centers and the promise of positive train control. The financial reporting done by Railway Age on railroads like the Lehigh Valley and Rock Island seems as ancient as the quaint concept of setout sleeping cars. Amtrak maintains the vestiges of a nationwide passenger train network that even in the 1960s demanded an Official Guide several inches thick. We can o nly imagine what the mid21st Century railroad will look like. Chances are, Railway Age will be there to report on it.

It's hard not to argue, however, that today's railroad industry is much improved. With technological advancements being developed by RPI member companies, the industry will get even better. For example, building on the productivity gains and new technologies now in place, the next generation of detectors will be able to monitor every critical part of a freight car, singling out cars that have bad wheels or failing bearings. ECP braking will make train handling more responsive. New maintenance of-way technologies and techniques will allow track to be returned to service as quickly as possible.

Passenger trains should see their day in the sun again. High speed passenger rail proposals currently on the drawing boards that could be funded by state or federally backed bonds have the potential to increase the capacity of the freight lines they propose to operate over--a win-win situation for both passenger and freight railroads. Acela Express high speed train-sets are already moving more and more passengers in the Northeast Corridor. The Midwest Regional Rail Initiative is ready to move on a procurement that will bring modern train-sets to the Midwest.

What do the legislative goals being pursued by RPI and all the technological developments have in common? Both are examples of the entire railway supply industry working together for a safer, more fiscally sound railroad industry, both on the property and in Washington, D.C.

The RPI Executive Committee has taken Bob Matthews' retirement as an opportunity for an introspective look at RPI. They've asked a subcommittee to answer some tough questions. Are we doing it right? Can we do it better? Is the time right for a merger with the Railway Supply Association? From these deliberations will come the next-generation RPI, which will serve suppliers and railroads well into the 21st Century.

While we at RPI don't spend much time looking back, perhaps there are some lessons to be learned from the past 20 years. The railway supply industry has enjoyed one legislative victory after another with Bob Matthews at the helm. We're proud of that historical record.