An emphasis on merchandise routes reflects growth - track maintenance - CSX Transportation Inc

Railway Age, May, 1994

CSXT will continue its emphasis on quality track-and-structures maintenance this year, but with numbers that won't quite match last year's totals and with somewhat of a shift in emphasis.

The basic numbers for '94 include about 200 miles of new rail to be laid and about 130,000 concrete ties to be inserted. And in '94, more of the work will be concentrated on routes with heavy merchandise traffic as opposed to lines with heavy coal traffic.

Vice President-Engineering Tom Schmidt notes that three of four major projects involving installation of new rail on concrete ties are in areas where merchandise traffic is increasing. One project lies within the Chicago-Nashville service improvement project, north of Evansville, Ind., and two are in Georgia. The fourth project is a continuation of a program in coal country, north of Corbin, Ky.

The new emphasis on merchandise routes reflects the growth that CSXT had in '93 and the continued growth it's forecasting for '94. As traffic tonnage and density have increased on these lines, Schmidt points out, so have demands for improved service reliability. And that means upgrading track to keep pace.

CSXT will continue to get its concrete ties from KSA's plant at Portsmouth, Ohio, and its rail from Pennsylvania Steel Technologies. The road gets a limited amount of premium rail from Japan, but Schmidt says that the medium-hardness rail that PST has developed, up around 330 Brinell, is adequate for most curves. CSXT has used the Pandrol E-clip on all its concrete tie installations. It's now looking at Pandrol's new switch-on, switch-off clip, and if the economics are right, Schmidt thinks that CSXT may begin using this integrated fastening system, which it began testing in Virginia last year.

As for use of concrete ties in turnouts, CSXT has installed a No. 20 swing-nose-frog turnout for test near Ford, Ky. But there are questions as to whether CSXT speed/tonnage traffic patterns will justify use of such turnouts. At this point, Schmidt thinks it more likely that the road will be using concrete ties with standard No. 20 and No. 16 turnouts.

One area where CSXT may be ahead of the industry's learning curve has to do with rail grinding and rail lubrication. CSXT learned--the hard way, Schmidt says--that if some time passes before lubricators are turned back on after rail grinding, trouble can result as trains negotiate dry-rail curves.

The CSXT answer was to mount lubricators on each end of the grinder, to lubricate the rail as the last grinding pass is made. Thus, the first train to use the track after grinding is rolling on lubricated rail. Excessive lateral forces don't build up, and since it began this lubrication practice, CSXT has had no problem with rail-rollover derailments.

CSXT is also working to improve test procedures, using its laser-system track geometry car not just for safety purposes but as an aid in evaluation and planning--taking the subjective approach out of planning as to what's needed in terms of surfacing, gauging, and curve patch work. Methods of analyzing rail test data have been changed to make the process more precise, and as one result CSXT has beefed up its curve patch program.

CSXT has beefed up its use of electric flash-butt rail welding as well. Schmidt says that the road has been pleased with Orgo-Thermit thermite welds, but that it's just the nature of the thermite weld to be a relatively high source of failures. So, it's equipped its rail gangs with electric flashbutt welders for in-track welding, one Plasser-American unit and two truck mounted units.

And if rail and crosstie suppliers can expect CSXT to be buying somewhat less this year, manufacturers of roadway-and-track machines can empathize. Purchases will be pretty much limited to selected rail- and tie-gang equipment and backhoes, as the road begins to take full advantage of the volume and quality of production at its new work equipment shop at Richmond. Employees at the shop, opened last year, are turning out equipment that performs well and costs a lot less to maintain in the field.

And, with system-gang agreements now in place, the equipment is being better utilized and the people who operate it have more job stability. One evidence: A check of payroll records shows that in 1991, only 52% of m/w employees showed up as receiving paychecks for 12 months, while 10% received pay for just three months. But last year, 75% were in the 12-month category and only about 4% in the three-month category. The goal: Stable, full time employment, which should help employer and employees.