RAILROAD TIES 2013E12 SUNDAY, MARCH 17, 2013 THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH

TThhaannkk yyoouu ff oo rr yyoouurr bbuuss ii nn ee ss ss !!Your Security is our Priority!

318 East FrontNorth Platte, NE

308-534-2660www.alslockandsafe.com

INSIDE THE ENGINE

After the electricityis generated, it isfed into tractionmotors, which op-

erate each set of wheels.These traction motors arebuilt around an axle thatconnects the wheel set,capped off with bearings,which is what can be seenfrom the outside.

Each set of wheels hasits own motor. On typicallocomotives, there are sixtraction engines and sixsets of tires. Up front, inthe cab, the engineer hastwo choices, forwards orbackwards.

“[The motors] are justlike a drill motor,” MikeCook said. “They go for-ward and backwards, justlike an electric drill.”

The motors also have theability to produce energy ifa train is going downhill,which also helps withspeed control and braking,Cook said.

Sand is used for tractionin the wheels in order toget the train started.

“You don’t have any re-sistance [with steel wheels

on steel tracks],” MarkDavis said. “In your car,you have resistance fromthe rubber on your tire andthe asphalt on the ground.Here it’s the thickness of adime, so it’s a very low re-sistance.”

Braking systems havevaried over the years, andseveral different breakingsystems are still in use byUnion Pacific.

One of those is the pneu-matic braking, which is

the main braking systemof the locomotive

The traction motors alsogive locomotives the abilityto have a dynamic brakingsystem, which acts similar-ly to a “Jake brake” on asemi. As the wheels rotate,the traction motors use thefriction to create energy,which can help control thespeed of the locomotive, aswell as help brake the loco-motive in downhill situa-tions.

Traction motors and wheels

The view of a locomotive wheel from the outside. Thebearing and wheel are connected by an axle to the wheel onthe opposite side of the locomotive. Built around that axle isa traction motor which propels the locomotive.

Andrew Bottrell / The North Platte Telegraph

Speaking the language

RAIL YARDTERMS

Behind “x” trimsTrims are sorted

tracks of cars in ahump yard pulled out ofthe sorting tracks andcoupled to make up out-bound trains. A yard“behind on trims” is be-

hind on its outboundtrain building.

Trim leadTrack used to move

cars from the bowl(sorting tracks) to thedeparture yard, wheresorted cars are coupledinto an outbound train.

Building trainsAssembling sorted

cars in proper sequencefor outbound depar-ture.

EnroutesCount of trains des-

tined to a particularyard or terminal thatneed to be switched.“Strong enroutes” indi-cates a forecast forheavy switching work-

load for that day.HumpedCount of cars that are

sorted in a hump yard.TrimmedCount of sorted cars

built into outboundtrains.

TRAIN TERMSTrains held out The number of trains

held on line (out) due tolack of room in the des-tination yard. When ayard’s receiving tracksare occupied, the termi-nal “holds trains out.”

Trains holdingA count of trains be-

ing held either for con-gestion or for a Mainte-nance of Way curfew.Trains holding also canrefer to the HDC TrainsHeld Report, used totrack trains that are notrun on schedule due toa critical resource, suchas power, crew or trackcongestion.

Trains drug outTrains moved from

origin yard to a sidingbetween terminals tomake room in the yardto continue to buildtrains.

Trains staging

Trains holding at apoint on line for releaseto move into a terminal.

Trains slottedNumber of trains a

terminal can process ina given period of time,usually every 24 hours.

Trains blocked on lineTrains stopped be-

tween primary termi-nals and switched tofurther define the carblocks an to facilitatehandling at the destina-tion terminal.

Trains tied downTrains holding on

line for relief crews,Maintenance of Waycurfew, slot/spacinginto terminal. Powerusually is still on thetrains.

Trains laid downTrains with no ar-

rival plan for a termi-nal. The crews havebeen likely removedand power has likelybeen removed.

Trains spacingTime spacing in

which a terminal/sub-division can handletrains, such as one coaltrain every 30 minutes,one manifest everyhour.

Trains yardedNumber of trains a

terming has yarded in a24-hour period.

Trains walkingWhen a track defect,

such a broken rail, hasbeen determined by theEngineering Depart-ment to be passable at“walking speed.”

Trains flaggingWhen a train crew

has authority grantedby a dispatcher to“flag” past a signal thatis in stop indicationdue to a defect/event.

Trains processedNumber of trains op-

erated through a de-fined area or terminal

during a specified timeperiod.

ENGINEERINGTERMS

CurfewA time period sched-

uled in advance whenno trains operate, al-lowing maintenanceemployees to work ontrack or signals.

WindowsSame as curfew, but

also can mean holdingtrains for things otherthan Maintenance ofWay curfews, such asoperating passengertrains.

Pull apartWhen two sections of

rail separate (pullapart) at a point wherethey are joined. Railshrinks in extremelycold weather. When theshrinkage pressure getstoo severe, rail will pullapart at its weakestpoint, usually at a joint.

Cross-oversTrack that joins two

main tracks. When atrain moves from onemain track to another it“crosses over.”

DiamondTrack intersection

where one track can beused at a time.

Angle barsShort pieces of steel

used to join track sec-tions to other sectionsor track structures. Anangle bar is placed oneach side of the sec-tions being joined. Twoholes are drilled intoeach end of the anglebar and also throughtrack sections. Fourbolts with lockingwashers are fastenedthrough the holes tojoin the sections. Anglebars also are used to

Telegraph staff reports

Like any industry, therailroad has its own lan-guage that may seem in-comprehensible to out-siders.

To a teenager, a cur-few dictates when timethey must be home. Onthe railroad, a curfew isa time scheduled whenno trains operate, givingmaintenance crews achance to work ontracks or signals.

Classic rock fansmight identify them-

selves as “Deadheads,” atribute to the band “TheGrateful Dead.” In rail-road-ese, “deadhead” isthe transportation of acrew to or from a train.

“Coupled and uncou-pled” means somethingentirely different to amarriage counselorthan it does to a rail-roader.

Naturally many of theterms related to the railindustry describe whatcan or needs to be donewith trains. Trains maybe blocked on line, laiddown or tied down.They can also be walk-ing or yarded.

Get some insight into thecomplex world of rail lingo

Please see SPEAK, Page E13

RAILROAD TIES 2013 SUNDAY, MARCH 17, 2013 E13THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH

BY ANDREW BOTTRELLabottrell@nptelegraph.com

In Nebraska,Wyoming, Kansas andColorado, the BaileyYard rail service unitmaintains more than1,800 miles of rail.

“We test it ultrasoni-cally on this corridortwice a month,” GaryPeterson, manager oftrack projects forUnion Pacific Railroadat Bailey Yard, said.

Today, tracks are 56.5gauge, almost univer-sally. That width,measured in inchesfrom the inside of onerail to the inside of theopposite rail, mightdate back centuriesago when Romans be-gan to use tracks andhandcarts to transportgoods, Peterson said.

“It’s from the width

of two horses — that’sstandard track gauge,”Peterson said.

Soil compositionwas a very importantcomponent to earlyrail construction, buttoday, Peterson saidthey completely builda new base when in-stalling new track.

“We [dig] down farenough that we don’thave to deal with it,”he said. “But whenthey built thetranscontinental, itwas different.”

In the early days ofthe railroad, the tieswere laid on flatground, and the railwas laid on top of that.Over the years, UPRR,and other railroads,have refined theprocess.

“As we learn whatcauses derailments or

failures, we inventprocesses or takeprocesses from otherareas,” Mark Davis di-rector of corporate re-lations and media forUPRR, said.

The familiar triangleshape of a train trackyou see today in Ne-braska, with the bed,the rock, followed bythe ties and the rail,takes it shape fordrainage and stabilitypurposes, Petersonsaid.

“It’s load bearingand you always wanttrack to drain,” Peter-son said.

Ironically, on one ofUPRR’s other mainlines in Texas, theyhave the opposite prob-lem. Because the soilis made up of clay, theland cracks, and therock base can becomeunstable. To combatthat, tracks are built tosustain what littlemoisture the environ-ment provides.

The rock used in theBailey Yard service

make temporary re-pairs to a broken sec-tion of rail until it canbe replaced.

FrogsHeavy metal flange-

ways that connect trackto switches, diamonds,cross-overs and othertrack structures. Frogsguide wheels from onetrack structure to an-other.

WashoutWhen a flood or a

flash flood washes awayballast and roadway un-der track.

CTC outageWhen track signals

(Centralized TrafficControl) are disabledand do not allow signalsto be displayed fortrains.

ShooflyTemporary track used

to avoid an obstacle thatblocks movement on thenormal track section.Shooflies are often con-structed to allow tempo-rary passage aroundmudslides while theyare removed.

SpurShort, usually dead-

end section of trackused to access a facilityor loading/unloadingramp. It can also beused to temporarily

store equipment.

TERMS FORPLACES

LATCLos Angeles Trans-

portation CenterICTFIntermodal Container

Transfer Facility atLong Beach, Calif.

OMCOmaha Metro Com-

plex (trackage withinarea defined by theSouth Omaha-Fremont-Missouri Valley trian-gle)

PRBPowder River Basin,

in northeast Wyoming,a principal source ofUP-hauled coal.

BRCBetline Railroad of

Chicago (Chicago Short-line Railroad)

A&SAlton and Southern

(St. Louis ShortlineRailroad)

TRRATerminal Railroad As-

sociation (St. LouisShortline Railroad)

HB&T or HBTHoustohn Belt Termi-

nal (Houston ShortlineRailroad)

EJ&Elgin, Joliet and East-

ern (Chicago AreaShortline Railroad)

Gothenburg AEI Reader

An Automated Equip-ment Identificationreader located east ofNorth Platte that pro-duces train volumecounts through one ofUP’s busiest corridors.

O’Fallons ScannerAn Automated Equip-

ment Identificationreader located just westof North Platte. Thesereaders count trains ar-riving and departingNorth Platte, as well ascoal trains moving toand from the PowderRiver Basin.

TRANSPORTATIONTERMS

Power shortNot enough power

coming into the termi-nal to protect the sched-uled outbound depar-tures.

Crews shortNot enough crews are

available to protectscheduled outboundsand any deadheads/dog-catch events.

Tight on powerPower is adequate to

protect departures, butsome delays may occurdue to late arrival andservicing of locomo-tives.

SPEAKfrom Page E12

It’s all about the railsUnion Pacific Railroad’stracks are more high-techthan they might appear

area for the rail base isgranite, which comesfrom several places, in-cluding Granite, Wyo.,Little Rock, Ark., andGads Hill, Mo., ironi-cally the site of theJesse James’ gang’sfirst train robbery.

Granite is used be-cause of it’s hardness,and ability to freezeand thaw without dete-riorating.

“You’re not only sup-porting the track, youdon’t want it movingall over the place, too,”Peterson said.

Ties range in lengthfrom eight feet to 25feet, based on the typeof rail it is meant tosupport. Switches re-quire the longest tie,Peterson said. Theyalso vary in the type ofwood used. Harderwoods don’t hold thepressure treatment aswell as softer woods,but generally lastlonger. Concrete tiesare also used in theservice unit. Steel tiesare used in someplaces along UPRRtracks.

Peterson said thatwood ties have about a25-year life span.

The Bailey Yardservice unit usesstrictly 141-pound railprofile, one of theheaviest weight rail inuse today, because onemillion gross tons offreight ships throughBailey Yard every day.

“You can’t replace itall the time, it’s got tohold up,” Petersonsaid. “[Rail profile]varies on what you’re

Please see SPEAK, Page E14

Please see RAIL, Page E14

Railroad tracks have three basic components, the base, made up of granite rock; theties, which can be either wood, concrete or steel; and the rails, made of steel manufac-tured in Japan.

Andrew Bottrell / The North Platte Telegraph

RAILROAD TIES 2013E14 SUNDAY, MARCH 17, 2013 THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH

We Appreciate You!

10% OFFEntire Purchase

UPRR Employees Onlyexcludes meter mail and copy cards

using the track for.”Before coal trains

ran through BaileyYard, Peterson saidthey used 133-poundrail profile. Europeantrains companies usesmaller rail profiletrack.

Typical rail piecesare shipped in fromNippon, Japan, wherethey are manufacturedin 80-foot spans. Peter-son said Nippon Steelis trying to manufac-ture longer lengths forshipping, as much as350 feet.

Once at Bailey Yard,the rail is shipped towhere it needs to go byrail and then offloadedwhere it’s needed.

RAILSfrom Page E13

Crews are tightSufficient crews are

available but rest is-sues may cause delaysto calls.

UDEStands for undesired

emergency when airpressure containedwithin the air brakessystem is released, re-sulting in the applica-tion of train brakes.

Air problemsAny issues associat-

ed with the train lineor air brake system, in-cluding leaking gasket,frozen or blocked trainline, stuck triple valve.

RecrewCrew used to bring a

train into terminalwhen the original crewhas insufficient time tocomplete the trip and asecond crew is neces-sary.

Pool crew baseNumber of crews de-

termined by volumesand agreements to pro-tect traffic levels atspecific terminals.

Extra boardUnassigned engi-

neers or trainmenused to protect vacan-cies or make up extracrews as needed to pro-tect higher traffic lev-els.

Sidings blockedAuxiliary tracks nor-

mally used to holdtrains/cuts of carsspacing/staging forterminals.

DeadheadMovement of a crew

from one point to an-other or to a train by avehicle transportationor train.

Red flag warningsWeather alerts is-

sued by a contactweather service to ad-vise of situations af-fecting operations andrequiring actions.

Broncos in thecanyon

Motor vehicles,equipped with HyRailattachments enablingthem to ride on rails,operated by Engineer-ing employees pa-trolling track in theFeather River Canyonduring rain or snow:They look for slides,washouts and any un-safe track condition.Broncos operate justone mile ahead oftrains under specialrules and do not usetrack and time.

Tonnage is currentNo trains holding,

switching is current,no delays expected totraffic, resources areadequate to protect op-erations.

Relay powerChanging out a

train’s locomotives tocorrect a situation,such as bad order en-gines or wrongtype/class of units forservice.

SPEAKfrom Page E13

Railroad tracks have three basic components, the base,made up of granite rock; the ties, which can be eitherwood, concrete or steel; and the rails, made of steel man-ufactured in Japan.

Andrew Bottrell / The North Platte Telegraph

Time and

Temperature532-6007

YOUR SOURCE since 1881w w w . n p t e l e g r a p h . c o m