"Rather than battle over the issue, the American Trucking Associations and the Association of American Railroads effectively called a truce in one of Washington's longest-running and most-expensive lobbying battles and instead will spend their lobbying time and effort to promote mutually beneficial freight industry issues.

"The two industries announced at a joint news conference that they will work to persuade Congress to provide greater funding for all freight purposes, such as port security, faster border crossing clearance and 'intermodal' truck-rail terminals. They will also work to mitigate environmental rules that might prove costly to both industries, such as diesel fuel emission standards."

Over the years, REMSA and REMSA member companies have been in the forefront of the campaign to keep bigger trucks off the highways.

Lots of Railroad Activity on Capitol Hill
by Tom Simpson, Executive Director
Washington RSI

 

It's shaping up to be a busy summer for the Washington, DC, railroad community as virtually every legislative issue that impacts our industry is in play.

 

Tops on the Class I railroad legislative agenda is repeal of the 4.3-cent deficit-reduction fuel tax that costs them some $170 million annually. The repeal has been included in broad-based energy legislation that is moving through both the House and the Senate, albeit slowly.

Pressure is mounting in both Houses to create some kind of tax mechanism to allow investment in rail infrastructure, with several proposals having been floated for consideration. The Railway Supply Institute (RSI) has its own proposal to create a Rail Infrastructure Finance Corporation that would be authorized to issue tax credit bonds for capital investment in rail infrastructure. The railroads fear that the money generated from the fuel tax would be used to create a railroad trust fund to fund the infrastructure improvements. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) and RSI are opposed to such a proposal. Both organizations are also opposed to placing a sales tax on the sale of new freight and passenger cars as well as new locomotives to help fund a trust fund.

 

Reauthorization of TEA­21, which expires September 30, is also on the legislative agenda. While primarily used to fund highway projects, TEA­21 also funds, through Section 130, grade crossing improvements; provides several billion dollars for transit systems; and could be a vehicle for changes in truck size and weight limits. Each of these issues is in play and, if Congress votes against our industry, we could lose the dedicated grade crossing funding, see cuts in transit funding and see increases in truck size and weight limits.

 

Class I railroads, the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois have announced a $1.5-billion plan to fix the railroad infrastructure in Metropolitan Chicago and speed trains through the busy city. The plan envisions eliminating grade crossings, building flyovers, upgrading the signal systems and otherwise updating the rail infrastructure. Freight railroads have pledged $210 million towards getting the job done. The rest will be funded by a combination of state and federal funding. If funded, the improvements will be completed by 2010.

Amtrak's future continues to be debated as our nation's intercity passenger railroad has asked for $1.8 billion in federal subsidies this year and has outlined a five-year plan to rebuild the northeast corridor, purchase equipment and rebuild wrecked cars totaling an additional $8 billion. Some in Congress are skeptical of the need for a nationwide passenger rail network, but Amtrak seems to enjoy bipartisan support in both Houses.
Shortline railroads continue to search for methods to fund infrastructure improvements to handle 286,000-lb. cars.

Also looming is potential reregulation of the railroad industry as part of Surface Transportation Board reauthorization and expansion of the Federal Railroad Administration's safety role into the railway supply industry through reauthorization of FRA's safety program.

Depending on how Congress votes, each legislative issue is either a positive for our industry or fraught with peril. Each will keep the AAR, ASLRRA and RSI staffs busy through the hot summer and into the fall.

Check out the New Look of the REMSA Website

 

REMSA's website recently took on a new look to present a better face to Internet visitors. The site still contains a wealth of information about the organization and what it does, including a detailed member listing of company contacts, products and services, E-mail and street addresses and website information and topics such as the benefits of membership and the latest word on upcoming exhibits. Stop by www.remsa.org to see for yourself.

Hougen Manufacturing Offers the Hole Package

 

Hougen Manufacturing, Inc. of Flint, MI, has found its market niche basically making holes and has been doing that successfully for half a century.

Company founder Doug Hougen, Sr., was an inventor who held more patents than Thomas Edison did. In fact, he invented the first battery-powered electric doorbell. While working as an instructor at General Motors Institute, he was asked to help with a problem of removing car panels damaged during the assembly process. Thinking that you can1t drill a spot weld, but you can cut a ring around it, he invented a spot weld remover. This product, one of the company's first, is still made today.

"When Hougen introduced annular cutter technology to holemaking nearly a half century ago, it reinvented 'portable' drilling," said Jim Kaiser, brand manager, Trak-Star Railroad Products. The hollow Hougen Rotabroach® Cutters reduced drilling torque and machine power requirements so much that Hougen developed new portable magnetic drills that weighed in at less than one-third of existing drills.  Over time, portable magnetic drills were developed that could produce holes up to 3-1/16-inch diameters. Many stationary machine tools would have trouble with such a feat, yet Hougen's portable drills and annular cutter made it possible."

Most of Hougen's business today is in the fabrication industries, such as steel erection and fabrication. Other customers include electrical equipment manufacturers and even toymakers.

 "What we bring to the table is innovation in holemaking. How do you make a hole very quickly and very efficiently?" Kaiser noted. "That's what has allowed us to adapt our tools to the rail-cutting market. The introduction of our tools to the rail industry some 10 years ago pretty well turned the industry upside-down in terms of how they produce holes in track. Prior to our arrival, they were using the flatbits, which were both costly and time-consuming and involved very heavy equipment. We were able to come into the market with a power tool weighing about 50 pounds that could produce a hole in about 20 seconds as opposed to units weighing from 80 to 100 pounds that took as long as five minutes to finish the holes.

"Also, the amount of heat generated by the older process actually tempered the material surrounding the hole, allowing it to become brittle and causing stress cracks in the rail," he said. "With our tools, the temperature of the rail doesn't rise more than 35 degrees from its ambient temperature. It's a very cool cut. So you don't have the problems you might have with all that heat-affected material around that hole."

Kaiser continued: " We've attempted to bring innovation to our product at every turn. We recently came out with what we call the Twister products. Twister is designed to ease changing out the cutting tool. It's kind of a bayonet style where you plug the tool in, give it a turn, and it's locked in place. You simply reverse that to take the tool out. It's a very quick, easy way for the crews out in the field to change the product without too much trouble."

Why is Hougen a part of REMSA?
"Since we've been in the fabrication industry for at least 30 years, we've gone through an evolution in how we approach the marketplace," Kaiser said. "Not only do we advertise in publications, but we're also very big into trade show exhibits. We do approximately 12-14 shows a year, and we've been doing that for the past 25 years or so. So for us, it was just a natural selection to partner with an organization like REMSA because we know the value of an organization like this in terms of getting to our customers very quickly and very efficiently, and getting the word out. REMSA has allowed us to very inexpensively meet with our customers in the railroad industry to talk about our products."

World Rail Expo Another Dazzler in Dallas

Heading back to Big D for the second time in the young 21st Century showed itself to be a wise move as World Rail Expo proved a rip-snortin' success. With the return of outdoor exhibits complementing the indoor exhibits, a real Texas hoe-down and ample opportunity to network and schmooze, participants gave the event high marks.

And the concurrent gathering of the International Heavy Haul Association helped make the gathering even more successful for both organizations.

"REMSA's World Rail Expo was a big success," said Tom Dickey of ESCO, who chaired the Exhibit Committee. "Participation was great, given the economy and the Iraq War. The indoor and outdoor exhibits provided our members with opportunities to market their products to a variety of customers, with more than 1,800 attending. REMSA signed up 33 new companies as members of the organization and saw participation from more than 13 countries.

 "The International Heavy Haul Association's Strategic Specialist Session and TTCI held a concurrent conference with our exhibit and helped to attract this diverse group," Dickey pointed out. "Darvin Kelly, DART senior manager, track and right-of-way, helped to make the outdoor exhibit a great experience and we cannot thank Darvin enough for his cooperation. Special thanks to the REMSA staff, Judi Meyerhoeffer and Helen Pape, for all their hard work in making this a great show. I would also like to thank the Exhibit Committee who volunteered their time to help make all this happen: Jon Reilly, Ron Olds, Bob Tuzik, Dennis Wilcox, George Sokulski and Rich Zemencik.

"We are already working on our next exhibit, scheduled for Louisville, KY, in 2006," Dickey noted. "REMSA and AREMA are working closely to provide our industry with the best venue for a technical conference with a product display that will show the latest technology in the railroad industry."

 REMSA President Dennis Wilcox of Pandrol USA, LP, also expressed gratitude to those who made the show a success.

"First, I'd like to thank our Executive Director, Judi Meyerhoeffer, and her assistant, Helen Pape, for all of their hard work, and Tom Dickey of ESCO and all members of the Exhibit Committee. Their efforts enabled us to have an outstanding show," Wilcox said.

"We could not have succeeded without the proper facilities to hold this exhibit and I want to thank Dallas Area Rapid Transit and Darvin Kelly for the use of their rail yard for our outdoor exhibits," he noted. "More than 1,800 people attended World Rail Expo 2003, which is a testament to its success. In addition, I heard a lot of comments concerning the high quality of the people who attended. We definitely had the decision-makers from the railroads at the show.

 "We were pleased that the International Heavy Haul Association and REMSA could hold our events simultaneously in Dallas and we are looking forward to getting back together with AREMA in 2006 in Louisville," Wilcox said.

Paper, or Electronic? Mainline to Go Digital

REMSA officers and staff hope you enjoy and learn from your issues of REMSA Mainline. In the interest of saving the association postage costs and reducing the incoming paper load a bit for members, the board is considering offering the newsletter via E-mail.

However, board members need member feedback. If you are interested in receiving Mainline via E-mail, please respond to home@remsa.org and let us know.

More details will be available soon.

REMSA welcomes 34 new member companies

 

Thirty-four companies from around the globe joined the association so far this year. Of the total, three are located in Canada; two in Australia; and one each in Germany and Italy.
The new members are:

€ American Concrete Products Company, Bob Augason, Sales Department.
€ Cembre Inc., Walt Antrim, Sales Department.
€ Cherokee Truck Equipment, Kal M. Dawson, General Manager.
€ Curley1s Machine Works, Inc., Darlene "Shortie" Kiefer, President.
€ Draco Spring Manufacturing Co., Brian Ross, Quality Assurance, Sales.
€ ENSCO, Inc., Kevin Kesler, Manager Rail Programs.
€ H. B. Fuller Company, John W. Thomas, Market Development Manager.
€ Giken America Corp., John Santos, Marketing Manager.
€ Hegenscheidt-MFD GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), Markus von Reden, Director Marketing & Sales.    
€ Heiden, Inc., Shell Brice, Product Manager-Crane Accessories.
€ Jesco Resources Inc., Todd Shearrer, Field Technical Service Manager.
€ Kinshofer Liftall, Inc. (Canada), Scott D. Reynvaan, Sales Manager.
€ Lethbridge Iron Works Co. Ltd. (Canada), Bart Davies, Vice President, Production & Sales.
€ Meridian Rail Track Products (formerly ABC-NACO), Marc Trani, Midwest Regional Sales Manager.
€ Midwest Industrial Supply Inc., Mr. Shannon Noble, Product Manager.
€ New York Air Brake Corp., Marshall G. Beck, Senior Vice President of Marketing & Sales.
€ Norfast, Inc., Jerome D. Hines, Vice President Sales & Marketing.
€ Omega Industries, Inc., George Apostolou, Operations Manager.
€ Rail Sciences, Inc., Elizabeth Curl, Director.
€ Railroad Solutions, Doug Delmonico, President.
€ Railroad Tools and Solutions LLC, C. Wayne Cash, Owner.
€ Reflexite Americas, Victor Grin, Marketing Manager.
€ Rosengarten, Smith & Associates, Inc., Vince L. Lara, Associate Director.
€ Sefac, Inc., Denise Louder, Vice President, Engineering.
€ SKF Roller Bearing Industries, Paul Prici, Director Quality Assurance.
€ Stanrail Corp., Lyn English, Sales Manager.
€ Sun Source, Troy Zieske, Marketing Specialist.
€ Tata Consultancy Services, Sunil Anvekar, Business Development Manager.
€ Tecnogamma Spa (Italy), Ettore Casagrande, President.
€ Teknis Electronics Pty. Ltd. (Australia), Keith Bladon, Managing Director.
€ thermOweld, Bill Morrissey, Business Director.
€ V & H Inc., Arnie Thoreson, Marketing Director.
€ Vipac Engineers & Scientists Ltd. (Australia), Dr. David C. Rennison, Managing Director.
€ Wayside Inspection Devices Inc. (Canada), Denis D'Aoust, Engineer.