TODAY

August 2016

A monthly newsletter for employees of RailWorks Corporation and its subsidiaries

SPECIAL EDITIONThis issue of Rail-Works Today is ded-icated to RailWorks’ diverse range of in-teresting projects and the skilled employees who bring them to fruition. Here’s just a sampling of the company’s summer-time track and transit construction and maintenance projects performed throughout the United States and Canada.

PNR RailWorksMetrolinx – GO TransitGreater Toronto, Ontario

Welder Aaron Grobe performs turnout grinding maintenance on GO Transit/Metrolinx track in Burlington, ON. His work is part of daily track and signal maintenance provided by PNR RaiWorks on 246 miles (396 km) of track over which GO Transit travels.

August 20162

RailWorks Track SystemsIowa Department of TransportationCouncil Bluffs, IA

In coordination with Ames Construction, Fremont- and Houston-based crews worked over a 36-hour window to create a new alignment for the Iowa Interstate Railroad to access MidAmerican Energy and Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy. In total, crews tore out and constructed 1,100 feet of track on the new alignment, including removing 4,000 cubic yards of existing embankment, cutting and placing 1,000 yards of fill and placing and compacting 18 inches of sub-ballast. RailWorks constructed the track and put it back into service within 12 hours. This work is part of the larger I-29 Corridor Realignment project. Area Manager Randy Ruppert is overseeing this project with support from Superinten-dent Tony Morales.

RailWorks Track Systems, Bridge DivisionCopper Basin Railway (CBRY)Kearny, AZ

Laborers Scott Lowery and Scott Tadlock removed a track panel to convert a ballast-deck to open-deck bridge. Superintendent J.P. Onhiser spotted and directed both excavators.

PNR RailWorksMetrolinx – GO TransitMississauga, ON

While performing signal maintenance on the Weston Subdivision near the Toronto Pearson International Airport, Superintendent Nick Gaber (left) and Signal Technician Kamlesh Patel take low voltage B12 readings on signal equipment in a bungalow adjacent to the track.

August 20163

PNR RailWorksNOVA ChemicalsRed Deer, AB

From mid-April to mid-June, PNR RailWorks constructed three tracks and a lap switch at NOVA Chem-icals’ Joffre petrochemical complex as part of the company’s expansion of its polyethylene production. A Cochrane-based crew, faced with space constraints, met the challenge of installing a No. 8 switch on top of a No. 10 switch. The new lead, scale and load tracks they constructed totaled 3,200 feet. The yard tracks shown in the photo are coming off the load track. Chris Cote served as project man-ager, with Pat Russett as general superintendent and George Dwernychuk as superintendent.

RailWorks Track SystemsCHS Central Montana Co-opFt. Benton, MT

Under the direction of Project Manager Phil Paintner and Superintendent Brian Wilson, a Spokane-based crew constructed 1,800 feet of track and installed one switch and one derail for CHS’ new Kershaw fertilizer hub plant. With capacity to store about 27,000 tons of dry fertilizer, the facility is served by BNSF from a 110-car shuttle loop track, which was construct-ed by RailWorks in 2015.

PNR RailWorksMetrolinx - East Rail Maintenance Facility Whitby, ON

In a nearly CA$20 million project for the Bird-Kiewit Joint Venture and the owners of the Plenary Group, PNR RailWorks is constructing the track infrastructure for this new GO Transit maintenance facility east of Toronto. Crews are constructing 12.5 kilometers of steel-tie track and more than 2,000 track meters of direct fixation track inside buildings and installing 52 steel-tie turnouts, Under the direction of Senior Project Manager Arash Barzegar and managers Sohrab Khatabakhsh, Agstya Kaul and Lee Therrien, the project will be completed by August 2017.

Crews got off to a fast start in mid-July due in large part to the leadership of Project Manager Seify Hashemi, who passed away May 20. “Seify contributed greatly to planning and procure-ment stages of this project, which has helped us get off to a successful start.” – Arash Barzegar

August 20164

RailWorks Track SystemsRailWorks Maintenance of WaySouth Dakota Department of TransportationNear Chamberlain, SD

A Chehalis-based tie gang worked its way west on Dakota Southern Railroad’s Mitchell-Rapid City line. RailWorks Track Systems and RailWorks Maintenance of Way are upgrading the track to a Federal Railroad Administration Class 2 rating. The $14 million project is led by Project Manager Michael Rood with support from Project Manager Mark Hornby and Superintendent Scott Collins.

RailWorks Track ServicesSprague EnergyPortland, ME

A crew under the direction of Project Manager Justin Echevaria, Esti-mator Dave Pratt and Supervisor Bob Dedrick renewed a crossing and upgraded an existing turnout at this energy facility in southern Maine.

PNR RailWorksCentral Maine & Quebec Railway (CMQ)Sherbrooke, QC

Trackman Yves Deschamps, alongside Operator Francois St-Pierre, cuts rail sections in order to join track to a newly installed switch on the CMQ. Besides the switch installation, PNR RailWorks is installing ballast and surfacing track for the CMQ, a Class 3 freight railroad. The CMQ owns rail lines in Quebec, Vermont and Maine and ships forest products and other cargo from Montreal to Maine’s Atlantic coast. The project manager is Étienne Laberge. Jean Francois Bérubé is the project superintendent.

August 20165

RailWorks Track SystemsSouthern Minnesota Beet Sugar CooperativeRenville, MN

RailWorks is completing the first of three phases to upgrade the track at this plant that annually processes more than 3 million tons of locally grown sugar beets into different types of sweet-eners. Crews are remov-ing old 90-lb. track and rebuilding it with new ties and 115-lb. rail. First, they cut the grade down and installed filter fabric and drain tiles to improve the drainage. Superintendent Bill Kadrlik is respon-sible for directing this project, which wraps up in August in time for start of processing season.

RailWorks Track ServicesNew England Central Railroad (NECR)Mansfield, CT

A crew working out of the Westfield, MA, office constructed a track panel for a new crossing at Depot Road on NECR in central Connecticut. This work is part of a broader crossing rehabilitation project for the Connecticut Department of Transportation. In all, this crew will replace nine crossings and six turnouts between New London and Stafford Springs, CT. This effort is directed by Project Manager Pat Devine, Supervisor Rocky Bradway and Foreman Cody Freeman.

RailWorks Track ServicesIowa FertilizerWever, IA

Laborer Emmanuel Farrar worked with other St. Louis- and Vincennes-based crew members to bolt together a No. 11 steel turnout, one of 26 turnouts constructed at this greenfield project on the Iowa-Illinois border. Project Managers Tim Wohlever and Phil DeClue are leading this project, which will wrap up this fall.

August 20166

RailWorks Maintenance of WayCPSt. Paul, MN

RailWorks’ RGH20C rail grinder has been grinding switches and crossings on CP throughout central and northern Minnesota in July, including work at this crossing near St. Paul. Foreman Rey Moreno can monitor all vital functions of the grinder from a screen inside the cab, which displays the grinding patterns, the angle of each stone and the set-down and pickup details of each motor as they go through the sequencing cycles. Supervisor Shea Swindall is overseeing operations, which will move to North Dakota in the fall.

August 20167

RailWorks Track SystemsL.K. Comstock National TransitEl Paso StreetcarEl Paso, TX

Due to extreme daytime heat in El Paso, concrete pours are scheduled over evenings. In this picture, RailWorks employees are covering the top of the rail with protective tape to ensure no concrete adheres to the head of the rail or flangeway. RailWorks’ joint venture partner, Granite Construction, physically places the concrete, but RailWorks crews come in early to perform quality control on the track, and, once concrete is poured, remove tape and rail boot zip ties. The joint venture is constructing a 4.8-mile streetcar system between the downtown retail district and the University of Texas at El Paso. RailWorks Track Systems began track construction in July. L.K. Comstock National Transit, which will perform the systems work, is scheduled to begin field construction in February 2017. The project manager is Sean McCray.

RailWorks TransitNew York City Transit (NYCT)St. George, Staten Island, NY

Work began in 2015 on this $80-million, 30-month project to reconstruct the interlocking on the Staten Island Railway after Super Storm Sandy. In the St. George Terminal looking westbound towards Staten Island, RailWorks is constructing the new North Shore track. This terminal consists of six passenger station platforms and 12 tracks. Two new designs are being used for the first time on NYCT during this project: composite fiberglass ties and Alstom 4000 switch machine layouts, which have required adjustments due to limited clearances. Under the leadership of Project Manager Anthony D’Alessandro and General Manager Frank DeLuca, crews have addressed the challenges and have met all schedule milestones, while passenger travel has continued 24/7.

PNR RailWorksGCT DeltaportRoberts Bank, BC

Trackmen Stanley Escarbarte (in the foreground at right), along with Sam Coghlan and Frank Smith (near center) drill anchor holes for crane rail at GCT (Global Container Ter-minal) Deltaport. The Pacific Region crew is averaging 520 anchor holes daily, facilitating the replacement of seven existing rail cranes with eight Künz 40-ton, electric, wide-span cranes designed to increase intermodal yard capacity to 1.9 million TEU (20-foot equivalent units, a measurement of container capacity). In addition, as part of the reconfiguration and upgrading of the terminal’s railyard, PNR RailWorks is rearranging two sets of four tracks into a single set of seven tracks. The project— led by Project Manager Floridor Oprea, Superintendent David Pearce, Field Engineer John Rhee and Foremen Joe Lima, John Lima and Jason Klassen — is scheduled to conclude in January 2018.

August 20168

RailWorks Track SystemsFort Worth & Western RailroadDublin, TX

To put the track into service following a train derailment, Project Supervisor Lance Williams managed a crew working to rehabilitate a switch with new stock rail and switch points, including Foreman Tony Flores and Laborers Lorenzo Hernandez, Rudy Flores and Kenneth Lewis.

PNR RailWorks, Major Projects DivisionMetrolinxToronto, ON

To avoid peak GO Transit train traffic, crews are working overnight to prepare for installation of the conduit for the Union Station Rail Corridor re-signalization project. In the foreground, signalmen lift and lower the conduit trough into an excavated pit at Bala curve. In the background, a hydrovac subcontractor works ahead of the troughing installation crew to excavate the trench pit.

PNR RailWorks, Major Projects DivisionMetrolinxCambridge, ON

As part of the six-year Union Station Rail Corridor (USRC) project, PNR RailWorks is installing all new solid state interlockings and wiring 10 large 12 foot by 42 foot bungalows (signals houses). Work is being completed in a warehouse in Cambridge, ON, and will be moved to the project site in downtown Toronto as work progresses throughout 2017. Shawn Malott, manager of technical services, is directing the work. Juan Estrada serves as the project manager of the USRC project.

HSQ TechnologyEast Contra Costa BART Extension (eBART)San Francisco Bay Area, CA

In the HSQ shop in Hayward, CA, Quality Control Production Manager Hugh Carter, left, and Network Engineer Ahmed Abduljabar test a network cabinet for eBART, San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit extension to the rapidly growing east Contra Costa County. The extension involves approximately 10 miles of new track between the existing Pittsburg/Bay Point BART Station and the city of Antioch. HSQ provided the network, closed-circuit television, public address and telephone systems. HSQ’s contract is with the joint venture partnership among Stacy and Witbeck, Modern Railway Systems and Amoroso.

August 20169

RailWorks Track ServicesChicago Transit Authority Chicago, IL

As part of a 55-hour weekend outage, RailWorks crews installed timber guard on the inner track over Wabash Avenue in downtown Chicago on the elevated “Loop” track. Work included removing and replacing of all ties on the inner loop track as well as demolishing and reconstructing the existing structure over Madison Street, with track being rebuilt on both the inner and outer loop track over Madison Street. Construction Manager Tom Jorczak and Project Manager Andrew Rolf are overseeing this work with support from Safety Manager Michael Lane.

L.K. Comstock National TransitSound Transit200th Street Extension (S440)

With an expected revenue service start in late September, L.K. Comstock is focused on test-ing and the final punch list. In June, linemen John Seiler and Elton Stingley installed a midpoint anchor along the 1.6-mile elevated light rail extension. Over the duration of the 11-month project, L.K. Comstock installed the overhead catenary system, train control and signal and communications systems. Project Manager Ben Neeley and Construction Man-ager Mike Akin led the project to connect the current SeaTac Airport station and the newly built Angle Lake Station.

August 201610

L.K. Comstock National TransitDallas Area Rapid Transit (DART)Dallas, TX

On July 10 during a weekend cutover, crews worked at DART’s Ledbetter Station to tie in the overhead catenary system on the new South Oak Cliff Line Section 3 extension (to the existing Blue Line. The new 2.76-mile extension will connect South Dallas with the downtown area and is anticipated to generate growth in the area. Project Manager Zafar Arif and Construction Manager Clark Chance are leading this $21.4-million project, which is scheduled to open for revenue service in December 2016.

RailWorks Track SystemsPort of Seattle, Terminal 18Seattle, WA

Chehalis-based crews worked nights and weekends to complete this crossing-replacement project at Terminal 18 at the Port of Seat-tle. RailWorks removed the existing tracks and replaced ballast, ties, rails and concrete crossing panels across 12 truck access lanes (more than 300 feet) in front of the security gates at Terminal 18. RailWorks crews completed this project on time with no disruption to truck access. Project Foremen Jason Doll and Jim Barnes directed the crew, which the Port’s Safety Department recognized for good housekeeping, equipment inspections, operations and peer-to-peer communication.