RECo Marks 40th Anniversary

Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief
image description

Railway Equipment Company (RECo) in 2020 is marking 40 years in business. “Since our humble beginnings in 1980 developing switch heaters for local Minneapolis railroads to innovating crossing gate arms and lamps for the industry, RECo has lead the charge in developing new technology,” Chief Operating Officer Russ Gehl notes.

“Our cutting-edge manufacturing capabilities have continued to grow with environmentally friendly track switch heaters, efficient and California-compliant switch mode battery chargers, track switch covers, snow clearing accessories and remote asset monitoring,” RECo Vice President and General Manager Joe Ashley adds. “We attribute our success to the support of our customers, and look forward to continuing our commitment of providing safe and reliable rail solutions with exceptional customer service.”

Among RECo’s more innovative offerings is Rail-NET™ remote asset monitoring, which addresses a growing technology application in the railway industry. Railroads have assets that range in accessibility—from easy via wayside roads, to difficult, having to receive track authority to access them via a high-rail truck. Maintenance, inspection and upkeep can “prove difficult when resources are limited and conditions are dangerous.”

Rail-NET™ is described as “a remote monitoring system to collect and circulate pertinent asset operating data to the right personnel at the right time. Railroad defined data is collected via RECo’s various interface modules that monitor a variety of analog and digital inputs. Data is then transmitted to a secure online portal for processing and accessibility. The portal allows the user to customize the data presentation as well as when an alert should be sent out and to whom. Customization of asset tracking and alerts are sent whenever an asset is operating outside normal parameters. Railroads can remotely determine the status of their equipment and prioritize their responses to better utilize their maintenance resources. With remote monitoring, a site visit is no longer needed to determine the problem. Instead, information provided through remote monitoring ensures the maintenance personnel are equipped to correct the situation before traveling to the asset.”

Tags: , ,