Portec Rail’s Total Friction Management widely available
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief Following a successful pilot program on the Canadian Pacific Northern Ontario Service Area and last year’s Total Friction Management™ program rollout in Western Canada, Portec Rail Products, Inc. is now offering Total Friction Management™ to the rail industry.
Total Friction Management™ combines the resources of several Portec Rail divisions: Railway Maintenance Products Division, Portec Rail Products Ltd., and Kelsan Technologies Corp. The program features application of KELTRACK® Top of Rail friction modifier using PROTECTOR® IV application systems to control surface friction, upgrading of all gauge face lubricators, and addition of remote monitoring with Portec Rail Remote Performance Monitoring™ technology.
“Years of friction management research and development have converged with refined field-service practices into Total Friction Management™, a state-of-the-art program featuring new technologies, equipment, and practices,” says Portec Rail Products President and Chief Executive Officer Richard Jarosinski. “Since the 1920s, rail lubrication and, more recently, top-of-rail friction management have been utilized to improve rail and wheel life. Total Friction Management™ provides one of the most comprehensive approaches we’ve ever applied to reduce the stress-state of a railroad, which influences the costs of railroad maintenance and operation, thereby achieving measured substantial economic benefits for our customers. Heavy-haul freight and passenger systems worldwide are spending millions of dollars per year on fuel and investment in infrastructure components that could have been saved through Total Friction Management™, which offers the flexibility required to meet the needs and practical constraints of individual railroads. We’re committed to promoting and supporting this rail friction application and monitoring model in a way that ensures our customers obtain the economic benefits associated with it.”
The benefits of Total Friction Management™ were detailed in the November 2008 issue of Railway Age in article on CP entitled “Steady as she goes: In uncertain times the Canadian Pacific remains focused on long-term strategies” (pp. 24-32). Click HERE to read the story.
