TTCI’s Stabler Stepping Down
Transportation Technology Center, Inc., President Lisa Stabler has announced her retirement, after more than a decade of service at the wholly owned Association of American Railroads (AAR) subsidiary.
Transportation Technology Center, Inc., President Lisa Stabler has announced her retirement, after more than a decade of service at the wholly owned Association of American Railroads (AAR) subsidiary.
The Federal Railroad Administration’s Transportation Technology Center (TTC) has reached a service milestone: 50 years of railroad research, testing and training.
RAILWAY AGE MAY 2021 ISSUE: As part of the Association of American Railroads’ (AAR) Strategic Research Initiatives program, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) investigated the effects of tread braking on wheel wear and tread surface damage by monitoring the performance of three articulated five-unit well cars and five coal hopper cars with disabled brakes operating in otherwise normal revenue service conditions.
The Transportation Technology Center, Inc., (TTCI) reported April 27 that it would develop a new engineering and laboratory facility in Pueblo, Colo.
The 26th annual event will feature projects driving innovation and the implementation of advanced technology to improve North American railroad operations.
Amtrak has released a video progress report on testing its next-generation high-speed Acela trainset prototype at the Transportation Technology Center, Inc., (TTCI) in Colorado.
RAILWAY AGE, OCTOBER 2020 ISSUE: The railroad industry has been monitoring various aspects of rail vehicle health for decades using wayside detectors. These detectors have improved the operational safety and efficiency of the North American rail network, but there are drawbacks: Wayside detectors must be strategically placed to maximize traffic coverage, for example. What if, rather than getting an “inspection” once every eventual passing of a wayside detector, it was possible to continually monitor rail vehicle health in operations?
During a recent two-year period, engineers from Norfolk Southern (NS) and Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) evaluated rail performance on four curves on the NS Whitethorne District, near Roanoke, Va., during two periods of 39 to 40 MGT (million gross ton) traffic accumulation. The objective was to document RCF (rolling contact fatigue) development, rail friction, and rail wear as influenced by the TORFC (top-of-rail friction control) materials NS currently uses. The rails were ground at the beginning of the test and again halfway through the test in April 2017, with the intent of producing similar conditions, after which a 39-40 MGT monitoring effort commenced, each with a different TORFC product.(1,2) The curve rails differed by rail mill, age and wear.
RAILWAY AGE, JULY 2020 ISSUE, TTCI R&D: Draft systems are important contributors to train performance because, among effects, these systems limit the relative motion between coupled vehicles in a train and absorb energy during impact events. An end-of-car cushioning (EOCC) unit is a type of long-travel draft system that uses hydraulic cylinders in place of standard friction draft gears to absorb energy and improve yard impact performance. EOCC units absorb energy when coupler forces are applied by forcing oil from a high-pressure inner cylinder to a low-pressure outer casing through various preloaded orifices over a long displacement stroke, which is typically 10 or 15 inches.
TTCI R&D, RAILWAY AGE JUNE 2020 ISSUE: The AAR-2A, a new standard wheel profile recently implemented for use in North American freight railway operations, is expected to provide improved service performance for wheelsets. This assessment is based on the analysis, simulation and testing conducted by Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI).