| RAILROAD MANAGEMENT TOOLS Railroad resurgence has been marked by Class I railroads “spinning off” undesired lines. This has resulted in the creation of new regional and short line railroads. Many existing regional and short lines have gained new life, traffic and management. There has been frequent turnover of railroad owners and management. New owners/managers are faced with operating a railroad over a right-of- way (ROW) that they, or their employees, have minimal geographic or operational knowledge of.
CTA rail “map plotting” provides new managers with:
- Inventory of ROW switches, interlockers, bridges, culverts, etc.
- Dispatch visual aid (sidings, crew changes, interlockings, etc)
- Updated USDOT/FRA grade crossing inventory
- ROW maintenance management tool
- Visual of newly acquired lines for transportation operations
- Planning tool for new construction or track improvements
- Economic development tool
The hard copy and electronic map files have value in acquainting new transportation employees for operations. Planning crew change locations, identifying the most efficient maintenance/supply bases and use by dispatchers as a visual aid for train movements are some of the benefits of “map plotting”. The initial investment is recovered through efficiency savings in operations. Digital image records can be created for any of the map plot points requested by the client. This record is valuable for insurance records, disaster recovery and company inventory management. Customized requests for a specific “map plot” project are usually easily accomplished. For example; if ROW drainage is an issue, CTA can map plot all culverts. If dispatchers are unfamiliar with ROW geography, the mapping  products provide a visual of the railroad within context of the line side local road system, communities and map reference locations. This is beneficial in training and operations. If you have specific requests for map plotting, contact CTA for an estimate. The CTA process provides a new railroad management team with a method to etch their customized management thumbprint on a new acquisition or update one that is benefiting from railroad resurgence. |
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