5 topics to consider when developing a facility that requires rail service Industrial Railway Safety Conference April 29, 2015

Location Main line or branch line? Main line MAY have better service Branch line may be considerably less expensive to connect Physical characteristics of site Railway frontage Long and skinny vs short and fat Elevation Tangent vs curves

Track - Geometry Track takes up more room lengthwise than you might expect Large radius curves Cannot turn road-like corners Turnouts are expensive, but … A well-placed crossover (two turnouts) can reduce the amount of track considerably Can simplify operations Turnouts come in standard sizes

Track – how much? Amount of track required is often underestimated Need room to move cars around on the site Railways will not approve design if their tracks are assumed to be available to hold cars whenever you run out of room on site Best way to determine if track capacity proposed is sufficient is to develop a rail Operating Plan for the site

Track - Operability Hook and haul capability for connecting railway Use of locomotive vs trackmobile-type motive power Trackmobile-type may provide flexibility, but need for many on/off track movements is not recommended Simplest operation is usually the safest operation Develop and follow a rail Operating Plan

Future expansion If you think that the rail traffic might increase in the future, remember It is very inexpensive to consider how to accommodate expansion at the initial conceptual stage It is often very expensive to retrofit an expanded operation otherwise, including Increased capital cost Very often increased complexity of operation = increased operating costs