Railcars Sequencing Turntables, LLC.

Arthur J. Erdman, Inspector - Operating Practices
Federal Railroad Administration
Region 1
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Sequencing Turntable Meeting

On Monday January 10, 2005, a meeting was held in Linden, NJ with a group developing a new technology for distribution of railroad freight equipment in industrial areas. This device, called the Railcar Sequencing Turntable, will allow for more efficient use of limited land space in addition to expediting delivery of freight carrying railcars to their designated tracks.
The device will permit a train to be delivered and placed on the turntable. Tracks will radiate from the turntable to serve industrial customers. Instead of using classification or staging yard tracks to sort out cars for delivery, an on track Car Mover will be used to deliver the car or cars to their assigned track. In reviewing the operation of this device, I suggested that a number of safety issues be considered to protect employees working on or near the Sequencing Turntable. Among these issues:

- Provision for Blue Signal Protection on tracks accessed from the turntable.
- A method should be devised to indicate when a track is properly lined up and movement on or off the turntable is permitted.
- A system of locking controls of the turntable to protect employees repairing or maintaining the turntable.
- Ensuring the rails mounted on the turntable are secured to prevent the rails being "drawn" by road locomotives when pulling a tonnage train on or off the turntable.

A technical conversation was conducted with the engineers involved in the design of the turntable about other aspects of its operation.
This device is a creative solution to the problem of providing rail freight service to areas of limited land use. Several locations in the Northeast are being proposed to install this device, which if successful, can provide a needed service to industry and shippers particularly in major population areas.