James Blaze - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by James Blaze
The report covers a period of great significance for railroading in the U.S as it contains a numb... more The report covers a period of great significance for railroading in the U.S as it contains a number of milestones now shaping the future performance of the industry. The specific subject is improving intermodal service so that it can support state and regional highway planning, now facing severe financial cut-backs as revenue sources become fully committed to bond servicing, user taxes, loose purchasing power and fuel consumption begins to fall. Intermodal traffic grew strongly in the period 1995 – 2007 and UP and BNSF trans-continental routes were improved largely on the back of intermodal demand. Alliances with larger trucking companies strengthened and transportation officials began to ask whether rail could take some of the predicted freight off key highway corridors. This report addresses elements of this question, more especially as it relates to intermodal traffic in Texas and the Southwest. The report comprises the following sections. Chapter 2 considers the changes in rail ...
Railway Age, 2000
The recent introduction of heavy axle load freight cars (36 ton axle loads and a gross weight on ... more The recent introduction of heavy axle load freight cars (36 ton axle loads and a gross weight on rail of 286,000 pounds) for bulk commodity traffic has serious implications for short line and regional railroads. While Class I railroads have routes with heavy rail and good tie and roadbed conditions, the smaller roads often have lighter rail and marginal track and bridge conditions. This article examines what this means to the short lines and regionals without deep pockets that have to weigh carefully the benefits and the costs of accommodating these 286,000 pound cars.
International Railway Journal and Rapid Transit Review, 2002
The business models used to foster railway activity differ substantially around the world. In Eur... more The business models used to foster railway activity differ substantially around the world. In Europe, there is the gradual separation of infrastructure from operations, the rail privatization in Britain and North America's mix of private freight railways and publicly owned passenger operators represent three distinct business models. The article looks at the increasing government funding for U.S. rail projects and the constantly evolving situation in Europe.
This paper examines the rail plant and traffic trends in city areas. The 4,800-square mile Chicag... more This paper examines the rail plant and traffic trends in city areas. The 4,800-square mile Chicago region is used as a case study for railroads in urban markets. The location of railroad piggyback facilities is the principal topic covered since it is the author's hypothesis that the modernization of urban railplant can best be planned by the conscious implementation of stronger intermodal rail services and government policies toward such services.
North American railroads are well on the way towards complete tagging of their locomotives and ra... more North American railroads are well on the way towards complete tagging of their locomotives and railcars with Automatic Equipment Identification (AEI) equipment. As of the end of 1994, nearly all locomotives and more than 80 percent of railcars have been AEI equipped. Railroads are now slowly beginning to develop the software applications to make sue of the highly reliable AEI data base.
Transportation Engineering Journal of ASCE, 1972
Several alternative plans are reviewed which would restructure the freight transportation network... more Several alternative plans are reviewed which would restructure the freight transportation network serving the Chicago metropolitan region. These qualitative proposals are the initial output of a comprehensive planning program for freight facilities developed by the staff of the Chicago Area Transportation Study. Further research now being conducted will provide a basis for quantifying and testing forecasts and plans for freight facilities. The goal of the program can be summarized as planning for a balanced urban freight transportation system. The method of achieving that goal is to utilize the tools and techniques developed in the past for forecasting urban highway and transit needs. These tools would supplement the planning conducted by other government and private investors for urban freight facilities.
Rail International, 2004
Cet article decrit le marche ferroviaire intermodal nord-americain, analyse le defi economique vi... more Cet article decrit le marche ferroviaire intermodal nord-americain, analyse le defi economique visant a rendre rentable ce portefeuille de marches, illustre differentes facons dont la technologie a ete combinee avec la planification des strategies pour ameliorer les bases economiques, et conclut par quelques citations confirmant la viabilite de cette approche pour envisager l'activite ferroviaire.
This is a study of Texas port and rail infrastructure and its suitability for handling increased ... more This is a study of Texas port and rail infrastructure and its suitability for handling increased volumes of containers in the near future. The report is the latest in a series of studies performed by of the Center for Transportation Research for the Texas Department of Transportation. Four ports and their corresponding rail corridors are covered within the report. They are the Ports of Beaumont, Houston, Corpus Christi and Brownville. The report reviews recent actions taken by each of these ports in order to improve the efficiencies of container handling and/or the efficiencies of inland intermodal corridors. The researchers conclude that demographic and economic changes in Texas may lead to an intrastate diversification of container flows with more cargo ports handling inbound container shipments. Increasing energy prices and constraints on the trucking industry will create incentives for greater reliance on rail for intermodal movements, especially for out of state destinations.
2010 Joint Rail Conference, Volume 1, 2010
Paper and PowerPoint presentation format will describe process for much faster logistics and cons... more Paper and PowerPoint presentation format will describe process for much faster logistics and construction management of new high speed track construction and improvement of existing FRA track from FRA Class 4 to Class 5 and Class 6 standards on existing freight railway lines. This process involves an integration of the long materials supply chain together with rapid process state of the art construction machines. These machines have been used in both European and Chinese high speed construction projects. Huge gains in new track kilometers and miles per day have been made in the last decade on the machinery side of the equation. The authors will show several case studies. The critical key to these production rates has been in the integration of materials ordering and prepositioning. The economic advantage is that track time construction windows that delay other passing trains can be reduced at tremendous savings in service and operational costs to the operators already providing serv...
2011 Joint Rail Conference, 2011
What are some of the practical obstacles to a “shared interests” between a freight railway busine... more What are some of the practical obstacles to a “shared interests” between a freight railway business and the proposed new higher speed passenger entity? This paper discusses the real “tension” between the two business interests that fund freight trains versus those that support and fund higher speed passenger trains as they attempt to share the same tracks in a safe manner. There are fundamental laws of physics that have to be addressed as the two different sets of equipment are “accommodated” on a shared corridor. This may not always be an easy accommodation between the two commercial parties. One real tension between the two commercial interests involves the physical problem of accommodating two radically different train sets on areas of curved track. For one example, what will be the passenger train required future higher speeds and how will these speeds be accommodated in existing main line tracks with curves varying from 1% to 6% in degrees? How much super elevation will need to...
Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2011
Federal and state transportation planners and others seeking to analyze transportation systems fi... more Federal and state transportation planners and others seeking to analyze transportation systems find few publicly available rail analysis models to estimate the operational costs and environmental impacts of rail movements. Moreover, data to populate such models and to test public policy considerations for evaluating public–private partnerships are generally difficult to obtain. This paper, a product of a study funded by Region 6 of the University Transportation Center Program, offers stakeholders the building blocks to develop an integrated rail analysis model capable of testing railway operational and capital investment changes. The paper also reviews the current state of rail modeling, examines selected rail models, and presents the findings of a preliminary intermodal rail costing model developed in the work.
Review of Network Economics, 2008
The Shellpot Bridge is a 536-foot swing bridge located on a rail freight bypass route around Wilm... more The Shellpot Bridge is a 536-foot swing bridge located on a rail freight bypass route around Wilmington, Delaware. When the bridge failed in 1994, Conrail, then the bridges owner, elected not to repair it due to declining freight volume. The State of Delaware reached agreement with the new rail owner, Norfolk Southern Corporation, to provide funds to repair the bridge, with the railroad to pay tolls to repay the states investment. Recent volumes of traffic over the bridge indicate that, if traffic continues at its current level, Delaware will realize an annual return of 9.75% on its investment.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE TRANSPORTATION …, 1993
Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2004
Intermodal traffic, that is, truck trailers or ocean containers handled on special rail equipment... more Intermodal traffic, that is, truck trailers or ocean containers handled on special rail equipment, is the fastest-growing segment of rail traffic. Between 1990 and 2000, rail intermodal grew at an annual rate of 4.6%—much faster than rail carload freight, which grew at an annual rate of only 1.4%. However, during the same period, truck tonnage grew at an annual rate of 6.9%, and air cargo at a rate of 17.9%. The growing rail intermodal is expected to overtake coal as the single largest source of revenue for freight railroads in the year 2004. But railroad intermodal tonnage is not growing as fast as truck traffic, and market share is consequently falling. This is a problem: with total freight traffic projected to grow 57% by the year 2020, all the increased traffic will have to be accommodated on the highway network. The introduction of double-stack rail cars in the 1980s dramatically reduced rail haul costs, and it made intermodal traffic competitive at distances of 500 mi or so, w...
The report covers a period of great significance for railroading in the U.S as it contains a numb... more The report covers a period of great significance for railroading in the U.S as it contains a number of milestones now shaping the future performance of the industry. The specific subject is improving intermodal service so that it can support state and regional highway planning, now facing severe financial cut-backs as revenue sources become fully committed to bond servicing, user taxes, loose purchasing power and fuel consumption begins to fall. Intermodal traffic grew strongly in the period 1995 – 2007 and UP and BNSF trans-continental routes were improved largely on the back of intermodal demand. Alliances with larger trucking companies strengthened and transportation officials began to ask whether rail could take some of the predicted freight off key highway corridors. This report addresses elements of this question, more especially as it relates to intermodal traffic in Texas and the Southwest. The report comprises the following sections. Chapter 2 considers the changes in rail ...
Railway Age, 2000
The recent introduction of heavy axle load freight cars (36 ton axle loads and a gross weight on ... more The recent introduction of heavy axle load freight cars (36 ton axle loads and a gross weight on rail of 286,000 pounds) for bulk commodity traffic has serious implications for short line and regional railroads. While Class I railroads have routes with heavy rail and good tie and roadbed conditions, the smaller roads often have lighter rail and marginal track and bridge conditions. This article examines what this means to the short lines and regionals without deep pockets that have to weigh carefully the benefits and the costs of accommodating these 286,000 pound cars.
International Railway Journal and Rapid Transit Review, 2002
The business models used to foster railway activity differ substantially around the world. In Eur... more The business models used to foster railway activity differ substantially around the world. In Europe, there is the gradual separation of infrastructure from operations, the rail privatization in Britain and North America's mix of private freight railways and publicly owned passenger operators represent three distinct business models. The article looks at the increasing government funding for U.S. rail projects and the constantly evolving situation in Europe.
This paper examines the rail plant and traffic trends in city areas. The 4,800-square mile Chicag... more This paper examines the rail plant and traffic trends in city areas. The 4,800-square mile Chicago region is used as a case study for railroads in urban markets. The location of railroad piggyback facilities is the principal topic covered since it is the author's hypothesis that the modernization of urban railplant can best be planned by the conscious implementation of stronger intermodal rail services and government policies toward such services.
North American railroads are well on the way towards complete tagging of their locomotives and ra... more North American railroads are well on the way towards complete tagging of their locomotives and railcars with Automatic Equipment Identification (AEI) equipment. As of the end of 1994, nearly all locomotives and more than 80 percent of railcars have been AEI equipped. Railroads are now slowly beginning to develop the software applications to make sue of the highly reliable AEI data base.
Transportation Engineering Journal of ASCE, 1972
Several alternative plans are reviewed which would restructure the freight transportation network... more Several alternative plans are reviewed which would restructure the freight transportation network serving the Chicago metropolitan region. These qualitative proposals are the initial output of a comprehensive planning program for freight facilities developed by the staff of the Chicago Area Transportation Study. Further research now being conducted will provide a basis for quantifying and testing forecasts and plans for freight facilities. The goal of the program can be summarized as planning for a balanced urban freight transportation system. The method of achieving that goal is to utilize the tools and techniques developed in the past for forecasting urban highway and transit needs. These tools would supplement the planning conducted by other government and private investors for urban freight facilities.
Rail International, 2004
Cet article decrit le marche ferroviaire intermodal nord-americain, analyse le defi economique vi... more Cet article decrit le marche ferroviaire intermodal nord-americain, analyse le defi economique visant a rendre rentable ce portefeuille de marches, illustre differentes facons dont la technologie a ete combinee avec la planification des strategies pour ameliorer les bases economiques, et conclut par quelques citations confirmant la viabilite de cette approche pour envisager l'activite ferroviaire.
This is a study of Texas port and rail infrastructure and its suitability for handling increased ... more This is a study of Texas port and rail infrastructure and its suitability for handling increased volumes of containers in the near future. The report is the latest in a series of studies performed by of the Center for Transportation Research for the Texas Department of Transportation. Four ports and their corresponding rail corridors are covered within the report. They are the Ports of Beaumont, Houston, Corpus Christi and Brownville. The report reviews recent actions taken by each of these ports in order to improve the efficiencies of container handling and/or the efficiencies of inland intermodal corridors. The researchers conclude that demographic and economic changes in Texas may lead to an intrastate diversification of container flows with more cargo ports handling inbound container shipments. Increasing energy prices and constraints on the trucking industry will create incentives for greater reliance on rail for intermodal movements, especially for out of state destinations.
2010 Joint Rail Conference, Volume 1, 2010
Paper and PowerPoint presentation format will describe process for much faster logistics and cons... more Paper and PowerPoint presentation format will describe process for much faster logistics and construction management of new high speed track construction and improvement of existing FRA track from FRA Class 4 to Class 5 and Class 6 standards on existing freight railway lines. This process involves an integration of the long materials supply chain together with rapid process state of the art construction machines. These machines have been used in both European and Chinese high speed construction projects. Huge gains in new track kilometers and miles per day have been made in the last decade on the machinery side of the equation. The authors will show several case studies. The critical key to these production rates has been in the integration of materials ordering and prepositioning. The economic advantage is that track time construction windows that delay other passing trains can be reduced at tremendous savings in service and operational costs to the operators already providing serv...
2011 Joint Rail Conference, 2011
What are some of the practical obstacles to a “shared interests” between a freight railway busine... more What are some of the practical obstacles to a “shared interests” between a freight railway business and the proposed new higher speed passenger entity? This paper discusses the real “tension” between the two business interests that fund freight trains versus those that support and fund higher speed passenger trains as they attempt to share the same tracks in a safe manner. There are fundamental laws of physics that have to be addressed as the two different sets of equipment are “accommodated” on a shared corridor. This may not always be an easy accommodation between the two commercial parties. One real tension between the two commercial interests involves the physical problem of accommodating two radically different train sets on areas of curved track. For one example, what will be the passenger train required future higher speeds and how will these speeds be accommodated in existing main line tracks with curves varying from 1% to 6% in degrees? How much super elevation will need to...
Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2011
Federal and state transportation planners and others seeking to analyze transportation systems fi... more Federal and state transportation planners and others seeking to analyze transportation systems find few publicly available rail analysis models to estimate the operational costs and environmental impacts of rail movements. Moreover, data to populate such models and to test public policy considerations for evaluating public–private partnerships are generally difficult to obtain. This paper, a product of a study funded by Region 6 of the University Transportation Center Program, offers stakeholders the building blocks to develop an integrated rail analysis model capable of testing railway operational and capital investment changes. The paper also reviews the current state of rail modeling, examines selected rail models, and presents the findings of a preliminary intermodal rail costing model developed in the work.
Review of Network Economics, 2008
The Shellpot Bridge is a 536-foot swing bridge located on a rail freight bypass route around Wilm... more The Shellpot Bridge is a 536-foot swing bridge located on a rail freight bypass route around Wilmington, Delaware. When the bridge failed in 1994, Conrail, then the bridges owner, elected not to repair it due to declining freight volume. The State of Delaware reached agreement with the new rail owner, Norfolk Southern Corporation, to provide funds to repair the bridge, with the railroad to pay tolls to repay the states investment. Recent volumes of traffic over the bridge indicate that, if traffic continues at its current level, Delaware will realize an annual return of 9.75% on its investment.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE TRANSPORTATION …, 1993
Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2004
Intermodal traffic, that is, truck trailers or ocean containers handled on special rail equipment... more Intermodal traffic, that is, truck trailers or ocean containers handled on special rail equipment, is the fastest-growing segment of rail traffic. Between 1990 and 2000, rail intermodal grew at an annual rate of 4.6%—much faster than rail carload freight, which grew at an annual rate of only 1.4%. However, during the same period, truck tonnage grew at an annual rate of 6.9%, and air cargo at a rate of 17.9%. The growing rail intermodal is expected to overtake coal as the single largest source of revenue for freight railroads in the year 2004. But railroad intermodal tonnage is not growing as fast as truck traffic, and market share is consequently falling. This is a problem: with total freight traffic projected to grow 57% by the year 2020, all the increased traffic will have to be accommodated on the highway network. The introduction of double-stack rail cars in the 1980s dramatically reduced rail haul costs, and it made intermodal traffic competitive at distances of 500 mi or so, w...