As we head into the winter months, rail operators begin their yearly battle against ice and snow to keep trains running smoothly and safely. Ice can cover trains, linkage equipment, switches, and rails, making it difficult to connect/disconnect railcars or leading to equipment failures on the tracks. Trains can get stranded due to downed power lines or heavy ice buildup on electrical interconnects. Icicle formation around bridges and tunnels can present a major safety hazard to the trains themselves, as well as cars or pedestrians that pass near this infrastructure. Because of these issues, railway operators are routinely forced to cancel trains due to winter conditions, whether it be Amtrak’s passenger trains across the Midwest, freight traffic through Chicago, or high-speed trains in Beijing.
Here at Elemental Coatings, we’re working with both national and overseas railway operators to minimize the negative impacts of icing on railway operations. We have active trials going to help deal with icing on the trains themselves as well as on bridge and tunnel infrastructure. Our goal is to help trains run safely and efficiently, making problems caused by ice and snow a thing of the past.
