Cold wheel technology benefits heat up for CPKC 

By Jeff Stagl, Managing Editor 

For the past several years, Canadian Pacific Kansas City has reaped operational and safety benefits in western Canada from cold wheel technology developed by Canadian Pacific about 18 years ago. Now, the Class I plans to expand the implementation of the technology to eastern Canada and the United States. 

Also known as automated brake effectiveness testing, cold wheel technology is designed to more quickly and accurately identify rail-car brakes that might not be operating properly. The technology involves a series of detectors/sensors mounted at the base of mountain grades and a number of algorithms that form a brake effectiveness analysis system. 

The system measures a car wheel’s temperature on descending grades as trains move across the network in western Canada. As air brakes are applied, the system detects cars that need further inspections and potential repairs based on the amount of heat generated by a brake shoe against a wheel. 

The technology ultimately measures how hard an air-brake shoe pushes on a wheel, says Kyle Mulligan, CPKC’s assistant vice president of operations technology. 

“Now, we more easily identify cars that need repairs, which results in a faster, more efficient and safer railway,” he says. 

Cold wheel technology is designed to detects cars that need further inspections and potential repairs based on the amount of heat generated by a brake shoe against a wheel (as depicted in this illustration). Canadian Pacific Kansas City

Since the system measures the temperatures of wheels while they’re in motion, it has helped predict and prevent air-brake failures before they occur, says Mulligan. CPKC has registered a 50% reduction in air-brake failures since 2019. 

“This helps us prevent service interruptions,” says Mulligan. 

The system also has helped CPKC increase fleet velocity and fuel efficiency, while decreasing terminal dwell time and the time spent inspecting, setting up and testing air brakes. 

Canadian Pacific obtained a federal regulatory exemption in 2011 to first implement cold wheel technology on its captive coal car fleet in western Canada. The exemption eliminates the need for manual air brake inspections. 

After the Class I developed an electronic car tracking process — which spaces 30 days between car inspections — and made other adjustments, the technology could be used on cars that are interchanged instead of just captive. 

The usage of the technology then was expanded in 2018 to the grain, sulphur and potash car fleets in western Canada. Since that time, the railroad has had no uncontrolled movements, says Mulligan. 

And since cold wheel technology is detecting more air brake issues than manual inspections, more cars are being sent to shops for air brake tests, he says. On an annual basis, 2,600 more cars are being tested compared with manual inspections. 

“The technology helps improve overall fleet health,” says Mulligan. 

A number of recent innovations now enable the technology to analyze cars on heavy grades. That opens the door for CPKC to further expand its usage, casting a wider net on the railroad’s system, says Mulligan. 

The Class I is in the process of seeking two waivers from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to implement the technology in the United States. It would be used on intermodal cars. In addition, the technology is being refined for usage on manifest cars, says Mulligan. 

CPKC also plans to expand usage to its network east of the Canadian Rockies. The technology expansion is allowed by an existing federal rule, meaning CPKC does not need to seek a Transport Canada waiver, says Mulligan. 

In the meantime, the Class I continues to tweak cold wheel technology to improve brake effectiveness analyses, such as to better determine detector/sensor spacing. 

“We [also] are refining an algorithm to better account for heavy snowfalls and cold temperatures,” says Mulligan. 

CPKC’s gains with cold wheel technology have been replicated by two other Class Is. In 2018, BNSF Railway Co. and Union Pacific Railroad began discussing the technology with Canadian Pacific. After obtaining waivers from the FRA, the two railroads eventually began implementing the technology on coal, grain and intermodal cars. 

BNSF based its brake health effectiveness (BHE) technology — which is designed to identify brake system-related issues — on CP’s technology.  

To gauge a wheel’s temperature, a train passes a BHE detector twice: first without the brakes applied and then with the brakes applied. If a wheel registers as “hot” while the brakes are not applied, a crew is notified of a potential sticking brake. 

However, BHE’s primary function is to detect cold wheels caused by a brake system that isn’t operating properly. The technology helps extend a wheel’s health and longevity.