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The Class Is’ proposed capital programs for this year dominated the 23 presentations delivered at the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association Inc.’s (NRC) 2012 Conference and Exhibition, which was held Jan. 4-7 in San Diego and attracted record attendance. Suffice it to say the large railroads’ chief engineers expect their respective Class I to spend about as much on maintenance-of-way projects this year as they did in 2011 while they install about the same or a slightly higher quantity of ties, rail, ballast and other track materials.

But some other key topics that dominate the rail landscape also were addressed by presenters. Among them: legislative developments, positive train control (PTC) and rail safety. Action on Capitol Hill was put into perspective the morning of Jan. 5 by someone who’s actively involved in it: U.S. Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-Calif.), a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee who represents parts of San Diego County. The action on transportation issues in 2011 could be characterized thusly: There was very little of it, he said.

Because the Republican-controlled House and Democrat-controlled Senate couldn’t reach agreements on much legislation — including a long-term surface transportation reauthorization measure — many key transportation issues remained in limbo, said Hunter. With the presidential election and some congressman’s re-election campaigns looming later this year, it’s highly unlikely a long-term surface transportation reauthorization measure will pass in 2012, either, he added.

Following Hunter to the podium, Chambers, Conlon & Hartwell L.L.C. President Keith Hartwell said there has been a lot of discussion in Congress as to whether such a transportation measure should be a two- or six-year bill. In addition, there are no plans to raise the gas tax, so other sources of revenue need to be determined to help fund the bill, he said. Overall, transit and Amtrak funding likely will remain stable, but there will be no more high-speed rail funding, said Hartwell. And certain categories of long-term funding, such as the Section 130 grade crossing program, might be put into one pot with most of the dollars spent on highways, he added.

House and Senate members do agree that the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program has been a good one for transportation funding and the program’s fourth iteration likely will be re-appropriated about $500 million later this year, said Hartwell. The U.S. Department of Transportation would accept applications for TIGER IV grants in February or March and announce recipients prior to November's presidential election, he added.

The short-line tax credit also might garner some federal attention early this year. The Section 45G tax credit expired on Dec. 31, but efforts to extend the credit could bear fruit soon, said Hartwell. Many freshmen representatives initially believed all tax extension measures were bad, hampering efforts to extend the Section 45G credit last year, he said. But now, 55 of the 87 freshmen are co-sponsors of the Short Line Railroad Rehabilitation and Investment Act of 2011 (H.R. 721/S. 672), which proposes to extend the tax credit for six years from Dec. 31, 2011, through Dec. 31, 2017.

If a long-term surface transportation reauthorization bill or longer SAFETEA-LU extension passed, a tax credit measure conceivably could be dumped into it, said Hartwell. However, the two more likely ways the Section 45G credit would be extended are a temporary extension of the Social Security tax measure that expires at February’s end, which could include additional tax items, or the passage of a tax extenders package that wasn’t enacted by 2011’s end as originally hoped, he said. A one- or two-year extension retroactive to Dec. 31 is the most likely scenario if a measure other than H.R. 721/S. 672 passes muster.

The federally mandated PTC deadline of Dec. 31, 2015, is drawing some attention on Capitol Hill, too. There is a consensus that the timeline isn't realistic and the deadline could be pushed back, said Hartwell, adding that SAFETEA-LU would make the most sense as the vehicle to do so.

PTC also was mentioned in a few other presentations, most notably as the centerpiece of a review on Metrolink's PTC installation. During their presentation on Jan. 7, Metrolink Director of Engineering and Construction Darrell Maxey and Parsons PTC Program Manager Nicholas La Rocco said the implementation schedule has been extended from 2012’s end to mid-2013.

The schedule, which includes 2,700 tasks, is only about halfway completed. The primary reasons for the six-month delay are: the technology still is being developed; necessary radio spectrum won’t be available until April; procurement delays are beginning to occur; additional resources will be needed; and interoperability specifications and PTC radio development are behind schedule, said La Rocco. In terms of resources, Parsons — which the Southern California Regional Rail Authority contracted in October 2010 to design, procure and install Metrolink’s PTC system — needed to increase the number of staff members dedicated to the project from 20 to 28, he said.

Also during the presentations, the NRC named the winners of its Railroad Construction Project of the Year and Field Employee of the Year awards, which in part recognize safety achievements. The Utah Transit Authority’s West Valley TRAX light-rail line received the Railroad Construction Project of the Year award. Managed by a Stacy & Witbeck/Kiewit Infrastructure West joint venture, the project employed new technology that saved the authority time and money, and the project’s safety program “was particularly impressive,” according to the NRC.

Railroad Construction Co. Inc. General Superintendent and Track Supervisor Anthony MacIsaac was honored as the Field Employee of the Year for his dedication to safety and customer service, continuing focus on project management and dedication to teaching the next generation of rail engineers.

In addition, the NRC named two inaugural inductees to its Hall of Fame: the late Bill Herzog, founder and owner of Herzog Contracting Corp. who was considered a “fearless businessman” and the definition of the word “probity” (which means high integrity and uprightness); and the late Thomas Philip Stout, a top executive at Atlas Railroad Construction and Marta Track Constructors who was considered a “visionary, entrepreneur and innovator,” according to the NRC.

— Jeff Stagl