advertisement

---

• Alstom Transport won a $34 million contract from Ottawa, Canada’s OC Transpo to supply six new diesel multiple units (DMUs). The order is part of OC Transpo's plan to continuously upgrade O-Train rolling stock and infrastructure. The Coradia Lint DMUs are scheduled for delivery in May 2013. Alstom has delivered more than 500 Coradia Lint trainsets to both public and private rail operators, according to the company.

• FreightCar America Inc. has appointed Terrence Heidkamp senior vice president of operations, effective Oct. 3. He will be based at the company’s Chicago headquarters. Heidkamp, who has more than 25 years of rail industry experience, previously served GATX Corp. the past 21 years in key leadership roles, including VP of operations for the rail leasing business, and VP of government affairs and regulatory compliance. Earlier in his career, Heidkamp held several financial leadership roles with Pullman Leasing Co.

• GE Transportation announced that its 4,500th Evolution® Series Locomotive recently entered revenue service. Now, the locomotives operate in rail markets worldwide, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Egypt, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and Australia. GE’s bestselling locomotive, the Evolution Series is designed to cut fuel usage about 5 percent and reduce emissions about 40 percent compared with other conventional locomotives, GE officials said in a prepared statement. A fleet of 4,500 GE locomotives would have an annual positive greenhouse-gas emission impact equivalent to removing more than 115,000 cars from the road or planting more than 150,000 acres of trees, according to GE.

• The Timken Co. announced it recently received unconditional approval from the Association of American Railroads for the Class K EcoTurn® labyrinth seal, which is designed to essentially eliminate all seal torque, according to the company. “The low-torque design offered by our EcoTurn seal provides lower and more consistent bearing operating temperatures, and reduces emissions and fuel consumption,” said Timken Vice President-Rail Brian Ruel in a prepared statement.

• Transportation Certification Services Inc. (TSC) has named J. Larry Breeden senior vice president. He previously served Union Pacific Railroad for the past 32 years, the past 10 as manager of operating practices for the Class I’s entire system. Breeden also previously was president of the International Association of Railway Operating Officers, and served on numerous Federal Railroad Administration safety advisory and Association of American Railroads committees.

• Gannett Fleming has appointed William Gough vice president. He serves as a project manager in the firm’s transportation division. Gough has more than 34 years of transportation industry experience, including projects involving railroad electrification facilities, trackwork and rail systems. He will be responsible for the design, inspection and rehabilitation of highway and rail bridges, and viaducts involving multiple structures, staged construction and tight construction schedules.

• Parsons Brinckerhoff has named James Shao a senior supervising engineer in the Newark, N.J., office. He will be responsible for designing various types of power distribution systems for rail and transit facilities and infrastructure, including mainline traction power networks, wayside power equipment and yard/shop maintenance complexes. Shao has nearly 20 years of transit sector experience, providing electrical design and construction support services for electrical/communications projects at Amtrak, MTA Long Island Rail Road, MTA Metro-North Railroad, MTA New York City Transit, New Jersey Transit, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and Port Authority Transit Corp.