Grants-at-a-Glance
"Railroad Tie Collection as Fuel Source for Electricity"
Wisconsin Central Ltd., Railroad Right of Way across Wisconsin

Project Objectives: Demonstrate that used railroad ties can be collected concurrently with a railroad production gang while new ties are being placed into use. Historical practices have left the ties on the railroad right of way with pick up of the used ties occurring at a later time. After removal, the used railroad ties are shipped to a processor that chips the ties, removes all metal and debris and sells the chipped ties to a power generating facility as a recycled fuel source. The used railroad ties are beneficially used to create electricity that will be used by consumers.

Background / Challenges: Wisconsin Central Ltd. (WC) replaces approximately 300,000 railroad ties per year using specialized railroad maintenance of way equipment. This project demonstrated that by adding additional equipment and machine operators to the production gang consist, railroad ties can be efficiently picked up while the production gang is still in the area, and loaded into open top gondolas for transport to a processing facility for ultimate electrical power generation. The challenges of the project are mainly the timing and coordination of the equipment and crews while they are working in an area and cleaning up after themselves while still allowing the railroad freight to move through on active main line tracks. The processing of the railroad ties into a fuel source will result in 105,000 tons of wood waste being recycled into electrical power over a five year period as opposed to being disposed in a landfill.

Results / Knowledge Gained: The tie collection process worked efficiently at picking up the used ties during the same production gang cycle when the new ties were being installed. A major challenge of the project was to coordinate the movement of the railroad gondola cars to the track gang and up to the tie processing facility and getting the cars unloaded and returned in a timely manner. Some of the pickup of the used ties occurred after the production gang had left an area and the additional equipment was able to go out as a mini gang to retrieve the used ties from the railroad right of way. During the period that this project was ongoing approximately 50 thousand tons of chipped tie material was recycled into electricity for use by consumers.

Shared Knowledge: WC shared it's tie recycling experience along with some of our other recycling opportunities with the railroad industry at the annual 1999 Pollution Prevention (P2) Conference that was held in Champaign, Illinois on September 28, 29 & 30, 1999 at the University of Illinois. The conference was attended by 176 people in the railroad environmental industry. The breakdown included 78 consultants, 73 railroaders ( 59 Class 1 railroaders; 5 Regional railroaders; 7 Short Line railroaders and 2 AAR staff professionals), 10 Educational professionals, 8 Railroad suppliers, 5 Regulatory agency professionals and 2 press related attendees.

WC and various other Class I railroads are coordinating an Environmental Mentoring Program. The initial training session will be a Workshop for Short Line and Regional Railroads with the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA), the Association of American Railroads (AAR), American Railway Development Association (ARDA), Railroad Environmental Group (REG), American Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association (AREMA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Topics to be discussed will include this project. The initial workshop will be held February 8 & 9, 2000 at Hilton New Orleans Riverside hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana. Additional Environmental Mentoring Workshops are being planned for 2000 at locations across the US.

WC's recycling presentation can also be presented at the 2000 Federation of Environmental Technologist's conference in March in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Summary: The Railroad Tie Collection as Fuel Source for Electricity demonstration grant allowed Wisconsin Central to prove that used railroad tie collection which is done concurrently with the installation of new ties can be an efficient and effective way of picking up used railroad ties from the right of way for shipment to a processing facility for ultimate electrical power generation. The process has accounted for generating approximately 50 thousand tons of wood waste material that was beneficially used at a power generating facility in N.