Performance Monitoring in the 21st Century

What is a WILD, TPD, ABD, THD, WIM, TOID, or RSM????   These are systems aimed at improving the modern railway.  

There are two primary goals of performance monitoring as it relates to the modern railway; safety and cost improvement. Passenger and freight railways are currently monitoring the health and safety of infrastructure and rolling stock which allows them to run a more profitable and safer operation. Salient Systems, Inc. is helping railways on 6 continents to make these ideas a reality by monitoring wheel impacts with WILD (Wheel Impact Load Detector) systems, monitoring curving performance of vehicles with TPD’s (Truck Performance Detector), monitoring longitudinal rail stress with RailStress modules, monitoring Train and Vehicle Weights with WIM (Weigh-In-Motion) and TOID (Train Overload & Imbalance)  detectors, monitoring high speed stability with the HTD (Hunting Truck Detector), and then integrating all of these systems with other “smart sensors” to give decision makers the complete picture of their railway system. Salient is turning data into information.  

The Salient WILD was the first detector in North America to have an AAR interchange rule written around it. This speaks volumes to the value and confidence the railways have in these systems when they are willing to wrap an industry standard around a detector. There are now more than 200 Salient WILD systems installed on 6 continents around the globe.  

The industry (vehicle owners, train operators, infrastructure owners, maintenance contractors, and customers) is experiencing great operational improvements in areas performance monitoring system have been adopted. Railways on 4 continents have benefited by monitoring their rail neutral temperature in key locations. The StressNet TM system is also helping to facilitate rail repair to “safe” operating conditions which limit situations like track buckle derailments and speed restrictions during hot weather.  

Railways are also moving forward with performance monitoring in a very smart way. They are creating “super-sites” or “mega-sites” which allow multiple detectors to take advantage of parallel assets such as enclosures, power and communications lines. This allows for a more cost effective way of advancing these technological efficiencies. There are also “rules engines” being created to make predictive maintenance decisions on multiple issues such as wheel impacts and their correlation with faulty bearings.  

As new detectors are introduced the railroads are working with vendors to integrate this new information into daily operations. We are refining the process of performance monitoring and predictive maintenance and are doing a great job of creating a safer and more efficient railway system. We are proud to be part of this movement not only in North American but in Brazil, Australia as well is in Europe and Asia. Salient Systems Inc continues to improve and evolve technology to meet the increasing demands of passenger and freight railways around the globe.