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Replacement wheel assemblies are ready for installation if needed at the VRE service building, which opened recently in Spotsylvania County.
VRE has opened a $7.2 million service building at Crossroads Yard at the Crossroads Industrial Park |
By KELLY HANNON
When passengers step off a train, odds are they don't think about it again until the next boarding.
But Virginia Railway Express trains are busy during the hours passengers go home, eat dinner and sleep.
Locomotives and passenger cars spend the night at the Crossroads Yard in Spotsylvania County, near the intersection of U.S. 17 and Route 2. There, workers spend an overnight shift cleaning trains, making repairs, testing the brakes and preparing to make another run.
"When [customers] get on the train, we want them to feel as if they are in their living room," said Louis Woolner, manager of quality assurance for Virginia Railway Express.
Doing the cleaning, maintenance work and repairs recently became easier.
VRE opened a $7.2 million service building in November at Crossroads Yard. Next door, a train wash--similar to a drive-through car wash--is almost ready.
An identical facility is planned for the Manassas Line in Broad Run.
Building a maintenance facility at the end of the line lets VRE conduct repairs and inspections on its own schedule, rather than waiting for open slots in Washington, where Amtrak runs a busy facility, Woolner said.
Quicker service means a train can be put back into service faster, he said.
This spring, VRE plans to invite companies to bid on train maintenance work. Amtrak has operated and maintained VRE trains since the commuter train began running in 1992. Amtrak may bid again for the work, but it might have competition.
Whichever company gets the contract will work in the new service building.
Before the facility opened, all work at the Crossroads Yard was done outdoors, without shelter from the weather.
Now, a 10-foot pit in the floor of the facility allows VRE to move a car or locomotive inside, and workers can inspect and fix the train from below.
Air compressors and air storage tanks in the building will power tools used on the engine and brakes, eliminating the need to have trains idle during inspections, saving fuel.
Brake tests are done on every VRE train, every day. All VRE cars are inspected every 180 days.
The train wash will spray away dirt or grime that accumulates on the exterior. Trains will be run through the train wash once every two weeks, Woolner said.
A cleaning crew sweeps the trains each night for trash removal and spiffing up. Windows are cleaned every two weeks. Every six months every car goes through a deep clean.
VRE wants to keep things spotless. The cars will last 40 to 50 years.
It also keeps customers happy, Woolner said.
"People gauge you on how well your cars look, how clean they are," he said.
The facility will be staffed over weekends, limiting the need to take trains out of service on a weekday.
"A lot happens," Woolner said. "[The train] doesn't just sit there and idle."
Kelly Hannon: 540/374-5436
Email: khannon@freelancestar.com
