Welcome!

The Outback Railroad Association's 2022 Annual Safety and Training Conference and Tradeshow will be held from April 26th - April 28th 2022 in Deadwood, SD. This conference brings presentations from many experts in the Railroad Industry.

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We are excited to announce that Gary Wolf is joining us for a 2 day seminar on Wednesday, April 27th and Thursday, April 28th!

Be sure to take advantage of Mr. Wolf’s training seminar while you can! This may be one of, if not the last of, his training seminars given at the Outback Conference!

Cost of the 2 day seminar is $400. 

Derailment Investigation and Prevention for Shortline and Regional Railroads
Presented by: Gary Wolf, Wolf Railway Consulting

Seminar Agenda:
On Wednesday Mr. Wolf will present his 12-step process for conducting a proper derailment investigation. The process, called the Derailment Dozen™, includes determining the Point of Derailment (POD), first car to derail, and collecting all relevant data and photos. Embedded within the process is how to make proper measurements and inspection of the track structure and first car to derail, and how to assess train handling.

On Thursday, Mr. Wolf will detail the symptoms, evidence, and causes of several derailment categories specific to shortline and regional rail systems.

These include:
•   Wide gage, and what really causes it (it’s not always the track)
•   Switch derailments, is it the point, the wheel, or the crew?
•   Curve elevation issues, especially overelevation, and its effect on derailment risk
•   Harmonic rock and roll, on jointed rail between 12-24 MPH
•   Broken joint bars, its not always the bar
•   Track crosslevel and twist, including spiral run-off rates
•   Freight car issues including wheels, side bearings, and wedge rise

Also, on Thursday, Mr. Wolf will present state of the art techniques for dealing with human failure derailments, including run through switch, failure to secure cars, bypassed couplers, and failure to protect shove moves.  Mr. Wolf will also present several case studies of human failure derailments and possible explanations and corrective actions.

A seminar workbook will be provided to all attendees. All attendees who complete the seminar will be provided a certificate of completion.

Also, all attendees will have the opportunity to purchase a copy of Mr. Wolf’s recently released textbook on derailment investigation entitled “The Complete Field Guide to Modern Derailment investigation”. This full color 435-page handbook includes over 1000 color photographs and diagrams describing every type of derailment you may encounter. The book will be available to Outback seminar attendees at a discounted rate of $60.00.