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Posts by Gary T. Fry

Gary T. Fry

Commentary
January 8, 2024|M/W

Innovation: Invisible to the Eye, Essential to Safety

TIMEOUT FOR TECH, RAILWAY AGE JANUARY 2024 ISSUE: Modern railways are deeply innovative and dynamic systems. Despite this fact, I am frequently in conversations with people who wonder why “things…
Figure 1. Rail, ties, and ballast on a heavy-haul mountain railway above the Artic Circle in Norway. (Courtesy of Gary T. Fry.)
November 9, 2023|M/W

Timeout for Tech: Ties and Ballast Time-Tested Foundation

RAILWAY AGE, NOVEMBER 2023 ISSUE: Both are essential for a rugged, lasting railway.
Figure 1. A stretched rubber band contains energy that we call “strain energy.” One component of strain energy is the “strain” in the band, which manifests as the band’s visible stretch. The other component of strain energy is “stress” which is invisible. (All illustrations courtesy of Gary T. Fry)
October 11, 2023|M/W

Timeout for Tech: The Invisible Materials Energy Component

RAILWAY AGE, OCTOBER 2023 ISSUE: What exactly is stress? It’s a tough—and often-asked—question.
Commentary
September 6, 2023|News

Capacity and Demand Extremes: Managing Risk of Failure 

RAILWAY AGE, SEPTEMBER 2023 ISSUE: Welcome to “Timeout for Tech with Gary T. Fry, Ph.D., P.E.” Each month, we examine a technology topic about which professionals in the railway industry…
August 9, 2023|Class I

Derailment Prevention: Following the ‘Five I’ Model

RAILWAY AGE, AUGUST 2023 ISSUE: Welcome to “Timeout for Tech with Gary T. Fry, Ph.D., P.E.” Each month, we examine a technology topic about which professionals in the railway industry…
Figure 1: The Eads Bridge in St. Louis, Mo. Opened in 1874, it is the oldest bridge in active service over the Mississippi River. It carries both railway and highway traffic. (Courtesy of Gary T. Fry.)
July 11, 2023|M/W

Railway Bridge Design: Fascinating, Ever Changing

RAILWAY AGE, JULY 2023 ISSUE: Welcome to “Timeout for Tech with Gary T. Fry, Ph.D., P.E.” Each month, we examine a technology topic about which professionals in the railway industry…
(William C. Vantuono Photograph)
June 12, 2023|Freight

Rail and Wheel Fatigue Crack Defects Inspection Imperative

RAILWAY AGE, JUNE 2023 ISSUE: Welcome to “Timeout for Tech with Gary T. Fry, Ph.D., P.E.” Each month, we examine a technology topic about which professionals in the railway industry…
Figure 2: Photograph of a steel railway wheel in contact with a steel rail. (Courtesy of Gary T. Fry.)
May 23, 2023|Freight

Timeout for Tech: Wheel/Rail Contact and Wheel Load Attenuation

RAILWAY AGE, MAY 2023 ISSUE: The future is bright if we continue to pursue the five I’s—Identify, Invest, Innovate, Implement and Improve.
May 1, 2023|M/W

Welding Physics and CWR

RAILWAY AGE, MAY 2023 ISSUE: Welcome to “Timeout for Tech with Gary T. Fry, Ph.D., P.E.” Each month, we examine a technology topic about which professionals in the railway industry…
March 19, 2023|News

Timeout for Tech: Anthropomorphic Materials Characteristics – Stress, Strain, Strength, Fatigue, Toughness

RAILWAY AGE, MARCH 2023 ISSUE: Welcome to “Timeout for Tech with Gary T. Fry, Ph.D., P.E.” Each month, we examine a technology topic that professionals in the railway industry have…
Figure 1: When the only tool in your toolbox is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. New strategies to address old problems require a continually updated inventory of innovative and effective tools. (Courtesy of Gary T. Fry.)
February 7, 2023|M/W

Timeout for Tech: Automated Inspection Opportunities & Limitations

RAILWAY AGE, FEBRUARY 2023 ISSUE: At the end of the day, “What gets measured gets managed.”
Figure 1. Correlation does not imply causation. Sales of fingerless gloves and cases of frostbitten fingers both increase in winter months. But fingerless gloves are not a cause of frostbite. (Courtesy of Gary T. Fry.)
January 13, 2023|M/W

Timeout for Tech: Correlation vs. Causation

RAILWAY AGE JANUARY 2023 ISSUE: Welcome to “Timeout for Tech with Gary T. Fry, Ph.D., P.E.” Each month, we examine a technology topic that professionals in the railway industry have…
FIGURE 1. Track of the Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway. Reaching 14,115 feet at the summit of Pikes Peak, it is the highest railway in North America and the highest cog railway in the world. (Courtesy of Gary T. Fry.)
November 18, 2022|M/W

Guideway, Bearing, and Beam: The Essential Roles of Rail

TIMEOUT FOR TECH, RAILWAY AGE NOVEMBER 2022 ISSUE: The mass movement of goods and people by rail is the second-most energy efficient mode of transportation—second only to watercraft in navigable…
October 18, 2022|M/W

Condition Trending and Predictive Analytics: It’s Not Extrapolation

TIMEOUT FOR TECH, RAILWAY AGE OCTOBER 2022 ISSUE: Historical datasets are important to consider, but it is much more than a simple process.
September 19, 2022|M/W

Fitness for Service: An Assessment of Safety—and Health

TIMEOUT FOR TECH, RAILWAY AGE SEPTEMBER 2022 ISSUE: Fitness-for-service assessments of an engineered system are designed to address a basic question: Is the system acceptably safe to use for its…
August 15, 2022|Regulatory

Identify, Invest, Innovate, Implement, Improve

RAILWAY AGE AUGUST 2022 ISSUE: Derailment safety in the U.S., 1975 to 2021—and goals for the future.
July 9, 2022|M/W

Understanding Thermal Forces in Rail

RAILWAY AGE, JULY 2022 ISSUE: How temperature variations can cause sun kinks and pull-aparts
June 21, 2022|Mechanical

Managing Failure Risk

RAILWAY AGE, JUNE 2022 ISSUE: Welcome to “Timeout for Tech with Gary T. Fry, Ph.D., P.E.” Before we begin, I want to highlight an upcoming RT&S virtual technical conference that will convene…
May 6, 2022|News

Understanding Failure Risk

RAILWAY AGE, MAY 2022 ISSUE: Welcome to “Timeout for Tech with Gary T. Fry, Ph.D., P.E.” Each month, we examine a technology topic that professionals in the railway industry have…
April 11, 2022|News

Wheel and Rail Fatigue Prevention Strategies

RAILWAY AGE, APRIL 2022 ISSUE: Welcome to “Timeout for Tech with Gary T. Fry, Ph.D., P.E.” Each month, we examine a technology topic that professionals in the railway industry have…
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