Pueblo, Colo.-based MxV Rail has released a virtual tour of its new Curving Performance Track (CPT) and Suspension Resonance Track (SRT). Also, the Security and Emergency Response Training Center (SERTC) at MxV Rail has announced its 2025 lineup of specialist-level and advanced courses.
The CPT is engineered to evaluate the curving performance of vehicles and their components, according to MxV Rail, an Association of American Railroads (AAR) subsidiary. “With unlimited opportunities to study wheel-rail interactions, this track aids in the meticulous testing required to meet AAR standards,” it reported Oct. 1. Key features include: 3- to 12-degree curves; dynamic curving tests; traction ratio testing; and Chapter 11 and M-976 standards.
The SRT is a multi-use track that features three testing zones designed to evaluate railcar performance over known track defects. These zones include:
- Pitch and Bounce
- 0 -to 0.75-inch vertical profile.
- 10 sections.
- 39-foot wavelengths.
- Twist and Roll
- Cross-level deviations.
- 75 inch on each rail.
- 10- to 70-mph test speeds.
- Adjustable Test Zone
- Custom perturbations.
- Up to 2 inches laterally.
- 5 inches vertically.
- Yaw and sway testing.
The SRT “provides a robust platform for ensuring that railcar designs can handle real-world challenges,” according to MxV Rail.
Both tracks are not just about meeting standards; they are about developing new ones, the company noted.
“We’re glad to have these new CPT and SRT test capabilities for the industry,” said MxV Rail Vice President of Engineering Maureen Werner, who is featured in the track tour video (watch below). “Freight railroads and railcar manufacturers are our primary users. We help test their equipment and make sure it’s performing properly. We also have passenger car and locomotive research. Those teams find they collect good data here and can validate their models.”
Meanwhile, SERTC has announced its 2025 lineup of courses for first responders.
Courses are taught in person at MxV Rail’s PuebloPlex campus, and full-scale props and scenarios are used for live drills and training. From an introductory course on rail tank cars to leadership development, SERTC courses are said to “build up emergency response skills and fill knowledge gaps to help first responders stay up-to-date and equipped in readiness.“
A new addition to this year’s course calendar is the Alternative Fuels and Flammable Incident Response and Management (AFFIRM) course. “This course sprang from demand based on requests from across the industry and emergency service agencies,” SERTC reported. “It was recently approved by FEMA’s National Training and Education Division (NTED) for development as a fully funded grant program.”
All SERTC courses in the NTED catalog have designated funding to cover participants’ travel, transportation, lodging, meals, and course costs.
The resident courses now open for registration in 2025 and with funding available are:
- AFFIRM (PER-327) – “SERTC’s newest training course, expanding the flammable liquids emergency response course to include alternative fuels and electric vehicle (EV) emergency response.”
- HazMat/WMD Technician for Surface Transportation (HWMDTST) (PER-293)- “Combining the training requirements from an NFPA 470 hazmat technician training course with the Highway Emergency Response Specialist and Tank Car Specialist courses to ensure you’re ready to suit up and respond to hazmat incidents regardless of location.”
- Highway Emergency Response Specialist (HERS) (PER-291) – “Covering any type of emergency related to hazardous material transported by highway – bulk, non-bulk, tankers, intermodal, specialty containers, and more.”
- Leadership & Management of Surface Transportation Incidents (LMSTI) (PER-292) – “Utilizing the Incident Command System (ICS), National Incident Management System (NIMS), and the larger National Response Framework (NRS), this course puts you in the position of managing live teams of hazmat technicians responding in our full-scale rail and highway scenarios.”
- Tank Car Specialist (TCS) (PER-290) – “Comprehensive training on derailments, non-accidental releases, railroad terminology, and everything else you need to be prepared for a railroad incident taught in the most realistic way possible.”
