While on the topic of trains

I’m used to running into business expenses that don’t necessarily spring to mind when you think of that industry. Like flea collars for natural gas processing plants. No they didn’t have a dog—see the explanation at the end of the post.

In last Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal, there was an article on the cost associated to rail lines associated with falling leaves. “Every autumn, passenger railroads across the globe deal with a condition called slippery rail. A dangerous combination of water, leaf oil and pressure from the train creates a black ooze that sticks to the rails but renders them too click for train wheels to give traction.”

Cars are removed from service as their wheels need to be worked on, delays are frequent since the trains have to travel at slower speeds, and the rail companies have to increase their employee base to deal with all the extra work. One rail director stated he would rather have snow than deal with the leaves. 20% of the Long Island Rail Road cars have been out of service due to the slippery rails.

Fortunately, accidents have been rare due to slippery rails, but the cost to the rail companies is enormous. The main company in the U.K. that oversees the rail lines has estimated it spends around $95 million a year due to leaves.

Of course with any problem, there is the opportunity to make money. Different types of machines to handle the problem are constantly being developed and refined. An interesting problem I never would have realized!

Oh yes, the flea collars. Workers at the gas processing plants had people walk the gas lines to make sure there were no leaks. The walkers would wear flea collars around their pants legs or boot tops to help make sure they didn’t pick up any ticks while doing the task. Seeing the auditor’s face when he tried to figure out why they needed a case of flea collars every couple of months was definitely priceless.