You can’t prevent the winter and you can’t predict the weather, but you can prepare for it. Aside from Polar Bear Clubs, no one goes out in the winter unprepared to fend off the elements (let alone jump into icy water in only a bathing suit!). It’s better to prepare now for rail switch ice prevention than let winter do its worst and you deal with the consequences later.
Rail switch ice prevention is easier than deicing, because it’s easier to be proactive and prevent switch freezing than thaw and dig out a switch once ice forms and solidifies. Preparation with Midwest Ice Free Switch anti-icing agent pays off:
PREVENTS SWITCH FREEZING
PREVENTS RE-FREEZING DOWN TO -70˚F
MORE EFFICIENT THAN RAIL HEATERS
DEICING REQUIRES 5-10 TIMES MORE CHEMICALS THAN RAIL SWITCH ICE PREVENTION
Winter conditions can cripple a railway, result in shut-downs, cause accidents and even derailments.
The headlines were dramatic. Late January, 2019’s “Brutal Deep Freeze” forced major cities to set its train tracks on fire. Switch points clogged with ice and snow in subzero temperatures and wind chill of -50˚F. Delays, mechanical problems and derailments occurred.
According to the Railway Technical Website, a stalled train will block a railway immediately and reduce a timetable to a shambles for the day. Reliability is the key to a successful operation and maintenance the #1 priority. Maintenance investments can equal energy as a system’s top lifecycle cost (and that doesn’t even include spare parts).
An analysis of weather events on U.S. railroads by Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, based on data derived from Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) statistics over a 10-year period, shows the impact of winter weather:
You know it’s going to happen. Maybe not the day or hour, but you don’t need to know; you only need to act. The facts are clear. Severe weather causes severe consequences. Both current conditions and preexisting buildups bring risk. Results include delays and mechanical difficulties, with derailments established as the most serious outcome that’s associated with the most serious aftermaths.
Those are the facts dealt by nature. The most important additional fact is that something CAN be done. Proactive beats reactive every time. Midwest prevention has been proven effective and more efficient than dealing with the problem once it’s developed.
Proven to prevent switch freezing | Proven effective as low as -70˚F against refreezing | Proven to flow easily out to -40˚F
The more severe the temperature, the better it works.
The results show that Midwest can help you handle conditions well below zero. Proactive rail switch ice prevention saves time, effort and money while getting results. Anti-icing the Midwest way requires between 5 and 10 times less chemicals than deicing.
Midwest will co-develop a customized program with you to proactively deal with winter weather, preparing the right program with the right products to provide solutions for your problems.
- Severe weather can cause derailments
- Falling, blowing snow and icy conditions
- Many incidents result from preexisting ice and snow buildup that’s exacerbated by current wintry conditions
- Remote areas or switches are unprotected by other methods
- Ice Free Switch helps prevent derailments at flangeways because throw switches remain in your command
- Ice Free Switch defies the effects of freezing rain, snow, wind and even gravity
- Ice Free Switch holds fast to surfaces (even vertical) and remains in place to prevent snow from packing between rails
- Ice Free Switch can be applied to switch points, plates and rails prior to snow and ice storms to prevent switches from freezing
Even when the weather outside is frightful, it doesn't have to be
Midwest thinks differently than the rest of the industry. Using the science of ice prevention and directly taking on existing conditions before they cause harm, Midwest works with you to manage the weather and control its impact rather than reacting like everybody else.
With deicing requiring 5-10 times more chemicals than Midwest anti-icing, you know something is wrong with the ordinary approaches that wait for the worst to happen rather than plan for it.
Midwest’s proprietary Ice Free Switch is an anti-icing agent that prevents switch freezing, with many advantages over standard reactive approaches:
Proactive: Apply to switch points, switch plates, and rail surfaces prior to storms
Preventative: Melts falling snow to prevent switches from freezing and prevent snow from packing between rails
Inventive: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of curative pain
Dynamic: A small amount is sprayed or poured in place, producing a thin, highly viscosity film made to actively prevent moisture from becoming ice
Protective: Safe and environmentally sound, with an eco-friendly formula and green technology that's non-flamable and non-corrosive
Together with Midwest Track and Switch Brooms, which incorporate temperature-protective polypropylene bristles, Midwest Ice Free Switch forms the foundation of an effective and efficient winter weather rail switch ice prevention program for your railways.
Far from ordinary brooms, this innovative tool features metal caps assembled under tons of pressure to take the hammering required of the broom in service, with a baked finish inside and out to prevent rust; polypropylene fiber bristles to resist acids, alkalis, oils and most chemicals, while protecting against brittleness down to -70°F and performing perfectly up to 225°F; they’re heat-fused to bond into one integral unit that’s locked in place into caps by steel, zinc-plated rivets for no fiber fall-out; galvanized wire band clinched securely in place with “C” hooks for swift sweeping action; a quality ash hardwood handle, with steel sleeve protector against abrasion and handle wear, that lasts longer and reduces track maintenance costs because sleeve, fibers and cap are riveted into one rugged unit; plus a drop-forged and hardened steel chisel ice chopper, made distinct by sharp ground edges and tang-rounding to prevent splitting and spread the impact shock, along with a tapered steel ferrule to eliminate protrusion and protect against damage to track equipment.
PREVENTION IS THE KEY TO PROTECTING SWITCHES AND PEOPLE WHILE KEEPING FREIGHT AND PASSENGERS MOVING.
Midwest collaboratively develops your program, which is customized and tested at your railways.
A product alone is not enough. The Midwest program seamlessly integrates into your railway system operations for real world performance results. Co-developed with you to determine your best solution, it provides accurate data for predictable performance assurance to achieve proper scale-up and overcome obstacles to success.
Midwest offers the only customized and dynamically managed railway weather protection program. Anyone can sell you a product, but Midwest’s full solution combines product chemistry to prevent switch freezing and keep ice or snow from packing between rails with expert application, supported by ongoing service and testing.
It enables municipal and regional rail systems requiring heavy traffic utilization to avoid delays, mechanical issues and derailments associated with winter weather conditions before problems can occur; melt preexisting buildup prior to snow and ice storms and help railway switches remain under your command; proactively control the affects of falling/blowing snow and icy conditions even in the most severe temperature situations; defy gravity with a zero shear or static viscosity film that stays in place and holds fast to surfaces for lasting efficacy; all with an environmentally friendly formula that won’t corrode and that’s non-flammable.
For our User’s Guide to Anti-/Deicing, read our blog post on this topic.
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