Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat

Coal cars and rail safety are the core of my current work. The railroad companies have a small number of specialized cars that run down the tracks to look for defects. The instruments on the cars can examine up to 500 miles of rail each day. That means that the whole rail system gets a "fly-by" inspection ONCE each year.

There are also research and development sites that can examine a train moving by at 55 MPH. The laser scanners can measure all the face and flange angles on every wheel. There are strain gauges in the track to detect lateral pressure indicative of a wheel set that is too wide, thus forcing the rails apart inappropriately. The vertical strain gauges can detect impacts hard enough to break the welds between two pieces of rail. These instruments are not widely deployed because they are still in development.

My hardware includes vertical accelerometers on each bearing, thermo-couples on the inner and outer races and a tri-axial accelerometer on the "sill" at each end of the car. I can detect 55 types of bearing defects from the vertical accelerometer using digital signal processing of a 50 KHz sample over 20 seconds. That sample is performed on each bearing daily. Temperatures are monitored to look for hot bearing or assymmetric wear. I can reliably detect a hot bearing 100% of the time. The infrared "hotbox" sensors deployed every 20 miles on the tracks have an 80% false rate of report for hot bearing.

The tri-axial accelerometers measure lateral "hunting" motion that can detect an imminent "jump" off the track. The vertical channel detects vertical jarring to the payload on the car. It can also detect a derailed wheel that is bouncing over the ties, but hasn't left the track bed yet. The longitudinal channel records the "slam" from pulling the slack out of the track or putting the brakes on. That "slam" will knock you right off your feet in the caboose.

My instruments also include a GPS to record the time and location of an observed defect. If all cars show a similar problem over a section of geography, we can infer a track problem. The data is reported remotely over a Verizon Wireless 1XRTT link to the internet. All this stuff consumes electrical power, thus we put a Timken generator bearing aboard one of the wheels to keep the battery charged.

This stuff is all in the R&D stages now. I'm improving the power management with a PIC microcontroller to preserve the battery life. New hardware this year will allow me to sample all 4 bearings on a single truck at 50,000 samples per second concurrently. That will permit detection of vibrations coupled through the axles on a wheel set and through the truck frames between wheel sets.

My cars also have an 802.11b wireless network that feeds status and alerts to the locomotive engineer. I can provide a reliable warning to the engineer and permit time to stop the train before an accident occurs.

The rail industry is still very perplexed about the cause of wheel damage. The railroad operators get blamed for having bad track. The car owners get blamed for poor wheel maintenance. In the end, the car owners just keep replacing bad wheel sets while trying to figure out why the problem is occurring. I'm hoping my onboard instruments will provide them a clue soon.

I was out tonight with a buddy in Commerce, California, and about ten minutes after the Southwest Chief headed east, a call came over the BNSF frequency about a large explosion
"20 yards from the main"

My friend and I looked at each other, and the dispatcher asked the engineer to repeat what he just said. Well, turns out that is explosing was down the line about 6 miles, and it was a BNSF engineer calling from an all NS consist heading westbound. A second east bound train said they were slowing down short of the area.

It turns out that it was some type of neighborhood activity....the second train through said there were some cars on fire....and that the FD and sheriffs should be called. Might have been some type of illegal fireworks thing....not sure.

But knowing the Chief had just passed, I kind of lost my breath for a second.

Also noted that the crews and dispatcher had acted very quick and professionally.

[National Post] CANADA - Police cordon off N.B. legislature after suspicious package discovered [ Numerous packages, leaking liquid ]
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=c5939e81-979d-4058-874a-487fb9b54e8f

[Guardian] USA - FBI Seeking Assistance From U.S. Muslims
"FBI is intensifying efforts nationwide to enlist Muslims, Arab-Americans and Sikhs to help thwart a possible terrorist attack this summer or fall"
{Guffaw yeah right!}
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4294630,00.html

[Local6.com] FLORIDA - Suspicious Device Shuts Roads Near Patrick Air Force Base
"Base officials have not revealed what the suspicious package might have been"
http://www.local6.com/news/3506495/detail.html

[AP] MINNESOTA - Man Who Attended Al-Qaida Camp Indicted for Alleged False Statements
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB6BTPRFWD.html

RushLimbaugh] USA - KERRY PASSES UP TERROR BRIEFING: ' I haven't had time because I've got more important things to do' [ Editor - What could pssibly be more important than the safety and securty of our nation?]
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_070904/content/rush_is_right_2.guest.html

[Team 4 News] TEXAS - Tight security in Houston for All-Star Game
"security detail will include technicians with chemical and radioactive detection devices"
http://www.team4news.com/Global/story.asp?S=2020844

San Mateo County Times] CALIFORNIA - Airport bomb scare closes SFO long-term parking lot
"police were alerted to the presence of the vehicle around 4:15 p.m., when someone called to say explosives might be inside it and another car."
http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/Stories/0,1413,87~11268~2262013,00.html

[KYW] PENNSYLVANIA - Security Scare During Presidential Visit

http://kyw.com/Local%20News/local_story_191183135.html

[Conroe Courier] TEXAS - Scare leads to shutdown at post office [ Adverse reaction to an unknown substance ]

"postal inspector checked machinery, mail and the building for any evidence of biological or chemical substances that may have caused the reaction"

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1574&dept_id=532216&newsid=12272466&PAG=461&rfi=9

[Houston Chronicle] USA - Ridge defends call not to raise terror alert level

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2670770

[Seattle Post Intelligencer] USA - Half-brother: Wouldn't turn in bin Laden

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Bin%20Laden%20Brother

[Seattle Post Intelligencer] WEST VIRGINIA - Meningitis outbreak widespread in W.Va.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apscience_story.asp?category=1500&slug=Meningitis%20Outbreak

[Billings Gazette] WYOMING - Outbreak at Yellowstone blamed on norovirus

"More than 130 visitors and workers became ill in Yellowstone National Park in late June during an outbreak of a highly infectious virus "

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?tl=1&display=rednews/2004/07/09/build/wyoming/25-yllstn-outbreak.inc

[KFYR-TV] NORTH DAKOTA - Health Experts Concerned about Whooping Cough Outbreak

http://www.kfyrtv.com/showNews.asp?whatStory=2985

[Miami Herald] ILLINOIS - Whooping Cough Sickens 107 Around Chicago

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/health/9116609.htm

[Pakistan News Service] PAKISTAN - Bush Tells Pakistan to Arrest or Kill Osama Bin Laden

http://www.paknews.com/headingNews.php?id=2931&date1=2004-07-08

[Korea Times] SOUTH KOREA - Police on Alert Over Possible Terror Attacks on Presidential Panel

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200407/kt2004070917313710510.htm

[Glasgow Daily Record] UNITED KINGDOM - POST OFFICE BOMB ALERT

"TWO parcel bombs and a third suspect device were found in Northern Ireland's main sorting office yesterday"

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=14408605&method=full&siteid=89488&headline=post-office-bomb-alert-name_page.html

[Radio Australia] CHINA - One dead, 35 quarantined after outbreak of anthrax in China

http://www.abc.net.au/ra/newstories/RANewsStories_1150611.htm

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