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Most railfans know the Sperry Rail Big Cars inspect the rails, but how is it done? What defects are they looking for? How many vehicles are there doing this? Bob Tegtmeier was lucky enough to be hired as the Sperry Quality Assurance Manager in 1999. Being a railfan and a quality assurance engineering professional it was a good combination for the time it lasted. Bob was able to ride the cars doing the inspections, help qualify new vehicles and learn about the Nondestructive test methods used to detect the multiple defects that can occur in the actual rail. And he took photos.
The program was originally put together for Bob’s railfan friends back in 2000, along with a shop tour. It has been updated to give an overview of Sperry Rail during that time, along with a bit of history and the structure of the company. All the detector vehicle types and test methods are reviewed along with the other services Sperry performed in the Danbury shop location. There are photos and explanations of what went on during the rail testing inspections, what was the output to the host railroad and what it was like working on Big Car and Hi Rail test vehicles.
Bob was born in the Bronx and grew up in Yonkers, so subway rides, watching the New Haven and New York (later Penn) Central trains were a big part of his childhood. But it did not stop there – after getting his Bachelor and Masters of mechanical engineering at Manhattan College he discovered there were railfans and model railroaders at his aerospace employer in New Jersey. He and his friends have been building/operating model trains and railfanning together for the last 45 years. Along the way he found time to get married to his patient wife of over 40 years, Amy, and has two children, with one being a railfan (Bob does love the other one too). For over 30 years he has operated trains with friends in Connecticut and, now retired, has time to work on his LNE model railroad. But he has taken the time to update this presentation!
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