ENSCO, Inc. - Rail Safety Solutions, Rail Inspection, Track Geometry, Railway Measurement Systems, Rail Video and Joint Bar Inspection

ENSCO Inc, has been a leader in the delivery of railroad and track safety measuring systems and cars for more than 40 years.

We are the sole supplier and operator for all track inspection cars used by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to enforce track safety standards on American railways.

ENSCO state of the art solutions are in use throughout the world on conventional, high-speed and rapid transit railways.

Railway condition monitoring tools

ENSCO offers a comprehensive range of railway inspection and monitoring tools, including high-speed non-contact rail measurement systems, machine vision track inspection technology, video recording systems, automated track measuring systems as well as asset management systems and tools for rail inspectors.

ENSCO-designed track inspection vehicles employ advanced laser, optical and inertial sensors to identify and record track safety issues. ENSCO railway inspection tools detect cracks in joint bars and concrete ties; quantify rail wear and third rail geometry issues; assess platform and tunnel clearances; and monitor train control systems.

Real-time notification and analysis of track issues are facilitated through a wide range of computers and assessment tools available on the car and through secure Web-based reporting systems.

ENSCO's team of railway experts is dedicated to developing new technologies and solutions to improve the safety and efficiency of railroad transportation. Our customers benefit from ENSCO's 40 years of rail experience and ability to provide practical applications using cutting-edge technology.

Railway track measurement systems

ENSCO's integrated suite of railway track measurement systems features synchronized location referencing employing GPS and inertial-aided positioning as well as centralized database storage capabilities. System offerings include:

• Track geometry
• Rail profile and cant
• Rail corrugation
• Ride quality
• Gage restraint (tie strength) measurement

Railway video and machine vision inspection systems

ENSCO is a leading provider of video-based recording and inspection systems.

ENSCO's ground-breaking optical joint bar inspection system, developed in partnership with the Federal Railroad Administration's office of research and development was the first system in the world to feature automated crack detection for joint bars. Other offerings include:

• Right-of-way video capture
• Video-based track component inspection
• Tunnel, platform and bridge clearance measurement system

Catenary contact wire assessment

ENSCO's WireScan catenary wire geometry system measures the height and stagger of the overhead wire. The WireScan measurement system uses non-contact time-of-flight laser sensors to measure:

• Wire stagger
• Wire vertical position with respect to the roof of the railcar
• Wire gradient

Vehicle/track interaction monitor

ENSCO's vehicle/track interaction (VTI) monitor proactively detects and pinpoints the locations of potential track and vehicle problems through the use of unattended instrumentation installed on revenue service vehicles.

Based on research conducted for the Federal Railroad Administration, the VTI monitor allows for early detection of track and vehicle issues, and transmits alerts through cellular communications to your computer for near real-time notification.

With more than 200 systems in use throughout North America, railways use these unattended systems to identify:

• Track anomalies
• Rail vehicle suspension issues including unsafe rail vehicle dynamics
• Wheel impacts that exceed railroad-defined maintenance and safety limits

Rail asset management system

ENSCO's TrackIT® asset management system provides a Web-based interface to key engineering information including:

• Infrastructure location
• Historical track inspection data
• Video imagery
• Railroad maintenance history

Autonomous track geometry measurement system

ENSCO's autonomous track geometry measurement system (ATGMS) helps ensure rail safety by employing unmanned/unattended measuring equipment to record track geometry conditions from revenue trains without the need for a dedicated inspection crew.

Developed with support from the Federal Railroad Administration's office of research and development, ENSCO's ATGMS identifies track geometry anomalies and transmits alerts in real-time to ENSCO's Web-based TrackIT® asset management system via wireless cellular connections for viewing, analysing and driving maintenance decisions from the recorded data.

RailScan lite hi-rail gage measurement system

Advancements in railway sensor technology from ENSCO provide a low-cost reliable solution for gage measurement. The laser sensor easily mounts on a hi-railer and connects directly to a laptop computer. The system features:

• A real-time gage strip chart
• Adjustable gage thresholds with audible and visual alerts to exceptions
• Storage of rail exceptions with corresponding milepost and GPS location
• Configurable and editable exception reports that can be exported for distribution and analysis

Portable track loading fixture

ENSCO's portable track loading fixture (PTLF) is a lightweight, manually operated track inspection tool designed to test the lateral strength of railroad crossties and fastening systems.

Originally developed as a data quality inspection tool for the Federal Railroad Administration, the PTLF applies a 4,000lb lateral load to the web of the rail using a manual hydraulic pump and cylinder.

This provides the rail with the lateral force necessary to measure the change in gage under load. The portable inspection tool allows for the:

• Detection of potential rail safety hazards due to weak crossties and fasteners
• Evaluation of the effectiveness of track maintenance
• Monitoring of track degradation