Contact Information:     Thomas Reeves

                                    209.944.6242 office

                                    209.649.1762 cell

                                    Thomas@acerail.com

ACE Rail Trains Delayed Because Of Thermal Misalignment

-High Temperature caused tracks to expand-

July 9, 2008

News Facts 

• High temperatures caused train delays and tracks to expand, resulting in a thermal misalignment (sun-kinks) along ACE tracks 3 miles south of the Pleasanton station between Fremont and Sunol at Hearst Siding. A thermal misalignment is the result of the high temperatures causing the track to warp and/or kink.
• Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) performed maintenance on the track to allow ACE trains to operate; the portion of damaged track was extracted and replaced.
• ACE 04 was ultimately delayed three and one-half hours while ACE 04 and 06 were delayed about 90 minutes.
• Union Pacific Railroad constantly patrols the tracks during hot weather, and because of their efforts, they found the sun-kinks and did not allow ACE trains to operate on the tracks.
• Operating a train on tracks damaged by thermal misalignment is prohibited under federal regulations.

    Quotes

• “Thanks to the vigilance of the UP track inspection department, they prevented ACE from running on the damaged track,” said Doug Honn of Herzog Transit Services Inc., which operate the commuter rail train.
• Today and tomorrow, we are paying for buses and drivers to be on standby.  We have an insider at the UP headquarters in Omaha who will be staying after office hours to alert us if there are any heat related alerts within UP.  If we get the hint of anything along those lines, we will activate the buses to give people an option, regardless of whether the trains are on the move.  We are better prepared today to operate as best we can under these extreme circumstances, and I will be mindful of everyone’s time and concerns,” said Stacey Mortensen, Executive Director of ACE.