The National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) has awarded R.J. Company Railroad Services with its Small Project of the Year (less than $10 million) award for its work to construct a new test loop at MxV Rail’s Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST) in Pueblo, Colorado.

"The team overcame weather challenges and an aggressive construction schedule to successfully complete the unique, five-month project on budget and with zero recordable safety incidents," noted NRC President Ashley Wieland when presenting the award to R.J. Corman representatives at the NRC Annual Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, on January 6, 2024.

The buildout was highly intricate and required great attention to detail and communication with various parties and stakeholders. Unlike typical standard track construction, this buildout required R.J. Corman to install several different products and materials throughout the construction of the three-mile section of track comprising more than 20 experiments and additional proprietary tests.

“R.J. Corman’s dedication to the buildout was demonstrated on multiple occasions when they committed multiple crews to support 7 day-a-week construction during the entire length of the project,” said Scott Cummings, assistant vice president of Research & Innovation at with MxV Rail. “R.J. Corman’s ingenuity and commitment to make the FAST buildout success helped meet the aggressive construction schedule and complex track build. Overall, the R.J. Corman team exceeded our expectations by safely completing the project. While schedule delays occurred due to challenges related to weather, R.J. Corman looked at opportunities to optimize the schedule and was able to keep the build within budget.”

Congratulations to subcontractor One Rail for providing flash-butt welding services for the project. MxV Rail purchased or received donated materials to successfully complete the project. Congratulations to the following suppliers for playing a role in the project's success: Martin Marietta, Progress Rail, A&K Railroad Materials, L.B. Foster, Vossloh, Stella Jones, Lewis Bolt & Nut, Coreslab Structures, Omega Industries, and Atlantic Track.