Sperry Rail Service is a company contracted by most of the major railroads in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 to inspect rail

Rail tracks

The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers and ballast , plus the underlying subgrade...

.
The rail flaw detector car was invented by Dr. Elmer A. Sperry.

Elmer Ambrose Sperry

Elmer Ambrose Sperry was a prolific inventor and entrepreneur, most famous as co-inventor, with Herman Anschütz-Kaempfe of the gyrocompass.Sperry was born at Cincinnatus, New York, United States of America...

  To railways and railfans, Sperry's name is most likely associated with the Sperry Rail Detector car.

Railway defect detection device need

There were many early useless efforts of rail defect detecting device development in the late 19th century. Serious train derailments, which were blamed on transverse fissures, were increasing. One of them occurred in 1911, in Manchester, New York

Manchester, New York

Manchester, New York is both a town and a village located in Ontario County, New York.*Manchester , New York*Manchester , New York...

, killing 29 and seriously injuring 60. Another killed 21 and injured over 100 near Victoria, Mississippi, in October 1925. An apparent need arose for a dependable rail inspection method.

First developments

Dr. Sperry began developing a method of locating internal rail defects in 1911. To build a railway test car he contracted with the American Railway Association in 1927. Construction on this first car began in June 1927. The body was metal-faced plywood, and was mounted on a Kalamazoo motor car

Speeder

A speeder is a maintenance of way motorized vehicle formerly used on railroads around the world by track inspectors and work crews to move quickly to and...

 bed. This car was towed by a larger motor car. After completion, it was delivered December 17, 1927, for performing tests.
An operator, lying flat on his stomach as he was moved along on a hand car, held a 'search unit' against the rail. Both fissures were found, but serious difficulties were encountered during the test. This method also posed problems due to uneven rail surfaces.

Induction method

Dr. Sperry and his staff discovered a new principal for detecting transverse fissures in 1928, called the 'induction method'. It also found split-heads and other invisible defects. This system was used until 1960, until semi-automated ultrasonic equipment was introduced to the Sperry fleet. Ultrasonic rail testing was first introduced in 1949.

Later redevelopments of 101 unit

It would appear that the induction-based testing method equipment replaced the original magnetic equipment on 101. Even though it was completed almost ten months before the car was rejected by the Rail Committee until October 2, 1928, after a test run on September 27, 1928, by Dr. Sperry and his research engineer H. C. Drake. Later on, it began testing on the New York Central under ARA supervision. The test with the modified 101 was so successful that construction on SRS 102 begun almost immediately.

Sperry Rail Service Corporation runs tests

The original plan of Dr. Sperry was to build and sell the rail detector cars along with the testing services to the railways. However, the railways were reluctant, so Sperry decided to the sell service only. It would lead to more consistent testing, which is done by skilled and experienced personnel.

• At this point Sperry Rail Service Corporation was created to market the testing service. The first commercial test was accomplished in November 1928 on the Wabash Railway over a 130 miles (209.2 km) section of track between Montpelier, Ohio
  Montpelier, Ohio
  Montpelier is a village in Williams County, Ohio, United States. The population was 4,320 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Montpelier is located at ....
  
  , and Clarke Junction, Indiana performed by SRS 102. The expansion of service put two more SRS cars into operation. In the early 1930 four cars were in service. By the end of 1930, Sperry Rail Service Corporation's fleet increased to ten cars.
• The fleet continued to expand along with the served area. In addition to services on US railroads, the SRS cars also traveled to Canada, Mexico and overseas. Smaller railways could not afford their own rail detector car, with their limited use. However, the New York Central and the Union Pacific did own such rail detection cars. Many Sperry cars were created by rebuilding existing railway cars, particularly doodlebug
  Doodlebug (rail car)
  In the United States, doodlebug was the common name for a self-propelled railroad car . While such a coach typically had a gasoline-powered engine that turned a generator which provided electricity to traction motors, which turned the axles and wheels on the trucks, versions with mechanical...
  
  s.

Takeover of Harsco Track Technologies

On August 29, 2002, Sperry Rail Service acquired Harsco Corporation's rail flaw detection (RFD) group. Harsco's track maintenance division, also known as Harsco Track Technologies (HTT), was located in Danbury, Connecticut

Danbury, Connecticut

Danbury is a city in northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It had population at the 2010 census of 80,893. Danbury is the fourth largest city in Fairfield County and is the seventh largest city in Connecticut....

, Sperry's home town. With this takeover Sperry's rail flaw detection fleet increased by 30 trucks. Harsco's Rail Flaw Service was previously known as Pandrol Jackson Technologies.

External links

• Sperry Rail Service corporate site
• Sperry Rail Service car roster
• A history of Sperry