Gilbert Road Light Rail Extension – Mesa, AZ

The Valley Metro Transit Authority, fresh off their successful Central Mesa and the Northwest Extension light rail extension projects, approved and constructed the Gilbert Road light rail extension. MAC Products, Inc. was awarded the OCS material contract in August 2017. MAC provided all of the material from the poles out, such as the cantilevers, fixed terminations, mid-points, hangers, jumpers, and balance weight assemblies. The 1.9-mile extension will provide an important link to the neighboring regions of downtown Mesa, Tempe and Phoenix. The project is currently in the final stages of construction and scheduled for revenue service by March 2019.

Milwaukee Streetcar

MAC Products, Inc. was honored to be awarded the contract for the City of Milwaukee’s first Streetcar project. The Milwaukee Streetcar (aka The Hop) is an initial 2.5-mile line connecting the Milwaukee Intermodal Station and downtown to the lower East Side and Historic Third Ward neighborhoods. Construction began in late 2016 with revenue service starting early November 2018.

LACMTA Regional Connector

In preparing for the 2022 Super Bowl and the 2028 Summer Olympics, the City of Los Angeles Metro Transit Authority is in the process of “fast-tracking” multiple mass transit projects. The first of these projects is the Regional Connector Transit Corridor, a light rail tunnel through Downtown Los Angeles to connect the Blue and Expo Lines to the current Gold Line and Union Station. This project represents LACMTA’s first installation of a rigid catenary system (OCR) into their light rail network. MAC products was involved in the design and fabrication of the OCR. Construction is scheduled to start in 2019.

Caltrain – Spring tensioner

Caltrain is in the process of electrifying their 51 miles of track from San Francisco to San Jose. This upgrade will replace 75% of Caltrain’s current diesel service with electric power, providing cleaner, greener, and better service to the Caltrain community. The OCS electrification is being done by Balfour Beatty. In lieu of the traditional balance weight assemblies for maintaining tension on the contact and messenger wires, MAC Products provided Balfour Beatty with Tensorex auto-tensioning units. These units are maintenance free and require no setting changes due to temperature variations. Eighteen units have already been installed, with a total of 100 units planned.

MBTA Wellington Carhouse

The Wellington Carhouse is the primary repair and maintenance facility for MBTA’s Orange Line. In 2017, construction began to expand and make improvements to the existing facility. In the same year, MAC Products was awarded the contract to manufacture the DC equipment for the maintenance facility. The equipment included a 13-section DC Switchboard with a 6000 amp high-speed circuit breaker, wall mounted disconnect switches, the ceiling mounted rail stinger system, and various stinger control panels. The project also required specially designed cable reels with an auxiliary plug.

Amtrak – Spring Tensioner

MAC Products worked with Amtrak to solve an ongoing maintenance and performance issue with their auto tension catenary system in the Northeast Corridor. MAC supplied multiple Tensorex C+ spring tensioners to replace the existing weight stack and pulley system used to maintain tension on the catenary wires. The first four units were installed, with MAC supervision, by Amtrak linemen and put into service in December 2018. The units were installed overnight, in 20-degree temperatures, without interrupting revenue service. These units will relieve the maintenance crews from the continual task of greasing, adjusting and inspecting all of the components of the traditional balance weight assemblies.

LA Crenshaw Yard Maintenance Facility Project

Located adjacent to LAX, MAC Products designed and manufactured the traction power DC distribution systems for the new Los Angeles Metro’s Operation and Maintenance Facility. The equipment consisted of a multi-section manually operated DC Switchboard, sectionalizing wall mounted switches for the shops’ traction power, and motorized disconnect switches for the yard’s overhead catenary tracks for remote and local operation. Custom control stations and safety devices were also designed in order to control the facility’s stinger systems.

Metro-North Railroad – Snow-melter

MAC Products’ Snow-melter is part of the Metro-North Railroad snow-melter system. Consisting of a 750VDC power distribution section and a control equipment section, the input traction power is fed through a primary or alternate 750VDC source. The output is designed to supply traction power up to 12 branch snow-melter circuits and can be operated by a remotely connected contact.

The equipment includes features such as LED beacon light, door interlock, interior lighting, and interior heating. In addition, there are a series of mechanical and electrical interlocks within the circuit that allows only one power source can be connected at a time.

In the event of control voltage failure, traction power can be redirected manually by an operator to power the Snow-melter circuit.

MARTA - Emergency Trip Station (ETS)

MAC Products recently designed and manufactured, traction power system emergency trip stations (ETS) and auxiliary emergency trip stations for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA). The emergency trip stations and auxiliary emergency trip stations are NEMA 4x, low smoke, and low flame rated for use in enclosed areas. Each station was provided with a push button to be used as a trip to de-energize the line on the enclosure and a phone with its own compartment and access door. The auxiliary emergency trip stations were also provided with a push button for tripped and used in tandem with emergency trip stations in various locations throughout the line.

LACMTA Blue Line Resignalling Project

Los Angeles Metro has been upgrading their Blue Line recently. MAC Products is the manufacturer and supplier of the new overhead contact system (OCS). MAC manufactured and supplied replacement OCS assemblies for the existing traditional catenary as well as an overhead rigid catenary (OCR) system for the 2 tracks within a 3,000-foot tunnel in downtown Los Angeles.

The replacement effort includes offering functional equivalents of various OCS assemblies, often requiring a customized solution to address the specific challenges. As an example, custom elastic arms were supplied to accommodate the new design requirement of a highway underpass.

The implementation of the rigid catenary system is offered by MAC Products (USA) in partnership with KLK (Spain). MAC/KLK provided the design of the rigid catenary system and various support assemblies; the production of the necessary components and on site technical guidance and supervision during installation.

Maintenance Facility Traction Power System

For the MBTA Wellington Yard, MAC Products Inc. is proud to be the manufacturer of the shop Traction Power System equipment. The traction power system consists of a High-Speed DC Breaker, 13-Gang Disconnect Switchboard, Multi-Track Overhead Rail with Stinger Trolley, and Stationary Auxiliary Power Cable Reels. This system offers a complete solution to the in-shop traction power supply, allowing for the remote operation to power specified locations within the shop, and safely provide traction power to the car whether it is moving or stationary.

MBTA-GLX Snowmelter Heating System

MAC Products, Inc., a leader in Heating Solutions for Rail and Mass Transit Industries, was recently awarded the contract to provide Switchpoint Heating Systems for the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority’s Green Line Extension (GLX) Project. MAC’s state-of-the-art system will ensure safe, efficient heating of all track switches on the extended main line between Lechmere and College Avenue stations, along with the new Vehicle Maintenance Facility Yard in Somerville, MA.

MAC’s turnkey package for GLX includes Flat-Profile switchpoint heater elements, Wireless Controls, OCS fuse boxes and pedestal-mounted heater junction boxes. The MI-type, flat-profile elements offer a 250% benefit in thermal transmission over older, tubular-type heaters due to increased contact area with stock rails. These low-energy, highly-efficient heaters result in reduced operating costs and ensure that maximum surface temperature of the element does not exceed 450°F, eliminating the possibility of dangerous track fires. A single-ended power termination reduces installation labor and material up to 50%. A PLC-based, dual-zone control case provides local and remote control of up to six heating circuits. Wireless remote control and monitoring is accomplished via 900 MHz Frequency-Hopping, Spread-Spectrum Radio. A wide-range input DC-to-DC converter derives system control power from 650VDC traction supply, eliminating the need for a dedicated low-voltage source at each control point.

The complete MAC Switchpoint Heating System, including industry-leading technical and field support, provides the installing contractor and owner with a reliable service-proven solution for its rail heating needs.

East Link Light Rail Extension Project

The East Link light rail extension project for Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority (Sound Transit) has been moving forward with design and construction over the last few years to ultimately provide light rail service across the Homer M Hadley Bridge. This represents the first time that light rail will be built on a floating bridge.

The link connects Seattle with Bellevue, through Mercer Island, via Interstate 90 and will be ready for ridership in 2023. With the bridge floating, it was required that the rail track be transitioned from a fixed to a floating structure, allowing for water level movement effects in all directions. The rail transition joint sections have been designed, analyzed, tested and ultimately installed in eight positions.

While the track solution below the train for the expansion joint was being successfully addressed, MAC Products was contracted to provide the train electrification solution for the Overhead Contact System at the transition locations. MAC’s design and manufacturing experience has resulted in a unique design to merge rigid contact systems (OCR) with catenary contact systems to obtain the required strength and freedom of movement.

After months of design and analysis, the structural steel support assembly and test fixturing were designed and fabricated at MAC’s factory in Kearny, NJ. Assembly of the transition joint required weeks of assembly time and the use of overhead cranes, as the highest point on the test setup is measured at over 20ft above ground.

A key factor of the project’s success was a virtual live-stream test. In addition to this, the contract-specified testing process, which was fully recorded by professional video services at the MAC facility, verified the transition joint system to be successful after exposure to all required mechanical inputs.

#MacProductsInc #WeDontDoEasy