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Effects of wheel design on the torques applied to large hand wheels

Article  in  International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics · March 1995

DOI: 10.1016/0169-8141(94)00038-5

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 InlernaI~onaJ]ournalol

Industrial
Ergonomics
ELSEVIER International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics 15 (1995) 205-213

Effects of wheel design on the torques applied

to large hand wheels
Mark L. McMulkin, Jeffrey C. Woldstad
Industrial Ergonomics Laboratory, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0118, USA
Received October 21, 1993; accepted in revised form March 21, 1994

Abstract

This paper reports the results of an experiment to evaluate the isometric wheel torque strength of human subjects
using four different hand wheel designs. Three of the wheels were new designs, while the fourth was a wheel
currently used on many railroad car hand brakes. The three new designs were a cylindrical tube (4.3 cm in diameter),
a cylindrical tube (2.5 cm in diameter) with spheres mounted along the edge, and a circular zig-zag design. The
strength capabilities for 12 male and 12 female subjects were measured using two methods. The first method used a
three-second average during a six-second sustained exertion following recommended isometric strength testing
procedures. The second used the maximum value for a trial that had subjects slowly increase the magnitude of their
exertion to a maximum and then relax. Results showed that the torque generated by the subjects was highest for the
zig-zag design, followed in order by the wheel with the spheres, the cylindrical wheel, and the standard wheel;
average torque values were 156 Nm, 118 Nm, 106 Nm, and 101 Nm, respectively. Further, the hand forces generated
by the subjects during the wheel-turning task indicate that not only were subjects able to generate more
wheel-turning torque using the new wheel designs, but they were also more efficient in producing this torque.

Relevance to industry

For industrial tasks using large hand wheels such as valves or brakes, this paper addresses important ergonomic
wheel design parameters to aid workers in exerting larger wheel torques. Experimental results demonstrate that
improved wheel design can result in as much as a 54% increase in wheel torques.

Keywords: Hand wheels; Wheel design; Wheel-turning strength; Isometric strength; Grip strength

1. Introduction the o u t e r surface of the wheel. Previous work

H a n d wheel controls are often used on ma-
chines w h e n the required manipulation force is
large (Sanders and McCormick, 1993; W o o d s o n
et al., 1992). In tightening a h a n d wheel, the
o p e r a t o r usually must p r o d u c e a force t a n g e n t to
investigating wheel-turning strength has indicated
that grip may play a major role in determining
the a m o u n t of force an o p e r a t o r can exert w h e n
tightening a wheel (Woldstad et al., in press;
W o l d s t a d et al., 1992). Specifically, two of the
limiting factors in wheel turning a p p e a r to be the

0169-8141/95/$09.50 © 1995 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

SSDI 0169-8141(94)00038-5
206 M.L. McMulkin, J.C. Woldstad / International Journal of lndustrial Ergonomics 15 (1995) 205-213
frictional characteristics of the wheel surface and
the magnitude of the grip force (normal force)
that can be generated by the subject.
If grip force does play a role in wheel-turning
strength, then one method to improve perfor-
mance for wheel-turning tasks is to change the
design of the hand wheel to facilitate grip.
Bullinger et al. (1987) report that shape, size,
material, and surface characteristics are impor-
tant parameters in the design of hand wheels. For
the size and shape of the hand wheel, they rec-
ommend an overall wheel diameter of 16 to 80
cm and a cylindrical gripping surface of 3 to 4 cm
in diameter on the rim of the wheel. Based on
experiments conducted by Kern et al. (1984),
Bullinger et al. (1987) predict an optimal grip
diameter of the wheel rim to be about 4.5 cm.
Bullinger et al. (1987) go on to note that a cylin-
drical gripping surface of this size is often not
possible due to weight and cost restrictions; in-
stead, they recommend an S-shaped rim gripping
surface. Unfortunately, no empirical evaluations
are reported by Bullinger et al. (1987) to support
these design recommendations.
In some cases, the design of hand tool gripping
surfaces can be applied to the design of hand
wheels. Drury (1984) reports that for cylindrical
handles, the diameter should be 2.5 to 6.4 cm
when p u s h / p u l l forces are exerted and about 4
cm when thrust forces are produced. Khalil (1973)
evaluated five handle designs for a torque wrench
task: a cylindrical shape 3.2, 5.0, and 7.0 cm in
diameter, a spherical shape 5.0 cm in diameter,
and an elliptical shape 5.0 by 3.2 cm cross-sec-
tion. Based on integrated electromyography
recordings of subjects using the handles, he found
the 3.2 cm cylindrical handle best, little differ-
ence between the 5.0 cm cylindrical, spherical,
and elliptical handles, and the 7.0 cm cylindrical
handle showed the poorest performance. Green-
berg and Chaffin (1976) recommend that handles
should have a diameter between 5 and 8.9 cm,
striving toward the lower limit. They support this
by using measurements of linear grip strengths
which were highest between 5 and 10 cm with a
peak at about 7.5 cm. Greenberg and Chaffin
(1976) give the following recommendations for
tasks where the direction of hand forces is across
the breadth of the palm (such as activating a
hand wheel): (1) a handle to be grasped and
squeezed should be such that the forces are dis-
tributed over as large an area on the palm as
possible, (2) the grasping surface should minimize
slippage, surfaces should not be highly polished
or very smooth, (3) some undulations with highly
rounded peaks should be provided, and (4) the
handle should be a shape so that the force will be
across the breadth of the palm. Kodak (1983)
indicates that appropriate handle diameters for
tools are 3 to 5 cm with 4 cm preferred. Pheasant
and O'Neill (1975) tested the thrust force capabil-
ities (a force similar to that required to activate
hand wheels) for seven handle diameters ranging
from 1 to 7 cm by 1 cm increments. Highest
thrust forces were found for the 3 to 5 cm diame-
ters.
Based upon the above recommendations and
several preliminary investigations, three new hand
brake wheel designs have been developed. The
features incorporated into these designs are in-
tended to improve the operator's ability to grip
the wheel and provide more surface area along
the outside of the wheel perpendicular to the
moment arm. Wheel designs were constrained to
those that had a relatively smooth perimeter sur-
face. In particular, designs with handles along the
outside surface, such as can be found on the
Captain's wheel of a ship, were not considered
due to safety concerns. The experiment reported
in this paper was conducted to empirically evalu-
ate the effectiveness of the three proposed hand
wheel designs and compare this to an existing
design. The task selected for this study was the
operation of a vertical wheel hand brake used on
many railroad cars. The strength characteristics
for a large number of subjects performing this
task has been studied previously (Woldstad et al.,
in press).
2. Method
2.1. Subjects
Twenty-four college students (12 male and 12
female) participated in the experiment. The age
 M.L. McMulkin, J.C. Woldstad / International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics 15 (1995) 205-213 207

Table 1
Average values for subject age, handedness, height, weight, whole-body strengths and grip strength
Measure Males Females Combined
Subjects tested (n) 12 12 24
Left handed (n) 0 2 2
Age (years) 24.33 (3.85) 22.25 (2.45) 23.29 (3.33)
Height (m) 1.78 (0.077) 1.64 (0.104) 1.71 (0.115)
Weight (kg) 79.58 (10.79) 61.58 (10.03) 70.58 (13.72)
Whole-body leg strength (N) 1115.1 (299.7) 480.5 (154.5) 797.8 (399.3)
Whole-body arm strength (N) 359.1 (99.3) 193.1 (71.5) 276.1 (119.8)
Whole-body torso strength (N) 604.4 (184.4) 299.1 (133.8) 451.8 (221.7)
Grip strength (N) 524.8 (58.0) 286.1 (46.5) 405.5 (132.3)
Note: Standard deviations appear in parentheses

Top View
Force Platform
Car Side /
] N,~r r
7.6 cm I

25.4 cm

La~der \ \
Platform Wheel

Front View

48.3 cm " - ' ~ l

48.3 cm
-I
Force platform [ 76.2 cm

Platform , ~ 1
F/////I///I/-II//////////////A

Fig. 1. Vertically mounted hand brake configuration. (Note: the standard wheel currently being used is shown, but three other
wheel types were tested.)
208 M.L. McMulkin, J.C. Woldstad / International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics 15 (1995) 205-213

of the subjects ranged from 20 to 34 years. Sub-
jects were recruited from the general undergrad-
uate population at Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and State University. All subjects were screened
for musculoskeletal problems that would prevent
them from safely exerting a maximum strength
effort. The age, handedness, height, weight,
whole-body and grip strength characteristics of
the subjects are shown in Table 1. The proce-
based on Chaffin et al. (1978). Right-hand grip
strengths were measured for all subjects using a
hand dynamometer with the grip span fixed at 6
cm.
2.2. Apparatus
Subjects completed a total of 20 strength trials;
the results from a subset of 12 trials will be

°°lT
dures used to measure whole-body strengths are reported in this paper. Three of the exertions

I 28 cm

0.45cm thick .3cmdia

t~ 0 A / ~ ~ _ tube
Knurlingonsurface
.95cm radius of the wheel
a) Standard Wheel b) Cylindrical Wheel

- 4.3cmdiatubewith
~k~ded surface ~0~..~
o T

//
oo

~ ~ ulrnensions

2.5crndia
Knurlingpatch ~.~---2L~]----/ tube
1.75cr~wide
aroundthesphere ~_6.5 cmdia
spheres
c) Spheres Wheel d) Zig-Zag Wheel
Fig. 2. Four wheel designs.
 M.L. McMulkin, J.C. Woldstad/ International Journal of lndustrial Ergonomics 15 (1995) 205-213
were whole-body strength trials for the legs, torso,
and arms identical to those reported by Chaffin
and Andersson (1991). One trial was used to test
the subjects' grip strength. The remaining eight
trials were isometric wheel-turning tasks.
The apparatus used for the wheel-turning ex-
ertions simulates the configuration of the ladder
and hand brake area of a typical railroad boxcar.
A diagram of the apparatus is shown in Fig. 1.
Mounted on the left side of the structure was a
ladder consisting of four rungs spaced at 48 cm
intervals. The different wheels were attached to a
force platform positioned to the right of the lad-
der. The force platform measured the torque
exerted by the subjects about the spindle (center
of rotation) of the wheel and also the moment
about the remaining two axes and the forces for
all three directions. A corrugated platform was
mounted 76 cm below the center of the wheel,
and to the right of the ladder.
The first wheel type investigated, labeled stan-
dard, was a standard stamped wheel currently
used for most railroad hand brakes. A diagram of
this wheel is shown in Fig. 2a. For each of the
three alternative wheels, only one quarter of the
wheel was actually manufactured. This partial
wheel was mounted on a frame so that it spanned
the area between 6:00 and 9:00 o'clock. This
range was found in preliminary studies to be the
most effective area to grip the wheel.
The second wheel used in the experiment,
labeled cylindrical, was a knurled 4.3 cm diame-
ter cylindrical tube bent into a circular section
(see Fig. 2b). This wheel was manufactured from
circular tubing to provide a more comfortable
and larger surface area for the hand to grasp. A
diameter of 4.3 cm was selected because it was
within the optimal grip diameters found in the
ergonomics literature. The tubing was knurled to
increase the coefficient of friction between the
wheel and the gloved hand.
The third wheel investigated, labeled spheres,
was a 2.54 cm diameter cylindrical tube with four
6.5 cm diameter spheres (which were partially
knurled) attached to the tubing (see Fig. 2c). The
spheres, which fit easily and naturally into the
palm, gave the users a place to comfortably grasp
the wheel. The tubing was made smaller on this
209
wheel to allow more of the surface area of the
sphere to be in contact with the palm of the
hand. The knurling on the spheres increased the
coefficient of friction between the wheel and the
gloved hand.
The final wheel used, labeled zig-zag, was
made from knurled 4.3 cm diameter cylindrical
tube cut to zig-zag back and forth in a circular
pattern (see Fig. 2d). This wheel was designed
with straight "spoke like" sections to allow the
user to grasp the wheel rim portion and apply
mostly a tangential force. The sharp corners of
this wheel were rounded.
2.3. Procedures
The experimental design was a three-factor
mixed-subjects repeated-measures design. Inde-
pendent variables investigated in this study were
gender, wheel type, and strength measurement
technique. The between-subjects factor was gen-
der with two levels. Within-subjects variables were
wheel type (with four levels representing each of
the wheel types described previously) and strength
measurement technique which had two levels.
The first measurement technique, labeled six-sec-
ond average, followed the procedures recom-
mended for isometric strength testing in the Er-
gonomic Guide for the Assessment of Human
Strength, developed by the American Industrial
Hygiene Association (Chaffin, 1975; Chaffin and
Andersson, 1991). Subjects were instructed to
gradually increase their level of exertion to their
maximum level in a two-second time interval, and
maintain this level for a four-second time period.
A three-second average for the torque generated
between the second and fifth second was then
calculated. For the second measurement tech-
nique, labeled ramp-to-maximum, subjects per-
formed a separate exertion in which they slowly
increased the force level to their maximum level
and then relaxed. The subjects were not required
to maintain their maximum strength level and the
peak torque for each trial was recorded. The
dependent measures for each trial were the hand
forces and resulting torque generated by the sub-
ject about the wheel.
The experiment was conducted in two experi-
210 M.L. Mc Mulkin, J. C. Woldstad / International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics 15 (1995) 205-213
mental sessions. During the first session, the sub-
jects performed the whole-body strength tests,
grip strength test, and then practiced the wheel-
turning exertions. During the second session, sub-
jects performed eight wheel-turning strength tri-
als; each combination of four wheel types and
two measurement techniques. For all trials, sub-
jects were instructed to exert their "maximum
safe effort". Each subject performed the various
conditions in a different order.
While performing each wheel-turning task, the
subjects were required to place their right foot on
the platform grating and their left foot on the
ladder rung flush with the platform (see Fig. 1).
Subjects gripped one of the ladder rungs with
their left hand; with the right hand, they gripped
the wheel by wrapping the thumb and fingers
around it. Subjects wore leather gloves on both
hands. Outside of these constraints, subjects were
encouraged to choose a comfortable body posture
they felt would produce a maximal torque on the
wheel.
3. Results
3.1. Torque
The effects of gender, wheel type, and strength
measurement technique on the torque produced
about the wheel were analyzed using a repeated-
measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Signifi-
cant main effects were found for gender, mea-
surement technique, and wheel type ( p < 0.0001).
The interactions of measurement technique by
gender, wheel type by gender, and measurement
technique by wheel type were also significant
(p < 0.025).
Mean values of torque for males and females
were 155 and 86 Nm, respectively. The ramp-to-
maximum trials yielded a higher mean torque
(139 Nm) than the six-second average trials (102
Nm). Mean values for the main effect of wheel
type were as follows: standard - 101 Nm, cylin-
drical - 106 Nm, spheres - 118 Nm, and zig-zag -
156 Nm. The standard and cylindrical wheels
were not significantly different from each other;
the zig-zag wheel was significantly higher than all
other wheels and the spheres wheel was signifi-
cantly higher than the standard and cylindrical
wheels.
All mean torque values for the interaction of
measurement technique by gender were found to
be significantly different using Newman-Keuls
post-hoc comparisons of the means. Mean values
are as follows: 71 Nm for females using six-sec-
ond average, 101 Nm for females using ramp-to-
maximum, 133 Nm for males using six-second
average, and 176 Nm for males using ramp-to-
maximum. The difference in torque generated
between males and females was larger for the
ramp-to-maximum trials (75 Nm), than for the
six-second auerage trials (62 Nm).
Mean torque values for the interaction of wheel
type by gender are shown in Fig. 3. Note that for
the female subjects, there was no difference in
the average torque generated between the stan-
dard, cylindrical, and spheres wheels, while for
the male subjects the average torque generated
using the spheres wheel was about 19 Nm greater
than the cylindrical and standard wheels. The
difference between the torque generated by males
and females was greatest when subjects used the
zig-zag wheel (99.3 Nm), then decreased to 65
Nm for the spheres wheel, and remained the
250- Male I
225. 0 Female ] .,~tk E
200"
175-
150:
~125i
x~
m 100.
75
50:
I ~ B
25~
o I I I
;tandard Cylindrical Spheres Zig-Zag
Wheel Type
Fig. 3. Wheel type by gender interaction. Bars represent plus
and minus one standard deviation. (Conditions with same
letters are not significantly different using a Newman-Keuls
post hoc comparison test.)
 M.L. McMulkin, J. C. Woldstad/ International Journal of lndustrial Ergonomics 15 (1995) 205-213
::T •..0-- Ramp-to-Maximum
O Six-SecondAvg I E
[
I~ 125.~
75
so
25
0 I I I I
Standard Cylindrical Spheres Zig-Zag
Wheel Type
Fig. 4. Measurement technique by wheel type interaction.
Bars represent plus and minus one standard deviation. (Con-
ditions with same letters are not significantly different using a
Newman-Keuls post hoc comparison test.)
same for the remaining cylindrical and standard
wheels (52 and 58 Nm, respectively).
Mean torque values for the interaction of mea-
surement technique by wheel type are shown in
Fig. 4. For each measurement technique, there is
no difference between the standard and cylindri-
cal wheels. The difference in mean torque be-
tween measurement techniques is greatest for the
zig-zag wheel at 51.5 Nm then reduces to 30 to 34
Nm for the spheres, cylindrical, and standard
wheels.
3.2. Hand force magnitudes
The force plate system collected six total out-
puts: the forces in the x, y, and z-axes (Fx, by,
and F z) and the moments about the origin for
each axis (Mx, My, and Mz). The moment about
the z-axis was the torque value discussed in the
previous section. In analyzing the hand forces
produced during the experiment, the three-di-
mensional hand force magnitude (F) was first
obtained using:
F = (Fex + F 2 + F~) 1/2
The three-dimensional hand forces were then
separated in the force component that con-
tributed to the torque generated about the wheel
and the force component that did not contribute
to the torque.
211
The force used to generate wheel torque (F T)
was assumed to be the force vector tangent to the
outside grip surface of the wheel. It was calcu-
lated using the measured torque (M z) and as-
suming a fixed moment arm length (L) for each
wheel:
FT = M z / L (2)
The moments arms used for each of the wheels
were measured to the approximate center of the
hand location as follows: standard - 28 cm, cylin-
drical - 29 cm, spheres - 29 cm, zig-zag - 31 cm.
The non-useful force (FNu) or force that did not
contribute to the torque was then calculated by
subtracting the tangential force component (F v)
from the three-dimensional force vector (F):
F N = ( F 2 - F 2 ) 1/2 (3)
The three hand force magnitudes (F, F T, and
F s u ) were subjected to separate repeated mea-
sures ANOVAs similar to those described in the
previous section. For both the three-dimensional
hand force (F) and the tangent force (FT),
ANOVA results were similar to those for the
torques measures described in the previous sec-
tion. For the non-useful force components (FNu),
significant main effects were found for gender,
measurement technique, and wheel type (p <
0.01). No interactions were significant (p > 0.05).
• Total
[ ] Tangential
[ ] Non-useful
600
500,
400.
z
~a0o.
,9
200.
(1) 100.
0,
Standard Cylindrical Spheres Zig-Zag
Wheel Type
Fig. 5. Mean hand force magnitudes for the four different
wheel designs.
212 M.L. McMulkin, J.C. Woldstad / International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics 15 (1995) 205-213
The mean hand force magnitudes for the four
different wheel types are shown in Fig. 5. In
viewing this figure, recall that each of the values
represent the magnitude of force vectors and as
such are not additive. Note that while the tangen-
tial force (F v) is higher for each of the proposed
new wheel types, both the three-dimensional force
magnitude (F) and the non-useful force magni-
tude (FNu) do not follow this pattern. For the
three-dimensional force (F), the lowest force
magnitudes were observed for the cylindrical
wheel, followed by the standard wheel and the
spheres wheel which were very close, and then by
the zig-zag wheel. For the non-useful force (FNu),
the lowest values were found for both the cylin-
drical and the spheres wheel, followed by the
zig-zag, and then the standard wheel.
4. Discussion and conclusions
The experimental results demonstrate that
wheel shape significantly affected the magnitude
of the wheel-turning torques observed. The zig-
zag wheel produced mean torques that were 54%
higher than those produced using the standard
wheel, while the spheres wheel yielded mean val-
ues that were 16% higher. The cylindrical wheel
showed a slight (5%), but statistically insignificant
advantage over the standard wheel. Such dra-
matic improvements support our previous results
(Woldstad et al., in press), and underscore the
large role hand grip plays in determining the
wheel-turning strength capabilities of people.
Biomechanical models of human strength have,
up until now, ignored hand grip strength as a
potential limiting factor in forceful exertions
(Chaffin, 1969; Chaffin et al., 1987; Kerk, 1992).
For wheel-turning and other tasks requiring
forceful grip exertions, models not including a
hand grip component may significantly overesti-
mate the force capabilities of workers.
Among the characteristics of the three new
wheel designs which seem to have improved the
grip capability were size and shape of the cylin-
drical tubing/spheres, and the knurled handle
surface. The larger grip surface allowed the users
to exert higher grip forces, which in turn trans-
lated into higher overall wheel-turning strength.
In addition, the knurled surfaces increased the
coefficient-of-friction between the hand and
wheel, also helping the subjects generate more
torque.
The most successful of the new designs pro-
posed was the zig-zag wheel. This design had
straight spoke-like sections that did not require a
large grip force ("squeezing of the hand"). In-
stead, this design allowed the subjects to "lock"
the fingers much as would be required for a
lifting task. The force with which subjects are
able to "lock" their fingers in this manner ap-
pears to be much greater than the force they can
generate in gripping or squeezing. The biome-
chanical mechanism behind eccentric grip
strength exertions of this type is not well under-
stood and would seem to be an important area
for future research. In addition to reducing the
grip force requirement, the zig-zag design re-
sulted in near-neutral wrist postures during the
exertion which also may have enabled greater
torques.
The procedures used to measure isometric
strength also significantly affected the magnitude
of the wheel-turning torques observed. Not sur-
prisingly, subjects were able to generate substan-
tially more wheel torque (approximately 36%
higher) when they were instructed to slowly in-
crease their force level to their maximum value
and then release (ramp-to-maximum), as com-
pared to when they were required to maintain the
exertion for a six-second period (six-second aver-
age). It appears that subjects reduced the force
generated when they knew that they would be
required to maintain that force for the six-second
interval. While our previous results have shown
these measures to be highly correlated (Woldstad
et al., in press), the ramp-to-maximum values
may be a better estimate of strength for tasks that
do not require sustained exertions such as the
initial loosening or the final tightening of a hand
wheel.
When the hand forces generated by the sub-
jects were divided into useful (tangent to the
wheel, F T) and non-useful forces (FNu), several
interesting patterns emerged as shown in Fig. 5.
The cylindrical and spheres wheels had lower
 M.L. McMulkin, J. C. Woldstad / International Journal o f lndustrial Ergonomics 15 (1995) 205-213
n o n - u s e f u l forces, b u t h i g h e r t o r q u e g e n e r a t i n g
force t h a n the s t a n d a r d wheel. F o r t h e c y l i n d r i c a l
wheel, this was especially significant in t h a t t h e
m e a n t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l force was less t h a n t h e
s t a n d a r d w h e e l ( F c y l i n d r i c a l - 435 N; F s t a n d a r d
- 464), b u t b o t h the useful force a n d t o r q u e
g e n e r a t e d w e r e h i g h e r ( F T c y l i n d r i c a l - 366 N;
F T s t a n d a r d - 362). T h e z i g - z a g w h e e l p r o d u c e d
significantly h i g h e r t o r q u e s t h a n t h e o t h e r t h r e e
wheels, b u t also h a d a s s o c i a t e d h i g h e r n o n - u s e f u l
forces t h a n t h e cylindrical a n d s p h e r e s wheels.
W h e n the m a g n i t u d e o f t h e useful w h e e l - t u r n -
ing force ( F T) is c o n s i d e r e d as a p e r c e n t a g e o f
t h e m a g n i t u d e of t h e t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l h a n d
forces ( F ) , t h e following v a l u e s a r e o b t a i n e d :
s t a n d a r d - 80%; c y l i n d r i c a l - 85%; s p h e r e s -
88%; a n d z i g - z a g - 89%. N o t e t h a t all o f t h e
p r o p o s e d designs a l l o w e d t h e subjects to c o n c e n -
t r a t e m o r e o f t h e i r effort t o w a r d s g e n e r a t i n g use-
ful o r t o r q u e p r o d u c i n g force a n d as a result w e r e
m o r e efficient.
Acknowledgments
This r e s e a r c h was s u p p o r t e d by t h e A s s o c i a -
tion o f A m e r i c a n R a i l r o a d s . T h e a u t h o r s w o u l d
like to t h a n k M a r c Dysart, T i m Jones, P a u l
M c M a h a n , a n d R a n d y W a l d r o n for t h e i r v a l u a b l e
a s s i s t a n c e in this project.
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