Membership Services

Insurance Program

The RPCA has for many years offered a very good insurance for members. This program allows you as a railroad car owner that ability to get a very good rate for your insurance needs. The RPCA has a pooled insurance program for all of our members’ railcars. For more information, click here.

Single Car Test Device 

Question: What is a Single Car Test Device?

Answer: A single car test device is used to individually test the air brakes on a car or locomotive. Normally used after the air brakes have received repairs or a COT&S. The SCTD can also be used  trouble shoot the air brake system when malfunctions occur.

Over the years many regulations have been mandated by the Federal Railroad Administration to make the railroads a safer place. A few of those regulations cover the recertification of Single Car Test Devices every 92 days and the certification of the individual using the SCDT. For any individual or company who owns passenger equipment, this would mean that you would have to keep constantly sending your SCTD to a shop to be recertified and it also means that as the SCTD user you need to be certified. RPCA offers a SCTD program which is managed by RPCA member Pittsburgh Air Brake. For $75.00 per week plus shipping, you can rent a fully certified SCTD. For more information on this program and the SCTD, please contact Pittsburgh Air Brake at 412-278-3600.

COT&S: “Clean, Oil, Test, & Stencil”. This is procedure that is performed to keep the airbrakes on a car or locomotive in prime operating condition. It consists of sending the air brake valves to a certified air brake shop to be taken apart, cleaned, oiled, tested, and stenciled. Reinstalling them on the car and performing an air brake test with a Single Car Test Device. Please keep in mind this is only part of the process, and the steps taken to perform a full COT&S will vary depending on the car and the type of air brake systems used.

Master Wheel Gauge

Wheels, as you can imagine, are a pretty important part of moving and operating passenger cars. Like so many other aspects of railroad equipment, wheels have federal regulations that govern their use. When you have a steel wheel moving on a steel rail sooner or later your wheels will start to show wear. To accurately measure your wheels so that they are compliant you will need to use a wheel gauge. After years of service wheel gauges can be bent, worn and out of adjustment. That is where our good friends at Pittsburgh Air Brake step in. They maintain a master wheel gauge so you can have yours calibrated. For more information on having your gauge calibrated contact Pittsburgh Air Brake at 412-278-3600. Wheel gauges can also be recertified at the annual RPCA conference.

UMLER & Car Registration

Several years ago, all of the Class I railroads in North America adopted the UMLER system. Today, if your railroad equipment is going to move, it has to be registered under reporting marks in UMLER. The process of registering reporting marks and maintaining all your car information can be a daunting job. Recognizing this, the RPCA created the Railroad Passenger Car Numbering Bureau as a service to our members. The RPCNB is an arm of the RPCA organization and is dedicated to maintaining all the data on our members cars under the RPCA reporting marks of RPCX . For more information, click here.

Future Programs & Services

RPCA strives to be a proactive trade organization and is always thinking ahead. We are working towards new services and programs to benefit our members. To be notified of additional member services in the future, be sure to join our Email List.