Tiedown Handbook for Rail Movements now available.

The sixth edition of Pam 55-19, Tiedown Handbook for Rail Movements is now available in two forms.

Copies can be requested by filling out the form at http://www.tea.army.mil/pubs/pubs_order.htm. This is now the only way to get the printed copies, because the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command's Transportation Engineering Agency no longer stocks quantities of the books in Newport News, Va.

The printed version is durable and completely waterproof, having been printed on synthetic paper, and is sized to fit in a BDU pocket. There is no direct charge to the requester for copies of Pare 55-19, but it's important that those who really need them receive them to help conserve government resources.

The sixth edition can also be viewed, downloaded, and/or printed online at the SDDCTEA web site at http://www.tea.army.mil/pubs/nr/deploy/fgpamphlets/PAM_55-19.pdf.

The sixth edition has been reorganized to improve utility, includes new information and figures, and eliminates coverage of wooden blocking methods of securement. Blocking and wire rope tiedown methods of vehicle securement are rarely used for military vehicles anymore, since chain equipped flatcars have become widely available and are faster and easier to load. Wire rope continues as a secondary tiedown material for items such as gun turrets and secondary loads.

SDDCTEA will also maintain the fifth edition on its web site for wire rope and blocking reference. The earlier editions lack the above changes, but they may satisfy other needs, since many of the chain tiedown methods are unchanged. It may be necessary to compare the sixth edition with the earlier editions to annotate changes in earlier pamphlets.

Robert Kerr, P.E., Mechanical Engineer; Senior Transportability Engineer DOD-Association of American Railroads Representative