Roger Sims founded Sims Professional Engineers (Sims PE) in 1983 after 12 successful years at Pullman Standard and 7 years in charge of engineering at Thrall Car Manufacturing. The years of experience in rail car analysis (by classical methods and accompanying Fortran programs, or various forms of finite element analysis) and testing provided a strong foundation for a consulting business providing engineering services including analysis, design, and testing for the railroad industry.

At Pullman Standard he worked with the labor estimating department, as well as material estimating departments, to design sophisticated fixtures for rapid manufacturing. Roger was instrumental in improving the fundamental design of Pullman Standard’s production rail car offerings. He was also integrally involved in Pullman Standard’s entry into the insulated box car business, primarily for Union Pacific Railroad. His involvement included thermally efficient structural systems. His work included detailed R-value calculations for local areas and calculations for the overall UA factor for various car designs.

While at Thrall Car Manufacturing, he worked closely with the manufacturing engineering group to design fixtures which made the manufacturing of the rail cars efficient. This also involved plant layouts to minimize the movement of large materials through the plant and maximize throughput. This was in addition to the efforts he contributed towards the design and analysis during development of rail car designs as head of the engineering department.

Roger worked over 50 years in the rail industry while designing railroad freight cars that involved concept designs which were carried through into the actual manufacturing. This not only involved the structural designs, but also the concepts that were manufacturable. He was involved in many study groups and committees throughout the rail industry to assist in the development of the field of fatigue work as well as possible new materials to be used in car design. Sims PE works to carry on his legacy in the rail industry (and in engineering work itself) to provide the expertise and reliability that he was known for in all of his work. This legacy is described in the following letter that has been a part of the Sims PE message (from our brochures to our website) to all past, current, and future clients.