INNOVATIONS DONE ON ZONAL RAILWAYS – DECEMBER, 2014
Eastern Railway
· Fixture for cylinder heads- A new fixture has been fabricated and commissioned in-house by diesel shed millwright staff at Andal diesel shed of Asansol division for utilization in removal and fitment of cylinder head in EMD type locomotives.
· Air compressor chimney- One modification has been done at Durgapur steel exchange yard (DSEY) by providing an “Air Compressor Chimney” for cooling air compressor room as well as air compressor machine. It will increase the life of the air compressor machine.
East Coast Railway
· Modifications carried out for better reliability of diesel locos- There were few incidents of train detention on account of difficulty in operation of the modified CBC operating handle lock pin spindle by the crew as it requires a box spanner to screw/unscrew the spindle of the lock pin. In view this, the spindle has been modified i.e. welded with the “T” handle so that the operating crew can easily handle the spindle simply by turning the “T” handle.
· Movable lighting arrangement for train examination- LED lights were fitted on platform truck at C&W depot, Reception Yard Visakhapatnam for night time illumination for rolling stock examination. All wiring, connections and fitment were carried out by the depot staff incurring expense of Rs.-1100/- only. These lights are powered by rechargeable battery. Bright light provided by this arrangement is very helpful for under gear examination during night time.
· Minimizing time in line box loading- To minimize the line box loading/unloading at intermediate crew changing points of Khurda Road (KUR) division, 20 common line boxes for loco pilots have been provided in all passenger trains and two express trains running within Khurda Road division on a trial basis.
North Central Railway
· Movable trestles- A set of four nos. movable trestles has been developed by C&W depot, Agra for supporting coach body after running out bogies during IOH/sick line attention of coach. Development of movable trestles has been accomplished with the assistance of Jhansi workshop for material & fabrication. With the use of movable trestles, continuous/prolonged support of coach load on jacks/electric overhead travelling (EOT) crane can be avoided.
Salient features of movable trestle are:
· Robust & sturdy constructions with (900mm X 900mm X 25mm) thick base plate to distribute the load over a wider area.
· Use of 03 nos. spring loaded cast iron wheels for easy manoeuvrability of trestle.
When coach is placed on trestles, wheels of trestles get off-loaded automatically due to compression of springs.
South Central Railway
· Portable switch extension joint (SEJ) measuring gauge- In Sr. DEN, Central section, a portable SEJ measuring gauge was developed for measuring the gap of SEJ with higher precision. The gauge can be handled by one person and is economically viable, at a cost of Rs.-500/- only. The standard practice of measuring the SEJ with chord and scale requires three men, whereas this gadget requires only one person.
Advantages:-
1. One person can measure the SEJ with the device.
2. Reference pillars can be avoided.
3. Measurement is accurate.
· LED indication for hand brake application/release in SLR- Hyderabad depot has developed LED indication for hand brake application/release in SLR. During loco reversal and stabling, rakes are being secured by applying hand brakes. While moving these rakes points man/guard fails to release the hand brake, resulting in wheel skidding on run. This leads to coach detachment. To overcome this problem, a LED indication gadget is developed at coaching depot, Hyderabad. Two micro switches connected to the floating lever of guard’s hand brake will give the real time status through LED display board provided in the SLR. For supplying power to this system, battery power is used initially on trail basis. This is a creditable effort by the depot. As a permanent measure electrical supply from coach can be used.
South Eastern Railway
· Special initiative has been taken at Hatia coaching depot, where two adjustable LED light heads have been indigenously fabricated. This light set is comprised of two adjustable LED light heads mounted on top of light weight wheel barrow style trolley which can be rotated at 360° angle and can be easily moved in pit line. Both of its light head can be shifted vertically or horizontally and can also be tilted up to 90° angle in front/back direction & locked in that position. This light is very useful, when light of high intensity is required during repair work in pit line.
Western Railway
· Modification to the air flow control in LWFAC coaches- Air flow control system in the LWFAC coaches consists of electrical operated motorized louvers. The reliability of this system at times invites criticism as in the event of failure, the louvers would become inoperative which causes suffocation or excess cooling. To cope up with the problem, an in-house modification has been done by introducing manual operating of louvers. The performance was monitored en-route service and encouraging response has been received from the passengers. Initially this modification is done in LWFAC 03026 and the work for remaining LWFACs is in progress.
· Portable JIG for Arno maintenance- Previously Arnos used in WAG5 locos were kept on shop floor and crane was required to shift the Arno as and when required. Valsad loco shed has fabricated a ‘portable trolley’ using released ball bearings with hook attachment. With the help of new jig, Arnos can be moved now manually on shop floor by trolley. The shed has planned to fabricate more such trolleys and the Arnos will be placed on trolleys in multiple stacking arrangement. This will ensure more shop floor area available with easy movement.
· Trolley with mechanical self propelling (PRTN)- A trolley has been developed in the workshop for cleaning, painting and repair of wagon portions at heights. This trolley has a simple bevel gear system and can be moved by the user without having to come down from the trolley.
· Coach electrical diagnostic equipment- This is for the first time that a machine has been developed in Bhavnagar workshop, which is similar to the ECG machine which gives all the major Electric readings including earth fault from point to point thereby ensuring that the coach turned out from the shop has nil defect and there is a documented proof of coach wise report, which can be printed and preserved for the future records.
· A test bench for checking of Micro Controller BasedGovernor (MCBG) unit- A test bench for checking of MCBG unit has been developed by Ratlam diesel shed in-house. The working of MCBG control unit, cards and actuator unit can be checked individually and the operation of the complete unit can also be checked. Dry run feature of MCBG can also be checked by lifting a load of 100Kg.
· Coaching depot, Indore, holds 214 nos. of coaches fitted with 585 bio digester tanks. These bio-toilets are of 12 different makes and thus their design features also vary. To maintain them, 8 types of pedals were required. Two universal operating pedals (Male & Female type) have been designed and fabricated locally at coaching depot, Indore. These simple devices can operate all types of ball valve opening mechanism. This will save labour and manpower during maintenance.
· Lower Parel workshop has designed and fabricated a hydraulic fixture for overhauling of draft gear of LHB coaches to facilitate in house repair of draft pack and Centre Buffer Coupler (CBC) of LHB coaches. This gadget has enabled the repair of M/S Faiveley make draft gear, constituting almost 80% of the population.
· Solar powered track machine camping coach- Solar powered track machine camping coach was flagged off on 23rd December, 2014 at Bhavnagar workshop. This is the first time on Indian Railways that a coach has been provided with solar panels for charging batteries. This coach was also provided with bi-toilets making the coach a complete eco-friendly camping coach.
West Central Railway
· Test jig for electronic cards of E-70 brake system- Eelctric loco shed, Tughlakabad has developed test jig for electronic cards of E-70 brake system with its own resources. This will help in improving the reliability of E-70 brake system.
· Non-contact type OHE voltage sensor device- In Electric loco shed, New Katni Junction a newly developed non-contact type OHE voltage sensor device is under testing. This device will be ensuring the condition of OHE whether OHE is charged or discharged. This innovation is very economical as cost of making is only Rs.-1200/- only as compare to market price Rs.-5500/- of this device, which is already used in railway.
· Provision of audio/visual indication on existing auto change over panel- In Kota division 57 auto change over panel have no facility of buzzer & indication if 230 V supply fails, which sometime results in failure of signalling system because ASM/SM happen to be un-aware regarding status of incoming supply. To rectify this problem audio/visual indication on existing auto change over panel at three locations have been provided on experimental basis & find it very useful. This modification will sound buzzer with light indication when incoming AT or local supply fails, ASM/SM can reset the buzzer by pressing push switch, then informing Traction Power Control (TPC) for restoring the supply. Work at balance locations will be completed very soon.
· Provision of reflective SIGMA boards- 544 Retro Reflective SIGMA boards have been provided in Kota-Mathura & Kota-Ruthiyai (fog prone) sections of Kota division and 222 have been provided between Bina-Guna & Bina-Ganjbasoda sections of Bhopal division at desired locations at starter, if portal location then it is provided on drop arm to facilitate easy identification of signals by loco pilots.
· Provision of magazine pocket- In AC coaches, magazine bags are fitted in LP sheet panel using pop rivet. Due to working out of these pop rivets, whole panel area looks shabby. The nylon mesh magazine bag is also not durable. To overcome this problem, MS chrome plated magazine pocket has been designed & fitted just below the luggage rack through nut bolt at CRWS, Bhopal. This arrangement is suitable for four/six berth compartment in AC coaches. This magazine rack will be durable and can be easily replaced. Such magazine racks have been fitted in coach no. WC 02102 WGACCN.
· Fixture for retro fitment of two part sliding doors in BCNHL wagon-The BCNHL door has undergone a series of modifications to add more and more improvement in its design because there have been complaints of breaking/damage and opening and hitting with OHE/signal mast. Two part sliding door is the latest design and this is to be retrofitted to the existing damaged door of BCNHL wagon.
The two part sliding doors have been indented by Kota workshop and the door system is being received in disassembled condition which broadly includes – doors (LH & RH), top coping (2 nos.), sliders assembly (containing slider, vertical rollers, horizontal rollers and bearings) (2 Nos.), bottom guide rail with transfer ball (2 nos.), guide rail stiffener plate (2 Nos.). These are to be fitted on the BCNHL wagon body. Fitting directly on the wagon body is very tedious work. So a fixture has been devised by Wagon repair shop, Khutbav, where all the parts are first assembled and then the whole assembly is fitted as unit (LH & RH) to the BCNHL wagon body. This fixture has been developed at the cost of Rs.-1500/- only.
Construction details:-
The following scrap items were used.
1) Screw and nut assembly - 01
2) Base Channels (150 x 75) mm.
3) Angles (50 x 50) mm.
4) Base plate (10 mm).
5) Plate strips (8 mm).
Benefits:
1) Two part siding doors can be assembled with accuracy and ease and in less time.
2) This process is simple and safe.
· Mechanical unit injector calibration machine- “Unit injector” is the most important part of the fuel system of Electro Motive Diesel (EMD) locomotives, which is a high pressure fuel metering pump and spray valve combined into one compact unit.
In order to adjudge the functioning of various component of unit injector and also to check the rate of delivery of fuel from it, the calibration of injector is a pre-requisite. The calibration also ensures that the desired metered quantity of fuel is feeding in the system through injector.
One “HHP Loco Mechanical Unit Injector Calibration Machine” has been designed and fabricated by the staff of diesel loco shed, Itarsi with the available resources. The market price of this machine 13 to 15 lacks. Hitherto the unit injector of HHP loco were being sent to Hubli shed for calibration. This activity not only consumes lot of productive man-hours of the unit but also increase substantial down time of HHP locomotive in shed. Hence, this machine will be helpful in improving the overall productivity of diesel loco shed as well as will also be helpful in ensuring the efficient functioning of unit injector & control fuel consumption of loco as well.
Important parameters:-
1. Calibration fuel temperature- 35°-40°.
2. Calibration fuel pressure- 35 PSI.
3. Constant speed (RPM) of machine- 900+2 RPM.