Exhibition preview
three-rail lifting and four-rail tamping.
Also on show will be a PBR 500V 1600mm-gauge machine for Latin American Logistics (ALL), Brazil. Although this is a small machine it incorporates the technology used on the big track maintenance machines. Plasser will unveil a road- rail vehicle fitted with a mobile welding robot. The APT 1500 RL can perform all types of weld and has sufficient power to carry out closure welds. It will measure and document the welding process, and align and weld the rails automatically. Delegates will be able to try their hand at tamping on Plasser’s new 09-3D mobile tamping simulator which is mounted in a container. Screens outside will show how delegates are performing. One of the highlights of
Robel’s display of machines in Münster will be its innovative mobile maintenance system (MMS) which has been developed from its Mobile Maintenance Unit (MMU). The MMS train incorporates the MMU as a work vehicle which is designed to provide a fully- enclosed area for track workers to operate in complete safety while remaining within the loading gauge even with the sides extended outwards.
Hydraulics and electricity are available to power tools and equipment which reduces noise levels and eliminates fumes, while two 2.5-tonne roof-mounted cranes are able to move between vehicles and
Above: Robel’s Compact Mobile Maintenance Unit (MMU) which forms the basis for its MMS. Inset: working area with sides extended.
around curves. Cameras are fitted to monitor and control the work being done.
The MMS has a traction and supply unit with a staff room, kitchen, toilet and a workshop with workbench, and an intermediate wagon, which can be accessed by a fork-lift truck, for transporting track materials. This enables staff to prepare for the work they are about to do while travelling at up to 100km/h to the site. This means it only takes about 5 minutes to set-up and clear away compared with an hour at the start and finish using conventional maintenance methods. This enables possessions to be either more productive or take less time. However, introducing the
MMS on a railway will require a change in maintenance strategy from reactive to preventative.
Plasser’s new 09-3D mobile tamping simulator. 48
So far Robel has sold two MMS trains to Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and one to Jernbaneverket, Norway. It is building a demonstration unit and bidding for a contract from a European infrastructure manager for six units initially, but up to 40 in the long-term. Robel will also have its Compact MMU 69.60 on show, five of which have been supplied to ÖBB. This is designed for working in metro tunnels and has three cranes with a lifting capacity of 250kg to open the lid of a channel so that it can be flushed. The side walls can be opened to reach the safe side of the tunnel. The vehicle can also be used for working with welding teams. The Compact MMU has two floors and the upper level is fitted with small workshop, an area for up to six staff, a kitchen and a toilet. There is a cab at one end and the unit can be driven under its own power at up to 5km/h. However, it needs to be
coupled to a self-propelled track vehicle to transport it to or from work sites, and this is how the MMU will be displayed in Münster together with a channel rinsing wagon. For the first time at the IAF Robel will show part of its system for transporting rails. The Rail Train consists of a rail manipulator with two to four jib arms, a set of wagons which can carry rails up to 500m long arranged in 10 rails per layer with up to three layers in Europe and four in Australia, and a chute wagon set consisting of a chute wagon and either an intermediate wagon for one- sided operation or two wagons for double-sided execution. A ramp wagon can also be provided depending on the number of layers and the structure gauge. The Rail Train features automatic opening of the gates to obviate the need for staff to walk on the rails which can be very slippery when wet. The Australian version has an automatic system to clamp the rails, again to avoid people having to climb on the train. Robel recently started to
IRJ May 2013
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