WORKSHOPS, DEPOTS AND MANUFACTURING
A
successful train
servicing depot
Managing director of Airquick, Ken Hiscock, explains the company’s work at the Reading train care depot, which opened in the autumn.
I
n 2011 Airquick (Newark) Ltd was selected by Network Rail and Volker Fitzpatrick Ltd to provide a turnkey package for the installation of a fuelling system, CET system, oil and coolant dispensing and recovery system, coolant mixing plant, carriage wash machine and a compressed air system at the new First Great Western Reading Train Care Depot.
All of these systems have been installed by Airquick in numerous locations across the UK, designed with the key criteria of reliability, ease of maintenance and simple operation.
This is very much in line with Airquick’s ‘one stop shop’ portfolio, being based on innovation and experience gained over nearly 40 years in business.
Reading gave us the opportunity to play a major role in the design and implementation of some of the most important facilities that go to make up a successful train servicing depot.
Pipework
The Reading project posed a number of special challenges – not least the remote nature of the plant rooms in relation to the servicing aprons, which ultimately led to the installation of in excess of 3km of pipework to serve the systems within the 220m metre long maintenance shed.
This, added to the tight installation and handover schedule, required a new approach to how pipework materials were selected; the emphasis being on speed and ease of installation rather than outright cost. This led to the use of the Geberit Mapress pipework
74 | rail technology magazine Dec/Jan 14
system extensively throughout the depot for the majority of the systems.
Fuelling
The 24 point fuel system is installed at the depot on two roads inside and a further road outside. It incorporates 200 litre/minute automatic shutoff fuel modules with
metering and
ticketing systems supplied by a low pressure booster set. This guarantees low fuel pumping pressures and ensures damage-free operation of the Cobham train valves – something not generally associated with centralised high pressure fuelling systems.
The modules are fed from a tank farm containing
three 115,000 litre horizontal
cylindrical fuel storage tanks. A first for the railways is the offload Coreolis meter, which weighs the fuel deliveries and eliminates all of the problems associated with trapped air in the pipework that can lead to
the
inaccurate meter readings often seen with conventional, mechanical meters.
CET
Complementing the fuel modules on the three roads are the fully automatic CET modules, which provide a facility to back flush the train tanks. This system enables the operator to connect a CET hose onto the train tank, press a button and walk to the next module, repeating the process as they go.
The modules will automatically evacuate and back flush the tanks in sequence, allowing the operator to concentrate on
filling the header tanks using the hose reel neatly contained within the module and the timed water fill operation to reduce water wastage to a minimum.
The CET system utilises the Vogelsang positive displacement rotary lobe pump system, in conjunction with a Vogelsang standalone macerator unit for a belt and braces approach to minimal downtime due to system blockages. This was first introduced by Airquick in the UK to very good effect at Etches Park Depot back in 2007, and at several depots since.
Carriage wash machine
The new carriage wash installed at Reading features six pairs of side brush modules with extended brushes for covering areas above the eves. The wash is a bi-directional unit and is equipped with blowers to remove residual water prior to the train running into the shed for service.
As part of the continuing development of carriage wash plants, the system has been fitted with a remote diagnostic panel, which enables the operator to view the operational status at any time. This is connected to an internet based programme to allow remote diagnostics from any location in the world, and can provide early warning of impending failures.
Electrical saving technologies include the use of energy efficient motors and sequenced start and stop of the brush modules to keep the electrical load to a minimum when the system is in operation. The wash, whilst incorporating a water recycling system, is also very water
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