Trains floating on air

Conventional jacks are either mobile, using castors or a rear mounted hydraulic steering unit, or rail mounted with retractable anvils. The new design advanced by Lloyds Somers and HRE for the Newton Aycliffe plant uses ‘air technology’, air skates mounted under the jack base, allowing the jack to be accurately and easily positioned by a single operator.

The jack set also incorporates a “side shift” facility, which enables the position of the elevated vehicle to be adjusted whilst each jack is under load. This can be an advantage when building or maintaining the vehicles, as precise adjustment is available when aligning the mating parts between the vehicle body and the bogie.

Lloyds Somers director Steve Reece, who headed up the project, said: “To be the first UK company to be entrusted with crafting and supplying such an cutting edge piece of bespoke equipment is indeed an accolade. It’s fantastic to see the UK recognised for its unrivalled design and manufacturing skills, particularly within an industry as high profile as rail. Key to our success was the fact that Lloyds British has all the skills to complete such a project under one corporate roof, from the consultancy and the design, right through to the manufacture and installation.”

Lloyds Somers also supplied a totally self-propelled 7t capacity hydraulic lift and manipulation table. The table was designed to allow total movement around the plant by a single operator, utilising the battery power provided by a high capacity tug for all motions. The table has a 7t lifting capacity with a start height of 640mm and a fully raised height of 1,540mm, the full stroke being achieved in less than a minute.

The table is fitted with a “floating” top to allow fine positioning of the components when fitting to the railcar and incorporates double wheel-sets to allow the table to be safely manoeuvred over floor-mounted flush railtracks.

The primary purpose of the table is the manipulation and positioning of the new IEP railcar generator unit, although due to the flexibility built in during design, the table can be used to fit a variety of underbody components.

Scott Dickson, Manufacturing Engineer at Hitachi Rail Europe, said: “Lloyds worked closely with us to match our requirements and come up with a bespoke solution. We look forward to continuing to develop new ideas with them in the future to further improve our production processes.” The jacks and table join cranes supplied by Street Crane for the same plant. Street installed nine overhead craneswhich are being used to help manufacture a mix of up to 35 metro, commuter and high-speed intercity trains per month.

Two special40t overhead cranes were supplied to offload train carriages, which are made off site. These are fitted to highlift bogies, which enables them to be safely and easily moved around the factory. The high-lift system has allowed additional equipment to be installed underneath the crane operation area. Street also supplied fixed gantries along the production lines so that technicians can easily access the carriages for fitting out.

A further seven 10t and 15t cranes will bring materials and components to workstations around the facility. Chris Lindley-Smith, sales director at Street Crane said: “This contract was time critical so we had to work closely with the main contractor, Shepherd Construction, to manufacture and deliver the cranes within the required delivery schedule. This meant fitting the crane beams before the roof was added to the building and ensuring that they were protected from the weather.

“We also provided anti-collision systems where multiple cranes share the same track and an all-weather paint system for the outside cranes gives extra protection against the elements. “

All the cranes are of double box-girder construction and deploy Street’s advanced ZX hoists for reliable lifting performance.