Loco certification

[bendorsey]

Certification might not be the correct word but:

When a new loco or a loco that has undergone extensive repairs is ready - what sort of testing, documentation, and so on is necessary before it is allowed to (or back to) work? There has to be some sort of procedures involved for safety and liability reasons

Any ideas gents?

Ben

 

[kws4000]

Certification might not be the correct word but:

When a new loco or a loco that has undergone extensive repairs is ready - what sort of testing, documentation, and so on is necessary before it is allowed to (or back to) work? There has to be some sort of procedures involved for safety and liability reasons

Any ideas gents?

Ben

Good place to start is with the folks who tell you how to run a railroad: The FRA (Congress/ICC only tell you if you can run a railroad)

http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/publicsite/Forms.aspx

At the bottom, find the oft-referred Form 4 for Steam Locomotives....

EDIT:
For general regular inspection, use 6180.49a
Realistically, every loc should be inspected by crew daily before each run, but this shifts the burden to inspectors who now instead of putting their life on the line, merely put their butt on the line.

 

[jjanmarine3]

not sure how relevant my comments will be but your question brings back memories..
On steam we used to take the steam locomotives out for a trial run after a major overhaul, all the fitters who worked on that specific locomotive would sit on the front by the smoke box and on the 'running boards' during the trip , good fun but dangerous.

on diesel and electric units after each scheduled or non-scheduled repair there are forms ranging from a daily , monthly , 3 monthly, 6 monthly and annual scheduled and non-scheduled inspection forms that are filled in and signed by the maintenance staff and supervisors. Each RR probably has it's own set of forms set out as required. These forms are broken up into sections which pertains to every aspect of maintenance on the locos, including brake tests, electrical tests etc. to ensure quality workmanship. Diesels are taken to a load box as specified in the manuals or if there are performance problems, ( a load simulator that couples resistor banks to the locomotives engine and alternator/generator ) , and performance is checked in all notches and under all conditions.
The completed maintenance forms also contain info like man hours, parts used - like brake blocks, oil and filters etc. and all this info is captured on computer programs for cost and quality control etc.
Drivers have trip reports for each trip and these reports are attended by technical staff as required.

cheers

 

[cascaderailroad]

Usually all steam boilers (whether it is in the basement of a building, or on a steam loco) have to be inspected, and be certified as non-explosive, by a State boiler inspector.

Before the steam safety valve was invented, a steamer passing SF tower at Tunnelhill Pa, exploded, demolishing the tower, killing both the tower operator, and the loco crew, and chunks of the loco were hurled in the air, 1/2 mile distant !

A diesel loco exploded and sent a piston cylinder pack flying up in the air, which came crashing through a persons house roof !
http://www.cargolaw.com/2000nightmare_singleonly13.html#CNRail

 

[fran1]

With a new design loco/multiple unit the cab is designed then tested for crashworthyness, ie it will keep the crew/driver protected in case of a crash.
Computers no doubt play a big part in this to keep costs down.
The complete loco will then go to a test track for (in the case of the british class 68 being tested at the moment) 3 months of running in various conditions/ load cycles in fact anything it would normally run into in operating conditions.
Other locos being built are retrospectively fitted with any mods/additions found needed.

 

[JCitron]

From what I've read in various places, the locomotives themselves keep a log of any failures in their computer systems and this is downloaded by the maintenance staff for verification and repairs. This I would imagine saves a lot of the time for the inspectors.

John

 

[clam1952]

Pdf with the UK Certification requirements for Registering mainline Steam running here http://www.rgsonline.co.uk/Railway_...ck/Railway Group Standards/GMRT2003 Iss 1.pdf Worth a look.