BR STANDARD CLASS 4 No 80078 WHEELS ARE REPROFILED AT BOMBARDIER'S ILFORD WORKS - 20th March 2008

Photo Report from James Cox - dated 25th March 2008
Locomotive, Carriage & Wagon Manager, Swanage Railway
Photographs are copyright James Cox unless otherwise noted To view a larger version of any photograph on this page, just click on the thumbnail photograph and subsequently use the Back button on your browser to return to this page.

BR Standard Class 4 No 80078 is set up for wheel reprofiling at Bombardier's Ilford Works on 20th March 2008 - Photo copyright James Cox

One of the Swanage Railway's favourite locomotives, BR Standard Class 4 No 80078, has been away from Swanage undergoing repairs to a cracked crankpin. This work has also allowed the locomotive's steel tyres to be reprofiled by lathe turning as the coupling rods were not in place.

James Cox, Swanage Railway's Locomotive, Carriage & Wagon Manager writes:

One of the Swanage Railway's favourite locomotives, BR Standard Class 4 No 80078, has been at the South Devon Railway for Southern Locomotives Ltd contract repairs to a cracked crankpin.

When this work was finished, and with the coupling rods still removed giving access to the wheel centres, I took the opportunity to have No 80078's steel tyres turned to restore them to a correct working profile. It is not always appreciated that a railway locomotive's wheels have tyres which wear in contact with the rail, much as a car's tyres wear in contact with the road, but it is a much more difficult task to correct any damage.

BR Standard Class 4 No 80078 arrives at Bombardier's Ilford Works on 20th March 2008 and is winched into position on the lathe - Photo copyright James Cox

The tyre turning took place at Bombardier Transportation's Ilford Works in East London, Alleley's moved No 80078 there overnight 19th March, unloading by 07:30 on 20th March. The loco was towed into the wheel lathe shed by winches.

The Hegenscheidt 106 ground wheel lathe at Bombardier's Ilford Works. The rack of stock wheel profiles is shown, together with the selection used for the wheels of BR Standard Class 4 No 80078 on 20th March 2008 - Photo copyright James Cox

The wheel lathe is a Hegenscheidt 106 ground wheel lathe. It machines both wheels of one wheelset at a time. It was installed by British Rail in the 1970s, and there is no computer control. Instead, the hydraulic control system copies one of a selection of tyre profiles held in a magazine.

BR Standard Class 4 No 80078 is set up on the lathe - Photo copyright James Cox

No 80078 was towed over two short retractable rail sections. Then 2 drive rollers each side lifted the wheelset a couple of inches above the rail, which then retracted. Two inner guide wheels swing round to hold the back edge of each tyre. Then hydraulic, height adjustable wheel centres are moved into position and locked to steady the centre of the wheel.

BR Standard Class 4 No 80078 on the lathe at Bombardier's Ilford Works on 20th March 2008 - Photo copyright James Cox

The turning is achieved by rotating the wheelset at a surface speed of 60 m/s. The cutting tool is moved from the outside of the tyre to the inside, following the shape of the profile plate. The front pony and rear bogie tyres were restored to the correct profile in one pass, but the driving tyres took four passes to restore the profile.

The shiny new reprofiled front pony wheels can be clearly seen as BR Standard Class 4 No 80078 is winched forward on the lathe at Bombardier's Ilford Works while while each pair of driving wheels is aligned with the lathe - Photo copyright James Cox

The driving wheels are coupled by rods, so their diameters must be within 10 thousandths of an inch of each other to avoid rough riding or even damaged rods and derailment. Optical sensors calculate the wheel diameter by comparing its RPM and surface speed.

The operator stands in a booth directly below the wheelset. It is a very noise place to be with the lathe itself, swarf disposal system and three types of fume extraction all running.

BR Standard Class 4 No 80078 being shunted by a Tamper at Bombardier's Ilford Works after completion of the work on 20th March 2008 - Photo copyright James Cox

I have provided over 20 photographs showing BR Standard Class 4 No 80078 at the Ilford Works, including No 80078 being shunted by a Balfour Beatty ZWA Plasser & Theurer Universal Tamper/Liner DR73945 that turned up for onward transfer while the work was in hand. Please scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the full set of photos.

BR Standard Class 4 No 80078 is removed from Bombardier's Ilford Works on the evening of 20th March 2008 following the successful completion of the engineering work on its wheels - Photo copyright James Cox

As you can see from the photos on this page, there is a huge amount of engineering activity needed to run a successful railway.

If you would like to become involved in keeping the Swanage Railway in operation, please visit the Swanage Railway Trust's Volunteer page at http://www.swanagerailwaytrust.org.uk/volunteering/ where you will find detailed information on all of the Railway's departments including our many Engineering and Operations departments.

James Cox
Locomotive, Carriage & Wagon Manager
Swanage Railway Co. Ltd.
Station House,
Swanage,
Dorset.
BH19 1HB