Railway Track & Structures - February 2008 - (Page 26) Lubrication lubricated. They recognize the value presented by wayside rail lubrication due to increased rail life, noise reduction, enhanced fuel economy and reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. “The company now provides a complete line-up of various lubrication devices, including the Lubricurve Electro 20, offering it with and without telemetry, as well as with solar, wind or main line charging options, for heavy-haul railroads,” he said. “The company sells its Lubricurve 50 Mechanical Lubricator for use in heavy-haul, shortline and industrial applications as well. Finally, we offer Memolub®, a selfpowered, portable, track-mounted lubrication system used primarily in passenger and commuter rail applications. L.B. Foster provides a complete line of ancillary products and services for its various lubrication devices. Items such as track mats, grease and maintenance parts are available directly from the company. L.B. Foster also offers installation and site evaluation services along with equipment maintenance to ensure that its lubricators are delivering the required lubrication.” L.B. Foster provides manufacturing and distribution through facilities in Pueblo, Colo., and Niles, Ohio. Lincoln Industrial “In the past year, we’ve strengthened our place in the market,” said Pete Laucis, director of product management at Lincoln Industrial Corp. “We’re expanding in the market and increasing usage of our product. Last year, we talked about what differentiates Lincoln from the rest, and this year we have validated that concept by installing more units and addressing more applications. We’ve seen acceptance of our system’s unique capabilities in the market, because it really works. We’ve communicated that concept and connected with people, resulting in an opportunity to add value for the user by saving fuel, reducing grease consumption, and extending the life of rail. The result is reduced coefficient of friction to a level that makes a significant difference.” “This year, we managed to get essentially 100 percent of the wayside lubrication business from a major Class 1 railroad, which is a significant event for us,” he said. “The railroad market is growing faster than other market niches for Lincoln. There’s an increased acceptance of our positivedesign concept, which may not have been totally understood by many railroads a year ago.” Laucis noted that companies that really put Lincoln’s system to the test have found the benefits. One example is Quebec Cartier Mining. “They installed Lincoln’s lubricators and were able to reduce the total number of units because of how effectively our system was able to distribute grease down the curves,” Laucis said. He continued: “We are about to introduce a top-of-rail system that we did not offer last year. We have taken the concepts and the design that we applied in gauge-face lubrication and are in the process of expanding into TOR applications. We have systems on sites in test, using the most common friction modifiers. TOR has been a good challenge for us because of the many variable factors involved in putting friction modifiers on a track. You have a low viscosity material, the variability of the rail and factors that affect the dispensing device such as environmental dynamics. We’ve managed to address these issues from the dispensing side with our patented, positive-displacement design. The results have been excellent. “Another important future development is communica26 Railway Track & Structures February 2008 www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com
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