Railway Track & Structures - February 2008 - (Page 28) Lubrication tions,” Laucis said. “Everyone’s looking for systems with user-friendly interfaces. These monitoring devices must allow information to be captured and then have controls that may be remote. The key is to allow the systems to be monitored and operated without people on-site. Lincoln uses similar technology in other markets. For example, we work with major global customers in the off-road construction industry that interface our lubrication systems with satellites and other remote monitoring technology. Lincoln has expanded into the global rail lubrication market. The company is involved in Australia, Europe and Russia and is working on solutions for the Asia-Pacific region. “We’re expanding our presence in the overseas railroad market through the strong Lincoln brand that customers recognize from our reputation in addressing construction, mining and other heavy-industry applications,” Laucis noted. ”We see business continuing to be strong,” he said. “The Lincoln brand represents total support and quality for the end user. We are supporting this growth with more on-site application expertise and continued research and development so we can provide the expected Lincoln value to an increasing number of customers.” tiveness. A recent example of this involves our gauge-face applicator bars. We all know that by lowering our gauge-face applicators, we could improve the service life of key components by minimizing wheel contact. But doing so would probably limit performance. Through fieldwork and research and development, we can now improve performance while lowering the bars through the addition of an inexpensive appliance. The development of our new GreaseGuide™ applicator liner, introduced in September at the AREMA Conference and REMSA Expo, has improved lubricant transfer and is a dramatic advancement over the old style grease troughs that only collected wastage. The GreaseGuide re-directs or ‘guides’ grease back to the area where it is readily transferred to the wheel flanges. To do this, the GreaseGuide liner is custom-shaped to conform to the profile of the passing flanges.” Powell added, “We learned through high-speed video that only hunting or misaligned trucks flange sufficiently to pick up grease. With the GreaseGuide, grease is directed to the ‘action zone’ where flanges can pick up grease regardless of the position of the flange.” “But again, product enhancement is only one aspect of the type of effort that Portec Rail applies to the total product our customers count on us to provide,” Wise said. “Our customers understand that Portec Rail knows that the big picture is what really matters, from the application system and factory field service to other related products such as our DisposaBULK™ Expendable Tote System featuring the Fluid-Bag™ Container that is available with most rail curve greases, including SoyTrak™ biodegradable curve grease. We can deliver solutions that impact their entire friction management program.” Wise added, “Continuing with our big-picture approach is something Portec Rail believes will take managing friction management to an entirely new level. Our Remote Performance Monitoring™ system tracks PROTECTOR® gauge-face and top-of-rail operating performance. It is currently being tested on most Class 1s and we are now taking orders for the first of two modes of operation.” Glen Appleby, manager engineering, Portec Rail Products, Ltd., added, “When developing the RPM system, we recognized that there would be many types of users across each railroad and that all railroads have unique requirewww.rtands.com In addition to its standard wheel-flange Solidstick lubricant, MPL Technology now offers a top-of-rail lubestick. orders for its Solidstick system from India, China, Chile and South Africa. Portec Rail Products “Since we last talked, Portec Rail Products, Inc., has continued to pursue the parallel paths of product innovation and improved customer service, with the latter being critical to ensure our advances in gauge-face and top-of-rail friction management technology translate into real world results for our customers,” said Bruce Wise, vice president and general manager, Portec Rail. “You can’t just inject innovation for innovation’s sake,” adds Ward Powell, senior product manager-friction management. “Having the top-performing and most-popular trackside friction management system in the PROTECTOR® IV is just the beginning. Going beyond just selling equipment, we work hard to provide a complete solution package. This capability begins with upfront analysis of a customer’s site or territory and the problems to be resolved. From this work, we move on to finding the most appropriate products and proper installation, and then on to years of monitoring and overall service support.” “We realize that being the total friction management leader is more than just innovating,” Wise said. “It’s making sure that our solution works the way our customers expect. How do we do that? By having boots on the ground, expert boots. Our large field-service staff is working closer than ever with our customers through the entire process, from the paper stage, reviewing track charts, to on-site assessment and measurement, to the installation/startup phase, and, of course, through ongoing operational follow-up.” Wise continued: “These boots-onthe-ground are an important source of information and customer input that helps to feed our commitment to innovation and customer service effec- MPL Technology “We’re running a six-month study with Union Pacific’s Fuel Master’s Group to study the effects of our Solidstick lubrication on wheel flanges and fuel consumption of the new GE EVO locomotives,” said Mike Mitrovich, president of MPL Technology, Inc. MPL has developed, at the request of railroads and car owners, a freight and coal-car applicator to apply its new top-of-rail lubestick and/or its standard wheel flange Solidstick lubricant. “Railroads such as BNSF and CN are convinced that application of lubrication from multiple sources has a significant impact on wheel/rail wear and fuel/emissions/noise reduction,” Mitrovich noted. Working with ElectroMotive, MPL has developed a Solidstick wheel flange lubrication applicator for the new nonradial truck SD-70, 75 locomotives. MPL has equipped the entire KCSMX railroad with Solidstick in Mexico. The company also recently received a commitment from FerroMex to conduct a wheel-flange lube test. The company also has received initial 28 Railway Track & Structures February 2008 http://www.rtands.com
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