Railway Track & Structures - February 2008 - (Page 30) Lubrication Understanding,’ Tranergy engaged in extensive R&D. improving the existing products and designing new solutions to existing track problems. Tranergy products use an advanced computer and customers can add telecommunications ability. However, Tranergy has focused on optimizing lubrication of wheel/rail contacts. Tranergy is planning to introduce at least two trackrelated products in 2008.” Kumar added: “Tranergy’s YardGlide™ product continues to be a big hit. It improves car rollability, reduces stalls, eliminates grease mess, improves the yard productivity and reduces the cost of lubricant. Several yards are planning to install YardGlide units in 2008. “Tranergy’s SwitchEnhancer™ was adopted by several railroads for automatically lubricating and maintaining high-traffic switches where track time is not available for manual lubrication of the switch plates,” Kumar noted. “While manual lubrication of switches is done only on the switch plates, the SwitchEnhancer lubricates several times a day all the needed components of a switch: the plates, the switch point tip, the rods, the mating surfaces and top of the switch and stock rails. This maintains a smooth operation of the switch, improves the switch life and reduces the derailment forces that can develop when the train goes over the switch.” Tranergy’s new SwitchCurvGlide™ addresses the problem of switches leading to several tracks with a high degree of curvature. This product lubricates the switch, as well as all the curves coming out of it, with one machine. It will also lubricate the gauge corner and top of the rails of all the curves. “It is a unique solution to a serious track problem that has not been addressed by any one to date,” Kumar said. “Tranergy’s BridgeGlide™, designed for protecting the bridges from heavy lateral loads produced by increasingly heavier and longer trains, is reducing rail wear, bridge vibration and noise, and is finding increasing appeal and usage,” he noted. “The bridges are getting old, are heavily loaded and can use all the help that we can give them.” Tranergy’s top-of-rail curve lubricant, TORCL, is an addition to the top-of-rail friction modifier, TORFM, developed earlier and used in the onboard locomotive product called TracGlide™, which is now handled by Friction Management Services, LLC, a 30 Railway Track & Structures February 2008 Whitmore’s EZ Switch® with applicator. Tranergy-Timken joint venture. “Both fluids are environmentally clean and available from Tranergy,” Kumar said. “Tranergy has improved TORCL and provides it in three grades, CL-40, CL-80 and CL-120. The majority of Tranergy customers are currently using TORCL. It is clean, biodegradable, requires no clean up and will not freeze. It is used in all the Tranergy wayside lubrication systems. “Tranergy continues to grow and expand,” Kumar said. “The year 2007 was a very good year and we expect 2008 to be even better. All of our new products have been installed around the country and they are working very well. Tranergy has added sales agents in Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Scandinavia and will soon be adding some more for other countries.” Whitmore’s Whitmore’s introduced two lubricants for the rail industry this past year. The company reformulated its EZ Switch® switch plate lubricant for use in an aerosol package. “EZ Switch® Spray has a lot of benefits when compared to other products and delivery systems,” said Ray Schwertner, president and ceo. “For instance, it dries within minutes, so it doesn’t attract dirt or easily wash off in the rain. Other systems usually require the user to wear a heavy backpack sprayer. With EZ Switch Spray, you insert the can in a lightweight spray wand and pull the trigger. The nozzle assembly produces a precise spray pattern so you only apply lubricant where you want. It isn’t unusual to lubricate more than 100 switches with just one can. “We also introduced a new rail curve lubricant, RailMax™,” Schwertner said. “Using the latest grease thickener and additive technology, it has outperformed other lubricants in some particularly demanding areas with high traffic and heavy loads. RailMax has great carry-down, wear-protection and wash-off resistance. It is the perfect rail curve lubricant for those tough-tolubricate areas. “As a result of continuing record demand for our rail lubricants, we recently expanded our warehouse, installed new lubricant laboratories and added grease kettles and holding tanks,” he said. “We have also built a cold temperature test facility to evaluate the low-temperature performance of our rail lubricants. Demand has been so strong we are already wondering when we’ll have to start the next expansion.” Schwertner continued: “One clear trend over the past year has been increased demands on our distributors by the railroads. It isn’t enough to just deliver lubricant. Our distributors are now authorized to service most wayside lubrication systems. They also supply hirail lubrication systems, lubricant pump systems for transferring grease from onsite bulk tanks to hi-rail trucks and from the truck to the wayside lubricator. Some of our distributors even fill lubricators directly from their own hirail trucks. They also install level sensors in the grease tanks that can be read remotely over the Internet. This enables them to provide real-time consumption reports to the railroads and ensures the railroad never runs out of lubricant. In short, they are providing and servicing everything related to rail lubrication. “One other trend we see is increased demand for high-performance rail lubricants, including environmentally-friendly ones. Our customers are thoroughly convinced of the benefits of using high-quality lubricants that do a better job of protecting the rail. Many have switched to RailMax and BioRail®, our biodegradable lubricant. Market acceptance for BioRail was initially slow, but that has changed tremendously in the past year as customers have seen that it doesn’t take a back seat to petroleumbased products. Without a doubt it is our best-performing lubricant. When our customers see it perform they quickly become believers.” www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com
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