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September 2024
Compiled by Michael Popke
Lubricheq® RLI 100-AW is made with high-quality oils, metallic soaps, extreme-pressure additives and oil-soluble surfactants — providing better lubrication and longer periods between applications compared with graphite options, Cadillac Oil Co. officials said in an email. The product bonds itself to steel surfaces to reduce friction and wear between the base of the switch points and the switch-side plates.
Lubricheq RLI 100-AW provides high-performance lubrication, water washout protection and resistance to buildup, company officials said. Quality-tested to ensure proper viscosity under all temperature conditions, it can be used on all types of railroad switches, as well as other equipment where metal-to-metal friction needs to be reduced.
It also can be dispensed by pouring, brushing or spraying, and it will resist wear and tear under the elements.
Key product features include friction reduction to promote smooth switching operations in all weather conditions, low viscosity for easy application and pumping, water wash-off resistance for extended service life, and additive packages for low-wear and high-load carrying, company officials said.
L.B. Foster is focused on helping customers optimize their existing friction management programs by continually improving the company’s equipment, consumables and performance monitoring services, company officials said.
The L.B. Foster Remote Performance Monitoring (RPM) 2.0 platform is designed to provide customers with real-time insight into the performance of each of their trackside lubricators with a more user-friendly interface. The RPM 2.0 platform allows customers to continually analyze and compile telemetry taken from existing GPS-enabled trackside units to determine and track friction management program uptime, as well as update unit locations via GPS.
The company also offers the trackside PROTECTOR® X friction management system, which features an enhanced product compartment design to provide a true first-in, first-out product utilization system to minimize known issues when switching between seasonal greases and minimizing cavitation. The enlarged capacity of the system also allows for longer intervals between tank refills, which provides less track access time required for maintenance, company officials said.
Meanwhile, the MC-5 Gauge Face Grease Applicator Bar’s new manifold design eliminates port-to-port output variability. By equalizing the flow of grease to each port, bar clogging is significantly reduced and the optimal application of grease to the rail gauge side surface is maintained, company officials said.
A “plug-and-play” replacement for existing MC-4 applicator bar installations, the bar features a new aluminum manifold that eliminates corrosion that can affect bar performance, a new gasket design that reduces the likelihood of any leaks, and weight reduction of about 40% per bar assembly, company officials said.
Adverse wheel and rail interaction poses one of the biggest threats to the life and performance of rail and rolling assets, and Loram Technologies offers both gauge face and top-of-rail (TOR) consumables in biodegradable, synthetic and water-based versions.
Loram Technologies’ gauge face lubricants are designed for transit or heavy-haul applications, are biodegradable and remain pumpable in extremely low temperatures. EcoCurve Heavy Haul is readily biodegradable, carries the European Ecolabel and is suitable to use near bodies of water, company officials said.
Additionally, Rail King HL was developed in 2020 as a biodegradable curve lubricant with equal on-track performance to heavy haul at a lower cost per application, they said. EcoCurve Trackside is also readily biodegradable.
The company’s top-of-rail friction modifiers are designed for wayside applications. They can help reduce noise, extend rail and wheel life, and contribute to fuel savings, company officials said.
TOR-Extend is a clean synthetic friction modifier that has a low evaporation rate, uses less material per application and has a carry distance of more than six miles in most applications.
Loram Technologies, through a partnership with RS Clare, also has introduced ClareShield TOR-WS, a water-based positive friction product that is readily biodegradable and track-tested on a Class I.
Loram Technologies also offers a family of modular tank sizes from 25 gallon/200 pounds to 200 gallons/1,600 pounds in carbon steel or stainless-steel configurations. The units are available for TOR or gauge face applications and can be solar- or AC-powered.
Easy to maintain and install, the 25/200 tank size is designed for low traffic areas like switching yards, industrial spurs, and lower tonnage Class I mainlines and transit systems. The larger tank sizes are suited for Class I mainline applications.
RBL Inc./Robolube Industries offers a range of rail lubrication products, from the new R2K no-contact wayside lubricator to the SWPL automatic switchplate lubricator to Robolube hi-rail lubricators.
With wayside lubricating as a stationery application, Robolube hi-rail lubricators provide precise gauge face lubricating to assure 100% grease consumption by trains, company officials said. The product allows railroads to lubricate anywhere on their circuits with hands-on monitoring by the operator, and both left and right application nozzles allow for lubrication of any curve while moving on the track at 20 mph to 25 mph.
Robolube also offers top-of-rail (TOR) lubrication products. The hi-rail lubricators are fully heated systems with provisions to heat the unit when the vehicle is parked overnight to ensure optimal grease temperatures for application, company officials said.
Meanwhile, the newly redesigned Model 1000 and transfer pump system allows railroads to fill wayside lubricators with gauge face grease and the option to fill TOR wayside lubricators. The Model 1000 also can carry over 1,100 pounds of grease.
SKF Lincoln provides lubrication equipment solutions to metro transit and freight markets designed to reduce rail wear, mitigate noise and lower energy consumption by reducing friction at the wheel/rail interface.
The SKF Lincoln wayside railroad lubrication system portfolio includes gauge face (GF), TOR and restraining rail solutions. The systems can be configured with a protective control cabinet and a reservoir capacity of 35, 200 or 800 pounds.
The units with 35- and 200-pound capacities are stainless steel and used primarily for transit systems, while the polyethylene unit with an 800-pound capacity is used for freight applications, company officials said.
Both freight railroads and transit-rail systems use the company’s GF systems to lubricate curves. Pump pressure forces the grease upward through 12 outlets, positioning the grease beads to be picked up by the wheels.
Once it’s picked up, the grease is carried into the curves to reduce rail/wheel friction. For transit systems, reduction in friction helps mitigate noise; for freight railroads, the goal is to reduce the rate of rail wear in curves, company officials said.
Meanwhile, SKF Lincoln’s TOR system can be configured with two types of applicator bars to accommodate a range of friction modifiers. The foam top applicator is for lower viscosity, while the five-port steel bar is designed for higher viscosity friction modifiers.
Michael Popke is a Madison, Wisconsin-based freelance writer. Email comments or questions to prograil@tradepress.com.
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