Silverliner Vs Out of Service - Technical Topics

SEPTA is supposed to give an update on the Silverliner V's this afternoon

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SEPTA officials will give an update Wednesday afternoon on the progress in fixing a defect on 120 train cars that have sidelined a third of the Regional Rail fleet for nearly a month.
Regional Rail riders have dealt with packed trains and schedule delays and changes since the transit agency took 120 of 125 Silverliner V cars out of service the weekend of July 4.

Since when did we get an additional five cars to the fleet?

In an updated version of the immediately linked story, it was reported that five cars were found to be defect free.

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Repairs will start "later this month" with 10 cars per week, through mid November.

He [Knueppel] said the transit agency and Hyundai Rotem expected to decide this week between two options for a new beam. Loading tests would be performed to make "sure this beam will have a great service life," he said, to prevent cracking from developing again.

Gilbert B Norman wrote:In an updated version of the immediately linked story, it was reported that five cars were found to be defect free.

I think what's pretty clearly unstated is that the five cars found without defects simply hadn't developed them yet.

And that's why they were taken out of service along with the 115 cars with cracks.

Set up an inspection schedule to monitor the 5 good cars for cracks & put them back in service. Maybe figure out under a microscope why these 5 were different - probably in the shop for a while, or last 5 delivered, or the first five made.

That batch of 5 cars are the current "test" subjects,the given is they will get new equalizer bars as well,
so as not to tempt fate.

BandA wrote:Set up an inspection schedule to monitor the 5 good cars for cracks & put them back in service. Maybe figure out under a microscope why these 5 were different - probably in the shop for a while, or last 5 delivered, or the first five made.

That was my question earlier. If they were the first five then there was an ECO for the worst, the last five then someone figured out there would be an issue. Random five would be bad QC. Any one have the numbers of the five units that are good. Although car number and truck SN could cause randomness.

JoeD

How is SEPTA getting the Silverliner V cars back in service so quickly? Obtaining replacement stabilizer bars is a very long and laborious process.
Assuming the bars are made of forged steel, it takes time to first obtain the forgings, then have them machined to size. Then they need to have any additional machining added (mounting holes, chamfers for welding, etc). If they are welding the new bars, they then have to be inspected (and hopefully xrayed), then undergo stress testing. The last step would be mounting them back onto the railcar itself and actually testing the car.

Labor Day is only a few weeks away, and the math for SEPTA's schedule doesn't quite add up. Perhaps they are taking some shortcuts?

They've already tested the new beams. It's just a matter of getting them shipped to SEPTA and Overbrook installing them. They're going with a forged beam this time around so all of that rigmarole you just described is immaterial.

Edited for content from a Eurostar train about to enter the Chunnel from northern France -AlexC

In any case, forgings aren't made overnight. I know because I work in manufacturing.
The forging needs to be made, shipped and machined. It must be inspected. This can take weeks, unless they were sitting on the shelf which is unlikely.

Something isn't adding up.

Edited for content from a Eurostar train about to enter the Chunnel from northern France -AlexC

The given is SEPTA with Rotem will test the replacement bars before the wholesale rebuilding of the trucks begins.
It's very possible this is a part already in use with other RR's.

Ekt, is Canton Drop Forge Co. the lucky winner? On Wednesday Knueppel said they would be making a decision on which way to go in a few days, so I guess they made it

bikentransit wrote:In any case, forgings aren't made overnight. I know because I work in manufacturing.
The forging needs to be made, shipped and machined. It must be inspected. This can take weeks, unless they were sitting on the shelf which is unlikely.

Something isn't adding up.

Rotem said that they were working on sourcing new steel for new parts when the XXXX hit the fan in early July.

Edited for content from a Eurostar train about to enter the Chunnel from northern France -AlexC

It's possible Canton Drop Forge has a license from GSC as well.