REPAIRS FOR PANTOGRAPH RAIL CARS

CFR - SA owns 99 pantograph rail cars, used by electrification stations in all regional companies. This equipment is specialized for repairs on the contact line. They must ensure quick arrival at the damaged location, have specialized equipment for high productivity, allow altitude work, allow the verification of the contact wire under voltage, and provide storage space for materials and parts. This equipment is used by Remote Control Centralization (CT) and Lines (L) personnel, in repairs.
Pantograph rail cars used by regional railway companies have five types:
- DS, made in the USSR in the '60s (16 units);
- 66-UD-316 and 86-UD-316, made by MARUB Brasov until 1984 (58 units);
- DC-68-E, low capacity, made by CIRA Grivita between 1984-1991 (12 units);
- UAM-215-E, made by MARUB Brasov between 1986-1997 (7 units);
- DP-215-E, redesigned and modernized by MARUB Brasov (6 units), but without authorization.
Capital repairs needed for pantograph rail cars also require an improvement in operating parameters because funding is not expected yet for new equipment.
DP 215-E and DS rail cars will have the following improvements:
- cabins will be mounted on both ends of the chassis, each with a guidance post. The cabin will provide panoramic vision and will fit all the guidance and measurement equipment. The two guidance posts will be designed and placed so that the driver can always face the direction of advance, and the position of the main control devices (brake, shift lever, throttle, brake relief valve), as well as outlets for the two radio stations, are located in front of the driver. The cabin windows are ergonomic. The cabin, insulated thermally and acoustically, will include air conditioning that will provide hot or cold air, as needed. The cabin will include coat hooks, a documentation locker, a turning and a fixed table, and the tool locker. All windows will be made of secured glass. Windshields will be sun tinted, with wipers and electrically actuated sprinkle pumps. Interior metal parts will be covered by a 3-mm sound-insulating putty layer, and will be covered with easily maintained fire-repellent materials.
- the access platform to the lifting platform will be mounted on the supports, on top of the metal construction of one of the cabins. Its framework will be made of welded profiles, and the floor will be wooden. The access platform will feature an EP2 pantograph, needed to verify the position of the contact wire under voltage, the pneumatic actuating cylinder and the transceiver aerial.
- maintenance personnel will access the platform via a swing ladder. The platform will feature a storage box for the traction device. The access platform will include balustrades that will not exceed the CFR size for locomotives.
- the heat engine and the suction filter will be covered with a metal cap. A working bank will be located on the lower platform. To protect the heat engine from premature wear, aspiration filter will be soaked in oil.
- the braking system will retain the existing hardware, but will include a caliper handle for passenger carriage calipers, and the pneumatic installation will provide a gradual dosage of the direct brake.
The rail car will be powered by:
- a Diesel heat engine with liquid coolant with sufficient power to propel the vehicle;
- a hardened clutch capable of transmitting the engine torque;
- a rotation inverter capable of providing the same travel speed in both directions;
- a synchronized gearbox;
- a distributor box with a differential mechanism distributing engine torque to the two axles;
- for night operation, the vehicle will feature, according to CFR instructions, a central headlights and end lights, for both travel directions. To ensure night operation, the working platform will include power outlets for two projecting lamps.
UAM 215-E and DC rail cars will feature a reliable and clean Diesel engine, with sufficient power.
The CFR - SA Board of Administration has approved a set of measures to make the pantograph rail cars park more reliable. Documentation was compiled and approved for: modification of axle ends, change of caliper type; improvement of suspension; wheel restoration; replacement of straight axle cogs with helicoid cogs. AFER compiled the instruction for ultrasonic testing on axles with modified ends. The Technical-Economic Council within CFR - SA approved the "Instruction for the operation, maintenance and repairs of pantograph rail cars." Task books for the rehabilitation of these rail cars were also compiled.
For UAM-215-E rail cars, MARUB Brasov is replacing the 215 BHP engine with a 320 BHP version. The company is also working on documentation for DP-215-E rail cars: removing the engine out of the cabin, recovering the transmission chain, the suspension, the braking system, and installing two driver posts.
The pantograph rail car park consists 75% of 66-UD-316, 86-UD-316 and DS cars made in the USSR. These will be repaired at the Grivita Industrial Company (CIG) in Bucharest. SAVIEM engines will be replaced with DEUTZ ones, this time outside the cockpit, the mechanically actuated platform will be replaced with a hydraulic one, suspension and calipers will be modified, two driver posts will be installed, two caliper supports installed for the support cable and the contact wire, and a hydraulically actuated trolley.
The railways need more pantograph rail cars than currently available, a fact that requires both more capital repairs and new funding to the acquisition of newer equipment, with better performance.

Patru Barzan
Silvia Mitulescu