Re: Implications of ICE crash

[dbromage@metz.une.edu.au (David Bromage)]

Crookesp (crookesp@aol.com) wrote:
>On a grain costkng $20 million, why is there no constant electronic monitoring
>of wheel integrity displayed in the driver's cabin?

How would you monitor the wheels in this way?

In Germany it shouldn't be necessary. When the ICE was introduced the
maintenance depots were all equipped with laser and ultrasonic wheel
examination equipment. The dual beam lasers check the wheels for correct
profile and "ovality".  All sets have their wheels tested every 2 days. If
a fault is found, arriage bogies are changed and a locomotive is either
put over the lathe or taken out of service. Back in 1989 this was
condemned as unnecessary and as an expensive toy. However as each depot
also has bogie exchange facilities and a wheel lathe, the frequency of
corrective exchange and wheel turning has resulted in the high standard of
safety we have seen in the ICE so far.

Cheers
David