WORLD FIRST For South Africa A truck on a track. The export potential of this locally developed vehicle is enormous. A big benefit no-one mentioned is that the tyres will last a long, long time. The entire vehicle is raised off the ground hydraulically to get onto the rail-line. Once on the lines, the track guiding system is automatically engaged. Chuffed as pie at the achievement are Danie Barnard, Spoornet's assistant GM, infrastructure maintenance (left) and Johan Richards, vice-president of Nissan SA Truck Division.

You guys of the road are just not going to believe this. That erstwhile supplier of trucks, Nissan SA Truck Division, has been working with Spoornet to improve its efficiencies and has helped come up with a project that will reduce Spoornet's rail infrastructure maintenance costs by R300 million a year when the project is completed in 2004.

OK, here it comes - the shout from the road boys: "How can they do this in view of the Minister of Transport talking about creating more equitable pricing between road and rail? How can they help these guys. They've crossed the railway line; they've gone to the other side!"

Nah! They haven't. They're actually running directly on track with what is a genuine world first - a road-rail vehicle that meets the maintenance needs of Spoornet while at the same time, opens up export markets for its developers.

When FleetWatch heard of the imminent launch of a road/rail vehicle, we immediately thought of the American concept of multi-modal transport where part of the haul is done by road and is then transferred to rail for the rest of the journey. We were wrong.

This road/rail vehicle has nothing to do with multi-modal transport. As the name implies, it is actually a vehicle which can drive on the road as well as on rail tracks. In simple terms, it has tyres and steel railway wheels (or whatever they call the things trains ride on). And it's not used to haul goods. Rather it is used as a sophisticated maintenance unit which carries a host of hydraulic tools for track maintenance.

The venture - a joint one between Spoornet, Viamax (Spoornet's supplier of lease vehicles for maintenance activities) and Nissan Diesel - is founded upon the local construction of 220 of these special vehicles. And not only is it expected to save 25% of Spoornet's annual infrastructure maintenance budget but is also expected to significantly reduce accidents and injuries sustained during maintenance.

On the safety aspect, Barnard says Spoornet can expect to reduce accidents and injuries by 65% in materials handling, by 80% in ladder working and by 55% in vehicle accidents.

By the end of March 2004, a total of 167 track maintenance vehicles and 53 electrical maintenance vehicles - both designed and built to meet specific requirements - will be in use with Spoornet's national maintenance program.

Before adopting the road-rail solution, a Spoornet project team thoroughly investigated all maintenance methods and equipment used around the world. Various options were considered on the basis of suitability to the South African environment, affordability and efficiency.

"It was obvious that we needed new technology and new generation tools in order to improve reaction times to repairs as well as overall quality of work. We also needed to achieve self-sufficient, de-centralised maintenance execution teams which are able to work smarter, faster and more-cost-effectively," says Barnard.

Spoornet called in Viamax to activate a partnership to develop a road-rail maintenance vehicle package. Viamax then consulted Nissan Diesel and a fact-finding visit to Europe was conducted to evaluate road-rail systems and designs. Prototypes were developed and refined to a full specification that now forms the basis of all road-rail maintenance vehicles for Spoornet use.

 

Top and middle:  The vehicles are fitted with an integrated hydraulic circuit to deploy the rail gear, power the crane or working platform and a wide variety of hydraulic tools. The hydraulic pumps are driven by the diesel engine and heat exchangers cool the oil during operations. An all-hydraulic power solution was selected because no additional power plant would be required on the vehicle. This results in fuel, maintenance and weight savings. The use of hydraulic tools also cuts down the time spent on each job function resulting in greater efficiencies with resultant cost savings. The safety of workers is also enhanced. Bottom:  All vehicles have custom-designed load bodies to optimise the loading space and are fitted with special toolboxes designed to be operator friendly and easy to load and offload. The work was done by Boksburg Trucking. That's George Leatham looking proud of his company's handiwork.

The design and integration of rail equipment with a standard Nissan Diesel road vehicle was carried out in-house by Nissan Diesel assisted by Zagro, a German manufacturer of rail equipment. The units are being built at the Nissan SA Truck Division assembly plant at Rosslyn where the imported rail kits are built into Nissan Diesel UD60 6-ton commercial vehicles on the production line.

"Our ability to both integrate the rail units and customise the vehicles on the production line to Spoornet specifications is a major factor in meeting Spoornet's affordability criteria," says Johan Richards, vice-president of Nissan SA Truck Division.

"The double handling of components is minimised and the method also ensures that all specially manufactured components are installed according to the original design. Spoornet also benefits from having a single line of responsibility and accountability for the vehicles."

Strategically located Nissan Diesel dealerships countrywide will provide ongoing service and support for the vehicles with all parts being made available to minimise downtime.

The Nissan Diesel UD60 vehicle is fitted with the rail gear when it is in chassis/cab format. The rail gear is integrated with the vehicle chassis with guide wheels mounted behind the cab and drive wheels behind the vehicle's rear road wheels. The body, crane, working platform and the hydraulics are fitted to the vehicle by other suppliers.

A special version of the vehicle has been developed specifically for the easy maintenance of electrical overhead equipment.

So how does it feel to drive? "Driving on rail tracks is similar to driving on tar roads with very little to distinguish the operations and actions required. For safety reasons, however, the maximum speed on track will be limited to 60 km/h," says Barnard.

It's so refreshing to see engineering innovation like this emerging from South Africa. In the trucking sector, it is true to say that the MIDP has pretty much stymied local innovation with most manufacturers importing products directly from overseas.

This road/rail vehicle is a local home-grown product and its export potential, particularly to countries like Australia where narrow gauge rail line is also used, is enormous. Even Nissan Japan has incorporated this as an official product in its range of offerings. It's a great tribute to the local developers and a wonderful flag to fly for South Africa. Well done to all!

Patrick O'Leary