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Summer 2004

Canadian Pacific Railway Employee Communications
Room 500 401-9th Ave S.W. Calgary AB T2P 4Z4
New Machine at St. Luc Diesel Shop Helps Keep Wheels True

The wheel truing machine at St. Luc Diesel Shop, along with six others across the system, turn more than 9,000 wheels annually.

Steel wheels on steel rail:  if both maintain their shape, there's little friction to impede the smooth and efficient flow of heavy freight across the continent.
 
Railway locomotives and cars don't get blowouts. They do get flats, though, and the uneven wear and the resulting bang-bang-bang action can do serious damage to our track as they roll along. If the flat is severe enough, it's off to the recycling bin for the errant wheel, but if it's a minor defect then a trip to the "wheel truer" is in order.

Click to enlarge A wheel truer, or truing machine, is, in effect, a metal lathe. CPR has seven of these useful machines, located at Coquitlam, Calgary, Moose Jaw, Winnipeg, Toronto, St. Paul, and Montreal to handle the more than 9,000 wheels CPR turns annually.
 
The newest of these is at Montreal's St. Luc yard, where it was recently installed by mechanical and engineering. "The first wheel ever turned here was on 6 Oct 1955 by Pat Michaud", said Giulio Capuano, Quebec production manager for mechanical services. "After decades of useful service, the original machine had to be replaced".
 
On-site project manager Robert Lepine informed the NMC that the wheel truing machine would be out of service from 8 Mar 2004 to 27 Apr 2004. Diesel shop process manager Yvon Chalifour coordinated the staff required to complete the job. And structures supervisor Christian St. Pierre oversaw protection of the site for work on the electrical systems and the pit where the truing machine is sunk in the shop floor.
 
Libero Plenzik, project manager with CPR's facilities management in Calgary, reviewed the scope of the work and explained the procedures for receiving, handling, and disposing of machine components.
 
The work was carried on each day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., under the guidance of technicians from Simmons, manufacturers of the wheel truing machine. Machinists Robert Dalpe, Richard Boujould, and Marcel Jacques, now retired, were intimately involved with its installation.
 
"I'm proud of the whole team that worked on this project", Giulio said. "And I'm thankful to our other diesel shops - Toronto, Alyth, and St. Paul - for helping us get the spare parts that kept the old wheel truing machine alive until this brand new state-of-the-art machine could be acquired".
 
In about four weeks time, several days ahead of schedule, the truer was ready for action. Since then, machinists Andre Gauthier, Florent Dufour, and Claude Therrien - all fully certified by Simmons to man the control console - have been back on the job, making sure that where steel wheel meets steel rail, the business keeps rolling.

This Momentum article is copyright 2004 by Canadian Pacific Railway and is reprinted here with their permission. All photographs, logos, and trademarks are the property of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.