Rail Weigh Station

A Convention avoiding Am_Fet writes:

Here is a little something I've been working on for my day job. Admittedly I havent been doing much (all back end IT stuff with servers, databases and the like) but its still good to get involved with something that actually matters, rather than trying to work out why the finance department cant print anything....

This is the new CIMW System (Computerised In Motion Weighbridge...I think). There are two of these being installed, one at Rolleston and the other at Bunnythorpe. Last Tuesday I flogged the company Camry and went up for a look.



This is the Bunnythorpe site looking back towards Palmerston Nth. The main shed contains all the processing and communication gubbins (wireless via Vodafone) with trunking runs leading to the components mounted either side of the track



These wee yellow bits are the actual weighing components themselves...its got something to do with measuring the downward stress exerted on the rail as the train goes past and then factoring in the speed blah blah blah...I'm sure there are long magazine articles in learned journals that explain it all. The only bit I get is when the engineers say "Hey! It works!"



A couple of items in this photo; the silver channel thing (with attendant "other bit" mounted on the sleeper inside the rails) is actually one of two light beams that calculate the speed of the train as it passes. The two square plates mounted on the pole behind are RFID tag readers that pick up the information from tags mounted on the wagons. The tags themselves will only hold a serial number; all data will be matched in the backend database server, meaning the tags themselves dont need to be so brainy and can be easily replaced.



Finally, two of these cabinets sit either side of the line. They are RailBAM sensors, which I have taken to mean they are acoustic devices that listen for the sound of knackered bearings. As the sign on the front says, "Shutter May Move Without Warning", which leads me to believe they swing open to allow the hearing devices access to the open air.

In the event of an overweight wagon or knackered bearing being detected, an alert will flash back down at Train Control in Wellington alerted the TCO that there is an issue. He can then interrogate the error and be able to ascertain which wagon(s) are at fault and take appropriate measures. Also, an automated message will be broadcast on Channel 1 (Local) informing the driver of the issue.

I suppose that working on this site got me thinking about the "You never finish a layout" adage. This piece of detail could quite happily consume the odd evenings building time...and for those with operational aspirations, you could even work it into the Operational Procedures that sometimes it goes off and wagons will need to be dropped, or the speed of the train reduced.

Finally, it seems the Australian guys installing the system cant get over the complete lack of security around railways in this country.....and its true. This installation is out in the middle of nowhere with no security at all....how long until some nutbar works it over??