NORTHEAST FRONTIER RAILWAY

Office of the Sr. DME/Diesel/SGUJ

Diesel Loco Shed, Siliguri Junction,
P.O. Pradhan Nagar, Dist. Darjeeling
West Bengal, PIN-734 003
E-mail- sgujdiesellocoshed@gmail.com
Date: 16/11/2022

Preliminary Report Improvement in wheel life of HHP locos at DLSS

In order to reduce wheel turning requirements and to increase life of wheels at DLSS, it was suggested from
HQ/NFR that the thrust pad clearance to be kept at minimum for HHP locos of DLSS.
1. It is noticed from under gear data of HHP locos that the outermost wheels (No.1 axle and no. 6 axle) wear
at a faster rate in comparison to other wheels. Thus, to analyze the effect of thrust pad clearance, 5 locos
were selected and thrust pad clearance maintained to the lower ranges.
2. The monthly reduction in Flange width is compared before thrust pad adjustment and after adjustment.
The results of this change are shown below:

Loco Loco Before maintaining minimum After maintaining minimum Percentage

no. type clearance (Avg. monthly clearance (Avg. monthly improvement
reduction in Flange width of reduction in Flange width of in wheel life
Wheel no.1 and 6) Wheel no.1 and 6)
4003 WDP4B 1.25 mm 0.92 mm 26.4
5
4002 WDP4B 1.40 mm 1.10 mm 21.4
9
7038 WDP4 2.45 mm 1.85 mm 24.5
9 D
1253 WDG4 2.75 mm 2.05 mm 25.5
3
1253 WDG4 2.50 mm 1.90 mm 24.0
2
The average improvement in wheel life of the 5 HHP locos 24.36 %

3. Also, the practice of interchanging the axle no 1 with axle no. 2 and axle no. 6 with axle no 5 is being
followed to maintain uniform wear of all the axles which will also increase the life considerably.

As shown in the above analysis, it is understood that there is a significant increase in wheel life with thrust pad
clearance in the lower ranges. As the progress is still in its nascent stages, more locos are being covered to
arrive at a concrete conclusion.
Thus, this practice is now being followed for all the locos of DLSS.

Manish Kumar
Sr.DME/D/DLSS