NAME;GYEKYE REXFORD SAMUEL

INDEX NO;BS455103320

A REPORT ON A FIELD TRIP TO GHANA RAILWAY COMPANY

LIMITED.
On the 25th of March 2022, the electrical and electronics engineering department
embarked on a field trip aimed at being both educational and fun. Our supervisors
were Mr. Akorli David and Mr. Samuel Dankwah.
Our first stop was behind their offices where we were divided into groups. The first
batch started from their offices and ended at their workshop whiles the second
started from their workshop and ended at their offices.
At their workshop we have the diesel section, bogie section, blacksmith section,
boiler section, thunder section, and the foundry section. We got to know about the
traction motor which is the part of the train that put the whole unit in motion. The
traction motor also operates using direct current with an engine to turn it on. There
is also an expressor in the train where the compressor and exhauster are combined
into one unit which is used in control system and the brake or brake shoes system.
For locomotives, engines have hoots for housing and also operates without a steer.
Generators are also coupled to the engine to operate the train using diesel. A
locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel
engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, different mainly
in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels. Early
internal combustion locomotives and railcars used kerosene and gasoline as their
fuel. But current trains are now using electricity which are locomotives powered by
electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as
battery or a supercapacitor
The train is having two main sections; the bogies and the wagons/coaches. The
bogie section is under the train. Each bogie has three wheels and three traction
motor. Each wheel is separately connected to the bogie by a swing-arm axle. There
is dual suspension: Primary suspension via a coil spring and damper mounted on
each axle. Secondary suspension via two air springs mounted on the pivot plank,
this is connected to the bogie by pendulum links. Bogies are also having four
terminals with field and amateur winding. The amateur winding is inside the yoke.
Each winding is connected to the generator
The upper part of the train is the wagon or the coach. The difference between the
wagon and the train is that with the wagon, it is designed to transport goods such as
minerals and animal and with the coaches, they are made purposely for humans.
They are attached to the bogie for movement.
In fixing the train, an electric overhead travelling crane which consist of parallel
runways with a travelling bridge spanning the gap specifically powered by
electricity is used to lift the upper part of the train. There is also the jib hoist which
is a horizontal beam to support the load clear of the main support. And in fixing the
windings we have synchronous motor and asynchronous motor that are used.
Synchronous motor is an AC electric motor in which at steady state the rotation of
the shaft is synchronized with the frequency of the supply current; the rotation
period is exactly equal to an integral number of AC cycles and Asynchronous
motor is an AC electric motor in which the electric current in the rotor needed to
produce torque is obtained by electromagnetic induction from the magnetic field of
the stator winding. Its motor can be made without electrical connections to the
rotor. Number of conductors are wound together to form a coil. We also have slip
ring motor, they are connected through slip rings to external resistance. Adjusting
the resistance allows the control of the speed of the motor.
At the electrical shop, there were transformers with sub switch gears which are
composed of electrical disconnects switches, fuses or circuit breakers used to
control, protect and isolate electrical equipment. Switchgear is used to de-energize
equipment to allow work to be done and to clear faults downstream ie to say the
switch gears are used for shutting down the transformers when they are over heated
which are coupled to breakers AC and DC simultaneously.
At the carriage and the wagon section, we have trains with two diesel engines; one
at the front and the other at the back to help move the train back and forth without
turning itself. The tyres of the trains can be worn out which can cause the train to
move off the rails during movement s so to avoid that machines bores with hulk are
used for to repairing it. And in repairing the wheels, they are heated at certain
temperature for forty-five minutes before modeling it again. There are also two
types of wheels which are monoblock and hollowblock wheels. Monoblocks have
holes in them making their fixing easier whiles hollowblocks needs to be converted
to monoblocks whenever they are worn out.
 We ended out trip at the carriage and wagon section since there was no time to
visit their offices especially the electrical department and I hope that next time
when we visit their main offices there will be more to learn.