Page 3 - June 2022 Track N Times

FEATURE STORY

Generators: A Lifeline for Ballast and Grade

By Tyler Beebe, Manager Ballast and Grade

Loram equipment needs two sources of mechanically driven power to be able to move: Electrical power and hy-
draulic power. On mainline rail grinders, electricity is generated by main diesel engines attached to large genera-
tors creating power for the grind system, computers, and traction (using an auxiliary generator for maintenance or
back-up). On ballast and grade equipment (minus 2 generation SBC’s), electricity is supplied by a standalone die-
nd
sel generator that powers the computers, HVAC, lights, air compressor, and PLC control systems. If the machine
generator goes down, we are not able to travel or work the machine. It was common practice in the past to use
the welder as a source of back-up power until the generator was repaired, but customers are pushing back on us-
ing the welder as anything but a way to get off track should a generator go down. Now more than ever there is a
high level of importance on keeping the machine diesel generators in top working order, as we work behind the
scenes to build our spare inventory, until new tier 4 generators become available in 2023.

This leads into a recent generator adventure on BC20 that shows the dedication, perseverance, and problem-
solving ability of our field operations group to find solutions to complex problems. It all started when a phone call
came in that the generator on BC20, an obscure 4.5L John Deere that is a one off in our fleet, began to have ex-
cessive blow by, power loss, and intermittent shut down issues. We were able to find a technician from a John
Deere Ag dealership to diagnose the problem as a failed turbo. We sourced a turbo and got it overnighted. After
installing the turbo, the generator would still not run properly, now the diagnosis was that we needed a new en-
gine as the rings and bearings were gone in this engine. We
searched for a replacement, everything was a week out at least,
except for a local farmer who had three 4.5L diesels that he had
used as irrigation pumps. We spoke with the farmer and were
able to buy one of his engines. We found a local diesel mechanic,
and work began to swap the blown-up engine for the used en-
gine.

It took one day to swap the engines out, integrate, and test. Mis-
sion success. We were down for three days (1 day for when
generator originally failed, one day for turbo swap and diagnosis,
one day for farmers engine swap). Not bad considering the alter-
natives and the unknowns going into the plan. The new engine
worked great for about a week until disaster struck. The spare
engine had a complete failure! We were back to square one. No
spares, no available generators, and the farmer had sold his other
two engines when word got out locally. The team regrouped and
came up with a plan that could work; a rental generator until a
permanent solution was found. We located a 20kW rental gen-

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Page 1 JUNE 2022