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TECHNICAL TRAINING

Inspections By Jeff Leadstrom, Manager Fleet Maintenance

You see them every day, weather you know it or not inspections are taking place
multiple times every day. Think about it. OR truck inspections are completed
every morning before departure. Prior to boarding a machine, on-track protection
is inspected and verified. Once on board the machine, FRA 214 inspections are
completed prior to occupying the main track. Throughout the operating shift eve-
ry switch encountered is visually inspected and verified for machine movement and
we have not even touched on how many inspection jobs are completed on the
maintenance shift. Face it, inspections are part of everyday life in the field.

The definition of inspection is simply ‘the act of inspecting’. Well, that does not grab your attention and make
you want to read on. Stay with me. Knowing that everyone inspects something throughout the shift must qualify
everyone as an inspector, right? To answer that question, yes, everyone is an inspector, even the newest mem-
ber of the crew. So, what is the definition of inspector? Again, it is simple, a person who inspects. Now that we
have established that everyone is an inspector we can get back to inspections.
The Rail Grinding fleet alone has over twenty inspection jobs that populate over the course of a day, week,
month, and year. Very much like the railroad rule book, where many rules were put into place as the result of an
accident or injury, inspections are remarkably similar. Some inspection jobs were put into place as the result of
something that went terribly wrong in the past. For example, a buggy is damaged for whatever reason, through
an investigation it was determined that a particular part came loose and led to an event that damaged the buggy.
Knowing that we do not want that situation to happen again, an inspection was created to highlight the item that
caused the damage. Inspections can also take place to monitor wear on a component or to simply make sure all
the pieces of a component are in place. Inspections can be proactive, meaning something is inspected to make
sure all items are in place and ready to go, like a first aid kit.

So, how do you perform a good inspection? For starters, do not take an inspection lightly. Think about it, what if
you were the one who did not inspect the derail protecting your machine and a car rolled in? Take every inspec-
tion serious and allow enough time to complete it. I cannot count how many inspections I have completed and
found items that could have been catastrophic to a machine’s reliability. Most of the repairs are quick and easy,
like tightening hardware or replacing a cotter pin. However, some went to the extreme of taking a machine out
of service until the repair could be made. Some inspection jobs are very specific, and some are very broad and
range from specific hardware or items to the general machine. The specific inspection jobs are straight forward,
but then we get into the broader inspection jobs where we must inspect an en-
tire grind system or even an entire machine. The job of inspecting an entire
machine can be overwhelming. Do not worry, here is some advice that you can
use to conquer the most extensive inspection.

Step 1: Equip yourself for success. Some commonly used inspection tools are a
flashlight, hammer, lining bar, fluke meter, temperature gun, knee pads and final-
ly a pen and note pad to document findings. These are all great tools to have at
the ready and can speed up the process and make you more efficient.

Continued Page 6

Page 5 MAY 2023