Wheel Impact Load Detectors

While working in Leduc right next to the main rail line that passes through the city, I came across a very elaborate looking system of cameras aimed at each other on the tracks just before a crossing. Only getting as close as I am allowed to be without stepping on to railway property, I snapped a picture or two of this equipment so I could do a little more research.

Basically, this is a 'Wheel Impact Load Detector' system that records freight cars by serial number and is able to analyze it's wheels as it passes by. This is a new kind of system that will look for defects in the wheels that could cause damage to the tracks or a future derailment. The system is in place to 'tag' the offending freight cars and catalogue this data so mechanics can get to the problem immediately. I'm not sure if anyone else agrees with me, but I think that this is pretty cool.

The setup seemed very clunky with all of it's big cameras and sensors located all over a large area, but hey, if it works, then who cares. If you feel the need to check this out for yourself, just remember to stay away from the equipment as it is expensive and sensitive, not to mention private property.

Always remember that railway property is private property. The railway is fully within it's rights to arrest you if you are caught trespassing on the tracks without prior consent from the railway in question. Besides, in my opinion it is downright stupid to play on any tracks at any time, regardless.



I retrieved this snippet from a company website that specializes in this technology:

Wheel Impact Load Detector (WILD) is the most widely used system in the world today to manage the wheel impact load spectrum for the targeted removal of defective wheels from service. The first major step towards truly performance-based wheel management, the WILD continually monitors locomotive and rail car wheel health to ensure safe train operations. With proven accuracy and reliability, WILDs scan millions of wheels per day throughout the international rail industry.

The WILD is a strategic device for the protection of rail infrastructure. Although wheels with extremely high impacts are rare on a percentage basis, small percentages do not equate to small effects. High impacting wheels can dissipate on the order of twenty-five horsepower each, degrading track, ballast and bridge structures while reducing bearing and other vehicle component lives. Over time, the repetitive load cycle of these wheels causes rail fractures. It is not uncommon for system users to see three or four of potentially rail breaking wheels per day across their WILD networks.

Wheel defects with spalling, shelling, slid flat, or out-of-round characteristics impart excessive impact loads. Caught early, they can be trued. Undetected, these wheels can damage thousands of miles of track or cause derailments. Proactive railroads use networks of WILDs to control broken wheels, burnt-off journals, hot boxes, and brake rigging damage by removing high impact wheels, reducing derailments as a result.