'lffil m<m - 't\'! ~ Govern ment of lndia.

Ministry or Railways
~'IR ~
~
*'
- 22601 1
'lR'P ~ Research Designs & Standards Organisation
Lucknow - 226 011
EPBX (0522 ) 245 1200 0 10 (0522) 24 501 15
Fax (0522) 2458500 0 10 (0522) 24653 10

MC/CTRBlDefects Date: 09.06.2022

Principal Chief Mechanical Engineer,

1. Modern Coach Factory, Lalganj, Raebareli - 229 206

2. East Central Railway, Hajipur - 844 101

Sub: Audit of Maintenance Practices of CTRB of LHB Design Coaches.

Ref: This office letter of even No. dated 11 .02 .2019, 21 .02.2019 ,. 28.02.2019 , 24.05.2019,
0701 .2021 , 24022021 & 27052022
Based on deficiencies observed during audits of Coaching Depots/Workshops/PUs by RDSa ,
Zonal Railways , vide letter under reference , were requested to aud it their bearing maintenance
practices in workshops with particular attention to deficiencies listed in Annexure I of the letter and
take immediate action to set right the bearing maintenance practices in accordance with laid down
procedures, wherever warranted . It was also communicated that RDSa shall be carrying out further
audits.
Accordi ngly , RDSa officials has audited CTRB maintenance practices followed at MCF, Raebareli ,
Coaching Depot, RNCC/ECR & Carriage Repair Works hop, f;lRT/ECR. The deficiencies observed
at MCF, Raebarel i, Coaching Depot, RNCC/ECR & Carriage Repair Workshop , HRT/ECR are as
Annexure-I .
In continuation to the letters under ref, Zonal Railways and PUs are again requested to audit their
axle box maintenance practices in Coaching Depots/Workshops/PUs with particular attention to
deficiencies listed in the Annexure-I and take immediate action to set right the axle box
maintenance practices including CTRBs in accordance with laid down procedures.
DA: As above.

(Pr. hat R. Shukla)

Jt. Direct IStds.lCarriage
for Director General/Carriage

Copy to : Zonal Railways are requested to cross audit the processes followed for axle machining ,
CTRB mounting, transportati on of LHB wheel sets and control arm assembly in LHB bogie
at IR Workshops with specific focus on axle box component maintenance.

1. Principal Chief Mechanical Engineers,

i. Centra l Railway , Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus , Mumbai - 400 001
II. EasternRailway, Fairlie Place, Kolkata - 700 001
III. Northern Railway , Baroda House, New Delhi - 110 001
IV . Southern Railway , Park Town , Chennai - 600 003
v. North Eastern Railway , Gorakhpur - 273 001
VI. Western Railway , Churchgate, Mumbai - 400 020
VII. East Coast Railway . Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar - 751016
viii. South Eastern Railway, Garden Reach , Kolkata - 700 043
IX . South Central Railway , Rail Nilayam , Secunderabad - 500 071
x. North Central Railway , Al lahabad - 211 001
XL North Western Railway , Jaipur - 302 006
XII. South Western Railway , Hubli - 580 023

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 XIII. West Central Railway , Jabalpur - 482 008
XIV. South East Central Railway , Bilaspur - 495 004
XV. Northeast Frontier Railway , Maligaon, Guwahati - 781 011
XVI. Konkan Railway Corp. Ltd . Corporate office Belapur Bhawan Nawi Mumbai-400614
xvii. Integral Coach Fa ctory , Perambur, Chennai - 600038
xviii. Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala - 144 602

2. DME/Coaching, Railway Board, New Delhi -110 001 - for kind info
DA: As above.

(P'~h"kI.'
Jt. Director/Stds.lCarriage
for Director General/Carriage

Page 2 of 6
 Annexure - I

Deficiencies observed in PU , Workshop & Coaching Depot

1. Carriage Repair Workshop/HRT/ECR:

I.Axle journal diameters (specified value 130.043 mm to 130.068 mm) & Axle Shou lder .
diameters (specified value : 160.134 mm to 160.174 mm) have been maintained at more than
the specified dimensions , during machining of new axles as recorded /mentioned in record
reg ister.
II. Bearing mounting/dismounting presses available in Whee l Sh op for CTRB mounting was not
calibrated . Bearing presses we re not checked with load cell to ensure that ram pressure as
indicated by the dial gauge is covered in tonnage range , as load cell was not available.
III. Tim ken make bearings were mounted on LHB wheelsets on 40t pressu re against stipulated
pressure of 37t to 421. However, pressure reading as 300 kg /cm 2 (approx . 32.6 t)
recorded/mentioned in record register for mounting of CTRBs of M/s SKF and M/s Timken
make till 04.06.2022.
IV . Waviness & taper of axle journal were not checked befo're bearing mounting , which should be
checked as per Para No. 4.4.1 of Maintenance Manual for LHB Coaches.
v. In end locking arrangement of axles, threads of axle end holes and M20X60 screws were
checked ran dom ly with GO-NO-GO thread ring /thread plug gauges. Moreover, both gauges
were not calibrated.
vi. Paint marking on heads of M20X60 screws were not carried out in 100% cases after
checking /verification of tightening torque .
VII. Some of the LHB wheel sets with mounted bea ring s were parked in open environment without
covering the bearings. Moreover, some of the wheelsets with mounted bearing s have pa rked
on floor/track adjacent to' each other, where wheel flanges touched to bearing of other
wheelset. These practices for parking/storage of wheelsets should be stopped immediately to
minimize/zero the risk of bearing damage

VIII. Multiple whee lsets were lifted/t ransportated through fork lifters. Wheelsets were transported
through overhead cranes with the help of chains. These practices for lifting/transportation of
LHB wheelsets should be stopped immediately to minimize/zero th e risk of bea ring
damage/journal damage during lifting/tra nsportation. Moreover, wi re ropes/cha ins should be
replaced with 'J' type fixtures to minimize/zero the risk of bea ring damage/journal damage
during lifting/transportation through overhead cranes.

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 IX .In locking arrangement of phonic wheel & oiler ring of earthing device on security disc,
threaded holes of security disc & threads of M8 screws/bolts were not checked by GO NO-
GO thread plug gauge & thread ring gauge respectively as these ga'uges were not available.
x. Torque wrench for checking of torque of M8 screws/bolts were not available.
XI. Spring washers were re-used in fastening of phonic wheel & oiler ring of earthing device on
security disc. Moreover, plain washers with spring washers were not used in fastening of oiler
ring of earth in device on security disc .
.,.;.- - - - - . . . ,

xi i. Demagnetization facility for axles was available in Workshop is under commiss ioning .
xiii. Parallelism and diameter checking tools for control arms was not available.
xiv. Gauss meter for checking of magnetization of axles & bearings was not available in Wheel
Shop.
xv. Control arms were not stored in pairs after disassembly. Storage of control arms was not

XVI. Some amount of grease was applied in halves of upper/ low~r control arms instead of rust
preventive oil "Blasol-135" during assemb ly of control arms. As per Para No. 4.3.2.12.1 of
Maintenance Manual for LHB Coaches "The control arm should be coated with" BLASOL
135 " solution (Equivalent to Cortec VCI-368 & Molytec EP) during POH/IOH , whether new or
reused control arm is used , to prevent wear and corrosion . Drying to touch time is given as
0.5 to 3 hours ."
XVII. Wheelsets were parked on floor during lowering of bogie frames as no tracks available .

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xviii. Tightening of fasteners of upper/lower control arm & axle end Gover were carried out in
sequence of 1-2-3-4 instead of 1-3-2-4. Moreover, bogie assembly & disassembly were
carried out by untrained contract workers .
xix. Storage of overhauled bogies and old bogies was not proper as well as storage of
Axles/wheelsets/control arms/bogie frames/d ampers etc. were also not proper and needs

xx. equipment was not used by personnel during working.

Page 5 of 6
2. MCF/RBL:

I. Bearing mounting on LHB wheel sets were not carried out during vis it on 24.05.2022 due to
shortage of LHB wheels . Hence, procedure followed for mounting of CTRBs on LHB
wheelsets were not ve rified .

II. Identification marking on the face of out-boa rd distance ring/backing spacer in format MM YY
Workshop Code during mounting of CTRBs were not done as marking on mounted CTRBs
were not available/seen.

3. Coaching Complex/RNCC/ECR:

I. Tightening of fasteners of axle end cover were carried out in sequence of 1-2-3-4 instead of
1-3-2-4.
II. Unused rubber metal bonded item i.e. Rubber Pad for Long itudinal Bump Stop manufactured
in January, 2013 was found in store.
III . Unused rubber metal bonded item i.e. Rubber Pad Upper for Prima ry Spring manufactured in
September, 2018 was found in store.

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