Simple Solutions That Work! Issue 11

JIM GAULDIN Chief Sales Engineer KLEIN PALMER INC. ARTICLE TAKEAWAYS: • 5 year project challenges • New dust collection and sand management technologies RAIL SANDING INSTALLATION AT LOS ANGELES COUNTY METRO RAIL SYSTEM Case Study – Project Summary T he Los Angeles County Metro Rail System (L.A. Metro) needed to expand its Light Rail Vehicle (LRV) line through Crenshaw and eventually connect the LAX airport to the new rental car facility. In order do to so, it would need the facilities and infrastructure to fully achieve its goal. Ridership was increasing on their other lines therefore; keeping the new transit line in working order during the installation was paramount. This would be installed in Los Angeles, and like many other cities, they wanted to be on the forefront of equipment and design. L.A. Metro would also require a facility for the servicing of these vehicles in addition to the new Southwestern Yard to serve the new Crenshaw/LAX transit line. We had the additional challenge of being sold to another company during this time! MAINTENANCE FACILITY The maintenance facility for the Southwestern Yard Maintenance Facility project would need to include a traction sand supply system for the LRV equipment so that it could safely use the line for servicing of the ridership. This facility needed a maintenance platform containing a stationary rail sanding system arranged to fill the traction sand on board the LRV. The companies involved with the design of the Southwestern Yard Maintenance Facility contacted us due to our past involvement in the North American and European rail market (under the name ALB Klein Technology Group). During the concept and engineering of this system, Alb. Klein Technology Groups was sold to Palmer Manufacturing & Supply and renamed Klein Palmer Inc. During the transition, all employees worked diligently to keep the L.A. Metro project moving seamlessly forward. This same drive for customer service during the transition could be identified in the project from start to finish which allowed the L.A. Metro facility to be delivered on time and on budget for its well documented January 2019 completion. The L.A. Metro Southwestern Yard project was a five-year project. It was important that we were able to demonstrate our ability to continue to keep the project efficiently moving forward with changing technologies. For example, a special segmental closing mechanism at the tip of the filling nozzle was implemented to specifically prevent sand from being spilled on the platform after the nozzle has been removed from the LRV traction sand box. Thanks to this special design of 46