AFRICAN FUSION—MARCH2014
24
F
ollowing the separation of DCD’s
military and rolling stock busi-
nesses intoDCDProtectedMobil-
ity and DCD Rolling Stock, the rolling
stock facility in Boksburg East is being
recapitalised to take advantage of rail
infrastructureexpansionsacrossAfrica.
Inspired by early comments made to
justify theCoegaharbour development,
Petrus Mulaudzi quoted a response to
the claim that the port could not be
justified: “Build it. The shipswill come!
This clearly signalled an unshakeable
faith in the value of building the port,”
he recalls.
“What you are looking at today is a
40000m
2
manufacturing facility, pur-
posebuilt for the railway industry.Eight
months ago, this facilitywas busywith
military work, which has now moved
to a purpose-built site in Isando. This
is an enormous opportunity,”Mulaudzi
said at the facility’s opening.
DCD Rolling Stock’s dedicated re-
vamped facility is supportedby “a team
of skilledpeoplewho innovate, design,
manufactureand support railwayprod-
ucts”: wagons, locomotives, bogies,
coupling systems and, most recently,
the newly developed JIKA passive
hydraulic steering system for bogies,
which significantly reduces wheel and
rail wear. The new facility is designed
to suit, inparticular, themanufactureof
thecompany’smodern, bolsterless fab-
ricated passenger coach bogie, as well
Rolling Stock’s bogie fabrication
DCDRolling Stock is in the process of re-establishing the
glory-days of rail manufacturing in South Africa through
a R240-million investment in a bogie fabrication facility.
African Fusion
reports.
DCD’s new bolsterless fabicated bogie.
New fabricated bogie facility
as locomotive and wagon fabricated
bogies,whichuse internationallyproven
conceptsbutaredesignedspecifically to
suitSouthAfricanconditions,Thisposi-
tions DCD Rolling Stock to participate
in both PRASA and TFR rolling stock
projects.
Independent prototype testing con-
ducted by Transnet Freight Rail (TFR)
has confirmed that, comparedwith the
existing Commonwealth bogie, DCD
Rolling Stock’s new bolsterless coach
bogie has better running safety and
ride quality characteristics and meets
the specifications requiredbyEuropean
UIC Code 518. The prototype also
meets Transnet’s RSE/TE/SPC/0076
specification.
Designed for speeds of up to
160 km/h and axle loads of up to
18,5 tons, the bogie has low life cycle
costs, uses service-provenhigh reliabil-
ity components andhas beendesigned
to contain noise levels as required in
suburban areas. Other key features
include reduced bogie mass, better
parts availability, standardisation be-
tween trailer andmotor coaches and a
positivelyguidedwheelset solution.The
bogies are now currently being fitted to
TFR test coaches to support the testing
of all new locomotives.
Phase 1 of DCD Rolling Stock’s
R240-million investment programme
involves the installation of four robot
cells for automating less complex
welding tasks. The centrepiece of the
installation isa track-mountedYaskawa
MotomanMH50-20 robotwitha20kg
payload and a reach of 3 106mm. A
YaskawaMotomanTSL-1000SD servo
trackand robotwithbulkwiremounting
allows the robot tomove 10m up and
down the line to accommodate rolling
stock component sizes.
On either side of the tracked robot
is a parallel pair of YaskawaMotoman
headstocks (single axis positioners
with 5 000 kg payloads) with mating
tailstocks onmovable floor slides. This
allows mounting of new components
on one side, while welding proceeds
on the other.
The centrepiece of the installation is a
track-mounted YaskawaMotomanMH50-
20 robot with a 20 kg payload and a
reach of 3106mm.
