- Bogie exchange
Bogie exchange is a system for operating railway wagons on two or more gauges to overcome difference in the
rail gauge . It is generally limited to wagons and carriages, though engines can be exchanged if more time is available.Wagons and carriages
Wagons can have their gauge changed by lifting them off one set of bogies and putting them back down again on another set of bogies. The pin that centres the bogies and the hoses and fittings for the brakes must be compatible. There needs to be a generous supply of bogies of each gauge to accommodate the ebb and flow of traffic.
The bogies and wagons also need to have standardized hooks, etc, where they may be efficiently lifted.
Engines
Steam
Steam engines can be designed for more than one gauge by having reversible wheel hubs that suit two alternative gauge. This was done in the 1930s and beyond in Victoria for possible gauge conversion, though no engines were ever converted in this manner. Some RailGauge|1|lk=on Garratt locomotives of East Africa were designed for easy conversion to RailGauge|42 Cape gauge.
Diesel
Diesel locomotives have bogies like wagons and carriages, only with more cables for the traction motors and take a little longer to convert. In Australia, some classes of diesel locomotives are regularly gauge-converted to suit traffic requirements on the RailGauge|1435, RailGauge|1600 and RailGauge|1067 networks.
Raising or lowering
Raise
The simplest way to carry out bogie exchange is the lift the wagons off the
bogie s and replace them back on new bogies. This may require the wagons in a train to be uncoupled, and continuous brakes disconnected. As the bogies are swung out of the way, they sway, which wastes time settling them down.Lower
A cleverer way of carrying out bogie exchange is to lower the bogies onto a trolley in a pit, after which the trolleys are rolled out of the way and others return. This keeps the train couplings and continuous brakes connected. In addition, the bogies never need leave a solid surface, so that they can be wheeled in and out more quickly. This method was used at
Adelaide . [Catch Point - November 2007 - p35 - picture of lowering method ]International
Argentina
* Between RailGauge|sg|al=on|lk=on and RailGauge|66
Australia
Between 1961 and 1995, Australia had five bogie exchange centres, which opened and closed as gauge conversion work proceeded. The gauges served were 1435 mm and 1600 mm, though the 1067 mm Queensland did acquire 100 bogie-exchange compatible QLX wagons just in case. All the wagons involved had wagon codes ending in "X", such as VLX.
The centres were:
* Dynon,Melbourne , Victoria
*Wodonga near Albury on state border.
*Port Pirie ,South Australia
* Peterborough,South Australia
* Dry Creek,Adelaide ,South Australia - the youngest and most modern. [http://www.trainweb.org/mystation/gauge1.txt] [ [http://www.patto.com.au/ianpatterson/about/about.asp Ian Patterson & Partners ] ] [ [http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/477.html#1922 Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Chapter 7, page 477 ] ]Belarus
*
Brest, Belarus – between RailGauge|1520 and RailGauge|1435 at the border toPoland Bolivia
Bogie exchange used between RailGauge|762 and RailGauge|1000 gauge on the
Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia Railway.Canada
* Between RailGauge|sg|al=on|lk=on and the RailGauge|42 gauge of the former
Newfoundland Railway (Terra Transport ) at Port aux BasquesChina
A bogie exchange station exist at the Chinese border to
Mongolia . Both the Moscow-Peking passenger train (Trans-Siberian) and freight trains get their bogies exchanged. Mongolia hasRussian gauge RailGauge|1520, China has RailGauge|1435.Finland
A bogie exchange station exist in the port of
Turku with a short stretch of RailGauge|1435 gauge railway. Freight cars get their bogies exchanged.SeaRail train ferries go from Germany and Sweden. They carry no passenger trains, and passengers must walk to the railway station a few hundred meters from the ferries. Finland has RailGauge|1524broad gauge .Iran
* flagicon|Turkmenistan
Sarakhs - c1990, between RailGauge|1435 and RailGauge|1520 (Russian gauge )
* flagicon|PakistanZahedan - proposed 2008, between RailGauge|1435 and RailGauge|1676 (Indian gauge )Kazakhstan
*
Druzhba , KZ - flagicon|ChinaAlashankou , CN.Peru
* Between RailGauge|sg|al=on|lk=on and RailGauge|36 on the
Ferrocarril Central Andino , includinglocomotive sRussia
* flagicon|North Korea flagicon|China
Ussuriisk (near Vladivostok) with North Korea and China.Spain
* At
Irun , between RailGauge|sg and RailGauge|1668 (Iberian gauge )
* AtPort Bou , between RailGauge|sg and RailGauge|1668Tunisia
* Between RailGauge|sg|al=on|lk=on and RailGauge|1000 (
meter gauge ), includinglocomotive sUkraine
*
Chop, Ukraine – between RailGauge|1520 (Russian gauge ) and RailGauge|1435 at the border toHungary andSlovakia See also
*
SeaRail
*Qazaqstan Temir Zholy
* Mungindi railway line
*Transporter wagon - and its logical development, the transporter train.
*Ramsey Car Transfer Apparatus
*Variable gauge axles is quicker and is starting to replace bogie exchange.
* WheelsetLinks
* [http://www.klimau.com/railway/bogie-exchange.html Klimu.com]
References
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