Industrial Visit to Railway Workshop, Ponmalai near Trichy

We went to Railway Workshop at Ponmalai, near Trichy on Aug 6, 2009, as an industrial visit.

We booked a bus named 'Balasakthi'.... Bus started by 6.45 from college... had our breakfast in a hotel on the highway between 8.15 and 9... Then we reached the workshop by 10.30....

Our teacher went inside to finish of the formalities... it took 45 minutes... when he came back, he told that they said it was lunch time by 11.30 and so they asked us to be back by 12.30... We went back to trichy and had our lunch... came back by 12.45...

Our visit started by 1pm... We were divided into 2 batches and 2 guides accompanied us... actually it is a maintenance sort of industry... they repair/maintain engines of train... they also manufacture wagons (goods coach) in small level... they were also manufacturing a new steam engine for Nilgiri Mountain Train... The construction of this steam engine was finished when we went... It was superb...

I'll lightly explain the places of industry... 1st we went thru' electrical section, where they explained, how motor is made to run using battery( motor is made to run initially alone) which is the prime mover for generator which produces electricity, which is used to run engine...

The main things were engine parts... we were explained about piston, cylinder, crank shaft, cam shaft... crank shaft was magnificent... there were 16 cylinders( 8 on each side) in the engine... normally a 2 wheeler has 1 cylinder...

Actually what happens is the piston moves thru' cylinder to and fro... fuel is compressed and burnt in there.... from which connecting rod rotates crank shaft, which is something like a rod(it used to be small for an automobile)... it was 12 feet or even more for a train engine...

Crank Shaft

It is connected to cam shaft( known as propeller shaft in an automobile)... it connects the crank shaft with wheel of train... it is nearly equal in length with crank shaft. Crank shaft is made up of single rod, whereas cam shaft is made up of a series of rods.

Cam Shaft

There are 6 sets of wheel in an engine, 3 on either ends(there will be 4 sets, 2 on either sides for a coach)...the wheel movement is controlled by cam shaft... the size of engine wheel is magnificent... it’s up to our chest level...

Steam engine is quite simple,,, coal is burnt in a container. Water from another tank is brought through pipes. It is converted to steam, which is used to produce energy, which drives the wheel...

We were shown every parts, every type of operations inside the workshop... sadly due to lack of time, we didn't see wagon manufacturing...

The workshop was big... it was just going on inside...

Also, an additional information... we call the chain used for speed changes as gear in an automobile... it is called as notch in locomotive... it is directly connected to wheel of engine... there r totally 8 notches... the crank shaft rotates at 1100 rpm in 8th notch... normally it rotates at 400 rpm...

Crank shaft, cam shaft, etc is manufactured by kirloskar or ELGI... The motor, generator is manufactured by BHEL, Bhopal... there is BHEL in trichy, where they manufacture boilers...

Totally it was very useful... we started back at 4.30 from industry and reached college by 8 pm.