"And there`s more..........."
“And there’s more……..”
HGI’s involvement with the (now Network Rail) Infrastructure Monitoring Fleet took a further step in 2002 when the Company began work on a series of 100kVA three-phase generators which would become part of the NMT (New Measurement Train).
Working with Interfleet, Hunslet-Barclay and directly with Network Rail, the existing design for the 100kVA vehicle-mounted set was adapted to suit this new requirement and with another – yet more sophisticated – control system, the machines were installed (again with minimum interference) in the vehicles which would go on to transform the future of track measurement and recording on the UK rail network.
As the IM Fleet became more centralised and its mission more defined, working closely with the Senior Fleet Engineer, HGI would go on to develop, supply and install a wide range of generators across an equally wide range of vehicles. For this application, a common control and interface philosophy was developed allowing train crews (both operators and maintainers) to interchange between vehicles with a minimum of re-training and while retaining familiarity with the now-common “front end” systems used.
Similarly all the machines in service (now accounting for over half the fleet) include the same CO2 fire detection and suppression system, similar (where not identical) control modules and as many common features as can be retained regardless of the size of set (now ranging from 12.5 – 100kVA).
In 2006, HGI took another quantum leap when the Company began work on its first 850V DC generator, again for the Orient Express Company. The machine was intended to reduce reliance on ETH-equipped locomotives by providing the train with its own, independent ETH supply. The 250kW machine was designed to have a simple operator interface (almost literally “on and off”) while still incorporating more extensive diagnostic facilities for the maintainer and fulfilling its function in the safest possible way.
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