Diesel Loco Shed, Erode

Diesel Loco Shed, Erode
Location
Location Erode–Chennimalai Road, Erode, Tamil Nadu, India
Coordinates 11°19′30″N 77°43′03″E / 11.3249°N 77.7174°E / 11.3249; 77.7174Coordinates: 11°19′30″N 77°43′03″E / 11.3249°N 77.7174°E / 11.3249; 77.7174
Characteristics
Owner(s) Indian Railways
Operator(s) Southern Railway zone
Depot code(s) ED
Type Engine shed
Roads 6
Rolling stock WDM-2, WDM 3A, WDM 3D & WDG 3A
History
Opened September 1966 (1966-09)

Diesel Loco Shed, Erode is an engine shed located on Erode–Chennimalai road in Erode, Tamil Nadu, India. Being closely located to Erode Junction railway station, the shed falls under Salem railway division of Southern Railway zone.

History

The shed was opened and became operationally active since September 1966, spreading over a total area of 59,457.9 square metres (59,000 m2) and covered area of 7,454 square metres (7,500 m2). The shed initially homed 21 locos of WDM-2 type, and went on to hold WDM 3A and WDM 3D of WDM series and WDG 3A of WDG type too.[1][2]

Operations

Being one of the four diesel engine sheds in Southern Railway under the territory of Salem railway division,[3][4] various major and minor maintenance schedules of diesel locomotives are being carried out here. Apart from serving the parent division, the locos belonging to the shed also serves the unelectrified routes of Madurai railway division, in addition to locos from Golden Rock.[5] The shed homes about 39 locos of WDM-2, 3 of WDM-3A, 45 WDM-3D and 44 locos of WDG-3A, totalling up to 131 way more than its operational capacity of 100.[6] Apart from its regular activities, the shed also dispatches about 50 loco for maintenance and overhauling to the Diesel Loco Shed, located at Ernakulam, in wake of protests against the proposal to shutdown the shed and until the 373 strong workforce of the shed get trained in maintenance of Electric locomotives, ever since the proposal to such infrastructure has been mooted, as the shed employees are specialised in diesel locos only.[7]

Employees

The shed has an workforce of about 812 staffs including 5 officers and 74 supervisors, for maintenance and regular activity against the sanctioned strength of 902 personnel.[2][lower-alpha 1]

Developments

In 2014, considering to decongest the shed and upgrade, the Railway Board sanctioned funds to home 50 more locos than its present capacity to accommodate the new generation Electromotive diesel (EMD) engines along with the conventional ones.[2][8] During September 2015, in order to achieve fuel efficiency, the railways has been promoting use of B–5, a 5% blended biodiesel as against normal high-speed diesel. Hence a storage facility has been proposed for the same to use in its locos.[9] A 35 kilolitres (1,200 cu ft) storage facility along with blending facility was commissioned for use.[10]

Design and livery

The diesel engines belonging to this shed usually sport dark blue colour scheme interspersed with cream and white colour trim band strip in the middle denoted with the logo containing prancing deer, in the front.[11]

Innovations

As a part of its regular operations, the shed has developed some specific innovative tools which include Cam Gear extractor, Cam bush extractor-cum-inserter, Traction motor speed sensor test kit, Pressurized cleaning stand for internal cleaning of radiators and lube oil coolers, Radiator hydraulic test stand, Cylinder head crack detecting test stand, CD on safety, Working cut section model of Fuel injection pump drive, Online centrifuge opening pressure test kit, Tool for tightening SUC cam shaft bolts and Split ring spanner for Cam Gear nut of WDM3D & WDG3A locos.[2]

Awards

Thrice the shed has been awarded ″Efficiency Shield″ by Railway Board, during inaugural 1973 and successively in 1974 and further in 1977. It has been assessed as the best Diesel Loco shed in Southern Railway Zone during the tenure of 2005–2006 and 2009–2010. The shed has been internationally certified with ISO 9001:2000 for Quality Management System in March 2004 and ISO 14001:2004 for Environmental Management System in September 2004 for its standards.[2][8] A diesel loco belonging to shed was awarded "Black Beauty Queen", during the inaugural annual best loco competition among Southern Railway zone outmatching other sheds viz., Tondiarpet, Ernakulam and Golden Rock, as about 15 parameters were considered for the selection.[12]

See also

Notelist

  1. ↑ The quantum of workforce vary from time to time for administrative reasons.

References

  1. ↑ "Sheds and Workshops – Southern Railway". IRFCA. Archived from the original on 6 June 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Erode Diesel loco shed profile" (PDF). Railway Board. Indian Railways. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  3. ↑ "Mechanical Engineering – Diesel Loco Sheds, Southern Railway". Indian Railways. Railway Board. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  4. ↑ "About us". Southern Railway zone. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  5. ↑ Arockiaraj J (6 September 2013). "Locomotive failures affecting train operations in Madurai division". The Times of India. Madurai. Archived from the original on 24 November 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  6. ↑ "Diesel loco availability – Shed wise" (PDF). Railway Board. Indian Railway. 1 August 2013. pp. 3, 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  7. ↑ Krishna, Kumar K. E. (16 November 2016). "Diesel loco shed may be retained". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 18 December 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Diesel loco shed in Erode poised for modernisation". The Hindu. Erode. 9 February 2014. Archived from the original on 3 April 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  9. ↑ R. Rajaram (10 September 2015). "Railways to use bio-diesel in a big way". The Hindu. Tiruchi. Archived from the original on 11 December 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  10. ↑ Siddharth, Prabhakar (7 November 2015). "Southern Railway Chugs along to Cut Cost, Carbon Footprint with Blend of Bio-diesel". The New Indian Express. Chennai. Archived from the original on 11 December 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  11. ↑ "Diesel, Electric, EMU and other liveries". IRFCA. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  12. ↑ "Erode loco declared "Black Beauty"". The Hindu. Tiruchi. 1 January 2007. Archived from the original on 11 December 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
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