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What is a black party tent doing in the Landquart workshop?

An explanation as to why there are currently no parties being held in Landquart and what the black tent is all about.

Ivo Hutter, Head of Rolling Stock , 06. novembre 2019

Anyone who has found themselves in the halls in Landquart over the last few days will undoubtedly have noticed a black party tent in the middle of the workshop. Rather than being the location for a party, however, it is being used to check wheel sets and discs.

To make sure the running gear is in perfect working order, the wheel sets are inspected for micro-fissures. If such micro-fissures are found, the wheel set must be replaced to prevent the fissures from gradually getting bigger and ultimately causing the component to break.  

Crack in the test piece

Non-destructive testing is carried out in the form of a magnetic particle inspection. This test method uses electromagnetic flux leakage to make fine surface cracks and pores visible. To detect even the finest of cracks, we work with fluorescent liquid, as the human eye is much more sensitive to luminance contrasts than to colour contrasts. This requires a dark environment, hence the need for the black tent.

Darkening tent

So far, non-destructive testing has been limited to the wheel set axles. Now we have been given a special coil for checking the wheel discs, too. Our experts Roman Weberruss and Roman Arpagaus are currently putting this into operation and testing it thoroughly. 

Roman Weberruss (left) and Roman Arpagaus

Once we have successfully completed the test phase, we will be able to make this test procedure available to other railways, too. This will increase the safety of rail travel even further! 

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