PM Rail Engineering / Ingénierie ferroviaire PM

5296 Connaught, Montreal, QC H4V 1X6, CA

Telephone: 514 482 9983 / Mobile: 514 830 0502

Consultant ferroviaire PM / PM Rail Consultant

Services

Freight Car Design and Engineering

Expertise in the design and engineering of new freight cars, modification of existing rolling stock, and upgrading of older rolling stock for increased load and increased life. This includes,

Providing design and technical specification documents for the purchase or modification of rolling stock.
Providing technical support for the purchase of new or used rolling stock. Services range from design concept, through manufacturing drawings up to design approval.
Writing engineering documents required by interchange rule 88 for approval by the AAR.
Preparing repair procedures for rolling stock.
Providing inspection services to determine condition of rolling stock.
Designing specialty equipment for use in a mill or foundry.

Stress and Fatigue Analysis

Stress and fatigue analysis are done using the finite element method with state of the art software. These analysis are done to,

Meet the requirements of AAR Rule 88 for changes done on existing cars or for new car designs.
Determine the cause of failures that occur on rail cars.
Evaluate the stress levels in track components and tools used for track work.
Conduct stress and fatigue analysis for projects not related to the railway industry.

Projects

Acquisition or leasing of rolling stock for QNS&L

This series of projects involved providing technical support to QNS&L for the acquisition or leasing of rolling stock. QNS&L is the Québec North Shore & Labrador railway belonging to Iron Ore of Canada (IOC). The services ranged from developing technical specification documents for the bidding process, reviewing submissions, qualifying bidders and inspecting new cars as they were being built. The following car types were targeted in this series of projects,

New ore cars
New ballast cars
New side unloading air dumps
Leasing of tank cars

Modification and repair of rolling stock

This category of project involves modifying rolling stock to meet specific customer requirements or providing repair procedures when rail cars are damaged. The following describes some of these projects,

Engineer a modification to address specific problems experienced by a series of ore cars in the QNS&L fleet.
Engineering to phase out older trucks with newer 286,000 LB trucks on QNS&L ore cars. This also required modifying the brake rigging on the car in order to connect to the truck levers.
For Rio Tinto, Iron & Titanium modernize two slag pot transfer cars by replacing the older style truck with a standard 315,000 LB trucks. This required major modifications to the chassis to provide sufficient clearance for the truck. The objective of this modification was to facilitate maintenance of the equipment while reducing maintenance costs.
Modify flat cars for the transportation of heavy equipment for Rio Tinto, Iron & Titanium at the mine at Havre St. Pierre located in Quebec. The modification consisted of adding an 18-inch extension on either side of the car to accommodate the width of the heavy equipment.
Provide engineering services for the conversion of bulkhead flat cars into flat cars for use in a ribbon rail train. Engineering was provided to relocate the hand brake on the side of the car and for the installation of the various racks on the cars. This project was done for CANDO Rail Services located in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Modify a closed end gondola to a removable end gondola. The modified rail cars when coupled together permit an excavator to travel between them when doing track work. This work was done for CANDO Rail Services located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. As required by AAR Rule 88 a report describing the modification, with drawings and a stress analysis was submitted and accepted by the AAR to obtain "Modified Unit" status for these cars

Stress Analysis

Performed stress analysis for the following projects:

Stress analysis of an ore car for SNIM in Mauritania. The analysis was conducted per the requirements of AAR Rule 88. SNIM is the "Société nationale industrielle et minière" located in Mauritania, Africa.
Stress analysis as required by AAR Rule 88 to extend the life of a Tri-Pack from 40 years to 50 years for Wabush Mines.
Stress analysis to evaluate proposed changes to QNS&L ore cars.
Stress analysis to compare an existing tie plate with an improved design for Canadian Pacific Railway.
A stress analysis as part of an expert appraisal to determine the causes of side posts cracks observed on railcars transporting logs. This analysis was requested by New Brunswick East Coast Railway in the context of a dispute with a supplier.

Design specialty cars for Rio Tinto, Iron & Titanium

The following project was done to meet specific operating requirements at the Rio Tinto, Iron & Titanium foundry in Sorel-Tracy, Quebec:

Design a slag car to meet specific operating conditions at the plant. A stress analysis was done to ensure the car had the required structural integrity.

Open top loads

This category of projects consists in adding components to existing rail cars to permit the transportation of dimensional loads:

Design supports to be added to 89' flat cars for the transportation of passenger cars built by Bombardier from La Pocatière, Québec, to the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) in New-York city.
Design supports for a depressed flat car to permit the transportation of components for a new crusher (dimensional loads) from Port-Cartier to Mont Wright in Quebec. The work was done for Quebec Cartier Mining, now part of ArcelorMittal.

Various

The following projects highlight various types of services not covered in the previous categories,

Derailment investigation in Columbia, South America. This work was done through CANAC for the Drummond Company.
Inspect trucks manufactured by Maxion (Sao Paulo Brazil) for SNIM. The objective was to ensure the trucks complied with the specifications provided by SNIM.
Inspection of a fleet of cars to evaluate their mechanical condition following long term storage. This work was done for Tacora Resources Inc. with the objective of estimating a cost to put them back in service.