LOCOMOTIVES FOR ROYAL TOUR
Exhaustive Tests Of Components
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT AT HILLSIDE WORKSHOPS If the two locomotives for the Royal tour break down it will not be the fault of technicians at the Hillside Workshops, Dunedin, where the engines are being assembled. Every fitting that goes into their construction is being tested for the minutest of cracks and other mechanical defects. The work is done by a supersonic flaw detector and a magnetic fault detector. . . The supersonic detector is similar in principle to the echo-sounding device used by ships to determine the depth of navigable water. It is also similar to radar apparatus. It will detect flaws hidden in solid metal to a depth of 15 feet. . When tests are being made, two cables—one for transmitting the wave and the other for receiving it—are held to the end of the axle. If there is even the slightest defect, the wave passing through the metal is immediately reflected back to the instrument, where a cathode-ray screen records the exact position and extent of the flaw. When the flaw''is detected, the axle is immediately condemned. The machine was imported from England at a cost of £849. Before the machine was brought to Hillside, engineers at the workshops had difficulty in detecting small defects. Now it is possible to pick up the slightest flaw without any trouble. The machine has saved a tremendous amount of trouble and time. (
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Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27147, 17 September 1953, Page 8
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235LOCOMOTIVES FOR ROYAL TOUR Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27147, 17 September 1953, Page 8
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