Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Forges Learning Partnership with Fort Lewis College

DURANGO, Colo. - May 25, 2016 - PRLog -- The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNGRR; www.durangotrain.com)™, which offers distinctive year-round rail experiences and special events to passengers of all ages in the remote, scenic wilderness and high-mountain landscape of Colorado's San Juan National Forest, today announced the formation of a unique, learning-focused public-private partnership with Fort Lewis College's Department of Physics and Engineering to keep the railroad's fleet of 90-year-old coal-powered steam locomotives operating safely and efficiently. The pilot program marks the first time in the D&SNGRR's rich history it has partnered with an academic institution to assist it with the maintenance and preservation of its locomotive collection.

The collaboration between the railroad's maintenance team and the college's engineering students and faculty facilitates the cost-effective design and three-dimensional (3D) printing of new locomotive brake heads that can accept modern low-friction brake shoes, and slow the train down from high to low rates of speed. The public-partnership is managed by Randy Babcock and Larry Carlson of the D&SNGRR, and Fort Lewis College's School of Arts and Sciences Dean Dr. Maureen A. Brandon, Department Chair Dr. Ryan Haaland, and Dr. Ryan Smith, associate professor of physics and engineering and the program's faculty advisor.

"Each locomotive in our fleet, because of its age and individuality, requires a highly-customized maintenance regimen that accounts for space and availability restrictions for parts," explained Babcock, the railroad's roundhouse foreman. "That makes regular maintenance and upkeep extremely challenging, time-consuming, and expensive. By working with Fort Lewis College engineering students and faculty, and using the institution's 3D printer, we can easily design and produce a brake head model to try with off-the-shelf brake shoes, and then determine if it will fit that locomotive. If the model works, we electronically submit the drawing to our foundry for fabrication, and multiple units of that part are made to our specifications. The entire process saves us a ton of time, energy, and most importantly, money."

"Through this initiative, Fort Lewis College physics and engineering students are solving challenging, real-world mechanical problems, and gaining practical, hands-on product development and design experience in the process with one of this area's most valued and prominent companies," said Dr. Smith, a world-leading expert on robotics and artificial intelligence specializing in control theory and path planning for autonomous underwater vehicles. "When the D&SNGRR first approached the college about this project, we couldn't say 'yes' fast enough. This is a fun and exciting opportunity for our students to work side-by-side with top-notch engineers and maintenance experts, and make significant contributions to the railroad's long-term safety and operational viability. It's our hope this program paves the way for similar collaborations with other companies, in and outside of Colorado, so students can enhance the experience they'll need once they enter the engineering field after graduation."

Prior to the Fort Lewis College relationship, the D&SNGRR had no spare brake heads, and it was continuously repairing old ones. While the railroad had new cast iron brake shoes available, the cost and wear produced by them made it obvious something better could be done. Because of their age, construction, and the multitude of repairs and modifications over the years, steam locomotive parts vary widely from one to the other. As a result, the specifications for a single part on a certain locomotive often need to be slightly different.

In the future, when the railroad needs a unique part, or to functionally modify the design of already in inventory, Babcock contacts Dr. Smith. The two work directly with engineering students to create a sensible design, and then produce a model with the college's 3D printer. Babcock and his team use the model to see if it fits the locomotive's construction. If it does, the railroad sends the design to Horizon Metals, Inc., the company's foundry in Nephi, Utah, to fabricate the part in multiple quantities, and those units are placed in inventory for future repairs. If the model is not suitable, Babcock and Smith return to the students with different specifications, produce and print another design, and then begin the fitting process anew.

In the end, the new brake heads and composite brake shoes are far less expensive for the railroad to produce, and it takes Babcock and his team 50 percent less time to install on a locomotive. Finally, the railroad has created an extensive database of drawings and patterns, which it can easily access and reference when parts and repairs are needed.