Truck castings: The Russians are coming!
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefThe Association of American Railroads (AAR) has approved freight car castings from TVSZ (Tikhvin Freight Car Building Plant, Russia, a subsidiary of United Wagon Co.) for unrestricted interchange service on North American railroads. TVSZ has begun shipping the castings; the planned scope of supply is up to 5,000 carsets per year.
AAR’s certification was needed to fulfill a decade-long export contract between United Wagon Co. (UWC) and Wabtec Corp.
To produce freight car castings for the North American market, TVSZ had to pass a Quality Management System audit to confirm compliance with AAR Specification М1003, and also meet AAR’s foundry technical requirements. “Sample castings successfully met static and dynamic structural test requirements necessary for AAR approval of the casting designs, confirming the quality of the product,” TVSZ said. “These tests were conducted in North America at the AAR-approved CTL Group testing center, under AAR supervision.”
TVSZ said its castings are intended for three-piece trucks such as the Barber S-2-HD “and feature a reduced-weight design preferred by North American customers. The S-2-HD is a standard 32.5-ton-axle load truck approved for general use. Freight cars equipped with these castings will operate over the entire North American rail system.”
“The start of shipments to the mature and competitive North American market confirms the highest quality level of our products and compliance with world standardsm” said UWC Deputy CEO for Business Development Maxim Kuzemchenko.” We are diversifying UWC business by using our competitive strengths and building relations with industry leaders.”
“Wabtec seeks to partner with world-class suppliers to deliver highly engineered products to our North American rail customers,” said Wabtec General Manager, Freight Products Mickey Korzeniowski. “TVSZ, with its state of the art foundry, fits that mold. Through our partnership with UWC, we look forward to supplying high-quality, durable truck castings and other products to the AAR market for years to come.”
