Freight train operators are using sensors from technology company A1 Digital and its hardware partner Cargomon to accurately determine wagon weights in real time, reducing the risk of uneven loading and lowering maintenance costs without needing to send wagons to weighing stations.
The bogie-mounted strain gauges stretch in proportion to the load applied to the wagon. Temperature compensation ensures high accuracy even at widely fluctuating temperatures, and calibration allows fine-tuning.
The sensors communicate wirelessly with the vehicle’s telematics unit which relays the information to the operator, and a mobile app can be used for configuration.
A wagon can be fitted with a single sensor to detect whether it currently loaded and to help optimise maintenance planning by providing information on the distances travelled when loaded and unloaded.
Adding a second sensor provides more accuracy and enables the detection of uneven loading to help reduce the risk of derailment.
A1 Digital says most customers opt to use four sensors per wagon, two per bogie. This offers less than 2% deviation in more than 95% of measurements, and minimises the risk of asymmetric loading.
Rail Cargo Austria plans to equip 4 000 wagons with the sensors, and on a smaller scale Rail&Sea will equip 20. Swiss metre-gauge operator Rhätische Bahn is undertaking proof-of-concept trials with 30 wagons and plans to equip around 100 vehicles from its fleet.
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