Last week, 11 of us visited the WS Academy in St. Pölten. This gave us the opportunity to gain practical insights into switch inspection and production. However, the day began with theory. Christian Bär (track) and Burkhard Schweiger (LS technology) presented us with a compact but detailed overview of how a switch inspection should be carried out. On the track side, the focus was on the specific measurement process, the equipment required for this, and typical damage patterns. On the LST side, the focus was on formal topics related to the inspection process as well as the components installed in the switch.
After lunch and a chance to chat, we were given a tour of the switch factory. Here we were able to observe the process of switch production. From the delivery of the rails and the storage of the sleepers to the welding and profiling of the switch components, we were able to examine every step of the manufacturing process.
Finally, we were able to carry out a switch inspection ourselves on a training switch. This gave us a lot of insight into the practical process of such an inspection.
A big thank you to Christian Bär, Burkhard Schweiger, Christian Diringer, and the entire WS Academy team for an exciting day in St. Pölten.
