Continuous growth of freight traffic, an increase in the share of heavy and connected trains, the commissioning of powerful electric locomotives on the main railways requires the implementation of measures to strengthen and improving efficiency of the traction energy system (TES).The analysis of the possibilities of traditional means of increasing the voltage in the traction network with increased traction loads showed that there is a need to create a new, additional means of amplifying the TES, which would have no less potential to increase the voltage in the traction network than the capacitive compensation equipment, but would have a more significant reliability and better performance.This means can be a booster transformer designed to increase the voltage at one of the phases of the traction substation [1, 2].The energy relationships in the traction energy system (TES) of alternating current are considered with the inclusion of a power multifunctional booster transformer (MF BT), the compensating winding of which is connected to the compensating unit. It is taken into account that the electric locomotive current and voltage on the susceptor are not sinusoidal in nature. The analysis of electromagnetic processes is carried out at different values of the capacitance of the compensating device (UPPRK), equal to 1, 038 mF; 1.75 mF and 1.94 mF, which corresponds to a change in reactive power from 2.5 to 5 MVAr.The article shows the expediency of selection and the adjustment of compensating unit connected to the compensating winding of the MF BT, proceeding from the minimum of the exchange energy determined by the presence in the TES of capacitive and inductive energy storage devices. It is established that when a VL-80r electric locomotive operates, the required capacity, determined by the minimum exchange energy criterion, is 0.2 - 0.3 mF less than the capacity calculated according to the current regulatory documents.The investigation includes the analysis of simulation results of instantaneous currents and voltages in the traction energy system when the locomotive is operated in traction mode when there is a power booster transformer in the TES, the compensation winding of which is connected to the compensating unit. The article shows the possibility of selecting parameters of the balancing unit connected to the compensating winding of the MF BT, based on the minimum exchange energy that occurs in circuits with non-sinusoidal sources and consumers of electricity.The efficiency of using the criterion characterizing the energy exchange was confirmed at choosing parameters of the compensating installation of the compensating winding of the MF BT at its location on the traction substation.

Reformation of railway transport, one of the goals of which is to optimize transportation costs, should be based not only on improving the management system, but also on the combination of technical, technological and marketing innovations. Russian railways will benefit from the experience of reforming US Class I railroads - the largest railway system in the world, as a result of which specific operating costs were reduced by more than 3.5 times with a quantitative and qualitative growth in the transportation offers.The prerequisites for reforming the railway industry in the United States were deterioration of railways condition, decrease in the quality of service, a deficit in the car fleet and, as a result, a significant decrease in the share of rail transport in the freight turnover of the whole transport system.In a competitive market, the deregulation of the railway system has made it possible to reduce both the transportation tariffs and the costs of railway companies that are able to respond quickly to consumer preferences.Optimization of operating costs for vertically integrated railways in the United States was achieved through systemic growth in productivity of all types of resources: infrastructure, labor, rolling stock and fuel. Due to this it is provided a long-term cost optimization, rather than a tem-porary decline, followed by a compensatory growth.The main driver of efficiency growth was the introduction of technical/technological and organizational/managerial innovations, which resulted in the replacement of more available jobs with fewer high-tech jobs, which allowed to increase labor productivity by almost 5 times.At the same time, in the period from 2005 to 2015 there was a slowdown in the growth of quality indicators and even some of their decline, which was caused by the approach to the maximum in terms of technical and technological capabilities levels of intensity of resource use and, accordingly, depletion of reserves. Removing constraints on the growth of efficiency requires the activation of innovation activity with additional motivation for this based on market factors.The experience of the US railways requires careful consideration when solving the problems of increasing the efficiency of Russian railways, naturally, taking into account their inherent economic and technical-technological characteristics.

The article presents the results of studies on the influence of impact forces on the strength characteristics of the soil of the main site of the roadbed (MSRB). It is shown that impulsive shock forces of 360 ... 530 kN, which initiate high-level accelerations in the ballast layer and on the main pad of the subgrade, arise in the presence of defects in the form of sliders and welds with oversized sizes on the rolling surface. When freight cars and locomotives running with speeds v = 50 ... 60 km/h, the levels of vibro-displacement on the main site of the roadbed are in the range of 50 ... 60 μm, but due to the impact of wheels with oversized defects, the values of vibro-displacement are reached at 220 ... 370 μm. The process of changing accelerations and vibro-displacements in the ballast layer and on the main site of the roadbed has an impulse short-term nature. The article analyzes the calculated limiting stresses from the action of the shock forces of interaction between wheels and rails performed using the theory of limiting equilibrium on an embankment of H = 2 m height, composed of clay soils, which showed that vibration levels with amplitudes of more than 300 μm on weak clay bases or waterlogged soils lead to a reduction of the stress limits on the FPRP by 1.6 ... 1.7 times. Increasing the humidity of clayey soils under impact loads is an important factor in reducing the values of ultimate stresses:- for clays with an increase in the yield index to 0.5 at an amplitude of vibrations of 300 μm, the ultimate stresses are reduced by 1.1 ... 1.28 times, with an increase in the yield index to 0.75 in 1.5 ... 1.96 times;- for loams with an increase in the yield index to 0.5 in 1.16 ... 1.21 times, with an in-crease in the yield coefficient to 0.75 in 1.58 ... 1.6 times.Operation of the rolling stock with oversized defects on the rolling surface of the wheels can lead to micro-shifts in the ground space, the accumulation of deformations and defects in the roadbed.

The article deals with the problem of optimizing the design and technology of the shunting complex, specialized for a multigroup selection of cars. The study offers a comprehensive approach based on the formation and subsequent technical and economic evaluation of options for combinations of design, technical equipment and technology work, the so-called constructive-technological variants. The resulted annual expenses, and also a necessary level of handling ability are accepted as the basic criteria of a choice of a constructive-technological variant.To determine the rational constructive-technological variant of organizing multigroup shunting, it is suggested to use simulation modeling. The model is presented in the form of a queuing system. The service refers to a selection of cars in groups, and the requirements refers to handled trains. The simulation model is developed on the basis of block-modular architecture. The structure of the train (the number of groups, the length of the cuts and its mass) and the intervals between incoming requirements are given randomly in the form of distribution laws. The result of the work of the model is the determination of indicators of constructive and technological variants for organizing multigroup shunting, such as a hump technological interval, idle in service waiting and queue length, available processing ability. The article describes the methodology for calculating the reported costs, which includes the annual capital investments, as well as operating annual costs. In terms of operating costs, the costs associated with the current maintenance of permanent devices, as well as locomotive-hours, car-hours (for operator companies) and the cost of occupying one kilometer of station tracks are taken into account. The developed model is used for technical and economic comparison based on the minimum of the reduced costs of 16 construction and technological variants for organizing a multi-group selection of cars that differ in the shunting method (degree, combinatorial, stepped maximum and duplicating) and the number of grouping tracks (from 2 to 5) . The comparison takes into account the change in the design parameters of the grouping yard, associated with a different number and the required capacity of the tracks.The results of calculations, based on the model, showed that the choice of the design and technological variant depends significantly on the intensity of the receipt of requirements, as well as the structure of the car flow. At a lower intensity, greater efficiency (reduction of the given costs) demonstrates degree-based method, and with greater intensity - combinatorial.

Medium-speed diesel engines were developed in the 1960s for a wide range of applications, the main of which was the replacement of obsolete power plants on diesel locomotives and the increase in the efficiency of diesel locomotives. The main structural elements of the engine had to have reserves of strength and durability, allow achieving high power of a single engine due to forcing the work process and increasing the number of cylinders. During the trial operation, numerous cases of damage and failure of the most important power and heat-stressed components were noted. The article critically analyzes the results of studies to improve the reliability and resource life of pistons, cylinder covers, assemblies “crankshaft - bearing”.As a result of work to improve the reliability of pistons was introduced cooling the piston head by shaking, in the area of the piston rings the circulation of motor oil was added in place of the previously used jet cooling. For the cylinder cover, the most effective was the introduction of structural changes in the bottom profile, which allowed to lower the levels of cyclic thermal stresses. Performance of the “crankshaft - bearings” assembly was guaranteed due to the transition from the shaft suspension with the geared connector to the suspension structure with the flat joint and the load tightening of the joint, and to the completely balanced steel crankshaft. The indicator of the bearing width is increased in relation to the diameter of the shaft neck of the main and connecting rod bearings. The article provides an analysis of published data on cylinder head and crankshaft bearing failures on diesel locomotives for several years of operation prior to the introduction of changes and after. The study showed the effectiveness of the structural and technological measures taken.

At present, large-capacity refrigerated containers (LCRC) are widely used for the transport of perishable goods. Transportation of such containers by rail is carried out by couplings of 10-12 fitting platforms and a car with diesel-electric power station. Analysis of this method of transporting large-capacity refrigerated containers by rail showed that it has a number of shortcomings that complicate the transportation process and increase the costs of the carrier (or perishable freight owner).Reduction of costs for the transportation of LCRC can be achieved by equipping the fitting platforms with an autonomous power supply system with a generator-drive unit (GPU) from the axis of the wheel pair of the bogie. However, most of the fitting platforms are installed on three-piece freight bogies, and this creates certain difficulties when embedding the GPU into the undercarriage space.Based on the performed analysis of domestic and foreign designs of generator-driven units and the results of studies for 18-100 three-element freight bogies, it is recommended to use a two-stage drive from the wheel pair axis consisting of a single-stage gear reducer and a V-belt drive, allowing to achieve a total gear ratio of 5,3.According to the chosen scheme, design documentation was developed and two prototypes were made. Experimental samples of GPU with a two-stage drive passed preliminary and acceptance tests, according to the results of which it is recommended to make an installation batch. At present, two 60-foot fitting platforms equipped with an autonomous power supply system are being manufactured for the purpose of carrying out running tests.

As it is known, the growth of the braking force leads to a reduction in the braking distances with sufficient force of adhesion and its increase - if insufficient. This allows to set the task of choosing the optimal braking force on the wheel pair by the criterion of minimizing losses due to the increase in braking distances.To formulate the optimization problem, it is necessary to relate the gain from the reduction of the braking distances with good adhesion and the loss from its increase with poor adhesion due to the imperfect operation of the antiskid devices. To do this, author introduces the concept of ”loss function”, which includes internal and external damages during braking, and also uses the function of probability density q () of the potential coefficient between the wheel and the rail during braking.The proposed model is rather simplistic, therefore, it is reasonable to consider the conclusions from its analysis as qualitative, and for additional quantitative estimates additional sources of information should be involved. So, for example, in this case, similar quantitative conclusions can be obtained from the following assumptions.On the one hand, according to the results of numerous tests carried out in 2008 - 2016, values close to 0.3 (mainly at low speeds and using regenerative braking) are already achieved on wheel pairs of motor carriages of modern electric trains. On the other hand, the parameters of modern anti-skid devices are such that the values of greater than 0.2 can lead to wheel pair damage due to entry into the skid. In addition, exceeding the deceleration value of 2.5 m / s² (coefficient of traction of the train above 0.25) can lead to disruption of the longitudinal stability of the track to shift.In general, the analysis of simulation results shows that the choice of the upper limit for the coefficient of adhesion = 0.3, laid down by the state standard for electric trains, is sufficiently substantiated. Secondly, the coefficients of efficiency of the using coupling of modern anti-skid devices make it reasonable to set the value of on the axis to at least 0.2 during an emergency braking.

The railway transport network is a complex dynamic object, the management of which is impossible without automated information systems. Information systems today are not just means of supporting management, but the main elements of the railway transport infrastructure. A high level of requirements for the efficiency of rail traffic management determines the need for the development of “smart” (intelligent) transport information systems. Intellectual systems, using the expert knowledge incorporated in it, will generate management solutions optimal for a particular technological situation and offer them to the user's choice.The article details the functional capabilities of an automated work station for the station operator (AWS SO). On the example of a hostile situation, a minimal set of parameters is listed, which should promptly evaluate the SO for making an optimal management decision.The necessity of developing the intellectual capabilities of station systems is justified. A number of technological responsibilities for SO are identified that require quality management tips (solutions) from information systems. Some principles and methods for constructing intelligent systems for controlling the operational work of stations are considered. Intellectualization of control systems of station processes will allow reducing production losses and improving the efficiency of the functioning of railway stations.