The Timken Company recently won an order to supply, repair and replace tapered bearings for German railway supplier ELH Eisenbahnlaufwerke Halle GmbH & Co. KG.
The bearings are to be installed in the ELH "Optitrack" bogie, which is the frame that carries the train's wheels. The Optitrack was designed for Freightliner bulk freight cars, primarily for service in the United Kingdom.
As part of the contract, Timken also will recondition the bearings in England and handle spare parts procurement. This places a wide spectrum of Timken's friction management knowledge and solutions at ELH's disposal.
Unlike the competition, Timken was able to assure prompt availability, with two-thirds of the bearings delivered before the end of 2006.
"Our abilities to deliver value at each stage of a product's total life cycle make us well-suited to meet ELH's needs," explained Timken's Mat Happach, vice president - rail. "We are not only a supplier in the traditional sense, but also a service partner able to offer dependability over an anticipated car service life of up to 45 years."
The project involves several European parties. The German ELH bogies are to be attached to freight cars manufactured in Poland by the Greenbrier Companies, before the units are sold to Freightliner, the British operator.