Career development is very important to me and I wanted to join a company where I could maximise my potential and professional development. I chose ESG because it has the benefits of a consultancy; challenging engineering in a wide range of situations, with support available from a broad range of experienced, professional engineers who you can learn from, whilst benefiting from the close links with EWS (the largest Rail Freight Hauler in the UK). As a result of the links with EWS, ESG has the advantage of being the only rail consultancy which is part of ATOC (Association of Train Operating Companies). For me this means that I know I’m on one of the best schemes for becoming chartered with the IMechE as ATOC carefully monitor my performance (in addition to my internal ESG mentor and line manager) to make certain I’m on target.

The ATOC APEDS training scheme generally suggests that training placements should be completed within 2 years. In the past 18 months I’ve spent time getting my hands dirty maintaining wagons, diesel locomotives, electric locomotives and the Voyager multiple units. I’ve travelled in cabs of various trains, talking to the operating staff, and generally trying to learn about the industry from various points of views. I’ve also visited numerous sites operated by EWS, suppliers and clients all with the aim of improving my awareness and understanding of the rail industry and the engineering involved within it. I’ve also been on formal courses, learning about vehicle gauging, vehicle dynamics, risk assessments, incident management, welding, traction and rolling stock, as well as some general workplace and management skills courses.

ESG provide technical support for bogie producers, Axiom Rail. I’ve been involved in various bits of work for this so far including a component re-design and analysis of a support bracket for brake gear on the TF25 bogie with the aim to further reduce the mass of Axiom’s track friendly bogies.

I have been involved in track tests on new bogies to measure the relative rolling resistance compared to traditional bogie types and hence determine if there is a reduction in fuel consumption. I assisted on one of these rolling resistance tests checking for brake drag and monitoring during the run. Getting the opportunity to go along on tests like this mean that I get to see a fuller picture of the rail industry, seeing the operations side, and meeting a wide range of characters.

ESG are the first point of call for EWS technical issues and recently I’ve been managing a number of jobs in various areas of EWS. I’m currently managing a comprehensive a condition analysis of Class 66 braking equipment which is using a lot of the knowledge I gained whilst working on the Three Country Locomotives. I’ve also just finished a project assessing the braking performance of an EWS high-speed container wagon. It also meant that I had to bridge electrical and mechanical engineering in order to source, configure, and install some new data logging equipment to monitor real-time brake system pressures. I managed the entire test programme including specification and procurement of the monitoring equipment, it’s installation on the vehicle, liaising with the train planners and drivers, attendance on the test runs, downloading the data and writing up the report prior to internal review and publication. My report proved the functional capability of the brake system and means EWS can operate the freight wagons in longer trains at higher speeds than before.

Further information contact Thomas.Whitfield@esg-railconsultancy.co.uk