Icf History

EVOLUTION OF COACH BUILDING AT ICF INTRODUCTION: M/s Car and Elevator Manufacturing Corporation Ltd., Schlieren-Zurich (Switzerland) were invited by Indian Railways for collaboration in connection with the manufacture of all-steel, light-weight passenger coaches of modern design in India. An agreement between the Government of India and M/s Car and Elevator Manufacturing Corporation Ltd., was signed on the 28th May 1949. A supplemental agreement was concluded on the 27th June 1953. By the end of July 1951 an appropriate layout for the coach building factory with the prescribed capacity of 300 unfurnished coach shells a year had been worked out and submitted to the Board. Later the expected maximum yearly production output was fixed at 350 unfurnished coach body shells with pertaining bogies. Decision had also been taken that the production start should fall within the second half of 1955. The production of 350 coach shells with the respective bogies a year i.e., one unit for every six working hours was the initially set target of the ICF. The evolution of Light-Weight Coach : Design and manufacture In the past it was generally accepted that heavy vehicles possessed better riding qualities than light ones. Experience has however, shown that intelligent design leads to improved efficiency in operation. Old-fashioned considerations based on static design do not meet the requirement of modern design. Lightweight design and improved efficiencies are synonymous. If greater effectiveness is required, a reduction in weight is essential. The improved effectiveness becomes economically effective in a number of ways, in increased capacity, in reduced operation expenses, in improved service and life. By taking these principles into consideration, we succeeded to reduce the weight of our passenger coach from 42.5 tons to 35.5 tons. Table below shows how this weight reduction was achieved. Stressed skin carriages possess very favourable static and dynamic qualities. This applies...