Man Saves Subway Tons of Money Using a Hair Net
Salford1
For the T, big net savings
Repair foreman used his head(gear) to fix costly problem
By Mac Daniel, Globe Staff | May 4, 2006
Tom McHale is a hero at the MBTA, not for saving lives, but for saving
a lot of money thanks to steak tips, electrical tape, and a 5-cent,
fine-mesh hair cap.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority -- challenged by a high
debt load, an aging train fleet, and opposition to a proposed fare
increase -- is plagued every winter with train motors failing in snowy
conditions. The cost to repair them is staggering, and the cost to
replace them is even higher. The failures on the Orange and Red lines
during recent winters were crippling service.
So in late 2004, after a day rebuilding or replacing such motors on
the Orange Line, McHale, a father of two from Reading who works as a
repair foreman in the Wellington carhouse, was in a Boston wholesale
butcher shop buying steak tips for a Patriots playoff game when he was
required to put on a ''bouffant style" protective cap to cover his
hair.
McHale, 42, said he then noticed that a nearby butcher's head was
about the same size as the air intake cover on the failing Orange Line
motors.
He bought his steak tips and pocketed the hair cap. A few days later,
he taped it to an Orange Line motor. Eureka! The air got in, but the
snow stayed out. ''It fit perfect," McHale said.
The polypropylene hair caps melted in extreme conditions, but never
caught fire. They could be put on the entire 102-car fleet in short
order. And best of all, a box of 1,000 cost $50. A bargain.
''That's what we used to pay for them," Louis Downs, maintenance
supervisor for the Orange Line, said yesterday. ''Once word about this
gets out, we'll probably have to pay more."
Last winter, the T experienced no traction motor failures because of
snow, thanks in part to McHale's hair cap idea. Though conditions this
past season were mild, T officials estimate his solution will save the
agency $126,000 in repairs in an average year.
Snow has historically messed with train engines, especially on the
Orange Line, which runs 8.8 of its 11 miles outside and a large
portion of that in the walled corridors south of downtown.
Light snow is often sucked up by a moving train, goes under the
chassis, and is drawn into a caged air intake designed to cool the
motors. Over time, with stops and starts, the snow melts and refreezes
into 3-inch-thick squares that block the intake, causing the motors to
overheat or catastrophically fail.
''You don't run your blender in the bathtub," McHale said. ''Snow and
these motors just don't mix."
Historically, T officials said, a major snowstorm results in failure
of an average 14 of the 480 motors running the Orange Line's 102 cars.
Rebuilding such a motor costs about $9,000. Replacing it costs between
$35,000 and $50,000.
On the Red Line, where service was crippled by failing motors during
the winter of 2004-2005, the motors are configured differently and
can't benefit from the Orange Line's unique solution, T officials
said.
Prior to the hair cap, T maintenance tried an assortment of materials
to block the snow, from the stuff used in Tyvek protective clothing to
burlap.
Nothing has worked as well as the hair cap, which is now part of the
T's standard operating procedure on the Orange Line.
Prior to snowstorms, ''All traction motor intake filter cage
assemblies shall be wrapped with a protective hair net (HELCO part
number KC 36809), taking care to fully cover any possible opening
where the ingestion of snow is possible," Orange Line operating
documents read. ''The hair net shall then be secured using standard
1/2-inch electrical tape. . . . Protective hair nets shall be removed
in the spring to afford maximum cooling of motors" in summer.
McHale is being promoted and will be honored by the T today for his
idea, complete with a demonstration using a disassembled Orange Line
traction motor.
Mac Daniel can be reached at mda...@globe.com.
MSfo...@mcpmail.com
I think it only shows how poorly designed the motor system was in the
first place. They always should have had an intake design that
prevented snow from entering. How much money did they waste over the
years before somebody recognized it? Give the guy credit, but take a
greater amount from those dummies who made and watched the system for
years.
Salford1
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That's the problem with big companies, wasting money! If it affected
eople individually, you can bet your life there would be a lot more
vigilance.