Talgo 350



Timken AP2 unit



Rolls-Royce AE3007


The Timken Company (USA) recently announced a series of key new customer orders, marking stronger results and market penetration across its various business segments from rail to steel to aerospace.


Moscow Rail, operating more than 450 commuter trains in the Russian capital, has signed an agreement for Timken to supply rail bearings to gradually replace its current cylindrical roller bearings.

For Moscow Rail, Timken's is producing a special version of its SP rail bearings, tapered roller bearings designed to be lower maintenance and more reliable than the cylindrical roller bearings they replace. SP rail bearings include the company's proprietary Hydrodynamic Labyrinth (HDL) seal, which the company says lowers operating temperatures and increases bearing life.

Mikhail Gorokhov, area manager for Timken in Russia, said, "The Russian rail market is an integral part in the global growth of our rail business."


Timken's European Rail business also scored a high-speed, high-profile new application in Spain's Talgo 350 train. Capable of speeds up to 350km/h (218mph), the Talgo 350 has up to twelve airtight, pressurized coaches pulled by twin, 4,000kw electric power cars at both ends. The first four of a planned sixteen trains have now been delivered; they operate on the crowded 650 km (406 mile) Madrid-to-Barcelona corridor.

The Talgo 350's driven and undriven articulated bogey wheels are equipped with Timken AP2 rail bearing assemblies.

The AP2 is the second generation of the popular AP rail roller bearing series. They are self-contained, mounted in lightweight aluminum housings and in the Talgo 350 carry a maximum per-axle load of 17 tons.

AP2 assemblies consist of two inner races, a counter-bored double outer race, and two proprietary Hydrodynamic Labyrinth (HDL) seals directly installed on the extended back face. With a shorter journal to reduce axle bending and fewer rotating parts, Timken says AP2 wheel bearing assemblies offer low temperature service under high rotational speeds combined with high load-carrying capacity. They are designed to be maintenance-free for up to 1.2 million km (750,000 miles).

In development for over sixteen years, the Talgo 350 proved capable of 500km/h (312mph) under ideal conditions as far back as 1990. One of the reasons the cars are shaped as they are and pressurized is to protect them from structural failure; the air pressure waves created by entering tunnels at such high speeds could otherwise collapse the train's sides, and lateral winds could cause stability problems with a less aerodynamic shape.

Marcus Pauels, Manager of Timken's European Rail Sales, said, "Safety is the top priority in a high-speed application such as this. Prior to the initial dynamic track testing now in progress, these units underwent a demanding series of tests in our high-speed rail test rig in Colmar, France. Fail-safe temperature sensors in the bearing assemblies provide additional security for these trains -- Timken supplies these for the power cars; Talgo sensors are used in the coaches."

The Spanish National Railways (RENFE) Talgo 350 trains are expected to compete strongly with air travel between Madrid and Barcelona, carrying 318 passengers on the trip taking only 2 hours 30 minutes.

The initial contract for 32 trains, signed in mid-2001, was split between a Bombardier-Talgo joint venture and Siemens. Bombardier-Talgo's first 16 units are scheduled to be in service on the Madrid-Barcelona route by the end of 2004.

Spain plans a high-speed rail network project, linking its major cities and totaling over 7200km (4500 miles), to be complete by 2010. With 146 high-speed trains eventually planned for the network, and 86 more medium-speed (270km/h or 170mph) Timken's participation in the first Bombardier-Talgo trains is seen as an indicator they will continue grow as a key rail bearing supplier in Spain as the rail system itself grows and modernizes.


Indian steel mill operator Jindal Steel & Power Ltd., placed orders with Timken for over $700,000 worth of rolling mill bearings.

As the world's largest coal-based sponge iron plant, Jindal Steel's Raigarh plant will receive two types of cylindrical roller bearings for six new sponge iron kilns being built there.

Rather than using scrap steel as its raw material, a sponge iron plant uses a mixture of iron ore and coal to feed into an electric furnace for melting and steelmaking.

Timken said it is supplying not only bearings to Jindal Steel but also bearing repair and hands-on training for Jindal's personnel via the Timken research facility in Bangalore.


Rolls-Royce has also named Timken as an approved service provider for its AE 3007 gas turbine aircraft engine.

The AE3007 is used in such aircraft as the Cessna Citation X -- the world's fastest business jet -- and the Embraer RJ145 commercial aircraft. Rolls-Royce has delivered over 1,200 AE 3007 engines to Embraer alone since it first entered service in 1997.

While Rolls-Royce will handle all bearing repair sales, it will then send those bearings to Timken Aerospace in Lebanon, New Hampshire for the actual service. Lebanon is an FAA

Ron Menning, VP of Aerospace and Defense, said it is, "an honor," to be selected as Rolls Royce's first outside supplier of repair services in North America.

Timken Aerospace in Lebanon is an FAA-approved repair station. Timken said it is already performing repairs for the Rolls-Royce RB211 family at the Timken/Torrington aerospace facility in Wolverhampton, England.


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