Cowans Sheldon - Railway Cranes and Track Maintenance Equipment

Cowans Sheldon, a division of the Clarke Chapman Group Ltd. is a major international supplier of railway breakdown recovery cranes, general purpose railway cranes, rail delivery and recovery systems, Long Welded Rail Trains (LWRT), twin jib tracklayers, single-track panel layers, modular on-track systems for track and trackside maintenance along with mobile maintenance support of on-track plant (currently UK only) and equipment.

Cowans Sheldon, founded in 1866 has always been at the forefront of mechanical and materials handling solutions for railways throughout the world. Our business is providing solutions to our clients' problems.

Our designs encompass client / operator concerns in terms of reliability and maintainability by incorporating the latest technologies into our products in the areas of safety, modular assemblies and access for maintenance, and proven technologies for reliability and longevity.

BREAKDOWN, RECOVERY AND GENERAL PURPOSE RAIL CRANES

Designed for arduous conditions and duties, the Cowans Sheldon range of cranes provides assurance of operation and reliability when required in an accident recovery situation.

Machines come with fixed strut or hydraulic telescopic jibs / booms with diesel / hydraulic or diesel / electric dependant on capacity and application requirement.

Our high integrity, high capacity machines can also be used for general track works, bridge construction and civil engineering applications providing greater flexibility to the machine use.

Likewise, our low capacity range cranes are used in depot for track panel construction and general duties, trackside construction and maintenance and debris recovery adding further flexibility for the track operator / maintainer.

• High capacity range – 60t to 250t
• Low capacity range – 7t to 20t

RAIL DELIVERY / RECOVERY AND LONG WELDED RAIL TRAINS (LWRT)

Cowans Sheldon are at the forefront of this technology, developing machines on a modular concept for ever-increasing rail lengths, number of rails and speed of rail delivery.

Computer aided technology assists in the controlled deployment of rail to the trackside matching the speed of the unloading system to that of the locomotive, hauling the train at speeds up to 8km/h.

Modular assemblies aid maintenance, allowing quick and effective change out of faulty components, minimising downtime and maintaining a high level of availability.

• Latest carrying capacity – 32 CEN60 rails at 216m long

TRACKLAYING MACHINES

Cowans Sheldon twin jib tracklaying machines fulfil a major role in track renewal. Being a dedicated machine, it provides quick change out of track panels in a dual track situation over that of conventional craning methods. The twin jib configuration allows for full 18m track panels to be deployed with minimal effort and a high degree of control, stability and safety using the minimum of staff.

We also supply single-track panel machines for where only one railroad is available.

MODULAR TRACK MAINTENANCE SYSTEMS

Cowans Sheldon in recent years have developed a range of modular units based on the footprint of a standard ISO container base for track maintenance applications:

• High pressure railhead treatment system
• General high-pressure jetting system for trackside cleaning
• Gully and drain jetting system
• Cable carrier and deployment system

ONTRACK PLANT MAINTENANCE, OVERHAUL, UPGRADE AND REPAIRS

Cowans Sheldon, The Clarke Chapman Group Ltd, can offer a maintenance / overhaul service on ontrack plant, depots, stations and trackside equipment. Operating a 24/7/52 service, we are available to assist in any client situation.

Our Gateshead facility provides the resources, skills and experience to give cost effective life extension to plant and equipment. With the full engineering resource of the Clarke Chapman group of companies, we have the ability to support our clients in engineering solutions to their problems.