Issue 1 / 2014 ® valvescommunity Information for customers and partners TitleKunde Story FRoSTA WithTiefkühlkost full steam mit up hohem the Brocken Mountain Passing the baton New sales offi ce in France Department series Maintenance workshops History Who was Elly Heuss-Knapp? Editorial Full steam up the Brocken Mountain in the Harz Dear readers, HEROSE supplies valves to the Harz Narrow Gauge Railway for safe a ride on the puffi ng Brocken railway to brakes – in part of the fl eet of vehicles ... the highest point in the Harz mountains is an experience which I can thoroughly Wernigerode, Main Station, 2 : 40 pm smell of pine trees mingles with the smell recommend. I still have happy memories puffi ng and hissing, the locomotive of of coal and the views become increasingly of a trip which I made a few years ago. the Harz narrow gauge railway starts to spectacular. "Sigurd, you’ll have to throw The railway company is also one of our move. About 120 tons slowly move off . on a few more coals!" shouts engine customers ... Why not read our report – The passengers in the six carriages are driver Gaede to his stoker – and at the you will enjoy it. looking forward to their destination: the same moment he opens the fi redoor of It is now 2014. From a business point Brocken mountain, which with a height the boiler. Swathes of heat from the deep of view the year started well for HEROSE – and I am optimistic about how it will of 1141 metres is the highest point of the red embers immediately force their way continue. One of the reasons for this is Harz region. that we are still very active internationally: In the confi ned driver’s cab, engine For example, in South Korea, we are driver Thomas Gaede, 33, sounds the showing our presence at the Gastech, whistle before a level crossing. People an exhibition which is especially wave toward the Brocken railway, stoker important for us. Sigurd Gumz, 40, is gazing intently By the way, I am often asked who through the side window, constantly Elly Heuss-Knapp was – the person after checking the track ahead. In the driver’s whom our road is named. You can fi nd cab, everything is covered with a layer the answer on page 5. of fi ne coal dust. This is a workplace for Enjoy your read! men. After four stops at intervals of one minute, the locomotive picks up speed. The route passes through increasingly Dirk M. Zschalich dense forest and the track runs uphill. The An engine driver takes a break Managing Director Title Story Sigurd Gumz fills up with water at the "Drei Annen Hohne" station. The locomotive needs seven cubic metres of In the workshop: Bernd Seiler, head of the Vehicle Engineering department with water for each journey chief instructor Bernd Duderstadt and Manfred Kadner (from left) into the cab. "In summer it can get up to it was restored in 1990 and can now be carriage jumps forward by a few me- 40 degrees in here", says Gaede. booked for special excursions." tres" says Gaede, "we don’t want that". Gaede’s steam engine, series 99.72, is However, back to the series 99.72 Things become quiet in the cab – at least one of 30 locomotives, which the Harz locomotive: stoker Sigurd Gumz has as quiet as things get on a steam engine. Narrow Gauge Railway (HSB) use on now thrown on more coal with his Outside, the Harz passes by. The view their 140 kilometre railway network. In practiced swing. Ten shovels full last into the North German Plain becomes addition to the Brocken railway, the route for about five minutes. Then the boiler increasingly expansive. In places the which is the greatest tourist attraction, needs more fuel. "This is my gym" says narrow gauge track runs right next to the HSB maintains public passenger and Gumz and grins. The gradient becomes the footpath, which also leads up the goods transport in the Nordhausen area. steeper and the locomotive slows down. Brocken mountain. Walkers wave and Here, diesel locomotives are used – and The speedometer now only shows 25 take photographs. After one final loop, that is where HEROSE comes into play. km/h. Regulators, gate valves, injector the train has reached the peak of the Manfred Kadner, who is the HEROSE pump, heater valve, blowers – the Brocken. Now the driver and the stoker representative for Northern Germany: driver’s cab is a dream for nostalgia can take a rest for about 15 minutes, be- "For many years now we have supplied fans. "The locomotive still does what fore they start back on the 34 kilometre HSB with safety valves for the braking the driver says", laughs Gaede – even if route, for which the train takes about 1 systems, in which the braking pressure this means good old heavy work for the 1/2 hours. is built up. These valves are installed pair at the front. The indicators have to between the compressor and the be continuously watched – as well as the pressure reservoir and have to be tested track and the signals. every two years." Bernd Seiler, head of After 40 minutes, the train reaches the the Vehicle Engineering department of "Drei Annen Hohne" station. They jump the HSB adds: "The diesel locomotives, off the locomotive to take on water. Here which were built in the days of the GDR they take on five cubic metres. They will are nicknamed Harz camels, because take on another two later in Schierke. they swing with their very own rhythm." A break. Gaede and Gumz eat two HEROSE valves are also used in an sausages, which they have roasted in historic HSB vehicle, the T1 railcar. aluminium foil on the boiler. They love Bernd Seiler: "This vehicle was built in working on their locomotive. 1933 in the carriage factory in Dessau Off again. Thomas Gaede carefully and after the War, it was used on our moves the regulator, so to speak the Selke Valley railway between 1947 and accelerator pedal of the locomotive. "If 1950. Then the T1 was forgotten, until you take off with a flying start, the last Journey’s end at the peak 2 valvescommunity 1 / 2014 HEROSE GMBH Xy Duderstadt, Kadner and Seiler with the restored T1 In the workshop: Bernd Seiler, head of the Vehicle Engineering department with chief instructor Bernd Duderstadt and Manfred Kadner (from left) Over 1 million passengers The Harz, Germany’s most northern central mountains has been traversed by a unique narrow gauge railway net- work since 1887. The present operator is the Harzer Schmalspurbahn GmbH (HSB). In February 1993 the municipal The route of the Brocken Railway passes through dense forests company took over the entire network of the Harz narrow gauge railways from the Deutsche Reichsbahn, who oper- ated the routes in the days of the GDR. Safety valves for compressed air applications Situated in the federal states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, primar- For compressed air applications, such as braking systems ily with steam engines, the network on trains, HEROSE safety valves are used. regularly provides transport over a The type 06217 is used to protect against excessive 1000 mm gauge network in the jagged overpressure between the compressor and the pressure mountain landscape between Nord- reservoir in the braking system. The valve is a free-discharge hausen, Wernigerode and Quedlinburg. safety valve with an FPM soft seal between the valve seat The entire network, consisting of the and the disc. The material is brass. Harz Traverse, the Selke Railway and the Brocken Railway now has a length Specifications of the HEROSE type 06217 of 140.4 km and is the longest intercon- nected narrow gauge railway network Approved for vapours and gases in Germany. About 260 people work for Valve sizes: d0 12 (1/2“) up to d0 40 (2“) the HSB, including 60 engine drivers. Pressure ranges from 0.2 to 30 bar In 2013 1.1 million passengers travelled Permissible operating temperature: on the HSB trains. You can find further -40° C (233K) to +200° C (473K) detail and ticket prices in Internet under Approval according to the Pressure Equipment Directive www.hsb.wr.de. 7/23/EC (PED) and ASME Code Section VIII Journey’s end at the peak valvescommunity 1 / 2014 HEROSE GMBH 3 HEROSE departments Internal Part 8 3 questions to ... Even sophisticated designs are no p roblem for them ... today to Dirk Zschalich, The tasks of the department ranges from caretaking up to high precision tool making. Managing Director Without compressed air, nothing would work at HEROSE. Nine compressors ensure that large numbers of valves can be adjusted and tested – and it is not good if even one of these compressors breaks down. The Maintenance workshops / Toolmaking department under Lothar Lindau is responsible for their maintenance. The boss himself personally monitors the compressors and their proper functioning. Lothar Lindau: "For example, the compressed Managing Director Dirk Zschalich air which these compressors produce must be extremely clean. At HEROSE With this new series, vc will ask they have a residual oil content of less HEROSE employees about their than 0.001 mg per cubic metre." There work - briefl y and to the point, clearly are three pressure ranges at HEROSE: and simply. The fi rst in the series up to 8 bar, up to 220 bar – and fi nally up is HEROSE Managing Director Dirk to 320 bar in the testing area. Zschalich. However, Lothar Lindau’s department, with its six employees is responsible vc: From an business point of view: for far more than just compressed How was 2013, and what will 2014 be air.