A Report on industrial training at

WESTINGHOUSE SAXBY FARMER LIMITED

(A Government West Bengal Company)
24 Canal South Road, Kolkata-700039

Manufacture and assembly and testing of signalling

relays

Submitted to
Mr.T.K Chakraborty
(DGM-HRD/Legal &Govt.Liasion)

Submitted by
Avinit Saha
Diploma 3rd year
Department of Electrical Engineering
Budge Budge Institute of Technology, Kolkata
West Bengal, India

Acknowledgement
An engineer with only theoretical knowledge is not a complete engineer.
Practical knowledge is very important to develop and apply engineering skills.
It gives me a great pleasure to have an opportunity to acknowledge and to
express gratitude to those who were associated with me during my training at
Westinghouse Saxby Farmer Limited.
I am very great full to our training and placement officer Mr. Dipak Das for
providing me the oppurtunity to undergo the training in this prestigious
organization.
I express my sincere thanks and gratitude to Mr.T.K Chakraborty unit head Mr.
Parthasarathi Dutta and Executive engineer Ms. Sudeshna Mullick and other
authorities for allowing me to undergo the training in this prestigious
organization. I will always remain indebted to them for their constant interest and
excellent guidance in my training work, moreover for providing me with an
opportunity to work and gain experience.

Avinit
Saha

Contents
About the Company
Chronological Growth
Introduction
Types of Signalling Relays
Plug in Q series Relay
QL1 Relay
QN1 Relay
QBCA1 Relay
QBA1 Relay
QSPA1 Relay
QNA1 Relay
QNN1 Relay
Flow chart of Relay Manufacturing & Processing
Testing of Relay
Conclusion

About the Company

Westinghouse Saxby Farmer Limited has set the pace for industry for the reliable
signalling and Railway Brake System. In 1906 it started as a private company
namely Saxby and Farmer Limited established one unit in Kolkata and extended
their hand in the progress of Indian Railways. At that time most of the
equipments they supplied were from abroad. In 1923 they merged with
Westinghouse Electric Company to setup their Indian counterpart Westinghouse
Saxby Farmer Limited. While its Mechanical division produces Railway Brakes
and Couplers for coaches its Electrical division produces signalling relays and
Electrical point machine etc. Its major clients are

Indian Railways
Integral Coach Factory(Chennai)
Railway Coach Factory(Kapurthala)
Metro Railway(Kolkata)
JESSOP&Co.(Kolkata)
Bharat Earth Movers Limited(BEML)
Steel Authority Of India Limited(SAIL)
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited(BHEL)
National Thermal Power Corporation(NTPC)
SAN Engineering
Ventra Locomotive

Chronological Growth

Saxby and Farmer Limited founded in India for Railway

Signaling and Safety appliances.

1906

1923

Started functioning by the name Westinghouse Saxby Farmer

Limited (WSF) having its Registered Office and Factory at 17,Convent
Road,Kolkata-700014 as a counterpart of M/s Westinghouse Brake and Signal
Co. Ltd. U.K

1956

As demand grew up another unit near Tangra in Kolkata at 24,

Canal South Road, Kolkata- 700014 as a counterpart of M/s Westinghouse Brake
and Signal Co. Ltd. U.K

Becomes a Government of West Bengal Company

Obtained ISO 9001 Certificate from TUV NORD.

Introduction

1969
2001

A relay is an electromagnetic device, which is used for closing or opening of an

electrical circuit. When current is applied through the coil, it sets up a magnetic
flux through the bar magnet, core, L shape heelpiece and armature.
The flux causes armature to attract towards the pole face. Armature picks up and
fronts contact closes. The residual pin maintains small air gap in attracted
position. When current interrupts, magnetic flux collapses the contact spring
fixed above the armature helps in restoring to its full released position thus front
contacts open.

Types of Signalling
Relays
Signalling relays may be classified into various ways depending upon the
following factors:

i)

Mounting of relay
Shelf Type Plug in type

ii) Feed source

DC Relay AC Relay Electronic Relay
DC relays are further classified as under
Neutral Polar Neutral Polar
iii) Contact material
Proved Type Non proved Type
iv) Application
Track Line Special
v) Importance / vitality
Vital Non Vital

Plug in Q Series Relay

This series of plug in relay consists of more than 25
varieties. Out of which about 12 varieties are very

commonly used on Indian Railways.

These relays normally Operate on 12,24 or 50V DC and
can be provided with a max. of 16 independent contacts.

Plug board for Q series relay

This is divided into 4 vertical columns (A.B.C.D.) and

10 horizontal rows numbered as 1 to 8 from top to
bottom.
The 9th and 10th rows are for coil terminals
(R1,R2,R3 & R4) .
Plug board is a one piece moulding of the same
material as that of the relay base.
It is supplied with a wire clip, the purpose of which is
to retain the relay on the plug board tightly by
engaging with a groove provided in the handle of the
relay.

Rear View

Front View

(Plug Board for Q Series Relay)

Registration Device
Each relay is fitted with code pins commonly known
as Registration Device to prevent against plugging
of relay in a wrong base.
For this purpose 10 pin positions numbered as
A.B.C.D,E,F,G,H,J,& K are assigned on the relay
base for fixing the pin.
Plug board is provided with corresponding hole
position which allows the relay base pins to fit while
plugging.
Out of the ten only five pins are used on the relay
base & corresponding holes are drilled in the plug
board for the purpose of providing passes to the pins
fitted in the relay base.
Under this arrangement 252 different codes can be
formed.
Relays of the same type having different contact
arrangement will have different code numbers.
Plug board front & rear view is shown in the fig.
given below.

QL1 Relay

This made to BR specification no. 935A.

This is a magnetically latched DC line relay. This relay remains in full

operated condition though the feed to the relay is cut off.

This relay has two coils namely operate coil (R) and release coil (N) and a
permanent magnet.

When feed to R coil is applied the relay get energised.

As soon as it is energised the feeds to this coil cuts off through the back
contact of repeater relay.

The relay remain in pick up condition due to the permanent magnet,

provided near the core, because the magnet flux in the core is just sufficient to
hold the armature against the pusher sparing pressure.

To release the relay feed is applied to the N coil. This sets up a flux in the
core which is equal and opposite to the permanent magnetic flux and neutralises
it.

The pusher spring and gravity normalise the armature.

Feed to the N coil gets cut off after the release of armature due to the
inclusion of a front contact of the relay in series with the release coil.

QL1 type Relay

Contact Layout:
F

B
C

11F 4B
Coil Resistance152/680

QN1 Relay
This is used for all control and detection circuit except in external circuits of
AC RE area.
Its specification No is B.R. No: 930A.
Though it is immune to 300 Volt AC 50Hz but only in emergencies can be used
in RE area with protection against AC Interface.

QN1 Relay
Contact Layout:
F

B
C

12F 4B
Coil Resistane:365

8F 8B

QBCA1 Relay

It is made to the specification to specn No. 943. It has two heavy duty front
contacts and four back contacts of standard contact rating. The front contacts can
carry and switch upto 30A inductive current at 110V.DC. Spark quenching is
done by two blow out (natural magnet) magnet provided on a bracket by the side
of the front contacts.

These relays can be used for 24 V DC as well as 110V DC point machine.

These relays are immune to 120V, 50HZ abrupt application for AC Voltage. The
minimum front contact pressure is 56 grams instead of 28 grams for the c to m
contacts of other relays.

QBCA1 Relay

Contact Layout:
Supply
+
HF
+
Load
B

Load

HF

Supply

B
C

2HF 4B
Coil Resistance:215

QBA1 Relay
This is a DC biased AC immune neutral line relay.
A copper slug is provided on the core for immunisation and a permanent
magnet is provided on the core for Biasing.
It does not operate if 20 times of the rated voltage is applied in reverse
direction.
Its specification is BR Specification No. 932 A.

QBA1 Relay
Contact Layout:
F

8F 8B
Coil Resistance:215

QSPA1 Relay
This is made to B.R. Specification No. 934 A.
By provision of a copper slug it is made AC immunised and by a magnetic
shunt delayed release feature is obtained.
The copper slug and magnetic shunt are provided in the same rear side of the
core.

QSPA1 Relay
Contact Layout:
F

8F 4B
Coil Resistance:195

QNA1 Relay

 The immunisation is achieved by provision of a copper slug on the core at its

armature end.
In all other respects, it is similar to QN 1.
Its Specification is BR specification no. 931A.

QNA1 Relay
Contact Layout:
F

12F 4B
Coil Resistance:215

8F 8B
C

QNN1 Relay

 This comprises two neutral line relays whose contacts and magnets are mounted
side by side with a common heel piece on a base.
BR specification 960.
These two relays operate independently to each other.

QNN1 Relay
Contact Layout:
F

BF

BF

CB

6F 4B
Coil

4F 4B
C

Resistance:440

Flow Chart of Relay

Manufacturing and
Processing

Testing of Relay

Relay tests are required to prove that a relay meets the published specification
and complies with all relevant standards. Since the principal function of a
Signalling relay is to operate correctly under abnormal power conditions, it is
essential that the performance be assessed under such conditions. Comprehensive
type tests simulating the operational conditions are therefore conducted at the
manufacturer's works during the development and certification of the equipment.
Routine Factory Production Tests:
These are conducted to prove that relays are free from defects during
manufacture. Testing will take place at several stages during manufacture, to
ensure problems are discovered at the earliest possible time and hence minimise
remedial work. The extent of testing will be determined by the complexity of the
relay and past manufacturing experience.
Commissioning Tests:
These tests are designed to prove that a particular protection scheme has been
installed correctly prior to setting to work. All aspects of the scheme are
thoroughly checked, from installation of the correct equipment through wiring
checks and operation checks of the individual items of equipment, finishing with
testing of the complete scheme.
Periodic Maintenance Checks:
These are required to identify equipment failures and degradation in service, so
that corrective action can be taken. Because a protection scheme only operates
under fault conditions, defects may not be revealed for a significant period of
time, until a fault occurs. Regular testing assists in detecting faults that would
otherwise remain undetected until a fault occurs.

Rating Tests:
Rating type tests are conducted to ensure that components are used within their
specified ratings and that there are no fire or electric shock hazards under a
normal load or fault condition of the power system. This is in addition to
checking that the product complies with its technical specification. The following
are amongst the rating type tests conducted on protection relays, the specified
parameters are normally to IEC 60255-6.

Thermal Withstand:
The thermal withstand of VTs, CTs and output contact circuits is determined to
ensure compliance with the specified continuous and short-term overload
conditions. In addition to functional verification, the pass criterion is that there is
no detrimental effect on the relay assembly, or circuit components, when the
product is subjected to overload conditions that may be expected in service.
Thermal withstand is assessed over a time period of 1sfor CTs and 10s for VTs.

Conclusion
The training at WESTING HOUSE SAXBY FARMER LIMITED helped me to
understand the manufacturing of signalling relay. The training has proved to be
quite helpful. It proved an opportunity for encounter with signalling relays. The

architecture of W.S.F.L., the way various units are linked and the way
working of whole plant is controlled make the students realize that Engineering
is not just structural description but greater part is planning and
management. It provides an opportunity to learn tech. Used at proper place and
time can save a lot of labour. Training has proved to be satisfactory. It has
allowed me an opportunity to get an exposure of the practical implementation of
theoretical fundamentals.