Project: Aln Valley Railway
Sector: Heritage Railway Maintenance
Equipment: Alto Roof Access Tower
Application: Access to railway coach roofs
The Challenge
Maintaining heritage railway rolling stock presents a range of access challenges, particularly when work needs to be undertaken at roof level.
At Aln Valley Railway, a suitable access solution was required to provide a stable means of accessing railway coach roofs for maintenance activities.
The railway also needed to ensure that its team had the appropriate training to assemble and use the equipment correctly.
The Alto Solution
An Alto roof access tower was supplied to support maintenance activities involving the railway's rolling stock.
Designed to provide safe access to railway coach roofs, the tower incorporates a working platform and guardrail arrangement, allowing personnel to access the roof for maintenance activities.
As part of the equipment introduction, the Aln Valley Railway team completed a PASMA training day delivered by trainer Greg Ball.
The session covered both theoretical instruction and practical assembly, including work with an AGR tower before the team spent the afternoon assembling their roof access tower.
The practical session concluded with a railway coach being positioned beneath the assembled access arrangement.
Training in Practice
The training provided an opportunity for railway personnel to familiarise themselves with the equipment, its assembly and its intended use.
Feedback from the railway was particularly positive, with the team highlighting both the quality of the training and the access provided by the roof access tower.
Michael from Aln Valley Railway commented:
"It was an extremely useful day and I think we were all impressed with the tower itself, particularly how safe the working area on the coach roof was."
An Ongoing Relationship
Aln Valley Railway also has an existing Alto MD Access Tower, previously donated to the railway.
Following the training, the team reviewed its existing equipment and identified additional components required to support its continued use, including toeboards and adjustable swivel base jacks.
Alto is supporting the railway with its enquiries regarding replacement components.
Supporting the Heritage Rail Sector
Heritage railway maintenance frequently requires practical access solutions that can accommodate the particular dimensions and configurations of historic rolling stock.
This project demonstrates how purpose-designed access equipment, supported by appropriate training, can help railway organisations establish suitable working arrangements for maintenance activities at height.
Alto Access supplies a range of aluminium access solutions for railway maintenance, inspection and engineering applications.
Explore our Rail Access Systems to learn more about our access equipment for the railway industry.
