Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-07-09
St Albans Rolling Mills.

Johnsbury We have the largest scale manu-
in the world, and there are manuiac-
turing establishments in the state which do
even a larger business than this. Though q
large amount Of the natural facilities Of the
state for manufacturing resources lie idle
awaiting development, we are by no means a
state without manufactures at homo. and
among these is the rail mill at st. Adams,
which employs several hundred workmen, and
is kept in operation night and day.
We recently had the pleasure of Witness
ing the process Of changing the unweildy-
looking bars of pig-iron into steel-capped
rails, aud an interesting sight it is. The mil
is now employed on the rails for the Wood.
stock railroad, working up seventy tons Of
iron per day. These rails are but twenty
four feet long, aud are rolled forty Eight feet
and then sawed in two. The regular length
is thirty feet, and in making these but one
rail is rolled at a time, instead Of two this
requires moro time, and but sixty tons Of
iron, on an average, is used by this process.
The contract with the Woodstock road is for
$50 tons per month, and the rails are now
about half done. Still the road is so far
completed that the company are crowding the
rail mills for rails, wanting them faster than
they are called for by the contract. These
rails are steel-capped. For iron they are
using WORKOUT rails. These are cut by a
pair of ponderous shears, driven by machinery,
iuto lengths about four feet long, and tied up
with wires into bundles of seven or eight
pieces each. They are cast into a furnace
which we judged was heated seven times hot
ter than those where Shadrach, Meshaoh and
Abednego had their celebrated experience.
There are eight of these furnaces in the rail
mill, six of which are now constantly in use,
and ten in the puddle mills, Of which we
shall speak further on. When the mass has
been heated to a white heat it is drawn from
the furnace with ponderous long-handled tongs
and dropped upon a truck. Two men seize
the long handles Of the truck and in a mo-
ment more the fiery mass is thrust between
the rolls Of the rolling mill. These rolls are
constantly kept wet by water which drips
upon them in small streams, and as the iron
passes through them the first time, the act is
accompanied by a loud kissing and cracking
1t is quickly passed back and forth between
the rolls, being seized by the workmen a
either end, with levers which are suspended
from over head so that the fulcrum can be
changed from one position with the greatest
ease. When the mass leaves here it is IN the
shape of a long, fat bar, eight inches wide
and about an inch and a half thick. This
bar is quickly passed under another pair
Of shears, cut into pieces of the same length
as before and carried outside to cool. This
part of the work is done at night.
In the morning FIVE of these strips and
one of silicon steel, Of like size and shape
are bound together, heated as before, aud
run through another set Of rolls, coming GU
a perfectly formed rail. In running through
the rolls this last time it is kept all the same
side up, with the steel bar on the top, sc
that when done the rail is of iron with 2
steel face, which is the same for wearing
purposes as all steel. As the rail leaves the
rolls this last time it is carried on rollers tC
airoplor a me- yph,ab onk than, 81 90 aooh and
aud if tie rail is a double length one, lik,
those they are now making, it is also cut in
two in the middle. One economy in making
them double length is saving in waste, al
there are of course two ends to be trimmed
off if but one rail is rolled at a time, and nj
more if two. Now we have a perfect,
formed rail, but it is red hot, and if it wer,
left in its present shape to cool the thin bot
tom lange would cool first, and contracting
rapidly while the face was still hot an,
yielding, when the latter began to cool th'
fange would have become cold and firm, anC
the rail would be in about the shape Of Al
inverted chair rocker. So after the rail j
trimmed it is passed through one more ar
rangement Of rollers which bend both end
upwards. Then as the thin bottom fang
| cools, the rail straightens and remain
straight. OF course there will be %inaceura
cies in it then, aud a careful workman exam
I ines each rail, and passes it through a pom
derous press, where any crook he may find
} Strengthened. The rail is then taken to
huge steam punch and the holes for the bolt
2 of the coupling irons, and slot for the spikes
are each made by a single blow, when tn
a.. rail is complete.
In the pudding department the steel bar
referred to are manufactured. The steel
t made from pig iron brought from Port Her
z ry, N. Y. This is melted in the furnaces, {
which there are ten in this department of tn
: works. Ten or fifteen per cent of the cindel
from the other furnaces is at one stag
stirred into the molten mass, aud at onothC
i stage twelve per cent Of silicon ore, the lat
> ter being highly charged with carbon. Niue
! more depends upon the skill ofthe workma
q in making this steel than anything else, an
7 a slight mistake, as putting the cinders {
! silicon ore in at the wrong moment, woul
work disastrously. At the proper momeI
the mass, having changed meantime from
n flowing mass first into minute particles, the
into large Jumps, and finally into one lare
lump, under the constant manipulations
the workmen, (much as butter acts in ohur
ing) is taken from the furnace and carried
e a pondrous steam hammer which pounds
d into a large brick.shaped block called
n "puddle bloom" 1t is then ready to be r