The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-07-11
THE IRON HORSE.
WORK WHICH ENTERsINTO THE
MAKING OF A LOCOMOTIVE.
Models Of Soft Wood Made from
Drawings-Iron Patterns-Car
Wheels-In the Boiler Shop
Constructing Cabs. ..

"When you receive an order, say for
half a dozen locomotives, what Is the
first thing undertakena" asked the re-
porter. .....- ....s.
"About the first thing to be COM
pleted," replied the foreman, Sin order
that the work may 60 on advantageous
ly, is the frame and boiler. The frame
is simply a foundation of wrought iron
beams upon which the boiler and cab
rests. But to give you an idea of the
process of making locomotive, perhaps
it will be well to begin where the first
step is taken. If the engine, or any
part of it, is to be of different pattern
from any we have ever made. the work
begins in the drafting room where some
four or more men make the drawings.
The drawings are sent to the pattern
shop, where some skilled woodworkers
are employed. From the drawings these
men make models or patterns in soft pine
wood. "You see," said the foreman,
leading the way to bench in the rear
of the room, ''here is man
making a wooden driving wheel
of the latest pattern. You observe
it is nearly done now, and when finished
it will be perfect model, complete in
every respect. From here the model is
sent to the foundry, where ffty-tve
workmen are employed. A similar
model or mold is made in the sand and
molten iron poured in az. iron pattern,
like the wooden one thus being made.
If the casting is locomotive driving
wheel it is next taken to the mach ne
shop, its surface given a better finish
and the rims trimmed to fit the tire.
The tire is then heated so that it will
expand sufficiently to be placed on the
wheel, and when it cools it is held so
firmly in its place that there is no danger
of it ever coming Of. This is the modern
way of putting on tires, formerly they
were held in place with bolts. After the
tires are placed upon the wheels the
wheels are put on the axle by means OF q
hydraulic press of great power, which
presses them firmly on, and the finishing
touch is given them in a. double. headed
lathe that operates on both wheels at the
same time" ...
"How long will tire last2" +.
"That depends upon their thickness
and the amount of service to which they
are subjected. A four-inch tire will last
longer, of course, than three-inch one.
But they generally last five or six years,
and then they are expanded by heat, re-
moved and new ones put in their place.
"Come this way" said the foreman,
CT will show you how we make the or
dinary car.wheel in. the foundry" and
he led the way through the main foun-
dry, where castings varying in size from
common bra ket to seventeen ton
anvil are made, to the car-wheel foundry
beyond. s... ....,. ...s@
As the reporter entered no saw q
stream of molten iron pouring forth
from large blast furnace into en- iron
receptacle that holds enough to make
one cur wheel. On the opposite side of
the foundry, placed in a semi-circle, one
after another, were the molds into
which the molten iron is poured to form
the wheels. These molds are so ar
ranged that the arm of derrick, which
is situated IN the center of the foundry,
will swing over them with its load OF
LIQUID iron. When four molds have
been filled, the one which was first filed
is opened, the red hot wheel removed
and lowered in deep brick-lined pit,
made in the earth, that will hold about
q score of wheels. When the pit has
been filled with hot wheels it is covered
with sand, and at the end of two days
they have cooled sufficiently to be e1-
posed to the open air. Eleven men are
employed in this department and they
cast twenty-four wheels per day. The
process of finishing these wheels does
not differ materially from that employed
in the manufacture of the driving wheels,
only the car wheels have no steel tires.
What is the heaviest casting re-
ouired for locomotiveW
"What we call the foot board. It
weighs about fifty-five hundred pounds" "
The writer was next conducted to the
boiler shop, where seventy men were busy
at work on another part of the loco
motive. Six or seven boilers per month
is the capacity of this shop, which con-
tains powerful machines for cutting the
thick iron plates and making holes for
bolts in the same. In the blacksmith
shop, where all the wrought iron parts
of the locomotive are made, fty.one men
stood by the furnaces, steam hammers
and anvils, that are required to shape the
various parts necessary for the construc-
ton of the wonderful iron horse. Some
were forging one piece, some another;
here an anvil rang under the true and
busy stroke of brawny smith, there the
blows of steam hammer made the earth
tremble about it.
Leaving the smithy, the reporter and
his guide went to visit the most interest
ing, perhaps, of all the many shops-the
machine shops. On entering one sees
but forest Of belts, extending from the
ceiling to a multiplicity of wheels on
the machines below. So many belts, so
many wheels, one wonders what power
can move them all Here, then, with
lathes and planes, and drills, and various
other machines, the many parts of the
locomotive that come from the foundry
and blacksmith shop are finished, made
ready to be put together in the construc-
tion of the wonderful machine. The
heavy work, such as the finishing OF the
driving wheels, the cylinders and the
frame, is done on the ground floor, while
smaller parts are finished in the story
next above. In this department, from
morning until night, ninety.two men
work on the body of the iron horse.
"There," said the foreman, as he stood
by the side of the reporter, watching a
powerful plane smooth the strong iron
beams of the frame, ''it requires more
labor than one would at first imagine to