The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-05-14
AN INTERESTING PLACE.
What May be Seen In the Portland
Company's Pattern Store House.

One Of the most interesting departments
of the Portland Company's machine and To-
connective works is the pattern store room.
When an order is received for locomotive
or machine or part of machine Of any kind,
il 1t be of new design, it is necessary for the
draughtsman to make plan Of the machine
or part OF machine. These plans are sent to
the pattern room, where skilled woodwork
ers make in accordance with the plans exact
models in wood of the different parts of the
machine. When the pattern makers have
completed their task they have complete
wooden machine. The patterns are sent to
the foundry where moulds are made from
them, the molten iron is turned into the
mould, and as soon as it is hard the casting
is completed with the exception of few fin
ishing touches, given after it is removed
from the mould. The wooden pattern or
model is taken from the foundry to the pat
tern store room, where 1t is put away on a
shelf to remain until needed again. Per-
haps 1t will never be used again. The ma
chine Of which it is part may go out of use
or prove failure. or that particular part of
the machine may be superseded by part Of
different and improved design, in which case
the old wooden pattern will never be used
again unless the corresponding part of the
machine should break before the whole was
worn out. Nevertheless the old wooden
pattern, be ita wheel, faucet, bolt, pc
culiar steam pipe, cylinder, propeller, a
paper machine, or any other machine, or
part OF any machine, under the sun, is put
away for safe keeping, ready for use when it
shall become necessary to make another
casting from it. And so, year in and year
out, decade after decade, these wooden pat
terms made by the skillful woodworkers
have been accommodating, and are still accu-
mulating. at the great locomotive works of
the Portland Company. There are thous-
ands of them now on hand; patterns of
every conceivable design; parts of common,
rare and obsolete machines; of locomotives,
marine and stationary engines; patents Of
wise men and fanatics; the inventions of
hundreds, some valuable, some worthless !;
some made years ago and still in use, others
that have never been used but once. Occa-
sionally the company will receive an order
for particular part of some machine which
was constructed years ago, and from which
they have never heard since it left their
shops until this order is sent in Then Mr..
James Knowlton, for nearly two-score wears
a trusted employee of the company, and SUI
perintendent Of the pattern shop, hunts up
the desired pattern, for he, and he alone,
knows just where it is and another casting
Is made. Mr.. Knowlton is 20 years old. a
thorough machinist, and is the man to whom
all the other employees 20 when they want to
learn about any machine that at some time
or other has been made by the Portland
Company. He remembers them all, and
knows where to find the patterns. Besides
an immense room, which contains thousands
OF patterns, large, two-storied brick build
Ing is used as storehouse for these wooden
models. The cost of them all is counted In
the hundreds of thousands of dollars, but of
course many of them are today worthless,
because they will never be used again.
Which will and which will not be used again
nobody knows. The patterns for brass
work are kept In room by themselves, and
the scores of unique designs make an inter-
esting study.
The large patterns, such as those of loco
motive wheels, ETC., are piled upon the floor,
and the smaller and finer ones are convent
emily arranged on shelves A short time ago
the patterns used to construct the machinery
for two gunboats during the war, were
burned, and from time to time such patterns
as are known to be worthless from the fact
that they will never be used again, will be
given to the flames.