The record-union., 1896-07-05
BLACKSMITH SHOP.

AIuer the Southern Paclf1c Com
pany's blacksmith shop in this city had
been in operation a number of years
1t was found that enormous heaps OF
gcrap-odds and ends of everything
made in the shop-had accumulated
and it was resolved to devise a method
ty which the waste material might be
saved and profitably utilized.
AS consequence small train OF
rolls was introduced into the shop and
though this was a small beginning, ii
proved a success from the very start
and was the initial step toward that
Immense auxiliary to the blacksmith
shop to be seen by the visitor to-day
commonly known as the rolling mill.
The rolling mill, then, was first start
edin 1877 ,and the vast amount of mate
rial, in this case meaning money, which
has been saved by its means cuts no
mean figure when placed in the col
umns of profit and loss.
Among the tools used in the rolling
mill is an S,000-pound steam hammer,
which is naturally used for the heaviest
of work. 1t is a grand, sturdy and
majestic machine, the power of which
Is almost incalculable, and in looking
upon it the visitor cannot help Won
dering what would be the fate of a
finger upon which that vast mass OF
iron might chance to fall; or whether
there would be enough of it left foI
Fate to work on.
Then, there is a giant crane which
moves pompously, and has a lifting
capacity of thirty tons, or 10000
pounds. 1t Is one of those things the
strength Of which has never been prac-
tically tested, and probably never will
be, and to understand its great power
and ponderous proportions one must
see 1t at work
In the matter of rolls the mill is well
supplied, having two 12-inch trains OF
rolls, each operated by a 100 horse
power engine, and one 1S-inch train OF
rolls, operated by an engine of 400
horse power.
Then there is a large ALLIGATOR shear
which takes its name from it's close re-
semblance to the saurian monster OF
the Southern States. There is no fool
ishness about the alligator shear, either,
for 1t snips off any piece of iron that can
he inserted between its jaws in the
most matter of fact manner ina aginable,
and its jaws are six inches wide.
A farge power punch also stands in
the shop, and is used principally for cut
ting and punching fishplates. Forty tons
OF iron pass through this machine daily,
cut into proper lengths and punched
ready for shipment.
But the latest addition to the stock OF
tools, and perhaps the most satisfactory
IL there can be superiority when all is
perfect, is a combined punch and shear
used for cutting off and punching the
holes in fiShplates for the new pattern
seventy pound rail, which has re-
Gently been adopted by the company.
1t is also brought into requisition in
shearing brake beams to their proper
lengths and desired shapes after they
have been forged into shape from old
and worn rails, and 1t may here be
stated that the machine is the strongest
and best of it's kind west of the Missouri
River. The making of brake beams
from old or worn rails is a comparatively
new invention, having been designed by
one of the mechanics in the shops in
1891, and has, since it has been in use,
proven an unqualified success
In the rolling mill are five reverba-
tory furnaces with boiler attachments
and one auxiliary boiler. Three of these
furnaces are used for heating the iron
for the rolling mill and two to supply
the S,000-pound hammer, which is one
of the largest ito be found ives. of Chi
cago. These five furnaces consume
twenty tons of coal daily
Nothing is wasted in the Southern Pa
cific shops, not even the heat generated
under those furnaces. They are, as has
been said, reverberatory furnaces-that
& J1,-i-
OF them to and connecting with the fur
naces of the boilers which generate the
steam to move every machine in the
mill. Each boiler is furnished with a
furnace, but, excepting the auxiliary
boiler, not a pound of fuel is ever thrown
into them They are, by means of tht
causeways already mentioned, fed with
the waste, or escaping heat of those five
furnaces used for heating the iron tc
feed the rolls and hammers. If one
looks into one of those furnaces under
the boilers, as he is sure TO wish to- he
will see a glowing, seething, Kissing
roaring volume of flames which have
brought all the ironwork in sight to a
white heat, and when he understands
that this is but the exhaust from the
several furnaces he will look again ard
stand wondering until the radIatine
heat drives him to one of the nearest
water butts. with which useful articles
the mill is generously supplied.
The productions Of the rolling mill
are all kinds Of merchant bar iron in
sizes varying from one-half inch to ten
inches sectional, as well as special
shapes for special purposes, such a.
twelve channel and six channel
angle iron of various shapes for max
ing spikes, bolts, nuts, etc. The mate
rial is all cut into lengths and distri-
bUted to the numerous blacksmiths tC
be again twisted and turned and weld
ed and hammered into shapes to fit the
various places in the different depart
y ents throughout the shops. such as
forgings for car bodies. trucks and To-
ccmotives. The latter class OF forgings
being more complicated than car work
is mostly produced from iron worked
under the steam hammer.
The track department, too is supplied
with all material. except rails from
the mill, and the vast number Of spikes
and bolts aud nuts and fish plates, and
all kinds OF switch material turned out
daily would keep a dozen men busy
counting them, with fair chance o1
slippings cogs now and then.
Since the General Manager of the
Southern Pacific Company has seen iii
to have all track supplies turned out al
the Sacramento shop, instead of In the
East, the rolling mill has been kept
running to its fullest capacity day and
night.
All heavy work for river steamers Il
produced in the mill, such as shaf
cranks and connecting rods. The heay.