Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1899-08-07
1T is A NOVEL SAW.
Made of Soft Steel, Without
Teeth. II Cuts Railroad
Iron.
A Description of How Steel Rails
Are Made New Again at
Las VEGAS.

| as. IL 10 ONucL ny tuC oduto IC iolt-
road company and is briltup freight
car, so that it may be operated one day
in Chicago and few days thereafter
in this city or in San Frsncisco-when
the road gets to the latter place.
The rail saw is really no saw at all.
It is disc of soft steel, probably two
feet or more in diameter, revolving at
tremendous speed. 1t has no teeth.
Friction instead of teeth cuts the harder
steel in the rails as cleverly as though
the latter were bars of molasses candy.
The operation is accompanied by the
regulation "whir," revolving into a
crescendo that makes one feel as though
the operation were being done on his
teeth instead of on the railroad iron.
The operation issimple enough. The
boiler, engine and saw stand on a side
track in the yards. A car loaded with
old railroad iron is pushed alongside
and the rails are hoisted one by one on
a set of pulleys and fed into thes
Although the sun is shining bright and
clear, the sparks of iron from the rail
glow hot and red. A stream of water
is kept running continually on the saw,
otherwise the heat produced would
burn the saw up In very short order.
The man who feeds the saw does the
work mechanically. His hat is pulled
down over his eyes and ears and he has
the collar of his blouse buttoned up
close around his neck as though the
4 weather were cold. AS a further pro-
lection he wears a generously large
pair of goggles and keeps his ears
stuffed with cotton. He wears a pair
of gloves in the bargain.
AS he stands at the front of the saw,
the sparks seem to radiate from him
instead of the dull looking iron. He is.
apparently, modern Mephistophales.
The rails are thirty feet in length,
but piece foot long Is taken off of
each end, reducing the length to twen-
ty-eight feet. After this, they are car
ried to one side where the customary
holes for the bolts are bored by huge
machine. Then the rail is thrown off
the car and slides along framework,
where each one is inspected, the rough
ends filed down and the accepted ones
finally loaded on cars waiting on a side
track.
All along the line of road from La
Junta westward, there are thousands of
old rails lying They were replaced not
long since by heavier iron. Large en-
gines and heavy traius made ninety
pound rails necessary and the sixty
pound rails have been discarded These
/ are now being loaded on fat cars and
taken to the rail saw operated here.
The ends are flattened or split in many
instances and the saw renews the life
of the rail in this regard. Finally they
are used in switches and sidetracks
and places where traffic is light, being
InaIled to the lies in opposite order to
i which they originally were placed. To
all intents and purposes the rail is a
new one. IA t@t
Great is economy. The individual
who imaglnes that great concern like
the Santa Fe railroad company does not
take measures to save the proverbial
penny is woefully mistaken The dis
carded ends of the steel rails pay for all
the expenses of the rail saw.
The rail saw was first used at New
ton, Kap., and was then brought here
1t was operated for several months in
the early part of the season but was
| lshut down when the orderf for retrench.
ment came in the month of May.
8 During its idleness, car load after car
load of old rails was unloaded at the
rail saw and piled up. Car load after
car load is being taken there now, SO
that the saw is kept busy and, the piled.
Gp rails have not been touched upon
From 500 TO 400 rails per day are run
Through the process of rejuvehation.
The rail saw has found the secret that
: Ponce de Leon sought for in vain
Sixty rails are loaded on each fiat car,
The best time that has been made by
the saw happened few days ago when
forty-one rails were sawed in forty
minutes. Remember that two cuts are
: made on each rail
Twenty-one hands are employed al
1.-THE rail saw in various capacities
making a pay roll of about 81 500 q
: month. .-s -. =.