Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1908-01-02
MANUFACTURING
BRAKE BEAMS

SEtthaAA DhlHIHHC
Monday evening the machinery was
practically all installed in one depart.
ment of the plant Of the Pennsylvania
Brake Beam company at this place
and the manufacture of brake beams
begun.
The machinery installed in the
brake beam department is specially
designed and is very ingenious, con
sisting Of four steam riveters and one
"header The function of the latter
machine, which operates under seven
ton pressure, is to force the brake
head device TO which the brake
shoe is attached-on to the ends of the
brake beam. With the assistance of
the steam riveters it facilitates the
work very much.
Up to the present the Brake Beam
company has merely assembled the
parts-the beam, brake head and other
attachments-which it has manufact
ured elsewhere. At present the COM
pany has a large stock of specially pre-
pared material on hand that was
brought here along with the equip.
ment from the plant at Easton, and
which will keep the plant running un-
til the rolling department is equip.
ped.
n 10 fn 20
brake beams. The rolling department
however, is not at all adapted to this
work and will have to be remodeled
in every detail. The furnaces stand
ing are of no use whatever and new
ones will have to be built. The open
hearth furnaces at the western end of
the mill are being torn down, as they
are in the way The other furnaces
will be left standing. The furnaces
to be built will be large enough to
heat steel rails in twenty foot lengths
The roll train will have to be torn
down and rebuilt. the housings as they
now stand being too close together to
accommodate the new rolls for the
brake beams now being turned -
Neither the couplings nor the pinions
in the train can he used with the new
rolls. Each of these will be displaced
By other of new pattern, which are
being manufactured by the Danville
Foundry and Machine company.
East of the roll train some altera.
tions will have to be made in the mil
in order to make room for the elongat.
ed bars as they leave the rolls, which
will vary in length from fifty-five feet
to seventy feet. About the only fix.
i lures OF the rolling department, which
can be use without alteration are the
one thousand horse power engine and
fifteen hundred horse power boiler,
I both Of which are in first class condi-
tion.
Wherever possible labor saving de.
vices will be employed. The iron rails
will be lifted into the furnace by
means OF specially installed crane
and the brake beam plant is laid out
in such a way that the product passe:
easily and conveniently from one de.
partment to the other.
A new switch has been constructed,
one branch of which takes the cars
right into the rolling department,
where the iron rails to be worked over
along with the fuel is unloaded con.
venient to the furnaces. The other
branch exteuds up to the rear of the
plant where the brake beam depart.
ment is loca d. This portion of the
switch wher, he finished brake beams
are loaded for hipment contains room
for fifteen cars
General Manager e. NJ Applebaugh,
who spent Christmas with his family
at Easton. returned to Danvlle Mon
day. From :now on no time will be
lost in getting the rolling department
of the plant ready for operation.