The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-04-18
CHILLED IRON WHEEL s
INTEREST MANY HERE
pronf of Superiority Over Steel Oars
Proof OF Superiority Over Steel Car
II Being Demonstrated Through
Country.

country.
Because ~ the successful fspera- TO
tion ~ local manufacturing plants
In tIrnlug Out chilled iron car wheels
and the number OF men given en-
ploymeut both ty car wheelnakers
and The railways IN this city, the ad-
dress made by +. X. Vial, chief engi-
geer Of tho Origin Wheel Company
Chicago at the last meeting of the
Richmond Railroad club IS of in
terest, The superiority Of chilled iroa
wheels over steel wheels g being de-
monstratAd satisfactorily throughout
the country and this means that local
shops turning them out viii have cali
IN the future FOR larger quantities,
gtVire more york 20 Richmond naen
aHd bringing nj re- money Ia this civ
4 summary ~ Mr. Niats address fol
lows,
Collecting an tne various items es~
'ahlished IN the previous chapters, @c
have the following advantages To THE
annual expenditures by tho railroads
Of the United States when chilled iron
wheels are used as compared with what
they would he II steel wheels were
substituted
Saving in brake shoe con
sumption -..........-...+-s = oeh. coo
Saving IN rail wear .-.,.... 2,25o eco
Saving in motiv. power on
account OF reduced train
resistance .........-...... at&es25
saving IN wheel costs ....-., Ie.T75. goo
Saving IN interest charges 1875. 600
Total Observation-Disclosures ao. s25
II has beer shown that the railroads
cannot purchase immunity from acci-
dents hy the expenditure Of tens Of
millions OF dollars annually as a prem
tuu for steel wheeis II has been
shown that there arc many fundamental
physical properties OF chilled iron
which arc favorable to wheel require
ments that cannot be duplicated by
steel There are many properties OF
steel that do not harmonic with wheel
requirements that do not exist In
chilled iron II Is therefore. inpera-
tive ,ha, the fundamental laws OF
wheel design. and the relation OF chilled
iron TO service conditions ne thorough
Us established
a vast amount OF work has been
done studying the peculiarities of steel
rails in service. and the same line Of
investigation should be made with
reference to wheels The fundamentals
Of fanae design are well established
ny the association of manufacturers of
chilled car wheels. hut are not ac-
CFnted tt tbs Ats Y. ~ NtAGutHE COM
rnittee on car wheels. and nothing is
given in It's place. The relation of the
plate OF the wheel Ia aeat stresses is
also fairly well established by the
manufacturers, but is not yet accepted
by the NJ G. r. wheel committee.
Notwithstanding the fact that nearly
nil wheels broken in service are caused
by heat stresses, no study has ever
been made by the wheel committee to
classify railway equipment with re-
spect to it's brake power, which is the
measure of heat generated in the wheel
when operating on grades, Neither do
their specifications refer IN any way
to heat stresses, which are. of greater
magnitude than those arising from any
other cause II has been necessary for
the wheel manufacturers TO establish
their own rules for wheels designed for
heavy duty, which are based on wide
observation at points OF maximum ser
vice and also on tests made at pur-
due University, showing the fnagni-
tude of heat stresses developed In
wheels of various designs under va
rious brake pressures. These rules
have proven 20 be absolutely reliable
and chilled iron wheels are now in
use under loads exceeding 100000
pounds. In fact. there is far less trou-
BILE in the use or chilled iron wheels
under maximum loads on maximum
grades when designed according to
well established rules than now &C.
ours in the lightest capacity cars using
the NJ. c. r. standards. The chilled iron
wheel is especially servieeabie In pas
senger service on account Of the COM
paratively light loads carried and the
freedom from tread failures. such as
occur In steel wheels The difaculty In
passenger service has been that only
the highest wheel manufactured of the
chilled iron variety has ever been
used. In fact. in the case of all-steel
coaches using chilled iron wheels, the
No. 625 chilled iron wheel is used, when
the steel wheels are used, however,
under the same coaches, they weigh
above 1000 pounds. Notwithstanding
the large percentage os chilled iron
wheels in passengers service 1t is only
recently that the Standardization OF de-
sign for this service has been pre-
scented to the various railroad com
panies. and It would not be at all sur
prising IL n return would he made 10
the chilled iron wheel for exclusive
passenger service.
There is no question regarding the
superiority OF chilled iron wheels FOR