The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1918-03-10
LOCOMOTIVES TO WIN THE WAERBy Frank G. Carpenter

include, in short, engines of every de-
scription for use not only by ourselves
ana our allies, but for almost every
country all over the world.
In order to show you what we are
doing in building locomotives, / have
spent day in the Baldwin shops, go
going through the plants where 10000
men are employed, and talking with
the officials in charge. first visited
the shops in Philadelphia, and later
went by automobile to Eddystone, Il
miles away, where a great factory has
grown up on the banks of the Delaware
river. The shops in Philadelphia have
always been considered remarkable They
cover IS acres and that Notwithstanding
they are in the heart of the city.
II you could imagine IS acres of fac
tories at Times Square at thee corner
of Broadway and Forty-second street.
New York. you would have the location
of this locomotive factory in Philadel-
phia. When the plant was started away
back in the times when Andrew jack
son was President, 1t was a mile and
half from town and was surrounded
by forests. Now the great city has
grown UP to and swallowed it, and there
are three big high schools within
stones throw of where they are making
pats VI SlcdHl eHSlHtS.
The business has long since outgrown
Philadelphia The Eddystone plant,
which was first used for the overflow,
is now the main factory, and it will
probably take in the Philadelphia plant
at sometime in the near future. 1t lies
in the arms of three railroads, and At
lantic steamers can come to its wharves
and load locomotives for Europe. The
plant altogether covers 400 acres and
there are single shops whose ground
floor is twice as great as that of the
capitol building in Washington. The
erecting shop where the engines are
assembled has a roof of steel and glass
which would take in the state, war and
navy building, and that of the National
Library of Congress and leave room to
spare. There are also immense forging
shops and pattern making shops. There
are some yards filled with finished loco
motives, and others for experimenting
with them before they go out to the
ira cks of the United States, to the bat
tlefields of France or to the mountains
and plains of other lands over the
world. The French of late have been
having their engines carefully tested, and
to satisfy them trial track like fig
ure eight has been laid to show how
the locomotives will act upon the short
est and most intricate curves. Upon this
track they make a double loop, as 1t
were, flying around horseshoes much
smaller than is found in the railroads.
THE beginning of the locomotive is
still farther away than the Eddystone
plant. 1t starts as a low, phosphorus
pig iron, and this metal has to be run
through furnaces and transformed into
castings of the finest of steel This
work Is done in little valley in the
Allegheny mountains, not far from the
main line of the Pennsylvania railroad
from Pittsburg to Philadelphia. The
steel works are known as the Burnham
steel plant. 1t has a capital of $4,000,
600, and it pays out in wages 100000 a
week, but 1t is part of the Baldwin
locomotive works. The furnaces and
mills cover 100 acres. and it has single
machine shop which Is three-fourths of
a mile long. This plant Is one of the
largest manufacturers of railway wheels
and tires in the country The operations
are much the same as in other of our