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Railroad shop practice; method and tools

Frank Arthur Stanley · 1921 · Scanned text · Free in the US

72,646 words · about 5 h 5 min to read

Period artwork: Interior of the Bodleian Library, 1845
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About this book

Author
Frank Arthur Stanley
Language
English
Published
1921
Length
72,646 words · about 5 h 5 min
Sections
48 reader sections
Text
Scanned text, read from page scans by OCR; may contain errors
Rights
Public domain in the United States · PD-US by publication date

 

Contents (48)
  1. Front matter about 2 min
  2. Preface about 2 min
  3. Chapter I under 1 min
  4. Chapter II under 1 min
  5. Chapter III under 1 min
  6. Chapter IV under 1 min
  7. CHAPTER V Tools fob Crosshbads and Guides 68 under 1 min
  8. Chapter VI under 1 min
  9. Chapter VII under 1 min
  10. Chapter VIII under 1 min
  11. CHAPTER IX Paob under 1 min
  12. CHAPTER X Locomotive Frame Work 127 under 1 min
  13. Chapter XI under 1 min
  14. Chapter XII under 1 min
  15. CHAPTER XIII Machining Pipe Joints and Other Parts 180 under 1 min
  16. CHAPTER XIV Brass Tools for Locomotivb Valves and Fittings 189 under 1 min
  17. Chapter XV under 1 min
  18. Chapter XVI under 1 min
  19. CHAPTER XVII Air Pump, Hose Coupling and Miscellaneous Devices 234 under 1 min
  20. Chapter XVIII under 1 min
  21. Chapter XIX under 1 min
  22. Chapter XX under 1 min
  23. Chapter XXI under 1 min
  24. CHAPTER XXII Pagb under 1 min
  25. Chapter I The Work Of The Railroad Repair Shop about 13 min
  26. Chapter II about 11 min
  27. Chapter III Machining Pistons And Piston Rings about 10 min
  28. Chapter IV about 14 min
  29. Chapter V Tools For Crossheads And Guides about 11 min
  30. Chapter VI about 12 min
  31. Chapter VII Making Driving Boxes about 15 min
  32. II L-j about 2 min
  33. Chapter VIII about 9 min
  34. Chapter IX Eccentrics, Links And Tumbling Shafts about 6 min
  35. Chapter X Locomotive Frame Work about 5 min
  36. Chapter XI Driving Wheels And Axles about 13 min
  37. Chapter XII Wheel Shop Equipment And Methods about 24 min
  38. Chapter XIII Machining And Grinding In Pipe Joints And Other Parts about 7 min
  39. Chapter XIV about 21 min
  40. Chapter XV Some Portable Tools And Appliances about 6 min
  41. Chapter XVI Special Tools, Cutters, And Toolroom Methods about 16 min
  42. Chapter XVII Air-pump, Hose Coupling And Miscellaneous about 8 min
  43. Chapter XVIII Blacksmith Shop, Equipment And Work about 14 min
  44. Chapter XIX Boiler Shop And Flue Work about 12 min
  45. Chapter XX Tools And Methods Used On Steel-car Work about 19 min
  46. Chapter XXI about 19 min
  47. Chapter XXII about 9 min
  48. Chapter XXIII Handling Materials In The Railroad Plant about 19 min

Continue:

Front matter

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Preface

The upkeep of rolling stock in the railroad repair plants of America constitutes an industry of first importance. The hundreds of shops and round houses along the railway lines of this country employ hundreds of thousands of mechanics and the expenditure in dollars for materials and labor amounts to several hundred millions annually. Scattered about the four quarters of the United States, often in isolated localities, these shops have built up a practice in engineering and in the mechanical trades that is of inestimable value to the railway systeirts themselves and to many allied industries. Individual reliance and judgment have been developed to a marked degree among shop officials and workmen as a result of the necesssity for initiative and prompt action in situations where the time element is all important and where only too often shop equipment is inadequate for the work in hand.

Under the general conditions obtaining in such shops where usually locomotive and car parts are handled in comparatively small numbers at any given time, considerable ingenuity is required upon the part of individuals responsible for the machining and fitting up of the work passing through the different departments of the shop. While in some instances the shops are of such size as to make possible the methods of regular machine building plants, this is after all the exception to the rule; and in the main the railroad repair shop necessarily runs its work through in very small lots, often only a few parts at a time. Consequently the methods of the shops are apt to differ one from another and the special tools and devices for carrying on the work are oftentimes developed in the individual plant to suit its particular necessities.

A great deal is to be learned therefore by a study of operations in the different classes of railroad shops, large, medium and small, and it is the purpose of this volume to show typical methods and appliances as adapted to the work of various repair shops located at widely separated points about the country.

vi PREFACE

Much of the material presented in the following pages has been adapted from the author's articles in the American Machinist and other technical journals, and a limited amount of data has been included from the contributions of other writers to whom credit is given in the text. Much original matter is also here presented for the first time.

In the gathering of material for this subject every courtesy has been extended the author by the officials and shop executives of a large number of railway lines and acknowledgement is herewith made of the assistance rendered in this direction. Special thanks are due the shop staffs of the Southern Pacific, New York Central, Pennsylvania, Santa Fe, Lackawanna, New Haven, Milwaukee, Soo, Northern Pacific, Great Northern, Union Pacific, Chicago & Northwestern, Burlington, Frisco, Katy, Canadian Pacific, Oregon Short Line, and other systems.

The Author.

CJONTENTS

Pagv Prefagb V

Chapter I

Importance of the Industry — Value of Rolling Stock — Comparison of Early and Modem Locomotives — Advance in Shop Methods — Handling Engines Bodily — Locomotive Erecting Department — Overhauling Big Engines — A Typical Machine Department — Some Special Apparatus — Machine Equipment — Portable Oil Forge— Shop Trestles— Boiler Test Outfit— Wheeling a Locomotive — Wheel Revolving Outfit — Rotary Snow Plow — Rolling Doors for Roimdhouse.

Chapter II

Boring Valve Chamber — Planing Frame Seats — Planing Joint Faces of Cylinder — ^Laying Out the Work — Cylinder Detail Drawing — Another Important Machine Department — Radius Planing of Saddle — Planing Several Cylinders at One Setting — Cylinder Stud Hole Jigs — Milling Steam Ports — Portable Boring Apparatus — Bering the Work on the Lathe — Facing Operations — Portable Outfit for Milling Ports — Grinding in Cylinder Heads.

Chapter III

Assembling Piston and Rod — Machining the Piston in the Lathe — Piston Fixture on Vertical Turret Lathe — Methods of Holding Pistons — Grooving Tools and Taps— A Jig for Pistons and Follower Plates — Piston Ring Tools — Facing Large Rings on Vertical Boring Mill — Piston Rod Work — Grinding the Rods — The Use of Rolling Tools or Burnishers on Rods — Tools for Machining Packing Rings — Details of Packing Tools — Interchangeable Jigs for Drilling Packing Housing.

Chapter IV

Piston Valve Parts — Construction Details of Valve and Cage — Machining the Valve Cage — Arbor Used for Turning Cages — Milling the Ports in the Cage — Another Method of Boring and Turning Cages — Special Boring Heads — Jaws for Chucking Pistons -tA Valve Chamber Bushing Mandrel — Attachment for Milling Ports in Cages — Jigs for Steam Chest Valve Chamber and Valve

vii viii CONTENTS

Paqb — Forcing Cages into Place — Operations on Piston Valve Rings — The Cutting Ofif and Boring Tools — Boring Head and Facing Tool in Operation — Details of Tools — A Method of Removing Valve Bushings.

CHAPTER V Tools fob Crosshbads and Guides 68

Babbitting Crossheads — Details of the Fixtures — Shoe Babbitting Fixtures — Babbitting Gibs — ^Other Babbitting Fixtures — Wrist Pin Holes — Details of Locomotive Crosshead — Taper Reamer Details — Planing Crossheads — Fixtures for Planing — A Form of Planer Tool — Details of Crosshead Guides and Yoke — Shaping and Grinding Guides — Machining the Yoke in the Shaper — Aligning Guides.

Chapter VI

Side Rod Details — Drilling Main Rods — MilUng Rod Ends — Making the Channeling Cut — Operations on Brasses — Boring Brasses — Machining in the Shaper — Connecting Rod Racks — Fitting Up Brasses — Boring the Work on the Mill and in the Lathe — Milling the Sides of Rod Forgings — Slab Milling the Edges — Milling the Round End — Forcing Brasses into Place — Straightening Rods — Methods in Various Shops — Slotting Rod Ends — Fixtures for Brasses — Expanding Mandrel for Solid Brasses.

Chapter VII

A Typical Box — Machining the Box for the Brass — Planing the Brasses — Press for Forcing Brasses into Boxes — A Planing Fixture — Planing End of Box in Shaper — Boring and Facing Operations — A Guard for the Boring Machine — Tools for Boring and Finishing Comer Radius — Babbitting Operations in Other Shops — A Turning Arbor for Brasses — Pouring Side Liners — Boring the Brasses — Planing a String of Boxes — A Slotter Fixture — Driving Box Chuck Details.

Chapter VIII

Fixture for Holding Several Shoes — Method of Setting the Work — Another Planer Fixture — Planing Small Lots of Work — A Big Double Planing Fixture — Using the Shaper on Shoes and Wedges — Fixture for Large Shoes — Tools for Finishing Both Sides, of Shoes in One Operation — Details of Planer Tools — Shaper Tools with Back-stroke Release — Fixture for Milling Shoes and Wedges.

CONTENTS ix

CHAPTER IX Paob

Eccentrics, Links and Tumbling Shafts 120

Hollow Milling Tumbler Shafts — Turning Journals on the Shaft — Fixture for Machining Links — Hand Grinder for Links — Operations on Eccentrics — Reversible Drill Jig for Eccentrics — Turning and Boring Eccentrics — Making Brass Rings.

CHAPTER X Locomotive Frame Work 127

Typical Frame Construction — Details of Frame — Planing Frame Section — A Forge Shop Fixture — Handling Frames in the Forge Shop — Laying Out Bench for Frame Work — A Job of Slotting — Two Shift Levers for a Slotter — Other Shop Operations — Setting the Frames Over the Pit.

Chapter XI

Machining Driving Wheel Centers — Allowances for Putting on Tires — Turning Tires in the Lathe — Turning Treads and Flanges of Truck Wheels— Tread Forming Tools— A Built Up Tire Forming Tool — Gage for Measuring Wear of Flange and Tread — Lifting Rig for Wheel Lathe — ^Lifting Device for Tires — Tire Lifting Tongs — Heating and Removing Tires — Types of Tire Heaters — Pressures for Forcing Axles and Crank Pins into Hubs — Keyway Layout Gage — Crank Pin Turning Fixture — Fitting New Crank Pins — Finishing Crank Pin with Roller Tool.

Chapter XII

A Modem Wheel Shop — Exterior Views Showing Handling Equipment — Features of the Building — Floor Plan Showing Machine Equipment — Boring Tires and Turning Journals — Tire Turning — Boring Car Wheels — Wheel Shop Dismounting Press — Ram Head and Axle Support — Hooks for Axle Ends — Details of Hoist and Chute — Chute for Scraped Wheels — The Carrier for the Axles — Operation of Carrier — Axle Storage on Platform — Assembling and Mounting Press — Heating Tires — Data on Turning and Burnishing Tools — Details of Rollers — The Gages Used — Pressures for Mounting Car Wheels.

CHAPTER XIII Machining Pipe Joints and Other Parts 180

Ball Joint Reamers — Construction of Typical Reamer — Fixture for Grinding Spherical Reamer — Ball Reamer Operating in Dry Pipe — Ball Turning Attachment for the Lathe — Arrangement of

X CONTENTS

Pagx the Attachment — Oscillating Machine for Grinding in Pipe — Grinding Steam Pipe Joints by Hand — The Hand Plug Employed — Operations on Pipe Flanges — Throttle Work — Speed Reducer for Driving Tools.

CHAPTER XIV Brass Tools for Locomotivb Valves and Fittings 189

Work on Oil Feed Cocks — Brass Lathe Tools for Oil Feed Cocks — Chambering and Facing — Boiler Check Valves — Boring and Reaming Tools — Finishing the Pipe Connection — Ball Joint Tools — Finishing Valves and Caps — The Valve Cap Tools — Operations on Blow Off Cocks — Holding the Work — Boring and Facing Tools — Threading Dies — Box Tools for Valve Stems — Hand Tools for Finishing and Repairs — Hose nozzles — Machining the Taper Hole — Turret Lathe and Other Tools — Construction of the Box Tools — Armature Shaft Bearing — ^Lathe Tool with Combined Boring and Turning Cutters — A Shaper Tool.

Chapter XV

An Outfit for Rotating Drivers — Arrangement of Motor Drive — Boiler Washing Outfit — Handy Traveling Drill — Flue Cutter for Front End — Portable Chasing Lathe — Boiler Test Pump — Portable Rivet Heater — Details of Pump — A Portable Shear.

Chapter XVI

High Speed Steel Tools for Turning Tires — Appearance of Rightand Left-hand Tools — Cutters for MilUng the Tool to Form — Milling and Grinding the Tool — Use of Milling Cutters in Railroad Shops — Teeth of New and Old Cutters — Advantages of Coarse Teeth — Cutter Details — Recutting Mills in the Tool Room — Making a Large Slabbing Cutter — Construction of Cutter with Inserted Teeth — Reamers, Counterbores and Taps — Punch and Die Work — Punch Dies for Boiler Work — Rapid Method of Making Dies — A Set of Strainer Tools — Blanking and Forming Dies — Racks and Cabinets for Tool Storage — Storing Milling Cutters-^ Racks for Tire Gages.

CHAPTER XVII Air Pump, Hose Coupling and Miscellaneous Devices 234

Air Pump Apparatus — Adjustable Stands — Pop Valves and Other Work — Some Special Tools — Air Hose Operations — Testing Apparatus at Panama Shops — Expanding Reamers for Air Brake Apparatus — Air Brake Hose Mounting Machine — Applying Clamps and Testing Hose — Miscellaneous Tools and Devices — A Grinding Device — Chuck with Floating Jaws for Rough Bolts — Forming

CONTENTS xi

Paob Tool and Holder — Tap for Castellated Nuts — Boring Fixture for Link Hanger — Jig for Drilling Sockets — Cotter Key for Railroad Service— Spreading Tool for Main Rod Straps.

Chapter XVIII

Oil Furnace with Cooling Spray — Forge with Cooling Jet — Care of Tools — Racks for Tongs and Other Tools — Bending and Forming Machine — Sample Boards for Forgings — Dies for Draft Sill Plates — Forming Work in the Bulldozer — Dies for Push Pull Comer Plates — Dies for Draw Bar Carry Irons — Forming and Forging Tools — Forming Tools for Floor Rack Hinges — Dies for Brake Hanger Ends — Machine Forged Beading Tools — Bolt and Nut Forging Dies — Bolt Racks — Spring Operations — Furnaces for Shop Use — Tempering Baths.

Chapter XIX

Machining Flange Sheets — Use of the Oxy-acetylene Torch — Trestles and Special Supports — Portable Shop Hoist — ^Large Laying Out and Forming Plate — Guarding Punches and Shears — Air Hammer Tools for the Boiler Shop — Scarfing Tools — Chisel for Cutting Stay Bolts — Miscellaneous Tools — Tools and Methods in Flue Work — Tumbler for Tubes — Flue Swaging and Trimming — Testing Under Water Pressure — Tube Tools in Various Shops — Tube Expanders and Beading Tools — Tools for Making Flue Expanders.

Chapter XX

Bill of Material for Steel Car Plates— Types of Shears Used- Various Forms of Shear Gages — Method of Shearing Channels and Z-bars — Details of Coper Tool — Angle Shear Gage — Details of Dies — Punching Operations — Punch and Die Details — Other Operations in Connection with Car Work — Steam and Air Connections for Railroad Yard — Paint Shop Scaffold.

Chapter XXI

Oxy-aoetylene and Locomotive Repairs — Illustrations of Typical Jobs — Piston Rod Renewal Eliminated — Building Up Crosshead Fit — Building Up Links and Reverse Levers — Other Applications — Locomotive Frame Repairs — Cylinder Welding — Safety Instructions for Oxy-acetylene Apparatus — Electric Arc Welding — Welding Tubes — Operations on Valve Spools — Piston Rod, Cab Saddle and Other Work — Precautions — Miscellaneous Welding Operations on Driving Wheels, Yokes and Frames.

xii CONTENTS

CHAPTER XXII Pagb

He rap Docks at Railroad Plants — Making Scrap Material into Billets for the Rolling Mill — Reclaiming Nuts and Washers — Hharpcning Track Spikes — Straightening Oil Box Covers — Melting Liners from Shoes and Wedges — Gang Punches on Tie Plates — Operations on Car Brasses — Saving Tin in Antifriction and Bell Metals — Table of Alloy Compositions.

CHAPTER XXXIII

Hand Bars for Piling Axles — Axle Tongs — A Truck for Couplers— A Tank-supporting Truck — Truck for Draft Rigging — Spring Clamping Device — ^Ladle Truck for the Foundry — Car Used for Carrying Work Into the Soda Pit — A Crane Signal System.

Index 323

Chapter I The Work Of The Railroad Repair Shop

Strip a big, modern locomotive of its side motion and valve gear; remove driving wheels and boxes from under the frame; open up cylinders, steam chest and boiler front; remove the cab from the end and the burnished steel casing and its underlying lagging of asbestos from the entire length of the boiler. Then drop the naked boiler and its exposed frame upon 10-in. cribbing placed across the shop pit, and you have before you the skeleton of a huge machine which under the efforts of a crew of mechanics and helpers will be overhauled, repaired and refitted until it assumes once more its spectacular appearance and, restored to its full working capacity, is again ready for service on the road.

Almost anything may happen to a locomotive in use. As a matter of fact, the things that usually do happen are due to the natural wear and tear brought about by conditions of regular service. They necessitate such shop operations as re-turning or re-tiring of wheels; the refitting of boxes, side rods, pistons and so on; the replacing of, say, boiler tubes or firebox sheet, and the repairing of a multitude of details. Most of these matters are taken care of at short notice and with little loss of time, until eventually an accumulation of necessary repair items causes the engine to be sent to the shops for a real stripping down and a general overhauling from one end to the other and inside as well as out. This, as may be imagined, is quite an undertaking.

Now, this subject of upkeep of rolling stock, including both locomotives and cars, is one of wide importance and interest, not only from an engineering angle, but also because of the magnitude of the repair industry as carried on by the railroad shops of the United States. At the time of the outbreak of the World War the railroad shop repair operations as gaged by the value of the work tiu-ned out constituted an undertaking standing as seventh in our list of great manufacturing industries. Measured by the number of men employed, the industry ranked as fourth in order of importance.

Consider for a moment what is accomplished by the 1,200 or more railroad repair shops in this country, of which number over one-half are establishments of considerable size: At the time referred to they employed over a third of a million mechanics of various classes, these keeping in order some 65,000 locomotives and over 2,500,000 freight and passenger cars, the annual expenditure on the maintenance of this rolling stock approximating $400,000,000, a sum equivalent to that required for the construction of the Panama Canal. Expressed in another way, the upkeep of this equipment, as operated over the 250,000 miles of railway lines in the United States represented a rolling stock repair bill of practically $1,600 for every mile of track in the country.

The abnormal condition of the Nation's business as a whole during and since the war and the corresponding readjustment all along the line of industrial endeavor makes it impracticable to present at this time corresponding data covering accurately present-day conditions. The above statistics will, however, convey some fair idea of the importance of the railroad repair shop industry.

A modern locomotive is an expensive piece of machinery. In the more common types the original cost will average say $30,000 to $45,000 or more while the big articulated Mallet machines so generally operated over the far Western and Southwestern lines cost from $50,000 or so up to $75,000 or more. Engine crews carry a heavy burden of responsibility in the direction of holding to a minimum the wear and tear on the costly machines in their charge, but even under the best of operating conditions the annual repair account for the average locomotive is sufficiently high to astonish people not versed in the details of the upkeep of transportation equipment.

The development of the locomotive like that of other lines of mechanical equipment has led from simple, light units to larger and heavier machines until today we see an amazing departure from the almost elementary designs of 50 or 60 years ago. And correspondingly, the work of repairs on any given engine has become more complex as compared with the early simple constructions while, in addition, the gradually increasing number of locomotives and cars in service has necessitated an expansion of the facilities about the country for caring for rolling stock in general.

Note, for example, the big modern Mallet 2-8-8-2 oil-burning engine in Fig. 1 and then compare it with the "C. P. Huntington" Fig. 2, both Southern Pacific locomotives, but the latter long since retired from active duty and set aside in a conspicuous position near the Sacramento station where it forms an interesting example of loconiotive design of the ''early sixties." Or compare the '' C. P.

Huntington" with ''No. 2840,"

Fig. 3, which is one of a considerable number of heavy engines built at the Southern Pacific shops in Sacramento during the recent past. This consolidation locomotive as it appeared when ready for mounting on its wheels is shown in Fig. 4 and this excellent view in one of the biggest of our railroad shops is here supplemented by two other interior photogr^,phs. Figs. 5 and 6 representing typical erecting shop views.

In addition to the actual costs of repairs there is still another serious factor to be considered in connection with the engineoverhauling proposition and that is the attendant tying up of a valuable piece of equipment during the repair period and the consequent loss of earning power for the time the engine is in the shops. This is fully appreciated by the mechanical departments of railroad systems and it goes without saying that even under ordinary conditions of business, locomotives undergoing repairs are, on a well-organized division, hustled out of the shops with the greatest possible despatch consistent with satisfactory workmanship. The great amount of work handled also necessitates all possible despatch in getting the engines through the shops.

Fig. 2. — A locomotive of 1864.

Engineers familiar with the progress in methods of manufacture have seen such advance in machine operations and so marked a tendency toward elimination of handwork in many directions that oftentimes they look forward to a day in the future when the old handicrafts of the shop shall have disappeared

Fig. 3. — Consolidation locomotive built at Southern Pacific Shops, Sacramento, Cal.

completely. Possibly such a day and such a condition may be marked on the calendar of the years to be; but for the present moment, if anyone whose observations in this direction have been based upon experience in certain highly organized factories

FiQ. 4. — Mounting locomotive on wheels.

Fig. 6. — Engine carried bodily by crane over erecting floor.

manufacturing some small, light product will devote his attention for a brief period to the operations conducted in any typical railroad shop, he will be led to the conclusion that in these establishments at least, comparatively little diminution in various hand processes there followed is to be expected for some time to come. And this is not because there has not been marked and regular progress in the general methods of such repair shops, but because of the peculiar character of the work therein handled, which necessitates the retention of many of the fundamental processes of the metal working plant in which skill of hand and

Fig. 6. — Locomotive erecting department Southern Pacific Shops, Sacramento.

brawn of arm are quite as essential as in the day when machine tools were largely unknown.

Let the visitor pass through the machine departments of the railroad shop and he will find in many instances the specialized methods of the manufacturing plant. He will see wheels and axles dismounted, new wheels and axles machined and assembled under the time-saving system of a well-conducted factory. He will see boxes poured, bored and faced, shoes and wedges planed, and other parts which are required in quantities machined in the methodical manner that would be characteristic of any up-to-date shop manufacturing similar parts as a specialty. And he will find modern equipment in the line of wheel lathes, turret machines, boring mills, grinders, radial drills and the like.

Now let him cross over to the erecting floor and observe the character of the work to be done on the locomotives over the pits. Examine for instance, the engine shown in Fig. 7. Stripped to the very bones, obviously a tremendous amount of hand labor is required in refitting and putting the engine into working condition. To be sure, the crew of machinists, boilermakers and helpers who do this work make extensive use of pneumatic drills, air hammers, chisels and riveters, and there has been marked advance in the substitution of such tools for the

Fig. 7. — Overhauling a big engine.

simpler appliances of earlier times; but, after all, these are virtually hand tools depending for results upon the personal skill of the workmen, who must still hold the tools to the work and guide them properly for drilling and chipping cuts and for riveting blows. Moreover, many of the operations required in the overhauling process are of such nature, or are performed upon such part of the engine, as to render impossible the application of any tools other than the time-honored simple appliances swung or rotated by the human hand and arm.

And still, on the other hand, there are various important operations on engines on the floor, which are now taken care of by mechanical devices, in most cases developed by individual shops for their own use and found to be valuable time and labor savers. These appliances are usually for some special purpose only; and while facilitating greatly the accomplishment of the work for which they are constructed, they cover only a small part of the total work involved in the overhauling of a locomotive. It is in respect to these very appliances that the methods of one railroad shop often differ widely from those of another doing similar work, and frequently these special devices are a fairly accurate measure of the degree of ingenuity developed by executives and workmen in the different departments of a given plant.

Referring now briefly to typical machine departments. Figs. 8 and 9 are general views in a well-known railroad division shop, that of the Southern Pacific Company at Sparks, Nev. The department view. Fig. 8, shows in the foreground two planing operations which will be referred to in detail in another chapter. The planer at the left is illustrated in operation on a crosshead attached to its piston rod and supported on the platen of the machine by a pair of angle irons provided at the top with suitable V-seats and clamps by which the piston rod is located parallel with the platen and held securely while the guide bearing surfaces are planed out in the crosshead. The planer at the right of the aisle is shown with a pair of driver boxes in position for the planing of the bearing surfaces along their edges.

The illustration in Fig. 9 shows the arrangement of some of the medium-sized tools and the method of lighting, etc. A variety of work handled in this department is illustrated in later chapters.

SOME SPECIAL APPARATUS

A nimiber of special appliances of the kind referred to in preceding paragraphs are here illustrated as devised and used at the Sparks shops. Referring again to Fig. 7, there is of course nothing novel in the portable machine shown in the operation of reboring the steam chest for the piston-valve cage, but this view does illustrate the method of applying the boring outfit while simultaneously a multitude of other things are being done toward putting the engine into shape and getting it ready for wheeling.

At the extreme left will be noticed a portable oil forge or rivet heater. Near the middle of the boiler will be seen several lengths

B o

a of air hose which are carried across under the frame to operate pneumatic tools at the far side of the engine. The portable forge

Fig. 10. — Portable oil forg© and heater.

and rivet heater is shown clearly in Fig. 10. It is one of a number of similar pieces of heating apparatus used in various departments of the plant. It carries on a three-wheel truck a fuel oil

FiQ. 11. — Shop trestle made of old boiler tubes.

tank with a capacity of about 30 gal. and from the truck sides rise a set of standards for supporting the forge proper. The pipe connections for carrying the oil fuel to the heating chamber are shown at the top of the supply tank, and the air pipe will be seen at the right. The air connections are made by hose to any service pipe in the department.

Fig. 12. — Engine ready for wheeling.

A very dependable and convenient form of shop trestle for holding work platforms and enabling the men to stand at any desired height along the engine is illustrated in Fig. 11. The structure is of steel throughout and is in fact constructed entirely of old boiler tubes. The tube lengths for the uprights of the trestle are first swaged along one side to flatten and force the

Fig. 13. — Pumping outfit for boiler test.

tube inward for nearly one-half its diameter so that a section through the reformed tube would resemble a crescent. This treatment stiflfens the member and at the same time forms a convenient shape for the riveting on of the shorter crosswise lengths of tube which tie the uprights together in "A" form and provide steps for supporting the planks or scaffold for the workmen. Another one of these arrangements will be noticed beside the firebox of the engine in Fig. 12, the locomotive here shown being almost ready for the replacing of the driver boxes and wheels; ready for wheeling, as the shop expression goes. Immediately in front of the trestle and to the left is another handy appliance, a portable outfit for testing boilers.

Fig. 14. — Wheeling a locomotive.

This outfit is represented more clearly in Fig. 13, which shows the apparatus itself as mounted upon a small truck and also the pipe and hose connections from air and water supply and to the boiler. The piunp proper is an old air pump, the cylinder of which is bolted securely to base blocks across the truck body and to upright braces, as indicated in the photograph. The boiler ready for testing is filled with water, and steam is then turned on through the pipe connection to heat the water. Then the air pump is set in operation for pumping up the pressure in the boiler.

The photograph, Fig. 14, illustrates the wheeling of this same locomotive. In the view, the engine has been picked up bodily by the big overhead crane, the heavy slings for the purpose being hung from the two hooks of the double crane hoists and passed under front and rear ends of the locomotive, although only the sling for the rear end of the frame is visible in the photograph. The four pairs of driving wheels and axles have been rolled into position under the engine and blocked in correct position on the

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