The car wheel; giving the results of a series of investigations

Foreword

The solid forged and rolled steel wheel, referred to in the following pages of this book, was developed and first manufactured by Mr. Charles T. Schoen, the pioneer builder of high capacity steel freight cars, and former president of the Pressed Steel Car Co.

In the exploitation of large capacity cars Mr. Schoen was confronted with the problem of getting wheels to meet the requirements. The cast iron wheels put under these ioo,ooo-lbs. capacity cars failed repeatedly and the situation became serious. For instance, one railroad, which had in service several thousand of these cars, at one time considered the expedient of marking all of them down to 8o,ooo-lbs. capacity in order to reduce the load on the wheels.

The majority of wheel failures occur on mountain roads with steep grades and sharp curves where long and heavy brake applications are necessary, and the wheel flanges are subjected to severe shocks.

Steel-tired wheels had given satisfactory service under passenger cars running over these mountain roads; but they were out of the question for freight equipment because of their prohibitive cost. The economical value of the high capacity car to the railroads having been demonstrated, the problem was to produce a wheel equal to or better than the steel-tired wheel in strength and at a cost for mileage less than that of the cast iron wheel.

Mr. Schoen began his experiments in 1898, and early in 1901 the first machinery for making these wheels was designed. The Schoen Steel Wheel Co. was organized on May ii, 1903, and the business of making solid forged and rolled steel wheels established for the first time on a commercial basis.

The enterprise has been a success from the start, fully justifying the large expenditure of money required in development work, and for the installation of the necessary machinery. At the present time the company has a plant in operation, located at Pittsburgh, Pa., capable of producing 250,000 wheels a year, and in connection with it open hearth furnaces with an annual capacity of 100,000 tons of steel for making the blooms from which the wheels are forged and rolled. The entire process from raw material to finished wheels is under the direct control and supervision of the company.

The Schoen solid forged and rolled steel wheel has proven such a pronounced success in America that it has attracted the favorable consideration of foreign railways. To supply this European and Colonial demand, The Schoen Steel Wheel Co., Limited, of Great Britain, was organized. The works are situated in Leeds, Yorkshire, and have an annual capacity of 100,000 wheels.

Schoen Steel Wheel Co.

Pittsburgh, Pa.

November, 1907