1925-08-22 — Page 9

SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 1925.

THE CHINA MAIL.

WIZARDRY of the RAIL MILL

12

RAIL GONG PHPOUGH POLLS

Modern Progress Has Mastered the Secret of Safe Travel-Production of Rails is a Fascinating Process.

[BY MALCOLM MacDONALD.]

A giant annke, seared with the hent af the furnace and writhing forward with blazing wrath-this is the picture presented by the enlumn of metal from which modern industry produces the ateel rail of commeree.

I

the net-work of rails which bear the.; burden of railway transportation.

Thrills For The Onlooker,

For these reasons the manufacture of the rails is a brocess Alled with human interent, The modern rolling

place. The growth of the stoel fram ingot to completed rail in a series of thrille to the visitor.

To the onlooker the scene is fascinat-mills an impressive and awe-inspiring ine. The manufacture of, rails is an undertaking which reveals the triumph of man over various difficulties, shows human ingenuity at its best. the achievements thus manifested the World is indebted for the development of the railway to its present state of perfection.

To

REHEATING. BLOOM. AFTER FIRST ROLLING

carbon, asnd, rocks, phosphorus, sulphur and manganese which remain from the trip through the furnace. To accom- pish removal these properties the molten iron is bjected to a baptism of fire. This is followed by the, scienti- fie introduction of carbon, manganeso, or other substances in the exact pro- portions required for the particular kind of stool in process of production, The sunversion of iran into steel takes place in the Bessemer converter and the Open Hearth furnace.

Rail production begins in the under; ground mines which supply the ore for the creation of iron. From this starting point the raw material is transported to the blast turnace for conversion into The ra of to-day is a product of the metal billets known as pig. The rapid evolution, without which the high

furnace itself is mighty steal struc- speed of heavy trains would be im-

sure lined with fire-brick and resembling possible. Through science and inver-

a huge boiler stunding upright. In the tian the Barrow strips of steel provide

pushue through this lower the ore is wafe earrikke for

subjected to varying intensity of heat, the

IMISTISTET logomotive with its mighty burden-a

reaching a maximum of 3600 degrees weight of thousands of tons resting temperature which surpasses the The Aeree the land with the swines layman's

comprehension. demanded by the age of progress. That heat and the chemical action resulting the slender metal ribbons withstand one from a fuset mixture of ore, goka and limestone remove native impurition andi strain is one of the marvels of scient deliver the molten metal in the form which they are intended. development.

The steel rail is one of the strongest of pigs. things in the world. Nowhere else does This in but the beginning Iron is by steel carry the same stress to which

no means suited for the manufacture of this piece of metal is subjected. Is no

rails. Strength and elasticity ure lack other form, dnes public anfety depending and must be supplied. on so slight a fabric us that afforded by demands

cre

the

removal uf

Mammoth Ingots Of Steel. The steel comes forth in ingots weigh ing from 4,000 to 8,000 pounds. These ingots are short and stubby. They bear little resemblance to the steel rails for The trans- formation is worth watching.

plastic clay, pliable and easily shaped. By using the rolling pin I was able to manipulate this material at will. Some of my pies would start as chunks of clay suggesting bricks. Under the action of the roller these grew in length or they became fattened. The steel ingots are subjected to similar influence. In the rolling mill the rollers are stationary, except for the rotary motion produced by mechanical power The ingote, raised to white heat, are fed into the space between these rollern. The feeding requires the use of powerful overhead cranes which lift the heavy bulk from the "soaking pit" and set them on a rolling table which carries them to the revolving rolls.

Gradual Shaping Process, The rolling process is gradual. It is of steel may be reduced to a finished not to be expected that a great mass rail at a single step. The Arst rolls, consisting of four sets, reduce the ingot to what in known as a "bloom," perhaps

1 stages. Each groove is a trifle deeper. The life of the rail is one of constant

and slightly more refined than its pre- and continuous strain. Each rail bears? decessor. In the passage through these the weight of half the passing trai the atcel is swiftly transformed and the combined with the incessant pounding visitor finds it growing into ralla before produced by the rushing wheels. The his very eyas.

force of the pounding is tremendous. From this point the process is one of Each successive wheal brings the burdeng finishing. To aecure proper length for afresh, as all of us have noticed in the individual rail the metal is brought watching a train that thunders by into anntact with circular saws which at full speed. At the joints the force. A make short work of removing surplus greatly intensified, and the slightest longitude. The standard longth of the aging results in a mighty blow on the American rail of to-day in 33 feet. To head of the rail following the joint. Th produce this dimension due allowance withstand this destructive force the must be made for the contraction which rail must be exceedingly tough. On Comes with the cooling of the still-proper performance depends the lives mus heated meal.

travellers and the safety of property I'values in vast amounts.

Straightening Out The Kinks. Another influence of the heat pro- doces a tendency to warp. This is over come by subjecting the metal to the bunding power of a machine which leaves the mil slightly curved at the The cooling bed removes this top. artificial kink and leaves the rail almost straight. Such kinka na may remain are then eliminated by the blows of a powerful plunger, process applied to roughness are removed by chipping and the four sides as needed. Burrs and grinding, the enda are fled to perfect umoothness and the rail is ready to be drilled. The drilling produces holes at each end for the insertion of the balta

12 or 15 feet ir length and approxi- mately a foot in width and thickness From this point the metal is sent through the blooming mills, a series of rolla by which the mass is further lengthened and narrowed. The com pleted passage leaves the steel in shape which for the first time suggests the coming rail in the matter of proof railway track. portions.

Spinning roilers now carry the metal forward for the shearing process, which removes the roughness at the ends and reduces the shape to the necessary length. Then come the roughing mills, for shaping the rails into finished form. This involves passage through succes- xive grooved roilers, the deep grooves representing a steady progression to- ward the shape desired. In this process esting phases of manufacture. There is the visitor finds one of the most inter something weird in the rapid growth of the familiar shape from the rough. untermed mass of metal of the earlier

by means of which rails are joined together in the construction of a stretch The finished rail is no plaything. Thirty-three feet in length, and with a probable weight of from 90 to 100 pounds to the yard, a single rail may weigh considerably more than a thou- sand pounds. To handle this burden effectively calls for the exercise of mechanical ingenuity.

The former

method was by means of cranes with

of vital importance. These properties The chemical properties of steal are vary with the proportion of the con stituent elements, and each factor demands careful watching.

Sted

rich in carbon is apt to be brittle.f

Because of this, and other chemical problems, the metal is subjected to the closest analytical scrutiny. This take place in the production of the originali, ingot. The mill chemists make sure of version from, iron into steal. their product during the process of con reaching the rail-milis the chemistry of the steel undergoes ro transformation The finished rail has the same con stituent elements that existed in the

steel ingot. The sole changes... are

physical and these are along the lines increased density and from augmenta of increased resistance, resulting froni tion of the tensile strength through the longitudinal rolling.

Every detail of the manufacturing process is undor close supervisionis From ore to rall the changes are rigidly Inspected by men skilled in the detections of Haws and impurities. The system o inspection and control is one of the marvels of modern scientific progress, through the application of which the twentieth century American traval with a sense of security and safety

gripping claws. Today's efficiency calls for the use of electric magneta. These devices gather the rails und grip them of magnetism, a force which has greatly previously unknown. The modern steef Armly through the operation of the laws simplified many problems of industrial rail may well be regarded as one of the

To the powerful magnes a greatest achievements of industrial?

Mr. first glimpse of the process re- culled the diversions of youth. The one thing suggested was my experience with the cook's rolling pin in the creation of

burdens. This

mud pies. My material was a tough

load of several rails is a mere handful progress. excessiva

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