The Wonder Book Of Knowledge Part 66

After the drawing operations have been completed, the case is trimmed; the side arms, front end supports, radius rod support, are riveted and brazed to it, making a case as strong and solid, and yet as light, as it is possible to make.

[Ill.u.s.tration: a.s.sEMBLING INDUSTRIAL MOTION PICTURE FILMS]

Near these crank case presses are located several hundred punch and drawing presses of various sizes. These presses blank out and draw from sheet steel of special a.n.a.lysis, a large number of parts (which in ordinary practice are made from castings or forgings), carrying the same strength, but also very much lighter in weight.

The interesting feature of this department is the arrangement of the presses, which enables all finished parts, as well as the sc.r.a.p steel, to be deposited upon a traveling belt conveyor, at the end of which are stationed men who sort the various parts, and place them in proper receptacles. By this arrangement it is possible to place the presses closer together than could be done if it were necessary to leave aisles large enough for trucking the material to and from the presses, effecting a great saving in floor s.p.a.ce.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A THOUSAND a.s.sEMBLED CHa.s.sIS

At last accounts the production was 2,768 cars in a single day.]

The pictures with which this story is ill.u.s.trated were all made by the photographic department of the company, and are but a few of the thousands on file, portraying details of every operation in the manufacture of a car. The department is completely equipped to take and produce motion picture films of the highest quality.

The growth of this department, in its own peculiar field, has kept pace with the growth of the company as an industrial factor. But a few years ago, this department was an incident only. The quarters were small, the staff was composed of two men, and the entire work was confined to making photographs of the cars and parts for advertising literature.

A modern studio is now maintained on the fourth floor of the factory--the staff of skilled operators numbering twenty.

The moving picture portion of the company's work is, in volume, the largest conducted by any industrial concern. As a matter of interest, it is estimated that the operations of this department in the "movie" field are equal in magnitude to the efforts of many of the better known film-producing studios which specialize in such work. And, large as the scope of operations already is, it is still growing, in response to an increasing demand for pictures of the factory as well as of events of general interest.

The expression "The tune that the old cow died of" has been used to express the giving of advice instead of material help, because of an old song which told of a man who had nothing to feed his cow upon and so played her this tune: "Consider, good cow, consider. This isn't the time for gra.s.s to grow."

How do Big Buildings Get their Granite?

Stones suitable for important building purposes are usually found at a good distance below the surface. In the case of unstratified rocks, such as granite, the stone is most frequently detached from the ma.s.s by blasting, a process by which much valuable stone is wasted, and a different method is employed whenever it is found possible. In the case of stratified rocks, blocks are separated by hand tools alone. Small holes a few inches apart are cut along a certain length of rock, into which steel wedges are inserted. These are driven in by heavy hammers until the stratum is cut through. The large blocks necessary for monumental purposes are generally obtained in this way, and before they leave the quarry they are usually reduced as nearly as possible to a rectangular form.

Granite is a fire-formed rock which has been exposed to great heat and pressure deep down in the earth. It is one of the most abundant of that species of rocks seen at or near the surface of the earth, and was formerly considered as the foundation rock of the globe, or that upon which all sedimentary rocks repose. Granite supplies the most durable materials for building, as many of the ancient Egyptian monuments testify. It varies a great deal in hardness as well as in color and for that reason must be selected with care when desired for building purposes.

Granite abounds in crystallized earthy materials, and these occur for the most part in veins traversing the ma.s.s of the rock. Of these minerals, beryl, garnet and tourmaline are the most abundant. The decomposed felspar of some varieties of granite yields the kaolin used in porcelain manufacture. Granite is not rich in mineral ores.

It is abundant in America and is largely quarried in the United States for building purposes, especially in New England. The best known quarries are those of New England. There is a great deal of granite found in South Carolina and Georgia, but much of this, as well as that of some parts of California, is in a singular state of decomposition, in many places being easily penetrated by a pick. Granite quarried anywhere in which felspar predominates is not well adapted for buildings, as it cracks and crumbles down in a few years.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GRANITE QUARRY

A large quarry near Barre, Vermont. The rock occurs in what is known as "sheet formation."]

Railroad Scenes from Shop and Road

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY'S "BROADWAY LIMITED," A TWENTY-HOUR TRAIN BETWEEN NEW YORK AND CHICAGO[60]]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ALL-STEEL Pa.s.sENGER TRAIN, DRAWN BY ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE, AS USED IN THE NEW YORK TUNNELS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD[60]]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ELECTRIC TRAIN ON THE MAIN LINE OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD[61]]

[Ill.u.s.tration: LOCOMOTIVE EQUIPPED WITH FIRE-FIGHTING APPARATUS[61]]

[Ill.u.s.tration: TRAIN OF 120 LOADED COAL CARS DRAWN BY A SINGLE LOCOMOTIVE[62]]

[Ill.u.s.tration: EXPRESS TRAIN READY TO LEAVE THE BROAD STREET STATION OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD AT PHILADELPHIA[62]]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Railroad Co._

ABOARD THE "BROADWAY LIMITED"

The observation car is provided with book-cases, a writing desk and stenographer.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A STRING OF ALL-STEEL FREIGHT CARS JUST TURNED OUT OF THE SHOPS[63]]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ELECTRIC BAGGAGE TRUCK HAULING TRAILERS[63]]

[Ill.u.s.tration: BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE PENNSYLVANIA STATION, NEW YORK CITY[64]]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE "UNION STATION" AT WAs.h.i.+NGTON, D. C.[64]]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FREIGHT TRAIN, EASTBOUND, ON THE HORSESHOE CURVE[65]]

[Ill.u.s.tration: OVEN FOR DRYING PAINT ON Pa.s.sENGER CARS AT THE ALTOONA, PA., SHOPS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY[66]]

[Ill.u.s.tration: LOCOMOTIVE BUILDING

View in the erecting shop where the locomotives are a.s.sembled. The traveling crane in the foreground is capable of transporting a locomotive to any part of the shop.

_Courtesy of the Baldwin Locomotive Works._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: MODERN LOCOMOTIVES

The upper view shows a pa.s.senger locomotive used on the fastest heavy express trains. It weighs 272,000 pounds, with tender 70 feet long, and has a draw-bar pull of 30,700 pounds. The lower view shows a Mallet Articulated Type freight locomotive, one of the largest ever built. It consists of two units, linked together to give flexibility to the wheel base. The locomotive is 108 feet 10 inches long, weighs 700,000 pounds, and has a draw-bar pull of 96,000 pounds. Oil is used for fuel.

_Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Baldwin Locomotive Works._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: TYPE FREIGHT LOCOMOTIVE--THE DELAWARE & HUDSON CO.

Built by American Locomotive Company.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FOUNDRY

Schenectady, N. Y., Works, American Locomotive Company]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PACIFIC TYPE Pa.s.sENGER LOCOMOTIVE--NEW YORK CENTRAL R. R.

Built by American Locomotive Company.]