1884 Iron and Steel Institute: Visits to Works
Note: This is a sub-section of 1884 Iron and Steel Institute
THE CREWE WORKS.
An excursion to the locomotive and steel works of the London and North-Western Railway Company at Crewe was the only event on the programme for this afternoon. At one o'clock a special train (kindly provided by the London and North-Western Railway Co.) left the Central Station, Chester, with over 300 members for the great establishment at Crewe. Arrived there, the party was received by Mr. F. W. Webb, the locomotive superintendent. After being entertained at luncheon in the drawing-office, the party was shown over the works by Mr. Webb and a large staff of assistants. The members were first conveyed by a special train from the offices to the steelworks, where they saw a Bessemer "blow" and the teeming of a ladle full of steel from the open-hearth furnaces. The Bessemer plant consists of four 5-ton Bessemer converters, and the Siemens plant of five 6-ton furnaces. The production of steel of both kinds varies from 30,000 to 35,000 tons per annum. Of this output the greater part takes the form of rails; but there is a large and increasing production of forgings and castings. In the steel-foundry the party were shown the casting of a wheel for a passenger engine, in a mould which is caused to revolve at a speed of 60 to 70 revolutions per minute, and into which the steel is poured through a central git about 4 feet high. These wheels are now very largely used for passenger engines on the London and North-Western system.
One of the departments of the Crewe Works that the party examined with much interest was that in which the chair brackets and liners for steel sleepers were being made from bars rolled from the crop ends of rails on Mr. Webb's now well-known system. In the process of manufacture, the bars, after being rolled, are cut to lengths, reheated, stamped up into the proper form for the chair brackets, and punched for riveting. The stamping and punching of a chair bracket, after the bar is drawn from the reheating furnace, only occupies about three-quarters of a minute. The sleepers are rolled in the ordinary rail-mill.
In the points and crossings shop, which was next visited, the party saw the process of putting together the different parts of the steel permanent way. This process is described in the paper to which allusion has already been made, so that we need not further refer to it here. The riveting is done by hydraulic power. A number of tools of special design were found in the points and crossings shop, including multiple planing machines for switch rails, a machine with two planing heads for planing the sides of points of any angle, and a heavy milling machine for finishing points, &c.
In the boiler-shop, which was next visited, the visitors found that the locomotive boiler shells were made entirely of steel, with copper fire-boxes and brass tubes.
In constructing the locomotive boilers, the greatest care is taken to ensure reliable plates for that purpose. Test pieces are cut from each plate, a small holes 5/8 inch diameter is punched into one of the plates, and it is widened out by taper drifts until it becomes a hole 2 inches in diameter, another being bent nearly double. These tests are made with cold pieces, and sinless the plate stands the test successfully it is rejected. A piece is also tested for tensile strength and analysed for carbon, and a complete register is kept of all the tests, and of the position which each plate occupies in every boiler. Examples of the copper rings used for making dome and other joints were shown.
The flanging shop was next visited, and two large hydraulic machines were seen at work, one stamping the low-pressure cylinder covers for Mr. Webb's compound engines, and the other bending a single-throw crank axle out of a plain round shaft, for the same class of engine.
In the erecting-shop the visitors saw the composite frames for carriages 42 feet long with radial axles being prepared.
After going over the new iron-foundry, the tender-shop, and the brass-foundry—the latter a new building, where the pots are heated entirely by gas—the party were conducted to the steel forge, containing the reversing plate-mills, Ramsbottom's duplex hammers, tyre-mills, steel-tyre forging hammers, and other plant.
A short run in the special train provided for their use next conveyed the party to the old works, where they saw a number of forgings being made in dies under the steam-hammer. Thence they passed to the wheel-shop, where, among other objects of interest, they saw Ramsbottom's original machine for cutting out the throws of cranks, Webb's quartering and portable machines for re-turning crank pins, and curvilinear slotting machine for finishing the inner side of wrought iron wheel rims. In the fitting-shop, which was next inspected, the party saw the fittings for the various standard types of engines used on the London and North-Western system. The goods engines employed are mainly six-wheel coupled engines, with wheels 5 feet diameter, and cylinders 17 inches by 24 inches; and coal-engines for coal and heavy goods traffic—a six-wheel coupled engine similar to the goods, but with a larger boiler, and wheels 4 feet 3 inches diameter, the latter engine being also arranged as a side-tank engine, with an additional pair of wheels, fitted with radial axle-box under the trailing end, to carry the hind tank and coal bunker. There is another class of goods engines for express traffic, with six coupled wheels 5 feet diameter, and a boiler the same as the coal-engine, but having cylinders 18 inches diameter by 24 inches stroke. The total number of locomotive engines in stock at the end of May 1884 was 2462.
The leading types of locomotive engines made at Crewe are the express passenger engines, having outside cylinders 16 inches diameter by 24 inches stroke, and single driving wheels 7 feet 6 inches diameter; the coupled passenger engines, having inside cylinders 17 inches diameter by 24 inches stroke, and two pairs of driving wheels 6 feet 6 inches diameter coupled; the three-cylinder compound passenger engines, with 6 feet 6 inch wheels, designed by Mr. F. W. Webb, the present locomotive superintendent, having two outside cylinders 13 inches diameter by 24 inches stroke, working on to a pair of driving wheels placed behind the fire-box, and a single large cylinder 26 inches diameter by 24 inches stroke placed between the frames, and working on to a single crank in the middle pair of wheels. One important feature of this class of engine is, that, although there are two pairs of driving wheels, coupling rods are dispensed with, the high and low pressure engines being free to work independently of each other. There are now thirty of these engines at work, and Mr. Webb informed his visitors that there was every reason to be satisfied with the results.
In the millwright's-shop the party were afforded an opportunity of examining one of Trevithick's early high-pressure engines, which Mr. Webb rescued from a scrap heap in 1883, and, by supplying only a few rods and bolts, was able to re-erect in the Crewe Works. The engine has a cast iron boiler, and a wrought iron return flue, and was intended to be worked at a pressure of 90 lbs. per square inch. The cylinder is vertical, and is cast in one piece with the back end of the boiler.
The inspection of the Crewe Works - which occupied nearly three hours, in spite of the aid to locomotion supplied by a special train, and the clockwork precision with which Mr. Webb showed his visitors from one department to another - was brought to an end by a visit to the chain-testing shop, a new building specially erected and fitted for that purpose. The modus operandi adopted here is first to anneal the chain by passing it through the fire, and then lay it in a trough in the floor, which is provided with covers to avoid injury being caused by the flying of a fractured link. One end of the chain under test, when thus laid in the trough, is connected to a lever testing machine, for indicating the strain applied, while the other end has a pull exerted upon it by hydraulic power until the desired test strain is obtained.
In the course of some remarks made by Mr. Webb at the luncheon, he stated the following interesting facts relative to the progress of the London and North-Western Railway Company:— "During the last decade our mileage has increased some 8,000,000 of miles per annum. Our mileage to-day is over 48,000,000 of miles. Going into days, hours, and minutes, that means 131,520 miles a day, 5480 miles per hour, 91 miles per minute, and 1.5 mile every second of time. This, gentlemen, will represent a journey round the world about every four hours; and I am glad to say that our machinery is so perfect that we can go round the world an average of three times without losing either a split pin or a cotter. To show you what this mileage means in wear and tear, I may state that we have at the present time 6395 men employed in these works, 8776 at the out-stations, and 605 in the signal department—or a total of 15,776 in the mechanical department of the railway. Our engine stock to-day is 2462, our waggon stock nearly 50,000, and our carriage stock 6000. To show you the progress of the railway during the last twenty years, I have had taken out, as a sample, the weight of the limited mail train. In 1864 the total weight of the carriages was 54 tons 19 cwts., the average weight of each carriage being 6 tons 17 cwts. In 1874 the total weight was 75 tons 3 cwts., and the carriages averaged 9 tons 8 cwts. In 1884 the trains weighed 165 tons 4 cwts., and the carriages averaged 12 tons 14 cwts. each. The problem I have had to solve has been rather a difficult one. It was how to move this weight of train. (which is constantly increasing) without having two engines, or without making an engine so cumbersome as to destroy the road. We have endeavoured, since the meeting of the Institute five years ago, to solve that problem by compounding our engines, and thus economising our fuel and our water. It has been stated outside by people who know nothing about it that I am nursing' these engines. I have nursed them to such an extent that I have had nearly 1,000,000 of miles out of them,—the first compound engine, 'Experiment,' turned out two years and a half ago, being responsible for 150,000 miles in that time. When you were here the last time, I had the pleasure of showing you a small sample of steel permanent way. Since that time we have further experimented, and we have got at the present time about 15 miles down on the main line. I hope to be able to show you to-day that this is not a very difficult thing to make; and I trust, for the sake of the steelworks in this country, that our railway directors will be prepared to give the thing a fair trial—either the system we have here or some better one. As another item which may interest the members of the Institute—seeing that at present all our steelmaking and heating furnaces are on the gas principle—I have had taken out the consumption of fuel in all the furnaces throughout the works. Last year we dealt with 53,844 tons of material, and that in some instances passed through the furnaces twice, and sometimes three times. Taking it in that way, it represents 81,685 tons of material passed once through the furnaces. The total quantity of coal and slack used for the gas furnaces was 37,067 tons, or 9 cwts. 8 lbs. per ton of iron and steel dealt with. The result of our working on the gas principle is that we are enabled to live in comparative comfort in the town. You will observe that although the works are in full working order, the town is almost smokeless. The flowering plant which you see on the table has been placed there, not so much to show what can be grown at Crewe, as to show what can be grown alongside of steelworks where the furnaces are on the gas principle. It will bear touching without dirtying your hand."
THE MARSTON SALTWORKS.
The rock-salt mine at Marston is 110 yards deep, and has two shafts, sunk within a few feet of each other, but both so narrow that only three or four members of the party could be let down at one time. The upper saltwork is 13 yards in thickness, and the lower 23 yards. A description of the mines and works of Messrs. Verdin & Sons published in Engineering is so succinct and complete that we cannot do better than reproduce it here:— "The opening to the mine is bell-shaped, and the underground workings are very extensive, the rock salt being excavated to a height of 26 feet. The air is unusually pure for a mine, being, in fact, to all appearance, as good as that on the surface; this is to be accounted for by the loftiness of the workings. The exhaust air from the engines used in cutting the rock salt assists the ventilation, but we understand there are no other means of creating an artificial circulation.
"The area already excavated is about 11 acres, and the roof of this large surface is supported by pillars of rock salt of exceptionally massive proportions, being 10 yards square, in place of the ordinary 8 yards; they are placed 23 yards apart. This is a wise provision; and no doubt some of the extraordinary subsidence to be seen in the neighbourhood would not have occurred if better supports had been left in old times.
"The engine which is used for compressing air for the rock-salt cutting machines is situated in a building on the surface, near the pit mouth. It has a single cylinder 30 inches in diameter, and was made especially for the work by Messrs.Walker Brothers of Wigan. It compresses the air to 70 lbs. to the square inch, and this is taken below through pipes suited to the formation of the tubes. The cutting machines are of much the same type as that used in coal-mines, the cutting wheel, which works horizontally, being of steel. The operation of getting out the rock salt commences at the top, the upper part, which is the most troublesome, being got out by the air engine and by hand, and also by blasting with powder; this is for a depth of 6 feet. The remaining and lower part is blasted down as required, and as orders for the particular description of rock salt of which it is composed are received. The shot-holes are made by hand, and a straw filled with powder is used as a fuse. There is practically no danger in this work, as the salt does not fly, and there is no fire-damp in the mine. A series of tramways are laid down, on which run small trucks carrying loose tubs, which are taken up the shaft. The hauling is done by ponies.
"The illumination of the mine is by candles. Gas, the electric light, and paraffin lamps have all been tried, but on the whole candles are found to be the most convenient. The winding engines are of the ordinary horizontal type, working a drum with a round rope.
"At the pit mouth a branch canal runs between the two shafts, and a railway runs close by, so that the rock salt can be tipped direct into barges or railway waggons as required. By water transit, communication is obtained with the Trent and Mersey and the Bridgewater canals, and also with the Weaver Navigation, by the Anderton Lift. . . .
"The rock salt is sometimes sent away in the lump just as it is. brought from the mine, a great quantity in this state being shipped to Australia, America, Russia, and other countries as cattle salt. For other purposes, such as those of copper-works and alkali-works, or agricultural purposes, it has to be crushed and ground. This is done at the pit mouth, where there is a mill of special construction, not unlike a large bone-mill, and which is driven by a powerful pair of horizontal engines. There are first two sets of toothed rollers, which break the large lumps up into smaller pieces, and below these are smooth horizontal rollers. The powdered salt is then taken by a small bucket ladder, and is passed over either blanks or screens of the degree of fineness required. A good deal of rock salt is used for making salt cake by the Hargreaves process, to which purpose only the finest quality can be applied.
"On these works there are also extensive shops used for making and maintaining the plant required by the firm. There is a sawmill, driven by a 12-horse power Roby engine, and waggon-shops for the erection and repair of Messrs. Verdin's somewhat extensive rolling stock - they having between six and seven hundred waggons in regular use. In the maintenance of the evaporating pans on the saltworks, large quantities of plates are used. The old plates and other scrap are forged into blooms on the works, which are rolled again into plates at a neighbouring mill. The exhaust steam from the hammers is used for drying trucks in the painting shops, or for drying timber. This is a point requiring a good deal of care in rolling stock used for salt, as owing to its action, timber remains saturated with moisture in a very troublesome manner. There is also a smith's shop, with several fires, together with machine-shops containing lathes, drilling machines, and the ordinary machine tools, including hydraulic presses for the removal of wheels from waggon axles. The salt carts are hauled up inclined planes by steam power, and a locomotive is used for haulage of the railway waggons.
"At the Marston Works there are also brine springs close to the mine. This is a combination seldom met with, as it is usually difficult to gain the rock salt where there is brine.
"At the Adelaide Works are manufactured chemical and fishery salts, for which purpose the nature of the brine is particularly well adapted; and in their neighbourhood are some other works lately owned by the Victoria Salt Company, Limited. It is said that over £90,000 has been spent upon them by the original proprietors. They have recently become the property of Messrs. Verdin & Son, and are now part of their extensive business. They are very similar to the Adelaide Works, but not so large." The visitors to the Marston Mine, after reaching the bottom of the shaft, saw a sight that must long live in their memories. The Messrs. Verdin had illuminated the whole area of the mine - extending to over twenty acres - with about 10,000 candles, some of which were worked into such devices as "Welcome," "Prosperity to the Iron and Steel Institute," &c. The burning of coloured light was also called in to add to the unique effect; while a number of "blasts" were made to show how the salt is got. The visitors were most hospitably entertained, and the proposal for a hearty vote of thanks to Messrs. Verdin — made by Mr. W. Whitwell — was received with unusual heartiness.
THE RIVER WEAVER WORKS.
The party that selected the trip on the River Weaver were received at Northwich Station by Mr. Lionel B. Wells, engineer to the Navigation Trustees, who showed and described the river and canal hydraulic boat lift at Anderton, whereby boats are enabled to pass from the river to the Trent and Mersey Canal, and vice versa, and the large lock at Dutton, which is equal to passing one steam barge and three flats in tow (all loaded with salt, to the extent of quite 1000 tons) in one lockage.
By the Anderton lift, which is about one and a half miles from Northwich, vessels avoid the transhipment of goods at that place, or the delay, and inconvenience of going via Runcorn, where there is a number of locks. The canal at Anderton is 50 feet 4 inches above the river. The works consist of a basin opening into the canal, from which a wrought iron aqueduct leads the water to a lift-pit, which is connected with the river Weaver by a side channel. The lift is double, so that one barge or two canal boats can be passed each way at one operation. This not only saves time, but the weight of the descending load is nearly sufficient to elevate the ascending load.
Each lift consists of a trough constructed of wrought. iron, the sides forming girders. At each end of the troughs and at the ends of the aqueduct are lifting gates or doors, which are all closed when the lift is in motion. The caissons or troughs are each 75 feet long by 15 feet wide, and capable of holding one barge or two canal boats. The depth of water in them when ascending is 4 feet 6 inches; when descending, 5 feet; weight of caisson and load, 240 tons.
Self-acting syphons abstract the 6 inches of water as the caisson rises. It takes three and a half minutes to lift the caissons the total height of 50 feet 4 inches. The rams are 60 feet long by 3 feet diameter; pressure 530 lbs. per square inch. The diameter of pipes between the main presses is 5 incises, thence to accumulator 4 inches, waste pipes 2 inches. The accumulator has a stroke of 13 feet 6 inches, and the diameter of ram is 1 foot 9 inches. The work was let and put in hand when iron was about at its highest price, and the cost, inclusive of basin, aqueduct, &c., was £48,428.
The large lock at Dutton is 220 feet long, 40 feet wide, and has 15 feet of water on the sills. It can pass one steam barge and three flats in tow (all loaded with salt, in all about 1000 tons) in one lockage. The gates are opened and shut by hydraulic power obtained from turbines, and the water, if desired, can, by a sluice arrangement, be run from the full lock into the empty one till both attain the same level, thus saving about one-third of the water. The locks have gates also in the centre, so that they can be worked at half the length if desired. On an average it takes about eight minutes to pass vessels through the large lock. Three hundred and forty tons of salt can LOW be taken on one vessel on the River Weaver. Seven years ago, 7 feet 10 inches was the ordinary depth, but it is now 9 feet 6 incises. The width of the river varies from 70 feet to 110 feet, and about 400 steamers and floats pass down the river laden for a fair week's register of six days, there being no traffic on Sundays.
On the evening of this day, the members were entertained at a conversazione in the Town Hall by the Chester Natural Science Society.
See Also
Sources of Information