Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 August 1896 — HOW OUR WHEELS ARE MADE. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOW OUR WHEELS ARE MADE.

Kteel Tire* on Cast-Iron Bodies—Paper Wheels the Seal Thine. Much hard thinking and many costly experiments have been Indulged in in ardor to devise processes, by which to improve the quality of the wheels used nuder railroad locomotives and cars. The tread of the car wheel is that part which runs on the rail. The flange is the lip which extends beyond the tread oa the inside edge, and is the o*ly thing that keeps a car or train from running off the track. All locomotive driving wheels In America are of east iron, but the tire Is of steel, and is shrunk onto the east Iron body, and then the tread and flange turned off in a huge lathe for that especial purpose. Chilled cast Iron wheels art* so called because when

molten iron is poured into the car wheel mold the Iron which goes into the tread and flange is suddenly chilled by coming in contact with a cold, heavy, cast iron ring, which Is part of the mold. The effect of this sudden chilling to to cliange the crystalline structure of the iron so that' it becomes Intensely hard, while the balance of the iron In the wheel retains its original toughness. Paper ear wheels came into use some years ago, and now they run under nearly every sleeping, parlor and dining car in the country, and ‘thousands of passenger cars. This is thd Allen paper ear wheel, made in Pullman. The east iron hub of the paper wheel is bored to fit the car axle, and its outside surface is finished to within a thousandth part of an inch to the standard guage. The body, or center of the wheel, is made of layers of strawboard, glued together, and then put under enormous pressure in a hydraulic press. The layers of strawboard are glued together in pairs, first, and each pair is allowed to cure, or dry, for several weeks, and,thus, little by little the center of the wheel la built up. The result of the successive operations is a material which in no wise resembles paper or strawboard, but rather an extremely hard, grainless wood, so tough and hard that it requires tools made of the very best steel to work it. The paper disk is turned to the proper size, and then is forced in the steel tire under a hydraulic press. The fit is so exact that the wrought iron plate and

bolts, which are put on either side, are scarcely needed. The wrought Iron plates are simply there for protection, for the paper disk bears all the weight, which is transmitted to it through the hub.

A CAST-IRON CAR WHEEL.

A PATER CAR WHEEL.