Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 163, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 July 1913 — OLD RAILS ARE HADE OVER [ARTICLE]

OLD RAILS ARE HADE OVER

Railroad Utilizes Them In Various Ways—Some Are Used For Mile Posts. , 9 In order to economically utilize worn out rails, the Atchison, Topeka ft Santa Fe Railroad is operating a rail mill at Newton, Kas., says the Iron Trade Review. All the worn or defective rails which have been replaced on any of the Santa Fe Unas are assembled at Newton and an average of five hundred rails a day is received. They are slid on skids from the cars to the platform, where they, are transferred by a system of greased rollers to any desired point in tbe shop. Ralls placed on tbe main line, which are to be subsequently used for sidetracks,, are worked over, straightened, sawed to the required lengths and drilled for new bolts. SuCh rails as cannot be used for sidetracks are - sometimes still good, enough to be worked over for bridge guard rails. When they can be put to no better use the rails are cut up and pointed for mile posts, for which service they are well adapted. The damaged portions which have been sawed off are sold as scrap. Friction saws are used for all cutting operations. At tbe present time about one hundred frogs a month are also being, turned out and all the frog damps used on the Santa Fe system now come from the Newton Bhop. The work of making and repairing frogs and Clamps effects a big saving in the course of a year, and so creditable has been the showing in this direction that the work of the plant is to-be extended so that all the switch points and switch guard rails used on the entire system will phortly be the product of the Newton rail mill. To this end considerable new machinery has been purchased, which will be housed in a commodious new building now being erected.