is provided for operating the head, and feeds the tool to such work which is too cumbersome to be fed to the tool. The head is also arranged so that it can be clamped rigidly in any position, and on work not needing an extended reach, the cutting bar can be brought back close to the column, thus making the machine very rigid. When the cutting car is close to the column and the table is brought forward to its limit, the outside of work of large diameters can be machined. A quick traverse gear is provided for moving the head and compound table in all directions by power; the value of this as a time and labor saver is of importance in setting work to a line, or to a surface already machined. A pointer or tool can be placed in the tool post and the machine proper can be thrown out of gear, leaving the cutting bar stationary. The quick traverse gear can then be thrown in and the work can be set by moving the work or the tool forward and backward by power. This feature is also of use in setting the tool in position for another cut; thus, when one cut is finished, power is applied in bringing the tool to its first position, ready to start the new cut. This can be done while the machine is in motion or at rest, as desired. The quick return in this machine is accomplished by the main driving gear moving in a path eccentric to the crank shaft and connected thereto by means of a link. The quick movement begins just before the tool gets to the bottom of the stroke. This assures a constant cutting speed and moves under the bottom center at a high speed, making an accelerated up stroke; the quick part of the stroke, however, is at a point when there is but slight movement to the cutting bar. This affords a saving in power and in wear and tear on the machine. There is a safety device provided for the quick traverse gear and intermittent feed. This is arranged so that should the head or table receive undue strain, it would be thrown out of gear, and thus prevent the machine from being injured. A stroke indicator is provided which indicates the amount of stroke the machine is set to, and a hand wheel controller is also provided for arresting the motion of the machine after the power has been thrown off. The tool post is fitted in a relief apron which facilitates the changing of tools, and the table, which is 34 in. in diameter, is graduated in degrees, so that it can be readily set to any desired angle. The cutter bar has a wide range of adjustment, and in many instances work can be done which requires double the rated stroke of the machine. Six changes of speed are obtainable by means of the three step cone pulley and the back gears. When the machine is fitted with a constant speed motor the speed changes are obtained by means of a speed box. The principal dimensions of this machine are as follows: Length of stroke, 15½ in.; longitudinal movement of table, 36 in.; transverse movement of table, 30 in.; movement of head, 21 in.; distance from the table to the ram when in highest position, 24 in.; distance from the table to the ram when in lowest position, 1½ in. This machine will cut to the center of a 72-in. circle and will cut to the outside of a 90-in. circle; and its net weight is between five and six tons. A machine of this type is in use in the Renovo shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad, where it is giving satisfaction.
Fig. 3.—Dill Traveling Head Slotter.
(To be continued.)
The baggage-smasher has been thought to be an exclusively American species; but he seems to have relatives in Prussia, of all countries in the world, and has led the Minister of Public Works to interfere with his activity by a circular in which he says that he sometimes smashes so effectively that the railroad management is called upon to pay damages. The smashing, he says, is attributable to lack of skill as often as to carelessness and negligence; hence the men must be instructed how to perform their duties, and emphasis must be placed on the regulation, long standing, that pieces of baggage must be lifted, carried, or wheeled, and never slid or thrown.
Charles Minot’s Rules.
BY G. F. R.
The train rules of the New York & Erie Railroad, issued on March 6th, 1854, may perhaps be of interest to the younger generation of the readers of the Railroad Gazette. They will be struck by the similarity between them and what many of us have come to regard as the outgrowth of the superior wisdom of our own time. For example:
Rule 1: “Each person in the employ of the Company is to devote himself exclusively to its service, attending during the prescribed hours of the day or night, and residing wherever he may be required.”
Rule 4: “Unless appointed so to do, he is not on any occasion, or under any pretence whatever, to receive money from any person on the Company’s account.”
Rule 5: “No one, whatever may be his rank, will be allowed to absent himself from his duty, without the permission of the head of the Department in which he may be employed.”
Similar rules, in substantially the same words, will be found on many roads to-day. Next follows a rule regarding deportment of employees and their treatment of the company’s patrons. After this comes the well-known rule, still in use, directing employees when in doubt to take the safe course; another enjoining care in the use of the company’s property, etc., all of which have a very familiar sound.
On signals, the rules prescribe the same use of red and green, and torpedoes, that is so familiar to-day. This is also true of the whistle signals, even to four blasts to call in the flagman; five blasts, however, was the signal for “wooding up” in those days; and red flags and lights were carried on the front of the engine instead of green, to denote a following section. [This practice may be found to-day.—Editor].
Many of the rules will compare favorably with the modern rules of the American Railway Association. There is one prescribing the manner in which detached portions of a train must be handled in case of breaking in two; another depriving a train of all rights when twenty-four hours or more behind time; another prescribing the method of moving a train which has been held by another between telegraph stations; another explaining that full-face figures on time tables indicate meeting or passing points.
Section 4 relates to the duties of conductors. One of these rules sounds a little peculiar at this date:
“When there are any horses on a train, unless the owner has sent a person in charge of them, he will see that they are carefully watered and moderately fed on the road, and such expense shall be paid him by the Agent at the end of his stage.”
A rule to-day requiring the conductor to furnish any part of the capital necessary to the conduct of the business of a railroad would probably precipitate a visit from the Grievance Committee.
The fifth section relates to the duties of enginemen. Care is enjoined in starting and in stopping; or, as it is termed in the somewhat quaint language of the time, “bringing up the train.” There is one rule, however, which we may well suppose was not in all cases strictly adhered to. It reads:
“The trainmen are required to stop the train when occasion requires without allowing it to press upon the tender; and the engineer is required to stop the engine and tender without allowing them to draw upon the train.”
Certainly a very nice operation, and an ideal manner of handling a train.
The sixth and seventh sections relate to
