# The Miracle of a Locomotive



## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Awesome!! No other word for it!! Those men were *machinists!!! 
The Miracle of a Locomotive (Associated Screen News, 1928)

*


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Awesome film Dwight. I grew-up in the forging industry so I'm very familiar with the blacksmith drop hammers used to form those rods. My grandfather would take me in hand when we would walk down the line on those big drop hammers working in his shop in Los Angeles. California Well Tool and Machine Works from 1901 to 1955 when it became California Drop Forge Company(name change only-family still owned it). The company is still there to this day-same location for 110 years! The steam, smell of the oil AND the noise of these beasts was an incredible sight for a kid of four or five. Definitely another time. Glad I was alive to see it in person! Thanks for sharing this.


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

It's a reminder that the USA and Canada may have been the most technologically advanced nations on earth as far as locomotive contruction was concerned. Consider that when other nations were building their loco frames out of plate and rivets, that the USA and Canada were CASTING steel frames complete with saddles for locos up to and including 4-10-2... 

Needless to say, it can't be done nowadays, so next time you look at a big ALCO, Baldwin or MLW loco, remember that you are looking at the locomotive equivalent of the Great Pyramids. 

tac 
www.ovgrs.org 
Supporter of the Cape Meares Lighthouse Restoration Fund


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Dwight
Amazing... here is a relative link:

Rivets, Steam and Sweat 


Quote from article: "For instance, Atkins says a standard 2-6-4 passenger engine built in 1934 required 27,000 distinct components, including 12,000 rivets, 3,500 bolts and setscrews, 3,350 nuts and 1,475 split pins. As a result of all those improvements, production climbed steadily from 517 locomotives in 1880 to 946 in 1890 to 1,217 in 1900. By 1906, new locomotives rolled out of Baldwin’s erecting shop at the rate of one every 3 hours, 24 hours a day."


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## R Snyder (May 12, 2009)

Wow! And I'm trying to figure out if I can make a little one. I know you have, Dwight. I hope I can see it sometime.


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Excellent article Charles... thanks!


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## Madstang (Jan 4, 2008)

Great Video Dwight..made me realize just what it takes to bring one of these behemoths to life!

Bubba


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## livesteam53 (Jan 4, 2008)

That is some great stuff. Thanks for posting..


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

One thing that struck me was early on in the video where the men are sanding the wooden pattern for the cylinder/saddle. To think that it would then have to be cast, bored, milled, etc. just blows me away considering the size of the part and the fact that all this was done manually (no CNC) by highly skilled professionals of the era.


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

When my Dad and Grandfather owned California drop Forge in L.A. , they would take me across the street to an old brick building that was their pattern shop. This was just after WWII ended and I can still smell the wood dust and shellac, as the pattern makers were building their patterns for the molds for models of the parts they were going to forge. The patterns were for tracing models for the hydrotel mills, to make the dies for the hammers. And when I finally retired in 2003, I was using MasterCAM and CNC mills to machine the dies, completely eliminating pattern makers and an entire industry. I guess this is progress!?? I don't know. Frankly, I miss the old days. BTW, I ran a very large planer, exactly the one in the video that was planing the frame pieces. I ran it in the very early sixties.


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## iceclimber (Aug 8, 2010)

Dwight, thanks so much for posting that. I love watching old films like that. Did you ever see the one that is shown at the Altoona Railroader's museum? It shows them manufacturing and testing such engines as the K4 pacific.


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## artgibson (Jan 2, 2008)

You guys may have already done this, but I downloaded the videpo to Real Player and boy does it ever look awesome on the big screen. 
Dwight, as others have said, thanks for posting. Makes you really appreciate what went on to get the vehemoths running.
Merry Christmas and Happ Railroading


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## themetalman (Jan 3, 2008)

Where was cal OSHA, making sure they had all the safety equipment.


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Gary et al- 

The mom and pop foundries around here will still make their own wood patterns. One near here can crank you out a cannon if you wish, nearly identical to those of the civil war era, same foundry, same patterns.... 

http://www.clarksvillefoundry.com/2010/04/foundry-donated-cannon-kicks-o.html


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Where was cal OSHA, making sure they had all the safety equipment.Those were saner ties.


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## Dan Pantages (Jan 2, 2008)

They were all wearing good quality felt hats.


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## norman (Jan 6, 2008)

Hi Dwight:

The Montreal Locomotive Works has now been replaced with private residential homes and shopping centres.

My Uncle had a foundry. He cast propellors as one example during the second war. This was in Ottawa Canada. Today there is no heavy industry. Historical photos reveal heavy industry cramming the downtown Ottawa landscape.
Amazing how an industry can disappear to such an extent that no physical traces of it exist today. This land is now all beauifully landscaped parks with massive flower beds along the Rideau Canal!

My Father told me of how the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific ran on dual side by side trackage coming into Montreal. These Pacific and Hudson locomotives would race at FULL throttle on the way into Montreal to see if the Canadian National or Canadian Pacific would arrive first into Montreal station. Apparently this was quite a site! This would be totally illegal today of course. 

Last summer I attended an air show in Ottawa. I spoke with the Spitfire pilot. He informs me that replacement Spitfire propellors are no longer available in Canada nor England. Where are replacement Spitfire propellors available today? Germany!
One has to laugh.

Those were great industries and our technology was leading the world. However, wages were low, injuries high and the standard of living then was far far below what it is today. Workers attempting to unionise were labled as Communists and RCMP police files were opened on those innocent hard working citizens. Yes, Mc Carthurism even existed in Canada. Suffice to say that those skilled workers were grossly abused and underpaid. Hard times best left behind. 

Norman


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