Page:The Working and Management of an English Railway.djvu/160

 and begin to assume the rough outline of the body of a carriage. This is raised by a crane, and lowered on to the under-frame already prepared for it, and which is constructed of channel steel, with Mansel wheels and radial axles. The vehicle, in its rough state, is next taken forward to another shop, where it undergoes long and tedious processes of rubbing-down, painting and varnishing; and meanwhile, the internal fittings, linings, and other upholsterers' work, which have been prepared in various shops devoted to such purposes, are put in, and the break gear and gas fittings are added. Finally, when the carriage is quite complete, it is placed in a cool airy shed, for the paint and varnish to thoroughly harden, before it is turned out for use in trains.

The making of the wheels for the carriages is a very interesting process, and will repay a visit to the wheel shop. The wheels are made without spokes, the centres being solidly built up by segments of teak compressed by hydraulic power. Passing the formidable double row of wheel lathes, which, with apparently very little attention from the workmen, are cutting long spiral shavings of steel from the tyres very much as one pares an apple with a sharp knife, or boring out tyres, and cutting the grooves for the retaining rings, which, when in position render it impossible for the tyre to leave the wheel, even if it is broken into several pieces, we arrive at the machinery by which the wheels are finally put together. A steel tyre, spun from a solid block of Bessemer steel, without a. weld, is swung up by a hydraulic crane on to the press, the teak segments, already cut and shaped with the greatest nicety by an automatic machine in the saw mill, are placed in position within the circumference of the tyre; the press is closed up, and a handle is turned,