USA > Pennsylvania > Blair County > Altoona > History of the city of Altoona and Blair County : including sketches of the shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. > Part 15
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Mr. Pullman has a shop or shops of his own, yet occasionally an order is sent here for the manufacture of new ones, as well as re- pairing those which have seen service. Mr. Pullman has an uphols- tery in Chicago, and one in Jersey City; yet it frequently happens that the upholstering is done by the Pennsylvania Railroad company, it having all the facilities for doing work of this kind in the most ele- gant manner. Indeed, taking the "Passaic," built in 1877, or any Pullman car built since by the Pennsylvania Railroad company, as an illustration, whatever may be the facilities of Mr. Pullman, it is impossible for him either to construct or furnish cars more luxuriously
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HISTORY OF ALTOONA AND BLAIR COUNTY.
D. WYLIE,
PRACTICAL
PLUMBER & GAS FITTER.
AND DEALER IN
CIRCULATING BOILERS, BATH TUBS,
CAST-IRON SINKS, URINALS,
Marble Slabs and Wash Basins. Hydrants, Terra Cotta Pipe, Brass Work for Water and Steam, Gas Machines, etc.
Hot Water and Steam Circulation
FOR GREENHOUSES AND CONSERVATORIES,
Iron Pumps for deep and shallow wells, fitted up and set. Old Gas. Fixtures Cleaned and Rebronzed. Hydrant and Water Pipe put in at the Lowest Rates.
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED.
No. 1108 Fourteenth Street, - Altoona, Pa.
173
HISTORY OF ALTOONA AND BLAIR COUNTY.
than those constructed for him by the Pennsylvania Railroad com- pany. The cost of a Pullman car, be it a sleeping, drawing-room, hotel, or parlor car, is from $14,000 to $16,000 ; for a first-class pas- senger car, $5,000; and for an ordinary second-class car, $2,500.
INTERIOR OF PARLOR CAR.
The frame-work of a Pullman is generally made from yellow pine; panels from poplar ; posts and trucks from ash. Six-wheel trueks are used, with Westinghouse air brakes to cheek their movements.
FREIGIIT SHOP.
In this department about three hundred and twenty men are at present employed, all skillful workmen. New freight cars, of what- ever kind, are not only manufactured here, but all the necessary re- pairs to those which have seen service are also made. All new cars and repaired cars are painted and lettered before being removed from the freight shop.
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HISTORY OF ALTOONA AND BLAIR COUNTY.
The yellow pine used for car floors is brought from Georgia, sup- posed to be the best in the country ; white pine, for roofing, from Michigan ; oak from all points of the compass. We will here take occasion to remark that when a requisition for cars is received by John P. Levan, general foreman, he issues orders to the foremen of all the departments for the necessary materials for their construction. The planing mill furnishes the lumber already planed and otherwise prepared ; the blacksmith shop all the iron in the forms required, etc. But all this material is used and put together in the freight shop, or round house, as some people call it. The man who planned the freight shop had an eye to business.
BLACKSMITH SHOP.
In this department one hundred and sixty-five men are employed. Every tool and machine for the abridgment of labor that has been devised by the cunning, craft or ingenuity of man is brought into requisition. A description of these tools and machines does not fall within the purview of this sketch further than to say that there are four dead-stroke power hammers, each of which give a hundred pounds' blow ; a machine for heading bolts from one and one-half to two inches : two punching machines with power to punch a two-inch hole through two-inch iron; two bolt machines which work from three- eighths to seven-eighths inch, each of which has the capacity to make 1,800 bolts per day ; a drill-press able to drill six holes at one opera- tion ; four steam hammers-one 500 pounds pressure, another 1,600, another 2,000 and another 2,500 pounds pressure ; a machine for weld- ing links, or compress butt welder, capable of welding thirty per hour; machines for forming bullnoses, making links, etc. Almost 400 tons of iron per month is at present used. It comes principally from the Altoona Iron works, this city, the best iron to be obtained; from the Logan Iron and Steel company : from Carnegce & Bros., and Wilson & Walker of Pittsburg, and Benjamin Johnson, of Hollidaysburg. There are fifty-nine forges in the blacksmith shop, the blast for the fires being supplied by a noiseless blower. There is a one-spring fur- nace for setting springs. There is a split-key machine for manufac- turing keys for bolts when not convenient to use nuts. Abont 640 pounds of these keys-each one weighs about an ounce-are manu- factured per day. There are three bolt furnaces and three heating furnaces. The textile strength of the iron used is sixty to sixty-five tons to the inch. Probably the most difficult operation is the manu- facture of bullnoses. A great deal of ingenuity and care are brought to bear in their production.
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HISTORY OF ALTOONA AND BLAIR COUNTY.
THE PLANING MILL.
This mill, which is the most complete and largest in the United States, is full of interesting objects -- interesting to those at least who are proud of progress and improvement. The machines there em- ployed for sawing and dressing lumber are admirable in their con- struction, and do their work in an admirable manner. There are thirty-nine of them-six boring, eight planing, three tenon, six mortis- ing, one Bakster machine, two band saws, one moulding machine and one universal wood worker; besides five rip saws, four cross-cut saws, a saw gummer, saw filer, etc. The engine which drives this machin- ery, and the machinery also of the other shops, is a double cylinder, 250 horse power, manufactured by the Corliss company of Providence, R. I. It cost $7,500, and $1,400 additional for putting it in position, procuring the belting, etc. The principal belting is 32 inches wide. It is formed of a double thickness of leather with canvas between. The flywheel is 20 feet, and size of cylinder, 18x48 inches. By a system of signal gongs the foremen of the various shops can increase or retard the motion of the engine, or, rather, can communicate with the engi- neer, without leaving their shops, so that he can give them the exact motion they require, be it fast or slow. It is operated by electricity, and proves to be of great convenience. Six boilers-three with eight feet and three with eight feet long and four feet wide fire-boxes-the largest in this portion of the State, supply the steam. They were built at the upper boiler shops by Joseph Nixon, foreman of that department. Five tons of coal per day, together with all the shav- ings, sawdust, ete., of the planing mill, which is conveyed to the boiler house through pipes, supply the heat for the generation of the steam which drives the engine.
The pipes alluded to, through which the shavings, sawdust, etc., are conducted to the boiler room, with their fans and other append- ages, constitute a curious and ingenious apparatus. A description such as we would like to make would occupy too much of our space. Suffice it to say that immediately after the formation of shavings, chips and sawdust, they are sucked into the mouth of the pipes which are pendant over the machines, and, on the " wings of the wind," are hurried through to the boiler house. These pipes are about two feet in diameter, and constructed of tin or sheet-iron, we forget which. There are six of these conductors, each embracing a certain number of pipes and fans in operation. Messrs. Latimore & Davis, of Phila- delphia, are the inventors. It is scarcely necessary to add that pre- vious to their introduction a visit to the planing mill, especially if
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HISTORY OF ALTOONA AND BLAIR COUNTY.
MRS. ADAM GABLE,
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALER IN
CONFECTIONERIES, FOREIGN and DOMESTIC FRUITS.
ICE CREAM AND OYSTERS IN SEASON. 706 and 708 Twelfth Street, - Altoona, Pa. (Between Seventh and Eighth Avennes.)
Keystone Grocery, Green Avenue and Ninth Street, Altoona, Pa.
GROCERIES AND PROVISIONS,
FLOUR, CANNED FRUITS, Etc. Confectioneries. Segars, Tobaccos, Notions. Oysters and Fish in season.
ELWAY & MAUK.
B. F. ROSE, ALDERMAN,
11th Avenue, near 12th Street, Altoona, Pa. (Opposite Altoona Hardware Co., limited.)
Legal Documents written and acknowledged. Collections promptly attended to.
J. C. CONRAD,
DEALER IN
A NTMRACITE AND
BITUMINOUS
COALS.
(Free from slate and other foreign substances.) Full weight guaranteed. Also, dealer in KINDLING WOOD AND STRAW. Delivery to all parts of the city without extra charge.
Eleventh Avenue, between Seventeenth and Eighteenth Streets, Altoona, Pa. (Near the Culvert.)
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HISTORY OF ALTOONA AND BLAIR COUNTY.
a lady or gentleman had their best clothes on, was like passing through a flouring mill, and emerging therefrom covered with dust. Besides, the millions of small particles floating through the atmos- phere of the room made it unpleasant for the workmen, and injurious to health. All this, now, i> obviated. The place is as free from dust as any of the other shops, for, if perchance some shavings or sawdust fall upon the floor they are quickly sucked into the months of the pipes underlying it, for the mouths of these pipes are in close proxim- ity to the machines. There are pipes below as well as above the floor. Formerly from six to eight hands were employed in carrying away the dirt, so to call it. Hence six dollars to eight dollars are saved per day.
The tenon machines were invented by Isaac Dripps, who, at one time, was Superintendent of the Motive Power Department.
The principal planing machine was built by Messrs. R. Ball & Co., of Worcester, Mass. It is sixty-three feet in length, with cog gearing. It is called the "Daniel Planing Machine," a man by that name, we presume, being the inventor of it.
The planing machine next in size and importance is run by belt gearing, and has been in use for about two years. It is thirty-four feet in length and was built by Richards, London & Kelley, of the Atlantie Iron works. It performs 1, 700 revolution, a minute.
There is one large four-sided planing machine, humorously called by the men in the shops "the Modoc," whatever name the inventor may have given to it.
As previously stated there are three Allen mortising machines in use. They mortise timber without "laying off," by use of templates.
The building is 357 feet by 70 feet. This includes the new exten- sion completed during the month of Angust, 1880.
At present about eighty men are employed.
THE TEN SHOP.
The principal work done here is the construction of the roofs of passenger and Pullman palace cars, as well as old freight cars when needing repairs of this kind. New freight cars are now constructed in such a manner that they don't require tin roofing. the boards con- stituting the roofs being fitted together upon a new waterproof and air-proof principle. Why this principle should not be adopted in the construction of the roofs of passenger and other cars, we will not now take time to inquire. Besides the roofing of cars, all the tin, sheet- iron, (plain or galvanized) brass and copper work which enter into
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HISTORY OF ALTOONA AND BLAIR COUNTY.
the construction or constitute the convenience of cars, is here made to assume appropriate form. The stoves, too, used in the cars, are sup- plied with pipe and all other necessary fixtures. A portion of the round house (freight shop) is devoted to the reception of stoves which need repairs ; and arrayed on shelves are duplicates to take the place of those parts of stoves worn out, burnt out, or broken. These stoves and parts of stoves are cast at the foundry of the company at their upper works.
The machines used in the tin shop are such, only, as are generally found in private establishments of the kind, with a few exceptions, one of which is an apparatus, apparently simple in its construction, but in reality evincing much profundity of thought in its invention. It is designed, by one operation, to throw strips of tin into such forms as to cover the gas pipes which traverse the roofs of passenger cars; and it does the work neatly and effectively. Another machine is a spinning lathe not generally found in tinneries condneted by private parties, by means of which a flat piece of tin, copper, zinc or brass is made to assume a great variety of forms, both hollow and cylindri- cal. It is turned by steam. In size the tin shop is 70x50 feet, af- fording enough room for fourteen men to "turn around in." When thirty-two men were employed it was tight squeezing.
CABINET SHOP, OR GLUE ROOM.
Were all the cabinet makers in the country to meet in convention for the specific purpose of devising the most suitable building and the most suitable tools, machinery, etc., for starting the cabinet making business on a large scale, or, rather, for the manufacture of such arti- eles as appertain to any specific branch of that business, we do not see how they could do better than the man or men who planned the cabinet shop or glue room (as many call it) of the Pennsylvania Rail- road company. With no further introductory remarks we will say that all the veneering, gluing, cutting, carving, mortising, polishing, boring, turning, scolloping, moulding, planing, sawing and twisting all kinds of wood into all kinds of shapes, required for all kinds of work, found inside of ordinary passenger and Pullman palace cars, are here performed by the aid of the best tools and machinery the in- ventive genius of the country has been able to produce. And these tools and machines are guided by ninety workmen who thoroughly understand such business, a less number by fifty than were employed during a greater portion of the Centennial year. To accomplish the same amount of work, thirty years ago, would have taken about six
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HISTORY OF ALTOONA AND BLAIR COUNTY.
thousand five hundred men. This may appear extravagant, but we believe it as firmly as we believe that we are writing this sketch. And then, too, the work is done in an admirable manner. In addi- tion to car furniture, paneling, etc., all the elegant desks and furniture which adorn and render prince-like and comfortable the offices of the railroad officers, all along the line, are manufactured here. The heavy work, such as sawing out lumber, etc., of course is done in the planing mill.
Among the principal machines used, not only for the abridgment of labor, but for their efficiency in executing their work perfectly, we noticed a scroll saw of surprising utility ; a "Variety Moulding " machine, which, with its appliances, executes all kinds of moulding, the tool or bit performing about 2,000 revolutions per minute ; a ma- chine for planing, grooving, etc. ; a slat machine which planes both sides and rounds the edges at a single operation ; thirty-three turn- ing lathes ; two mounting machines ; a tenon machine ; hand and rip saws; veneering presses, etc. There is a turning machine, the de- sign of which is to turn flag staffs, thirty-six inches long, in use by flagmen along the road, as well as a vast amount of other work. Preparing flag staffs, formerly, was a difficult thing to do. Let any- one try to make one by hand or even turn one on an ordinary lathe. Then he will appreciate a machine by the use of which 1,000 can be manufactured in one day. Of such a machine we speak. Before its invention lumber by the car load was required to meet the demands for flagstaffs. Now they are made from the off-falls or refuse pieces of wood, fit for no other purpose. A great saving of material is observable, as well as a great reduction of labor. There is another machine which performs a great variety of operations-rounding and polishing strips of wood, cut crosswise, of various diameters, suitable, for instance, as plugs for holes where screws are driven below the surface.
All kinds of wood are used in this department. Among the most valuable are bird-eye maple, French walnut, mahogany, cherry and rosewood.
The shop is one hundred and seventy-five feet in depth and sev- enty feet wide.
THE PAINT SHOP.
One hundred and forty-eight workmen are at present employed. The capacity of the shop is twenty-four cars-that is, the tracks within the enclosure can accommodate that number at one and the
180
IHISTORY OF ALTOONA AND BLAIR COUNTY.
S. O. ADLER,
DEALER IN
GROCERIES, PROVISIONS,FLOUR,FEED
Queensware, Glassware, Wood and Willow-ware, Tobacco and Segars. All kinds of Fruits and Vegetables in season.
1316 Twelfth Avenue, Altoona, Pa.
DR. J. H. WEAVER,
1004 Seventeenth Street,
(Near the Bridge.) - Altoona, Pa.
Druggist and Pharmaceutist.
A full line Drugs and Chemicals, Patent Medicines. Oils, Paints, Putty, Dye Stuffs, Toilet and Fancy Articles, Perfumery, best brands of Tobacco and Segars. Pure Wines and Liquors for Medicinal Purposes. Prescriptions Care- fully Compounded Day or Night at all hours.
PIPER & CO.,
Booksellers Stationers,
1316 Tenth Avenue, Altoona, Pa.
Notions, Novelties, etc., of all kinds. Imported and Domestic Segars, Tobacco, etc. Subscriptions received for Newspapers, Magazines and other periodicals.
YOUTH'S MIRROR.
A FOUR-PAGE, 16 COLUMN, MONTHLY PAPER.
Printed on Fine Tinted Book Paper and devoted to Choice Poetry, Stories, History -Natural and otherwise-in faet everything that will interest boys and girls, Only 30 cents a year. Sample copies free. Agents wanted to canvass for subscribers. Liberal Terms. Address,
ED. J. SLEP, ALTOONA, PA.
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HISTORY OF ALTOONA AND BLAIR COUNTY.
same time, and they are so arranged that men can work to the best advantage. The department of painting embraces a head-lining room in which fifteen men are employed; varnish rooms, sixteen men ; freight car room, sixteen men ; passenger car room, one hundred men. The principal shop measures 364x70 feet, with eighteen feet pitch of ceiling. A portion of it is two stories high, the upper story contain- ing the varnish and upholstery departments. The force employed in
+
. ..
INTERIOR OF SLEEPING CAR.
painting the passenger cars is divided into gangs of eight men, four employed on inside and four on outside work. A larger number can- not work to as much advantage. Connected with this department is a storeroom, separate building, about 30x50 feet in size, with cellar or basement, which contains large quantities of materials, from which all the paints, colors, tints and shades are made, together with var- nishes, paint brushes, glass, putty, etc. As high as $20,000 worth of
12
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HISTORY OF ALTOONA AND BLAIR COUNTY.
such goods have been stored here at one time. Some very expensive materials are used, such, for instance, as inside car varnish, and out- side rubbing, which costs $3.83 per gallon, and finishing varnish which costs $5.10 per gallon. Here the paints are mixed, several hands being engaged on this work alone.
Search the country through and you will be unable to find any set of hands anywhere who can outrival the present force in their knowledge of the blending and application of colors. The work done impresses one with this idea. By " head-linings" the decorations on ceilings of the ears are meant. They are composed of ordinary un- bleached sheeting, which, by means of simple appliances, is stretched to its utmost tension on frames placed in an upright position when the painters commence the work of drawing their decorative lines. As in architecture there are various distinct orders, so there are dis- tinet orders of decoration. But we decline to write an essay on the subject.
It is a nice thing, requiring not only a steady hand, but a keen, observant, artistic oye to execute all the fine lines and shades required by the connoisseur who "bosses " the job. Were he not a connois- seur he would evidently be unfit for the position. And here, in the head-line department, more so, probably, than in any other, the skill of the painter is exhibited. But, after all, this work partakes more of mechanical than true artistie skill, from the fact that forms or pat- terns of representation are previously prepared. With pieces of pa- per, properly punctured, the lines of the work are temporarily and quickly drawn or struck on the canvas, then followed up with the painter's pencil. But to be appreciated this work inst be seen.
UPHOLSTERING DEPARTMENT.
And now a few words about supplying the interior of passenger cars with the necessary furniture to make them comfortable for those who travel. Comfortable, did we say? We mean luxurious. Every- thing else done, even the painting, the seats with their hair cushions covered with plush are placed in position, the carpets laid, etc., etc. The plush used in the covering of seats is manufactured in France. The raw material consists of the long, silky hair or wool of the An- gora goat of Asia Minor. The fabric is beautiful. Plush costs about $2.37₺ per yard, and is generally in strips forty yards in length, of varions widths. The hair, which forms the interior of the cushions for seats, or filling in, is principally derived from the manes and tails of horses, mules, etc., which is mixed with a small per centage of
183
HISTORY OF ALTOONA AND BLAIR COUNTY.
bristles. This hair is spun up, heated, picked, assorted and curled be- fore it is ready for use. Other materials, such as sponge, cotton, etc., have been tried, but have been found lacking that quality of hair, which is highly prized, viz : elasticity. Eight pounds are required to make a double seat-a Pullman mattress requires twenty-five pounds. Its cost is about twenty-five cents per pound.
REPBACH JE
INTERIOR OF PASSENGER CAR.
The various operations involved in upholstery work we will not attempt to delineate. There are three separate rooms devoted to the upholstery department, to say nothing of the rooms filled with chairs, seats, etc., waiting to be cushioned and equipped. The room in which is stored various kinds of materials has held $25,000 worth at one time; the stock now amounts to about $10,000. During a por- tion of the Centennial year when work was brisk, twenty-six men were employed. At present only fourteen men are at work.
184
HISTORY OF ALTOONA AND BLAIR COUNTY.
ESTABLISHED 1860.
ALTOONA BAKERY 1 A. F. HEESS, PROPRIETOR,
713 Thirteenth Street, Altoona, Pa.
MANUFACTURES
FRESH BREAD pue CRACKERS,
AND ALL KINDS OF
FANCY AND COMMON CAKES.
Large Cakes Baked to Order on Short Notice at Reasonable Terms.
.ED. MOUNTNEY,
HOUSE AND SIGN PAINTER, GRAINER, KALSOMINER, PAPER HANGER, Etc. Eleventh Avenue and Eleventh Street, (Opera House Building,) Altoona, Pa.
I challenge any Knight of the Paint Brush in Altoona or Blair County, to pro- Ince better specimens of GRAINING, or equally as good. Many who boast of their proficiency in this art. don't understand its rudiments. Work of all kind executed promptly, with true artistic elegance and at lowest prices.
F. THEBAULT RIVAILLES, M. D. 1124 ELEVENTH AVENUE, (OVER NELSON'S JEWELRY STORE,)
ALTOONA, PA.
sto ll a. m.
OFFICE HOURS : 2 to 412 p. m. 7 to 9 p. m. Consultations in French and German,
185
HISTORY OF ALTOONA AND BLAIR COUNTY.
In conclusion, the window blinds for all the telegraph stations along the line are manufactured in this deparment. The harness for horses of the company are here kept in constant repair, and new sets of harness are also made when required.
BEATTY'S SHOP.
This building, called Planing Mill No. 1, was originally erected for the Maintenance of Way department, but since appropriated to the use of the Car department. Among the most ingenious devices is a machine for turning handles for picks, axes, etc.
RESIDENT OFFICERS, PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD CO.
OFFICE GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT.
Charles E. Pugh, general superintendent.
Thomas J. Maitland, chief clerk.
Robert E. Pettit, principal assistant engineer.
J. Chester Wilson, electrician.
John R. Bingaman, chief clerk maintenance of way.
OFFICE SUPERINTENDENT MOTIVE POWER.
Theodore N. Ely, superintendent motive power.
Joseph Wood, assistant engineer.
J. B. Collin, mechanical engineer.
B. F. Custer, chief clerk.
G. W. Strattan, master mechanic.
F. D. Cassanave, assistant master mechanic.
Dr. Charles B. Dudley, chemist.
John W. Cloud, engineer of tests.
OFFICE SUPERINTENDENT TRANSPORTATION.
John Reilly. superintendent transportation.
Frank T. Bishop, chief elerk. George W. Jones, chief car accountant. W. F. Taylor, chief operator.
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HISTORY OF ALTOONA AND BLAIR COUNTY.
FOREMEN AND ASSISTANT FOREMEN OF MOTIVE POWER SHOPS.
Peter Moore, foreman lathe shop.
Jacob Cain, foreman telegraph shop.
W. B. Ford, foreman erecting shop. A. C. Davis, assistant foreman erecting shop. A. C. Vauelain, assistant foreman erecting shop.
Ludwig Kiefer, foreman vise shop.
Joseph Davis, assistant foreman vise shop.
W. H. Jackson, foreman round house No. 1. George Rosenberger, foreman carpenter shop.
Thomas I. MeKiernan, assistant foreman earpenter shop.
George F. MeNoldy, foreman cab shop.
George W. Arthur, foreman round house No. 3.
John H. Carr, assistant foreman round house No. 3.
George Hawkesworth, foreman smith shop.
William Cook, assistant foreman smith shop.
Joseph Nixon, foreman boiler shop.
C. W. Mason, foreman paint shop.
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