Iron wheels being cast at the CPR Weston shops in Winnipeg in the late thirties. After the war the material was changed to cast steel, but they were no longer made in-house.
Nicholas Morant's Canadian Pacific, Footprint Pub. 1992
I think they are what's left of the sand molds, after the wheels have cooled and most of the sand has been swept away. Looking at the full-size image the castings don't look finished at all to me, and even accounting for lens focal length I don't think those castings would fit inside of those wells. The wells, I imagine, is where overflow and sand goes during and after the casting process.
That guy looks awfully clean and happy; I wonder if they went and got Theodore from General Office to pose for the picture?
Top photo looks like the castings have been finished and they're being lowered into ovens for tempering.
ReplyDeleteDon in Oregon
Yes, maybe? The caption said they were being cast, but they don't look like sand molds to me either.
ReplyDeleteI think they are what's left of the sand molds, after the wheels have cooled and most of the sand has been swept away. Looking at the full-size image the castings don't look finished at all to me, and even accounting for lens focal length I don't think those castings would fit inside of those wells. The wells, I imagine, is where overflow and sand goes during and after the casting process.
ReplyDeleteThat guy looks awfully clean and happy; I wonder if they went and got Theodore from General Office to pose for the picture?