We give below two views of a ladle carriage which has been constructed
from the designs of Mr. Thomas Wood, the chief engineer to the Ebbw
Vale Steel, Iron, and Coal Company. These works cover a large extent of
ground, the Victoria furnaces and the Ebbw Vale furnaces, both of which
supply one steel plant, being over a mile apart. Although this gives
a long distance over which the molten metal from the furnaces has to
be carried, it is by no means unprecedented; the Barrow furnaces for
instance being situated still further from the steel works they supply.
Until a short time ago, however, the Ebbw Vale Company had their
Sirhowy furnaces in blast. These are, or rather were, for now they
are dismantled, situated six miles by rail from the converters they
supplied at Ebbw Vale, consequently the ladle containing the 10 tons of
molten metal had to be brought this distance each time the converters
were charged. In order to meet the exigencies of such a service, the
ladle carriage we now illustrate was designed by Mr. Wood.
By means of the gearing of wormwheel, rack, and pinion, which are
clearly shown in Fig. 2, the ladle can be retained in the center of the
carriage and kept upright for running; a clip which is easily knocked
out of gear being fitted to retain it in the necessary position. When
the ladle is in the required spot to enable the charge to be tipped
into the runner which takes it to the converter, the loose wrought-iron
handle, A, is slipped on to the square end of the wormshaft, and by
turning this the ladle is tipped, and at the same time travels on the
rack from its position in the center of the carriage, one man being
sufficient to perform the operation. The dotted lines at B represent a
wrought-iron shield for protecting the tipping gear from splashes of
metal, etc.
[Illustration: IMPROVED LADLE CARRIAGE.]
With the old cast-iron frame carriage the weight of the ladle and
charge is practically carried by the two bearings on one side, as the
ladle has to be overhung from the center of the carriage, in order that
the metal may tip clear of the rails and into the well; supposing of
course there are not conveniences for tipping direct into the converter.
It will be seen that in Mr. Wood's arrangement, when the ladle is in a
vertical position it stands fairly in the middle of the carriage, but
the action of tipping carries it to the side, so that the charge will
clear the rails. This carriage has now been in work for about three
years, and since its introduction there has not been the slightest
hitch, even when running ten tons of metal at a considerable speed
over the six miles of line from the Sirhowy furnaces. This has been a
pleasing contrast compared to the trouble that used to be experienced
at Ebbw Vale with the original cast-iron frames. These, under the heavy
duty put upon them, were continually breaking on the side which had to
carry the weight, and this would entail the metal having to be tipped
on the ground so that it might be broken for recharging.
Although the exceptional nature of the work at Ebbw Vale called forth
this arrangement, it will of course be understood that the advantages
it possesses are also manifest upon shorter journeys.--_Engineering_.