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...photo...Elkton Machine Shop...

lathefan

Titanium
Joined
Nov 7, 2003
Location
Colorado
...a machinist turns an axle in the Elkton Machine Shop of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency...

..."Much of the Elkton facility had been hurriedly constructed after the 1906 Earthquake, and the buildings had not been intended for long-term use. Never the less, the shops stood until their demolition in the 1970s for the construction of the Muni Metro Rail Center, a part of Muni’s new Green Division"...

...edited to add..."Municipal Railway Lathe Worker Thomas O'Connor at Work at Elkton Machine Shop Turning Down Axle Wheel on Lathe | January 31, 1947"...

I0000bpEO4Xu849E.jpg
 
Interesting. There appears to be several brake shoes awaiting new riveted linings on the shelf behind him and a picture of my mom on the post in back of the lathe.

Stuart
 
I can barley remember going to the machine shop where my dad worked at around 1960-1963. The shop in fact is still in business today! Can you believe that! I can remember seeing those calendars hanging up in the shop in different places. Dad would slap me sideways staring at those pictures! "Your mom will kill us both looking at that!!!"

Ha yeah, the old Ridgid tool calendars... Sure miss those...;)

Ken
 
Mr. O'Connor either took his safety glasses off for the photo, or has lightning-quick reflexes, able to turn his head and close his eyes when chips fly in that direction. He looks quite happy, so probably a posed photo. The pinup girl on the wall is a reminder of how far our society has come. The 'sexual harrassment' and 'political correctness' police would never allow it in today's world. Pinup girls on calendars, or cut from magazines, used to be commonplace in shops, mills, garages, and any other place where the men wanted to brighten up their surroundings.

I remember when I was a kid, there were pinup calendars which were made to avoid the recriminations of prudish people. Namely, the girls on the calendars 'wore a 2 piece bathing suit' printed on a piece of clear plastic or celluloid. Lifting that piece of clear plastic removed the girl's bathing suit. I also remember my late father was ever a proper gentleman when around our family or any women and children. We'd go into the local repair garage, and there was a pinup calendar or two, sans 'bathing suits'. The old man would put his back to the wall where the calendars were hanging and try to block as much of the view as he could if I were around, without being obvious about it. Standing about 5'-6" tall, the old man never did succeed in blocking my view. When I got out of engineering school in 1972, I worked for Bechtel on a powerplant construction site. In our office trailer, just about every desk had a pinup calendar on the wall, courtesy of the various suppliers- the welding supply calendar was over my desk, the civil engineer had a pinup calendar from the local batch plant, and the old project super had one of his own. Times sure have changed in that regard, to the point where men are not supposed to have pinup girls or 'indecent or pictures of a sexual nature' hanging in their own lockers. Much simpler times when Mr. O'Connor could turn a streetcar axle on a lineshaft driven lathe without safety glasses and have a pinup girl supervising the job.

As for the axle in the photo, it appears to have been built-up with pad welding. The white areas on the axle may be some kind of chalk wash or similar coating to act as a 'dam' and limit the weld buildup or try to control the heat affected zone. There is the bull gear on the axle down at the headstock end, but the areas of the axle Mr. O'Connor is turning appear to have been built-up with welding. This would stand to reason: if it were a new axle gotten as a rough forging, there would be no bull gear on it. This was a worn axle that was repaired by building up worn areas (journals) with welding, then turning to get back to proper dimensions.

If I am not mistaken, the area Mr. O'Connor is turning on that axle may be a journal used to mount and partially support the traction motor. This would have been the 'wheelbarrow' type of mounting for the traction motor invented by Sprague.

San Francisco is a town where the use of street railways, most notably the 'cable cars', continues to this day. I recall that the overhead wires for the street railways were still in place in the 80's and 90's, but were being used by 'trolley busses'. I wonder how much longer, after this photo was taken, it was before the use of street railways in SF was phased out in favor of the trolley busses.

The picture reflects a much simpler, robust, and hopeful time in the USA. It was not long after the end of WWII, US industry was booming, and O'Connor may well have been a WWII veteran, a member of what has been called 'The Finest Generation' and rightly so. His appearance in the photo seems to reflect a lot of what that finest generation was about. Work clothes showing plenty of wear and dirt, a man unafraid to tangle up with tough jobs, likely quite happy to have a skilled trade and a good solid job.
 
Say what you will about the old days but at least you could be sure she was a woman.. With the freaks today, it can be anybody's guess with some of them....Use to love the plastic covered bikini calendars from "Womack Brothers Diesel Service" in Baton Rouge...They are long gone but I think I still have some of their old calendars....Cheers; Ramsay 1:)
 
I thought the white was white lead, note how it's not on any of the press fit's ?
It squeegees off very much like that when pressing on the wheels & gears.

I didn't think welding on a axle was allowed ?
 
There does seem to be something a tad off with the pix to me as well. Mr. O'Connor is turning an OD between two items on the ends of the shaft that have much larger OD's. Seems like the only thing that could attach where he is turning would be some type of a split bearing or pillow block.

Lots of silly suppositions for a simple, interesting picture...but we're all curious fellows here, right!:)

Stuart
 
There does seem to be something a tad off with the pix to me as well. Mr. O'Connor is turning an OD between two items on the ends of the shaft that have much larger OD's. Seems like the only thing that could attach where he is turning would be some type of a split bearing or pillow block.

Lots of silly suppositions for a simple, interesting picture...but we're all curious fellows here, right!:)

Stuart

YES !
The brass bearings used back then are split. One half of the steel casing is cast into the motor frame,
the "caps" are machined separately and bolt on (with brass liners & wicks)
 
Doug:

You confirmed what I wrote about. The old traction motors had a split bearing, half of which was cast integral with the motor housing. This split bearing was used to support the motor on the driven axle. In that way, the correct spacing and correct mesh of the motor pinion with the bull gear on the axle was maintained at all times. I believe in this arrangement, the opposite side of the motor housing was supported on springs which transferred the load to the truck frame. As I wrote, I believe it was Frank Sprague who invented this type of traction motor mounting, used on streetcars, and it was referred to as 'wheelbarrow suspension'.

The journals for the motor support bearing are likely what Mr. O'Connor is turning. Hence, the smaller diameter journals inside the larger diameters on the axle where the wheels are to be pressed on.

As for welding on an axle, this was for a streetcar. It was not a "regular railroad", and in the time of this photo, rules for repairs to rolling stock as put forth by the ICC or the US Federal Railroad Administration would likely not pertain to this repair work. I'd have to check current FRA rules as to welded repairs to axles. I know welded repairs to wheels are not permitted.

I got to rethinking the white areas on the axle in the photo. I doubt they are white lead. What we may be seeing is the remains of a dye penetrant test done to check the axle for cracks. In the days prior to spray cans of dye penetrant, a method using a whitewash type of coating was used. The part to be inspected for surface cracks was cleaned and then coated with kerosene. After allowing time for the kerosene to seep or wick into any cracks or other 'surface indications' (indication being the term for some sort of anomaly such as a crack, gouge, pitting, etc), the kerosene was wiped off. A thin coating of something like whitewash was then applied. This was a chalk-like coating. If there were any hairline cracks, the kerosene held in the cracks would then 'wick' up into the dry whitewash coating and create a darker area.

In this photo, we are seeing a used axle that is being re-conditioned for re-use. I would not doubt that worn areas were turned undersized and built up with welding, then skim cut in the lathe. Once skim cuts were taken, the 1947 equivalent of today's dye penetrant testing was done. At that same time, magnetic particle inspection (aka "Magnaflux") was already a well established method of inspected ferrous parts for surface indications such as cracks.

I tend to think the street railways, running at lower speeds for shorter distances and with lighter loads, would not hesitate to salvage axles by building up worn journals with welding. So long as no cracks were found in the axle, either before or after welding, the axle was 'fit for service' once turned to proper diameters.
 
I think the Antiques forum needs a sticky thread of pinup girls suitable for sticking on shop walls... Anyone have one from 1936? That would match my lathe... :)

The motorcycle shop I go to occasionally has all the right sort of posters up, some of them printed from the last decade or so. They do good work too- some places at least still conform to proper decor.
 
To share a sad tale..mom, who's picture is pinned to the post behind Mr. O'Connor, found times very tough after that photo shoot...here she is pictured several years later, not far from her digs on the lower east side of New York..near Trump Tower. Very sad indeed!

Stuart

dearoldmom.jpg
 
Back in the day,I was working late in the shop to back up my best mechanic, who was finishing a rush job on a customer machine. The shop owner, who was the son of the founder, came walking down the shop on an after-hours inspection. He stopped, and had a short conversation with the mechanic, which I could not hear. As he walked away, I approached my man to see how much more he had to do. He said, "I'm finished". Seeing that the work was not nearly done, I'm sure I looked puzzled. "Mr W told me to get rid of my girlfriend on my tool box, or take the box and get out." I tried to reason with him and smooth things over, but he rolled his tools to his truck, and I helped him load with the Towmotor. I finished the work, and got home after midnight.
 
The world sure has changed in 40+ years, and not necessarily for the better. I like to think of how fresh and clean the world must have seemed to Mr. O'Connor in 1947 as he machined a street car axle. WWII was over, GI's were returning home, some attending schooling under the GI bill, others marrying, buying houses, starting families and resuming life. A job with security and benefits in a good trade was something to be sought after, at least for Mr. O'Connor and people of his generation. It was also the case with my own father, a vet returning for WWII after some time spent in military hospitals. Simpler times, a world seemingly full of hope and endless possibilities.

No one got upset over a pinup girl on a calendar, and people tended to be a bit more formal and a bit more 'mannerly' to counterbalance the pinup calendars in the shops. My own father never went anywhere without getting 'dressed', and usually wore a necktie. He NEVER went on the job as a construction inspector without a pressed shirt, necktie, jacket, and a good shine on his shoes. If we went to visit relatives or anyone else, he wore a necktie. For that matter, when I started dating, I had to 'pass inspection' to get out the door of our house. This meant a necktie and sport jacket, shined shoes, and a reminder to 'mind my manners'. How the world has changed since then! I still tip my hat to ladies, hold doors, and say "yes, sir" or "yes, ma'am" and stand up when anyone comes into a room where I am sitting.

We had the culture police or PC police some to the powerplant a few years back before I retired. We knew what we were in for, a lecture on 'sexual harassment' by an uptight female attorney from corporate human resources. We decided on a nice welcome for her. In the front row, we seated two men, one from my own crew. He was a US Navy veteran, a destroyer (tin can) sailor from the early 60's. This fellow had a mermaid with her boobs showing, wearing a sailor hat on one arm, and a nude gal in sailor's gob hat and neckerchief on the other arm. That man's wife sat on his right. Next to her sat a warehouseman, chief of his local volunteer fire company. He had a tattoo of a dreamy eyed nude blond on his arm, wearing a fireman's hat and entwined with a firehose with a drop coming off the nozzle. The inscription read: "fireman find 'em hot and leave 'em wet". We had setup the presenter of the sexual harassment lecture. Sure enough we got an uptight woman attorney in a granny frump dress, buttoned to the wrists and neck, no humor whatsoever. She delivered her lecture in a belligerent manner, and asked what we considered to be "dirty pictures". 20-odd people of both genders in the room began snickering and the lecturer looked down at the arms on the men in the front row. She turned red and said firmly: "That's DISGUSTING ! How many of you find those tattoos to be offensive ?" Needless to say, the fellow with the Navy tattoos wife spoke up about being married to her husband for over 35 years, and then the room dissolved into hollering and telling this gal we did not appreciate her or the lecture she was delivering. She asked the women in the room if they found the tattoos or the way we acted at our powerplant to be sexually offensive. The women told her we were all one happy group and got along well. The lecturer really got flustered at that point, and finally said: "I resent you people up here in the country... you are all one happy family and anything goes and no one gets offended..." The room erupted in solid applause and catcalls and yells. Needless to say, even though I was 'management', I was quite proud to be a part of the crew at our powerplant. We stood together and showed that uptight attorney we did not need her or her sexual harrassment training.

Sending uptight attorneys from HR in the suburbs of NY City to a powerplant up in a lonesome valley to deliver a lecture on corporate policies about sexual harassment is a joke. These people in corporate have never seen the kind of work done in a powerplant, and do not know what it is to sweat through a 36 hour breakdown job, or to work with heavy tools and rigging and work until people are damned near exhausted, but keep on going. We tried to explain that cursing and hollering and trading insults were all a part of getting a job done, and we stood together as one crew regardless. Again, the attorney said she had no idea what it was like, and we told her about working despite getting bruised, blistered, tired, stoved-up, and keeping on going. Someone who has never done that kind of physical work nor even seen it done has no idea how people doing that sort of work will act. Expecting them to follow some BS corporate guidelines after winding up black-and-blue or stoved-up from swinging a 16 lb sledge in some tight and otherwise impossible location is absurd. We knew it, we made the power that kept the whole corporate structure running, but corporate saw fit to tell us how to behave and much else. It was the tail wagging the dog and we resented it.

As for pinup art, as Lathefan has posted, one of the greatest of the artists depicting pinup girls was Vargas. Vargas' artwork adorned many US aircraft in WWII. Vargas was an incredible artist and he had a way of depicting pinup girls, who, even when clothed, left little to the imagination. I had an uncle who made his living as an artist, doing airbrush retouching and restoration of photos and painting portraits of people who sat for them. My uncle was a WWII veteran (US Army Signal Corps, tech sergeant). My uncle had studied at the Art Students' League in NYC during the depression days, and loved to draw or paint nude females and he was damned good at it. My uncle lived into his nineties and was battling dementia and failing eyesight. He and his wife were reclusive, holed up in their apartment in Brooklyn. Despite all of this, my uncle would take a brown paper grocery bag and cut a panel of brown paper out of it. Next thing anyone knew, he'd be doing a nude female from memory, using anything from pencil to charcoal or pastels. Right to the end, my uncle never lost his skill and appreciation of the female form. When he was in his '80's, I bought him a couple of books of "Vargas Girls". My uncle was highly critical of most so-called contemporary artists' work, but he really appreciated the Vargas Girls. Vargas girls were popular during WWII and into probably the 70's. Vargas emigrated to the USA, and when he did, he was attracted to girls coming off shift in factories, saying they exhibited something girls in Europe did not, saying American girls really had something special- which he spent the rest of his life depicting. I've got pictures my uncle painted during the Depression at the Art Students' League, one depicting the Dust Bowl that really speaks quite well. I also have a large reclining nude my uncle painted somewhere along the line. When my uncle died, we buried him at a crowded Jewish cemetery out in Maspeth, Queens. He had died alone, restrained in a hospital bed. I brought an American Flag with me, and at the undertaker's, I draped his casket with it. We loaded his casket into the hearse, and I asked to ride shotgun in the hearse so my uncle would not make his last ride with strangers. I rode out from Brooklyn with my hand over my shoulder on his casket. At the cemetery, we folded the flag into the 'three cornered hat' and I gave a short eulogy. Mom was the surviving sibling from that family and she took her brother's death hard. Before we lowered the casket into the earth, I handed my sister some artist's brushes and tubes of oil paint and asked her to arrange it on the casket. Seeing the pictures Lathefan posted reminded me of my late uncle Sam. I lose track of how many years he's been gone. I have his 'Weston' multimeter and his small tools that he carried with him in Europe, including up into Norway, in WWII in the signal corps, and I have that nude he painted awaiting a suitably large wall to put her up on. The picture of the two farmers in a hardscrabble dust bowl scene is on our dining room wall. I ought to hang the nude on the wall, if for no other reasons than honoring my uncle's memory and spitting in the eyes of the sexual harassment and political correctness police.
 
I think the Antiques forum needs a sticky thread of pinup girls suitable for sticking on shop walls... Anyone have one from 1936? That would match my lathe... :)

The motorcycle shop I go to occasionally has all the right sort of posters up, some of them printed from the last decade or so. They do good work too- some places at least still conform to proper decor.


Yes please Greg, that's a great idea. :) :) :)
 








 
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