The Manufacture Of Weldless Steel Tires For Locomotive And Car Wheels

THE derivation of the word tire (or tyre, as it is spelled in England) is obscure. Some dictionaries suggest that it is the aphetic form for "attire, covering," so called as being the outside covering or band of a wheel; also as a corruption of "tier," the band which holds, or "ties," the rest of the wheel together. One dictionary states: "The supposed derivation of the word is that bands were first used on wheels in the City of Tyre, Syria. " In the infancy of railroads, the tracks consisted of flat baits of iron, spiked or bolted to the upper surfaces of longitudinal timbers, which; in turn, rested upon masonry foundations. Stone blocks installed for this purpose on the old Germantown & Norristown Railroad, now the Chestnut Hill branch of the Philadelphia & Reading Railway, were to be seen for many years on the right-of-way, north of what is now. Wayne Junc-tion, Philadelphia, Pa. The "cornerstone" of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was laid Apr. 4, 1828, and the first locomotive in America was built by Peter Cooper at the St. Clair Works, Baltimore, Md., in 1829 "to demonstrate its adaptability to a curved road." It is believed that the first successful locomotive was built in Philadelphia by Tyler & Baldwin in 1832 for the Germantown & Norristown Railroad. Rufus Tyler-and Matthias Baldwin were brothers-in-law; the latter's name will he identified with American locomotives until locomotives are forgotten. The Wheels on these first locomotives, designed to run on this primitive rail, were shod with plain iron bands, bent and welded. The flanges consisted. of separate iron bands, bent sidewise, welded, and, bolted to the sides of the wooden follies, or rings. Before many years had elapsed the tires were fabricated of iron bands, rolled in one, piece with the flange projection on the side. The tire for each wheel was bent and welded and subsequently attached to the wheel center by shrinkage, bolts, rivets and various mechanical devices.