“Steel Ride” was produced by Wallace Productions Ltd in the 1960s. It is a promotional film about the Steel, Peech and Tozer steelworks in Yorkshire, England, which created wheels, axles, springs, and tires for locomotives. Steel, Peech and Tozer was a branch of United Steel Companies Ltd.
The film opens with a montage of trains passing in front of the camera, and then an external shot of the steelworks and its chimneys (0:53). Viewers see the interior of a melting shop, lined with furnaces as mobile chargers traverse the floor with loads of scraps to be reduced to molten steel. A charger puts a load into one of the furnaces and the fire ignites (1:13). A steelman wears protective glasses and gazes into a furnace as it shines brilliantly (1:36). Molten steel flows into a ladle, and the overflow slag flows into two separate ladles below. The ladle is carried to the teeming stage where molds are prepared (2:53). A steelman releases a lever and the molten steel flows into a mold. Steel runs through channels to the base of the molds, filling them upward.
A steelman creates equally spaced dividing lines on an ingot, then a magnet crane carries it to the breaker. The 15 inch diameter ingots are broken into precise blocks. The blocks roll off the breaker to feed the wheel and tire mills (5:17), and are pushed through a continuous furnace to be heated for forging. At the other end of the furnace, a charger grips a block and removes it (5:39). The charger removes mill scale that has formed on the surface.
A steelman works along the anvils, as a tire is taken away and a new block is placed in position under the ram of the forging press (6:28). The press squeezes the block, and excess scale is loosened and blown off by compressed air. The hole for the axle is made by pressing a punch through the wheel (7:17).
A steelman operates a charger, taking a newly reheated wheel out of the furnace and delivering it to the rolling mill (8:11). Water is sprayed to prevent any scale being rolled into the wheel (8:42). Once the wheel has been properly sized, it is shaped in a dishing press (9:48). A number of wheels lie in rows, cooling in the open air. Others are sent for heat treatment. The quenching process uses water sprays, which quickly reduces the temperature. A steelman conducts a trepanning operation, adding holes into the web of a wheel (12:02).
A magnet crane carries blooms from the rolling mills and charged to a continuous furnace. Once they are heated, they are removed at the other end of the furnace. A heated bloom is pushed out (13:59), and it is placed under a 7-ton hammer (14:27) The axle is taken out after one half is completed, and a steelman turns it so the other half can be forged (15:25). Forged axles roll into the furnace to be reheated. They drop into a quenching tank, filled with oil. As they emerge fire and smoke billows off of them (16:07).
The axles are cut and centered. Steelmen continue to work on axles of various sizes. Wheels are pressed on axles (19:38), and two steelmen roll two wheels secured by an axle. Viewers see a number of wheels and axles on the factory floor (20:03).
Steel from the bar mill is put into links, and a machinist sheers and slots the ends of springs (20:21). Spring leaves are sent through a furnace. A machinist takes a spring leaf out to be cambered (21:24). It is then pressed into shape and quenched in oil (21:48). A steelman ensures the leaves are properly fitted, marking variations (21:55). He then makes adjustments. A steelman transfers a leaf to a complete locomotive spring. During the scragging process, the spring is cambered to a predetermined amount (22:51).
Tires start as ingots, then blocks, which are placed into the furnace. A block is pressed into the approximate thickness of the tire (25:06). A central hole is punched, then the tire is reheated. A forging is shaped through rough rolling and enlarging until it starts to assume the shape of a tire (27:35). It is transferred to the finishing mill. A gauge is fitted to register the diameter of the tire as the rolls enlarge it. Tires of various casts are lined up and submitted to a falling weight impact test, where a large weight is dropped on the tire numerous times (30:08). The film ends with a close-up shot of tires on a train as it chugs forward (31:26).
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
